In August we went on a trip to the Frankfurt Temple with the whole Vienna Stake. This was our first stake temple trip, and it was a really neat experience for our whole family. It was also fun to have other people from the ward there with us. We all got together for dinner a couple of the nights, and Chris and I were able to go to the temple together the last day while friends watched the kids.
It is peaceful to be at the temple for a whole week. It is not a stressful vacation full of running around. We were worried about Elora and Oliver at first, thinking they would be bored since there is not much for kids to do. But they both absolutely loved it. Every day we would walk around the grounds and the small town of Friedrichsdorf. Oliver especially liked being able to see the gold Angel Moroni – he would say, “Angel! Play music!” and sing whenever the angel came in sight.
Here is Oliver playing on the grounds. He found a rock and was hitting it on the bench to accompany his singing. I love this picture even though maybe no one else knows what it is of, because when I look at it I can hear him singing and banging out the rhythm with his rock. He does this all the time at home too. He loves to sing and play music.
We stayed in the temple apartments, which are literally right next door to the temple. This is the view from our window. 
Here are the kids in the cafeteria while Chris made dinner one night. He let them watch a movie, and when he looked over he saw they had made some new friends who wanted to watch Curious George with them.
Here we all are on the temple grounds.
Elora told us that the temple is a special place and she was so happy to see it every day. I am so grateful that we had the chance to bring the kids with us to spend time at this sacred place. Elora cried when it was time for us to leave, and said “I want to stay at the temple forever!”
