Monticello Temple (ode to Kristina)

Me and Kristina- I'm blinking & freezing

 So my friend, Kristina, and I made a whirlwind
 (crazy) trip over to Monticello, Utah and back this
 weekend. It's a 6 hour drive one way, so basically
 12 out of our less than 24 hours trip was spent
 driving haha.  I'm very grateful that for almost my
 entire life, I've never had to drive more than 30
 minutes to get to a temple. I currently live about 10
 minutes from one. How incredibly blessed I am!
 Kristina moved to Monticello when she was 9
 years old and her family still lives there. When I
 told her of my goal getting 10 temples this year she
 offered to let me stay at her house. I asked if she
 "was for real" and she said she was and committed
 to go with me this Friday. We arrived at her family's house (just about 4 blocks from, but on the same street as, the temple) around 11pm. We chatted with her super cute family for a bit and then went to bed. Her mom came with us, and we attended the 8am temple session. I was proxy from Agata Maria /Bovino/. All her work had previously been done in the St. George temple, so I hope she enjoyed the change of venue.
After the session, we attempted to take photos, but I have forgotten to replace the memory card in my camera so her mom suggested we just use my cell phone. We only took one quick shot, because, let's be honest, it was freezing and windy like crazy. We went back to Kristina's where her dad had made ridiculously, awesome apple pancakes (thinner crispy ones just like I like even though he didn't know that) and home made syrup. Then, we drove back hahah- crazy, I know, but it was great! I'm grateful for my friends who are honestly willing to do crazy things (camp in the snow, drive for 12 hours for a 2 hour event etc etc) to help me achieve my goals! Not that Kristina doesn't love seeing her family, but she gave up a Friday night and what could've been a more productive Saturday, just to see them for a few hours and to help me. GREAT person that Kristina! Thanks Kristina and family!

My phone photo of the temple

Some unique things about this temple:
~Monticello was the first "mini" temple built, but it has since been expanded. The Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico Temple (which I have been too- woot!) is the smallest.
~It was the first and only temple to have a white Angel Moroni. President Gordon B. Hinckley had thought of making the angels on smaller temples different from their larger counterparts- make them white and holding a trumpet in one hand a scroll in another instead of gold with just a trumpet- but the white Moroni tended to get "disappear" in the clouds on poor weather days, and in less than 6 months a gold Moroni replaced the white one (side note- that white angel, was platted with gold and now sits atop the Columbus, Ohio temple- way to recycle!)
~It is a temple where you move from room to room as you progress through the session. I like the temples that do this!
~The Celestial Room is beautiful and breath taking (per usual). It has some green stained glass windows, that start with a lighter green shade and progress to dark green. Kristina says, throughout the temple, the "green" is representative of the local sage that grows everywhere around Monticello. Very cool.
~I have to say that this very well may have been the quietest Celestial Room I've ever been in. I never heard anyone speak at all! Not that other ones are "noisy" (honestly everyone whispers if they talk but several dozens whispers can become one normal tone almost ya know), but we were all in there for a good little while, and you could've heard a pin drop the entire time. Great for thoughts and prayers.