Temples, Temples, and more Temples (plus one more)

This Sunday, our temple trips saw us venture to Utah County.

Because there is kind of a high concentration of temples along this stretch, we opted to string them into visits all on one warm, Utah afternoon.

And that's how we squeezed/squoze?? four temples into one outing.

First stop, Payson temple...most recently dedicated around here and absolutely gorgeous.  The fun part about seeing four temples in one day is that their differences really stand out to you because you just saw the other one.  Payson has some lovely carvings along the rim of the stone work and it is an imposing, almost overpowering feature as you drive toward it.  We were impressed and enjoyed our brief visit.

Second stop, Provo City Center temple.  This one was particularly fun for the kids because it is nestled right at the center of Provo and is NOT white.  WHAT?? (Our kids were surprised -- never mind that we already visited the Logan temple which is also extremely un-snow colored.)  Yup, you heard it here, not white...but gorgeous.  It is a lovely site.  It was lovely as a tabernacle and is lovelier as a temple.

Third on our list was the Provo temple.  Now, I will be honest, I have never much cared for the design of this one.  In fact, as a child, when the temple was lit at night I told my parents it looked like a giant carrot.  

However, this was my first time actually visiting this temple and I have become a bit more of a fan after meeting the building in person.  The grounds are amazing and the building was sweet and inviting.  I can't lie and say I love the design, but I think we could be good friends after all.

See, really not so bad (pretend like I didn't accidentally include the top of the fence in the picture).

And our final stop of the day was to the Mount Timpanogos temple.  This was a perfect place to end.  This temple is HUGE and brilliant and shining.  It was a powerful, commanding building and it was great to spend some time near this house of God.

While I have to tell you that not everyone in my crew is as enamored with these temple trips as I am, they have been a wonderful chance to spend time together (long-ish care rides do that) and try to keep focused on things that really matter.  

Eleven down, six to go!

Draper

Jordan River

Oquirrh Mountain

Salt Lake

Mount Timpanogos

Payson

Provo City Center

Provo

Bountiful

Ogden

Logan

St. George

Brigham City

Cedar City

Manti

Vernal

Monticello