house of the lord

As our summer break was winding down, the kids and I decided to make a trip to North Dallas to visit a place called Pet Land.  My friend Kiley had told me about it, and we had a great time there :)  When I looked up the directions on my phone, I quickly realized that we were going to literally be down the street from the Dallas Temple.  So, after Pet Land, we grabbed some lunch at In-N-Out and headed to the temple for a picnic. It was hot (per the usual in Texas), but bearable in the shade of the big trees.  We had a lovely picnic, then walked the grounds of the whole temple. 

Unfortunately, since it was Monday, the temple was closed and I couldn't even take the kids inside to see the foyer of the temple.  In the past, this has been a cool experience to just feel the reverence inside those special walls, but we'll just have to visit again soon. I don't think we've been since Colby was a baby!

Brooke loved the beautiful flowers and was excited to be able to touch the water in the cascading fountain. 

Colby took a seat on those temple stairs and I quickly took a pic.  I love his facial expression, and know that i'll cherish these pictures for years to come. I tried to explain to them about how important these temples are and how lucky we are that we live close to one!

Because of the sealing ordinance in the temple, Kevin and I are forever blessed to have these sweet kids with us for eternity!

Oh, and I can't forget these adorable pics I took at In-N-Out.  Colby REALLY wanted to wear his Mickey shirt to Pet land, so I allowed it, but made him change before we took pictures at the temple.  That might have been a little silly, but I didn't want the distraction of a bold shirt when the spotlight should be on the temple.

But man, he's a cutie! With a whole lot of personality :)