Sapporo Temple

Aside from the snow festival the second main reason we went to Sapporo was for the temple.  The Tokyo temple is closed so even though it is a plane ride away Sapporo is probably the easiest temple for us to get to.

We even stayed in the patron housing and each night either Bob or I went to do an endowment session.  Bob and Tucker also got to do baptisms together.  

 Scarlett found some icicles on the temple grounds.

The kids are showing how much it snowed in just one night.  They had that bench cleared off the day before.

 I think everything was beautiful covered in snow.  So peaceful.

 I really do miss the snow, especially how it looks on the pine trees.

 Check out the bike.

 The patron housing was really nice.  We stayed in a family room and it was perfect for us. 

Getting snow gear on and off the kids is a crazy amount of work!  It took at least 20 minutes and that is with both Bob and I helping, and the older kids doing it mostly on their own.  The hard part is once someone is ready they are so very hot until everyone is ready to go outside.  We had to let the older kids go out alone before Beatrix and Calista were ready.  Each time Beatrix would scream from the moment she was dressed until she was outside.  It is not surprising though, we had them very bundled up.

The toilet lid would open with a sensor every time you opened the bathroom door.  At first I thought it was pretty cool, but it got old fast.  Everyone kept going in there to change and setting their clothes on the toilet lid only to have them fall off a second later when the lid popped open.

All in all the temple is what really made the trip worth it to Bob and I.  The kids thought it was so fun to just play in the snow.  They didn't really care about the snow sculptures at all.  It is going to be nice once the Tokyo temple opens up again, which will probably be the very end of this year.  I think we need to make a point next year to drive somewhere with the kids to just play in the snow for a day.  They really loved it, and we don't need to get on a plane to get to snow in the winter time.