I want to talk to Jesus!

First off, no Ricco today. The only contenders left in my office pool are my boss and Teresa. Apparently he is content to just stay put for some reason. I promise I'm not THAT bad of a mom... I mean I kept Pearl alive for almost three years.Whew, glad to get that over with so we can avoid a slew of phone calls asking if he's here. It's like our family doesn't think we will call when he finally does decide to start this whole process. Today my uncle Bob, aka the world's greatest photographer, had an awesome deal for kids photos at Temple Square. The tulips and flowers were amazingly stunning, absolutely gorgeous, and picture perfect. So we let Pearl pick out a dress and headed down for a photo shoot. I'm not sure Uncle Bob is looking forward to another one with Pearl because she NEVER looks at the camera but he said we got a few real winners out of the nearly 200 pictures he took. It did make me feel better that it isn't just me that can't get that kid to smile at the camera. We will post pictures as soon as we see them or you can check out Robert Dyer Photography on Facebook (should be up on Tuesday). Pearl loved breaking all sorts of rules on the temple grounds - like picking the flowers and sticking her feet in the fountains. And she was totally mesmerized by all the pretty brides getting their pictures taken. She kept saying "they married?" and asking Jeff and I if we wanted to get married. Hence, the daddy/daughter marriage shot.
Pearl kept begging us to take her inside the temple. She still remembers the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house we went to where she did get to go inside (I think it's the cookie afterward that really made the impression) and figures she can walk right into any temple. We tried explaining to her that not everyone can go inside but she refused to accept that answer. Mainly because she has decided all temples are her temples, Jesus loves her (a big step for us considering she usually tells us that Jesus isn't her friend), and Jesus lives at the temple, and therefore she should be able to go in. When we got to the doors, Pearl knocked on them, hoping Jesus would answer and let her in. She was quite upset that He didn't answer the doors and couldn't believe that He wasn't there. She kept asking what He was doing and that she wanted to talk to Him. It was pretty cute but at the same time I felt really bad that she couldn't go in. I felt I was damaging her little spirit by not being able to answer her question about why Jesus wouldn't let her inside. Jeff decided to take her to the visitor's center to see the statue of Jesus in hopes that she would be satisfied. Well, she was excited to see the statue but still upset that she couldn't talk to Him in person. We tried to tell her that she could talk to Jesus anytime she wanted by saying a prayer but she wasn't buying the idea. Luckily the sister missionaries were able to distract her for about 15 seconds with a pass-along card that had a picture of Jesus on it. I sure hope my inability to answer Pearl's questions doesn't do lifelong damage. But seriously, what are you supposed to say when this innocent little face looks up at you in disbelief that Jesus didn't answer the door?