Well it was such a great day on our trip although it started with sad news. Paul Dimeo who was planning to join us at Disneyland had his father pass away last Saturday so today when we texted him he indicated that he was still in Phili with his family. Our thoughts go out to him and his family. After getting started this morning we went to the Reno Temple. It was closed so all of our photos were taken outside the main area of the temple. After that we faced the part of road that we had monitored the most: Donner's Pass. No problem, it was dry and cold.

When we arrived at the temple in Sacremento, it was amazing! It is located in a very secluded plateau with a large parcel of land that the church uses for Girls Camp and even has a chapel on the property. It was so beautiful. Callie loved it so much that she has indicated that this is where she is getting married. Although there would be no complaints from any of us, I am sure that time is necessary before we need to book a room. It was interesting as there was wild turkeys and deer on the property by the temple.

We then headed off to Oakland to see that temple there. We were amazed to find that due to the proximity of the multistake center next to the temple that there were a lot of people there. They also have a visitor center. So we learned a lot of interesting facts about the Oakland Temple. It has NO WINDOWS due to the earthquakes that they face in the area. It has palm trees that line each side of the path leading to the temple and there are twelve trees on each side symolizing the apostles of old and current. There is three different palm trees at the head of each row representing the Godhead and the First Presidency. There was a statue of two children at the base of the temple and they looked up to the temple. I really reflected on the purpose that we had sought in starting this family goal two years ago and creating the desire in the hearts of our children to turn their hearts and minds to the temple. It was a beautiful temple and as we came home after a visit to San Francisco it shined bightly and stood as a becon on the hill for all to see (which is what David O McKay said it would do)

We ended our day at Fisherman's Wharf and had dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Restaurant. We had a beautiful view of Alcatraz and watch many boats passing. The meal was very good and the kids really liked the specialty drinks that they got in glasses that light up. Although it has been a long day it was still happy kids and excitement for tomorrow. The pics help add to the story.

Mark didn't post all of our pics so here are a few more I will post. I like pictures and they do tell a thousand words. They all posted at the top. I know there are more from the temples I just don't know where he saved them. We are having a blast!