Our trip(s) in a nutshell

Friday, July 23rd: Scott, (Kenny's father), Carolyn (Kenny's mother) and Michael (Kenny's youngest brother) flew in for a visit. We met them at the airport and headed out to Adam-Ondi-Ahman that very night. We stayed at a lovely little place in the middle of nowhere called the MaryDale Inn. It was a B&B and I just had to laugh remembering Gilmore Girls (anyone know what I mean?). The whole day Saturday was spent touring around this beautiful place. We were lucky enough to have special tour guides. Merrell and Cherilyn Perman live by the Westons in Rockland, Idaho and they are currently serving a mission in AOA. So they were so kind to tell us lots of neat stories, and take down the "service road only" ropes to take us back where not many people get to go. It was quite the experience and I will never forget it. I fell in love with the Perman's--they are just the neatest couple. I really look forward to serving a mission with Kenny. It was a really special place. We also got to check out Jamesport, Missouri which is the largest Amish settlement west of the Mississippi River. I loved their fabric store and bought 8 yards of minky material in different colors as it was about $15-20 cheaper per yard.

Sunday, July 25th: After Sacrament meeting at the little branch we drove out to Far West, Missouri. All that's there is the old temple site with 4 cornerstones sealed in big glass cases, and a large monument. There was still a special spirit there, and it was humbling to think of all the horrible things that happened to the saints there.


From there we went to Liberty Jail. I've been there before, but it was still amazing and I learned more and had some neat impressions there. What trying times they went through!

We then headed over to Independence, Missouri and stopped at the Visitor's Center. They have a really cool film thing on families. We tried to go across the street to the Community of Christ visitor's center, but arrived about 7 minutes after they had closed. Bummer.

We got back home late Sunday night!

Monday July 26th: Relaxed a little in the morning. Took them on a walk down to the lake because that's the kids' favorite spot. We picked up Kenny from work and drove out to St. Louis and went up the Gateway Arch. What a view!!

After that I took the kids home to put them to bed, and Kenny took his family to the outdoor Muny theatre to see The Sound of Music. They really enjoyed it and got back pretty late.

Tuesday July 27th: We drove out to Belleville and went to Eckert's. We picked our own peaches, took a break and had custard (their first time eating custard) and then picked our own blackberries! The sun wore us out though, so we decided to forego the rest of the activities of the day and head home. I made a yummy peach cobbler that night and we played games.

Wednesday July 28th: In the morning, Kenny's family left for Nauvoo early and took Tyler with them. That was a weird moment for me when I realized Tyler is in fact old enough to go do things like that with other people. He doesn't need me like Brynlee does and there's no diapers or anything to worry about. My little boy is growing up so fast. But anyway. I picked up Kenny from work that evening and we drove down there with Bryn, arriving around 8 p.m., just in time for the Nauvoo Pageant! We loved it, of course, and headed back to our hotel exhausted. The next day we did a lot of fun things, the Trail of Hope on Parley Street, toured lots of the houses, did a session in the beautiful temple, went to the fun activities they have before the pageant, and Kenny's parents and bro. went to the pageant again that night. I opted to take the kids back to the hotel and put them to bed. Poor things were so so tired.

This is our family standing in the Mississippi River at the end of Parley Street, where the Saints crossed on Feb. 4th, 1846. I never tire of Nauvoo and its beauty and wonderful spirit. It's such a neat place. We stopped at Carthage Jail on the way home, but for some reason I didn't take a single picture. That is really cool to visit (I'd been several times before, just like Nauvoo but I still love it.) but it is such a different feeling, and focus than Nauvoo. Still good to experience though.

We drove home Friday night and it rained the entire way home. We watched the Mississippi River flood even more than it already was, and enjoyed the scenic route. :)

Kenny's family left on Saturday, the 31st around noon. It was great to have them here and go see all those wonderful church history sites with them.

The rest of Saturday was spent taking the kids swimming, and preparing my lesson for Relief Society. We are still recovering and getting back into our little routines.