Temple Springtime

I love spring! I especially love the temple grounds in the spring. I love how much care and work goes into the temple grounds to reflect the beauty of what occurs inside the temple. If you haven't visited your local temple in a while, I urge you to go now because, sadly, tulips and daffodils and tree blossoms only last a couple of weeks and then they're gone for another year. The temple is James' favorite place right now. He wants to go to the temple every day to see 'all of the beautiful flowers and angel Moroni.' How can I deny him? I feel guilty if I say, "No, let's not go to the temple today," so we go nearly everyday. One day, we even went twice. I'm sure the security guard thinks we don't have lives, which we don't. But, just look at these beautiful blossoms! Love it! The air is so fragrant and the colors are so vibrant and happy. James says daffodils are Angel Moroni's favorite because they look like a trumpet. He also says Angel Moroni comes down every night to lock the gate. He also asked me if I got baptized in the temple fountain. Where does he get this stuff?

"Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever!"-- D&C 128:23

More Random

Riding the range.

Yes, this is my little boy pretending to breastfeed his doll. He's going to hate this picture when he's a teenager.

Chicago

About a month ago, me, Adam and Ruby went to Chicago for a few days. It was a pretty fun trip and Ruby did really, really well. It was an all-expenses paid vacation with EF Foundation for Foreign Study, the non-profit organization I've been working for since November. Ruby hardly ever cried even during the long hours of training. Everyone commented on how good she was-- that she was the best baby they'd ever seen. This was my third trip to Chi-town and Adam's first. We really didn't too anything all that exciting since we had Ruby and not a lot of money to spend (like none!). But it was fun to get a way for a while. It was hard leaving James. This was the first time we've ever been away from him for longer than a few hours. He was crying on the phone our first night and wanting us to 'come get me.' It was pretty sad. I wanted to fly home right then and pick him up.
Our hotel, The Palmer House Hilton, was super nice. Definitely the swankiest hotel I've ever stayed. I guess anything seems really great after some of the skanky European hostels I've slept in.

The 'bean' at Millenium Park.

Pics of our hotel.

More hotel pics.

On a completely unrelated note-- James likes to have Ruby ride in the back of his fire truck bed to help him put out fires. She's makes a good side kick.