Gila Valley Temple

In May, The Gila Valley Temple was dedicated. It is near Safford which is about 2 hrs and 15 min from our house. We met my sister and two of her boys there for the Open House in early May. The temple was decorated very nicely inside. The attention to detail was obvious. It was smaller than I thought it would be. It was much smaller than the meeting house that they built next to it. For size reference, the building next to the temple is the same floorplan as the building we meet in and the building across the street from Grandma and Grandpa. It was a good experience to take the kids through the open house and talk with them about the importance of temples.

President Kimball was from Safford. Supposedly one of these two houses (or maybe both, they are next door to each other) was his house. There is a marker at the church building next door, but it didn't indicate which house was his.

When we left Safford, after having a picnic lunch at a part with my sister, Tyler and I went to the Father's and Son's outing. I had driven the truck half way to Safford and left it in a Wal-Mart parking lot and finished the drive with Michelle and the kids. When we got back to the Wal-Mart, Michelle and the girls continued on the freeway and Tyler and I went and spent the night next to a dry wash in the desert. The only saving grace was that because of the wash there were lots of trees. Tyler had a great time playing with friends and sleeping in the tent.