The Spokane Temple

This summer has been one of preparation for Cameron. This spring, he submitted his papers to go on a mission for our church. Submitting papers is kind of a misnomer, because it's really all done online now. The church is nothing if not up-to-date.

He received his mission call in June (Scroll down in the blog to the "One Returned, Another Departed" post. I'm too lazy right now to make it a link.). He's going to San Fernando, California. I have to admit, that I'm kind of glad that he's staying stateside for his mission. Having Brandon in Jamaica for his mission made me appreciate the USA even more.

In our final preps for his mission, Cameron went to the Spokane Temple, which is the one closest to us. It was such a blessing to be there together with family, and I'm so glad that Brandon's mission did not overlap Cameron's, since it meant Brandon could be there with us. The girls waited outside on the temple grounds and inside in the waiting room. Alyssa snapped some photos for me.

The temple grounds are always so beautiful, and Emma enjoyed playing in the sunshine:

... and smelling the flowers. Spokane is a small temple, so the grounds are not real extensive.
And we asked a really nice stranger to take a picture of all of us together. Grandpa is standing next to Grandma, and holding Emma (who refused to look into the sun). Between Darcie and Brandon is Indri, sister-in-law and aunt.
I'm a sucker for generation pictures. This is three generations of Huffaker men. LOVE these guys!!
And this is the last complete family photo before Cameron left:
The day after we went to the temple, Cameron spoke twice in church -- once in our ward and once in the Singles Branch. After that, we left town with him. I'm so glad we had our family together for this temple day, though!