A Wonderful Week

Last week we had a family reunion in Nauvoo. Greg and I decided to drive there to save money and to visit as many church history sites as possible. Greg took a week off work and we got to spend tons of time with our family. It was totally worth it. I have listed 15 highlights from our trip!

#1. LIBERTY JAIL- We stayed with my brother Justin and his family for a couple of days before we headed to Nauvoo. Our first stop was Liberty Jail. The church has built a dome around the actual jail. I can't believe that Joseph Smith spent over 4 months there. Here I am with: Greg, Cassidy, Bethany, Alice, Paul, and Justin.


#2. INDEPENDENCE- We stopped by Independence and saw the temple site. It is on a pretty crazy street, but it is so green! The RLDS Temple is right across the street.



#3. KANSAS CITY- Justin took us to the top of a WWI museum to see Kansas City. It seems like quite the place. No wonder there are so many songs written about Kansas City. Here I am with Cassidy, Justin, Bethany, and Paul in the background. I think that me and Cassidy are the only normal ones in this picture... too much time in the car I guess...



#4. DEAF SCHOOL- My little sister is hard of hearing, so we decided to head to the Deaf Museum in Kansas City. It was way cooler than we thought it would be. We stayed at the museum for over an hour and asked one million questions during the tour. The coolest part was that across the street was the Deaf School. Here are Justin and Cassidy posing in front of the school.



#5- FAR WEST- The day of the reunion we met up with more family for more church history. Here we are at Far West. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. I'm excited we'll have a temple there some day. In the photo: Dad, Paul, Greg, Haley, Whitney, Cassidy, Dillon, and Mom.



#6- ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN- We also stopped by Adam-ondi-Ahman on the way to Nauvoo. Once again so beautiful and green, but extremely humid. IN PHOTO: Greg, Cassidy, Alice, Grace, Paul, Bethany, Dillon, me, mom, dad, and Whitney.






#7- NAUVOO TEMPLE- At last we got to Nauvoo! The first place we went to was the temple. Here we are with my mom.



#8- BENCH PRESSING- During the reunion we had a bunch of different activities. One of the activities was seeing who could lift the most. I thought it was pretty creative that Bethany and Paul came up with the idea of people bench pressing Greg. It was hilarious!



#9- NAUVOO PAGEANT- I'm sad to say that I didn't take any pictures of the actual pageant. Right before the pageant there were tons of pioneer games. One of them being wagon rides. Here is Greg pulling me and Cassidy. It was a bumpy ride!



#10- CARTHAGE JAIL- We traveled to Carthage and visited the jail. Here is Greg and Cassidy right in front of the door with the bullet holes.



#11- SONGS- At the Carthage Jail Visitors Center we had a little program where family members sang songs or quoted scriptures about Joseph Smith. In this picture Greg and Matt are singing a song called 'Brothers' about Joseph and Hyrum.



#12- BROTHERS- This statue is of Joseph and Hyrum right outside of Carthage Jail. Here I am with my brothers (except for Derek). IN PHOTO: Dillon, Justin, me, and Joel.



#13- MISSISSIPPI- The whole time we walked around Nauvoo, we could see the Mississippi River. It was so beautiful. This particular day (Saturday) it was exceptional.



#14- WINTER QUARTERS- Once we left Nauvoo we traveled through Nebraska to get home. Here we are in front of the Winter Quarters Temple. It is right next to the cemetary. On the temple windows you can see the Missouri River and the mountains. I wish we could have gone inside, but we just didn't have the time.



#15- WINTER QUARTERS VISITORS CENTER- Winter Quarters was way more interesting than we thought it was going to be. We also had a lot of questions for the sister missionary showing us around. In the downstairs they had this cool bronze exhibit. Here we are by the First Vision.

We had lots of fun and learned so much about church history by going on this trip. It was a TON of driving, but totally worth it so that we could be with our family.