Darin's First Temple Trip

Darin went on his first temple trip at the end of August. He turned 12 in February and just barely missed the Youth Temple Trip. In fact, they actually had the temple trip the Saturday after he turned 12. The only thing is that he hadn't been ordained, so he couldn't get his temple recommend. He was ordained the next Sunday and we had planned to take him sometime in the spring, but it ended up that every Wednesday we could take him he had a standardized test or something else important going on at school. Our temple is open for walk-in baptisms on Wednesday mornings all year long, which is really nice. Then we were going to take him over the summer, but ended up being on vacation all summer. Soooo, six months later he was finally able to go.

Here he is bright and early at 5:30am. Darin was very excited!Our youth group is so large that they take up a couple of sessions. The Young Women went first and the boys had a testimony meeting outside in the parking lot. Ken and I actually went with the YM and were able to hear their wonderful testimonies. Ken gave the most beautiful testimony I have ever heard him say too. It was a really neat experience and I'm glad that I stayed with the YM. They were all pretty sweet to me too, which was nice since I felt like I was crashing the all-male party. I guess it is a good thing I was in YW's for so long since most of the boys know me pretty well.
Here's a picture of us after the baptisms inside the temple. Ken and I were able to see Darin be baptized. It was an amazing moment! I can't believe how big he has grown.
A better picture in the shade:-)
After the baptisms we went into San Antonio and picked up the other kids from my parents hotel. Lola had a conference downtown with her company and Papa took them swimming while Ken and I were at the temple with Darin.

Rose discovered she had a loose tooth at their hotel. These are her first loose teeth!

Saying goodbye to Lola and Papa.
Ken and I debated if we would drive Darin or let him go with the group and meet up with him. After asking him what he wanted to do we decided to let Darin drive down and back up with the other young men and his leaders. But we made him PROMISE to give us a report of every thought and feeling he experienced during the day when he got home.

We totally made the right decision! He got home about an hour after us and he couldn't wait to pile into our bed and tell us everything. We loved hearing about it from his perspective. Even the silly jokes his leaders told, to the tender feelings he felt throughout the day. He is our son who is usually a little more quiet and doesn't really analyze his feelings much, and he totally talked non-stop to us for nearly 2 hours.

We keep a journal as a family of things we are grateful for. This is what Ken wrote about the day:

"Today Stephanie and I participated in Darin's first temple trip. It was so good to be their! I am very grateful that both of us could go and see and feel the spirit there with Darin for the first time. It really makes me want to repeat this with every one of our children. I got to officiate in Darin's confirmations and to be a witness as Darin was baptized for others. I felt the spirit strongly and got to watch as it affected both Stephanie and Darin. These are the experiences that make being a husband and father so fulfilling!"

I am so thankful for all the blessings that come from attending the temple!