DC and the Temple

Thursday morning we headed to the DC Temple open house. Wow, it felt amazing to be back at this very sacred place. The DC temple was our temple for 15 years so it holds a special place in our hearts. What a joy it was to walk inside, see all the changes, feel the Spirit, and share the experience with Savannah and Noah. And it couldn't have been a more beautiful day to grab pictures outside!

Waiting in the line outside. It was great to see how many people were there!

As we were walking back to the parking lot at the church next door, we came across a couple taking pictures in this little spot that we never would have discovered if we hadn't had to park so far away. This couple told us they had been married here years and years ago and this was one of the spots they found on their wedding day. So of course we had to grab a few pictures there as well. I love that it's a little known spot with a beautiful view of the temple.

After the temple we grabbed some lunch and then headed to Ford's Theater, something I have wanted to do for years and for some reason we never did while we lived in Maryland. However, when we went inside to get our tickets, to my huge disappointment the theater was closed for tours! Ugh! But the Petersen home was open so we walked across the street to tour the home where Lincoln died.

The parlor where Mary Lincoln spent most of the night waiting.

In this bedroom Stanton held meetings, interviewed witnesses, and ordered the pursuit of the assassins.

And this is the bedroom where our wonderful President Lincoln passed away.

We wandered through the wonderful exhibit, taking it all in. They had a replica of the train car that his coffin was carried in, printed news stories of the assassination, tassels and fringe from Lincoln's catafalque, keys and a map belonging to John Wilkes booth, and so much more.

A tower of all books written about Abraham Lincoln!

He is one of my heroes!

A view of Ford's Theater across the street.

We were supposed to meet up with Ashlyn at the mall (she was there with a school group) but because of the massive thunderstorms in the area and the pouring rain, we decided it was time to start our journey home. Oh, how I love these trees...

but I definitely don't miss the traffic!

We were supposed to stay in a hotel that night at the half way point but the kids were so insistent about getting home that we just went for it, pulling into our driveway a little after 1:00 in the morning. I am so grateful that we were able to get back to Maryland for this wonderful trip and hopefully we'll be able to do it again next year!