Nauvooooo!

This trip has been a long time coming in my family and we were so happy that after 4 years of being married, we could finally go on the annual family trip! Here's the run-down.
Friday:
*We woke up at 4 am and got on the road by 5.
*Passed through Star Valley, the place where my Grandma Hinckley was born and raised, and I got all emotional.
*We learned that after Star Valley, Wyoming is probably one of the most boring states to drive through in the entire U.S. Sorry to any of you WY natives. We saw the place where trailer homes go to die and followed a huge truck that carried only pig's blood in it. Ugh, Wyoming.
*Nebraska was refreshing with it's tree filled landscapes and classic American scenery like red barns and milk cows grazing. We drove until about midnight and arrived in Omaha, found the closest hotel and shelled out more money than we should have to sleep in a bed and use a shower and toilet.

Miles thought this bear was real. There seemed to be a lot of parks on the way with trains. When we grabbed Miles in the morning we didn't put shoes on him. They were packed away on top of the car, so he was barefoot at all of the parks etc. We are such mean parents.



Saturday and Sunday:
*Richie took Miles swimming in the hotel pool and Miles fell in love.
*Drove to Council Bluffs and tried to find Winter Quarters. Got lost and frustrated after being in the car for so long, and gave up trying to find it. Headed to Ames Iowa.
*Ames gets a thumbs up, we liked it. Met up with some family there and stayed with my bro and his family and had those all to often thoughts of "Will we ever have a house? Will we ever be able to afford _______?"
*Miles makes friends with his cousins Izzy and Theo and takes over Theo's train set and Woody Doll.
*Did the whole church thing.






Monday:
*The last leg of the trip to Nauvoo begins, and on the way we stop in Iowa at the "American Gothic" house and take some sweet pictures.
*Settle in to our temporary home, the Hyrum Smith farmhouse, meet up with the rest of the fam, and have an awesome FHE learning about our Ancestors who were part of Nauvoo.
*Both Monday and Tuesday night were full of thunder and lightning storms all night. Miles was scared of them and I secretly loved pulling him in bed with us to comfort him.






Tuesday:
*Because of the thunder and lightening, the power was out Tuesday morning, which resulted in a shower in the dark and wet hair to go to the temple with.
*Did a session in the Nauvoo temple with my mom and dad, all of my brothers and sisters and all of their spouses. Pretty cool. The Nauvoo temple is incredibly beautiful.
*Toured a few houses in historic Nauvoo
*Got some good reading in, played at a park with Miles, and Richie played "ball" with the boys.
*Miles made friends with more cousins playing in the hot tub.








Wednesday:
*Richie went with all the other priesthood holders and helped do baptisms at the temple for the older cousins.
*We visited the Carthage jail where Jospeh and Hyrum were slain.
*While trying to explain to Miles what happened there, he must have gotten confused and kept saying, "Jee Cry" (Jesus Christ). Once he understood we weren't talking about Jesus and that we were talking about Joseph Smith, is turned into "Jo Emis" :)
*We walked the trail of hope down Parley Street, the same steps the saints took when they were pushed out of the city and had a family testimony meeting near the banks of the Mississippi River.
*What would any trip be without some frisbee golf? Richie managed to cram some of that in.






Thursday:
*Toured a few more spots in historic Nauvoo and then hit the road!
*Found a hotel somewhere in Nebraska and paid a little less for the convenience of a bed, toilet and shower.





Friday:
*The home stretch! Once again, Wyoming was disappointing, but we did stop at a gas station that gave us a free ice cream cone just for filling up!



In case you were doing the math at home, we spent a total of 52 hours in the car, minimum, this trip. The van has officially been broken in. I was impressed with how well the kids traveled, how well the van ran and how un-humid it turned out to be in the mid-west. All in all, it was one fantastic trip!