Temple Trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 Over Christmas break, we wanted to take a family temple trip, especially since 6 of us were all together and Josh is now 12. We had lots of choices, all over 4 hours away: Birmingham, AL (4 1/2 hours), Baton Rouge, LA, (4 1/2 hours), Orlando (6 hours), and Atlanta (6 hours). Madi really wanted to go to New Orleans. So we went to Louisiana (an hour north of New Orleans) and had a great trip. After a neat baptism session (for our own Italian ancestors, thanks to our Italian-speaking family history guru, Sister Legge), we ate at an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant (with plenty of vegan options, plus mango ice cream), then headed to Bellingrath Gardens on our way home. Bellingrath Gardens, south of Mobile, AL, is a huge mansion and gardens with Christmas lights all over the property.