Nauvoo

We left Memphis and headed north to Nauvoo.  We enjoyed passing through country that was new to us.  The last time I had been to Nauvoo, I was pregnant with Nathan, so everything was very different.  We drove through St. Louis and saw the St. Louis Temple from the freeway.  We enjoyed traveling past fields of corn and wheat and small towns.  Nate loved it so much, he said he wouldn't mind living there someday.

We arrived in Nauvoo around dinner time.  We stayed at the Hotel Nauvoo, an original pioneer home that had been refurbished and turned into a hotel.  We had a large room - 2 bedrooms with 3 beds and a bathroom.  We found a great pizza place to eat.  The owners were happy to show the kids how they make the pizza from scratch and we had a great time.  We then just walked up and down the street to see what there was so we could make plans for the next 3 days.

The next morning we woke up ready to go exploring.  We had a breakfast of poptarts and milk and were off.  We started out by going to Visitor Center and looking at the exhibits.  We then signed up for 3 shows for the time we were there.  Kellee and Marshel enjoyed collecting every little postcard and brochure they could find.  With all of that done, we went out for a carriage ride which took us all over Old Nauvoo and showed us where everything was.  We also went for an ox ride which was definitely an experience and we were really grateful that we had not had to cross the plains this way.

We spent the next two days visiting many of the old homes and businesses of Nauvoo, which has been restored to the way it was back in the early 1800s.  We met many senior missionaries who told us about each house/business we were in.  It was a fun way to learn of the history of our church.  The kids especially loved the area where they could play pioneer games and dress up like pioneers, as well as the Living Museum where they learned how to make rope, bread, soap, etc.

The 3 shows we saw were so great.  There are performing missionaries in Nauvoo that have been called there just for the summer to perform in the musicals and work in the homes there.  One of the shows was a variety show with the young performing missionaries and the senior missionaries together.  That was really funny.  Another one was of a man finding the gospel there in Nauvoo and the third was a senior missionary show, which we really enjoyed.

The highlight of the week for Nathan and Rachel was when they were able to go to the Nauvoo Temple and perform baptisms for the dead.  They said it was very special and they felt the spirit there.  We were very sad to leave Nauvoo after such a wonderful week, but it was time to go.  We headed back towards Memphis, stopping in Carthage to see the jail where our prophet, Joseph Smith was imprisoned and killed.  That was very interesting as well.  Nate and Rachel actually ran into some of the kids they had done baptisms with earlier that day.

Unfortunately, Mom's camera battery died shortly after we left on vacation and we had forgotten to bring a charger, so we have no pictures of our time in Nauvoo - only memories.

We stayed in Memphis another week or so before heading back home to Arizona.  We brought Erin home with us to spend a month with us.  We had moved into our new rental just before we left on vacation, so we were happy to be back home and start unpacking our house.