Draper Temple Open House

Matt and I were able to go to the Draper Temple Open House yesterday, which was VERY enjoyable. We got tickets online about a month ago for the 2 of us, plus my sister and her husband and their 4 children. We were disappointed that Jeremy wasn't able to be with us because of being out of town for work..........but it was really fun to take the kids through the Temple for the first time.

Tylor is 9, Chayton is 7, Jorden is 4, and Kayla is 1. Tylor and Chayton are both old enough to more fully understand the importance of the Temple and what we go to the Temple for. Pauline had had some good talks with them in preparation for what we were about to go see, and they were both pretty excited to go! I went over to her house early to help her get the kids ready to go and it really touched my heart to see those 2 older boys taking the Temple so seriously.

When I got there, Tylor was outside skating on his roller blades so I called him inside to start getting dressed and ready to go. (Pauline was busy trying to get Kayla and herself ready.) Tyler came inside, took off his roller blades, and went upstairs to start getting dressed. He put on a white shirt (which he tucked in), dress pants, and his dress shoes. Chayton was playing video games and we turned those off when I got there. He then got himself dressed in dress pants, a colored shirt, and his dress shoes. Jorden was already dressed to go.......I just helped him put on his shoes.

The reason I'm telling you all of this is so that I can tell you the next part..........which is what really touched my heart.

As I was upstairs trying to help Pauline get Kayla ready to go.........Chayton came to the doorway of Kayla's room and asked Pauline if any of his white shirts fit him anymore. (Those kids grow like weeds!) Pauline was distracted and busy and wasn't quite catching the meaning of what Chayton was trying to ask her. She told him that he did still have 1 or 2 white shirts, but that he was already dressed and she really didn't want him to take the time to get undressed and redressed again. (He's quite slow and meticulous about everything he does! He's a perfectionist!) I then noticed the clip-on tie he was holding in his hands and I saw the sweet look on his face as he looked at the floor. It seemed important to him that he wear a white shirt. He then, quietly and softly, made the comment "I need to wear a white shirt. The Temple is white." He was so sweet and sincere about it that I looked at Pauline and told her that I would go help him and hurry him along. I found a white shirt and helped him change it and put on his tie. What a handsome little guy!

During this time, Tylor had also noticed the tie in Chayton's hands and decided that he need to wear a tie also. As I was helping Chayton change his shirt, he and Tylor were having a very serious discussion about the fact that they didn't have another tie for Tylor to wear because they were broken. Tylor was a little upset that he didn't have a tie to wear also, but I finally convinced him that he looked very nice and that it would be okay if he didn't wear a tie. The boys were full of questions about what was going to be happening and what we were going to be seeing as we went out the door and loaded everyone in the van.

When we got to the designated church building/parking lot that we had been assigned to upon making our reservation, we went into the church and watched a 12 minute video presentation before boarding the bus to take us up to the Temple. It was interesting to watch the 2 older boys sit perfectly still and watch the video with great interest. They were quite attentive watching it! On the short bus ride up to the Temple the boys all sat and watched out the window and asked questions.

The Temple was beautiful!! Little Kayla was enchanted by all of the pictures throughout and by the beautiful, shiny, sparkly chandeliers in several of the rooms. The boys were very eager to see everything and we described what the rooms were used for as we went from room to room. They also enjoyed following along in the little pamphlet that was given to us as we started the tour. They liked looking at the pictures in the pamphlet and and then seeing each room in person. That seemed very exciting to them.

After the Temple tour, we were led to the Stake Center adjacent to the Temple and they had the gym all beautifully decorated with beautiful music playing................and yummy cookies and water! The boys obviously loved that part, too! We then boarded the bus that took us back to our cars......................and then went and got dinner together.

It was a very enjoyable evening! Pauline's kids are very sweet and it was fun to be able to experience it all with her and her family. We sure love you, Baca Family!