Nauvoo

It was really fun to spend Labor Day weekend in Nauvoo with my parents.  It would have been more fun, if it hadn't been a sweaty 90 degrees, but it was great nonetheless.  My parents stayed with my dad's brother, Bryce, and his wife, Sandy who are serving a mission there.  We got a hotel in Keokuk down the road.  We got in to Nauvoo early Friday evening and walked around the temple for a while until it was time to meet Bryce and Sandy for dinner.  It was so fun to visit with them and hear about their experiences as Nauvoo missionaries.

The Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds were beautiful.  I hadn't been there before.  The sun was just going down and the light was beautiful.  We were all a little wary of chiggers, so we were high stepping it across the grass, but it was a nice evening.

The next morning, Dad got us tickets for an oxen ride and two carriage rides.  The ox cart was fun.  Did you know oxen are any breed or gender of cattle that's trained to pull a cart?  See fun AND informative.

As we waited for the next carriage ride, the kids had a chance to get to know the horses.  They LOVED that.  It was probably their favorite part of the whole weekend.  Peter was especially excited about it and incredibly comfortable with the horses.

After struggling with a squirmy and restless Peter on the last carriage ride, we decided to forgo the third carriage ride so the kids could run around for a bit.  Unfortunately it was miserably hot outside and difficult to manage the kids inside any of the houses, so that became our challenge all weekend.

Bryce was working at the brickyard that day, so it was fun to hear him give the presentation and then we even got a personal behind the scenes tour of how all the complimentary souvenir bricks are made.

Had to stop at the Lucy Mack Smith home built by my ancestor Joseph Bates Noble.

Playing with pioneer toys.

That night we got to go to the Nauvoo Rendezvous, a musical put on by all the senior missionaries.  It was awesome.  One of my favorite things this trip.  We didn't get to see this last time and we loved it.  Bryce and Sandy have their own vignette in it and it was fun to see them perform.   

After church on Sunday, we did Carthage.  I love carthage.  The spirit there is very strong.  I'm filled with so much gratitude for the sacrifice of all those early, stalwart members of the church and no one more than the prophet Joseph Smith.  We are so blessed to have a prophet to lead God's church.  I feel that more and more especially in light of our current culture.  It is comforting to know that Christ is the head of the church... actively leading this church through a righteous and selfless man called to be a prophet.  It brings such great peace and stability in an otherwise wishy-washy world.

On Monday morning, my parents watched Jane and Peter while we got to do a session in the Nauvoo temple.  It's always so nice to do a session, but I think the Nauvoo temple is my favorite.  The inside is stunning, the spiral staircases are incredible, and while I sat in the session, I couldn't stop thinking about what it must have meant to the early saints to receive those ordinances before embarking on a terrifying and perilous journey.  How those promises must have sustained them as they made their way across the plains.  And how would it have felt to leave this magnificent building behind to be destroyed after all the sacrifice and struggle to build it?  All of it helped me reflect on how significant those ordinances are in my own life and how the magnificent temple structure is nothing compared to the work that is done there.  It was a wonderful temple visit and I'm so grateful I got to go.

Downtown Indy

I like downtown Indy.  It's clean.  The traffic isn't ever too crazy, and as we found out, Indianapolis has more monuments per/square foot than any other city other than DC.  It's a nice city.  We had a nice time walking around the White River State Park area and down along the canals.  We fed ducks for a bit and then headed over to Indy's iconic Circle monument (The Soldier's and Sailors monument).  It's quite impressive.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of it.  In the bottom of the monument is a free civil war museum that we hadn't seen before.  It's always fun to check out something new.

We visited the Indy car manufacturer, Dallara, and checked out some of these fancy cars.  For a kid who is currently obsessed with cars, it was torture for Peter not to be allowed to climb on them or even touch them.  At least he got to build little lego cars and race them down the track.

They had one car you could get in and drive the simulator.  I think that's Dad crashing into another wall.

Grandma and Grandpa's visit (part 1)

 It was so much fun to have my parents come visit and show them a little taste of Indiana.  They came out just in time for apple picking season, or more specifically Honeycrisp picking season.  We got ourselves a whole bushel and ate apples for days and days.  We even made several pies, so now I have a few "freezer meals" ready to go.

I told Jane to hold some apples and I got this.  I had to coach her to hold them somewhere else.

Without a doubt, the best part of having my parents come, was watching them develop a relationship with my kids.  They were here for two weeks and the kids absolutely fell in love with them.   We went on a hike, visited the Children's Museum, and explored all over Indy (and also looked for a new house).  My parents read them stories, played games, sang songs, and lead several Seal Hunts.  My kids were in heaven and I loved it too.