Nauvoo, again!

 We love church history.  We love learning of the faith, fortitude, endurance, cheerfulness, and courage of those early members of the church that gave everything to enjoy the gospel blessings.

Doodle, quite the poser

 First stop, Mark and Jen's (thank you for bed and breakfast) then Winter quarters.

 Then we arrived in Nauvoo and jumped into all our favorite activities - wagon ride, carriage ride, ox cart ride,

 Tall One had surgery 5 days before we left.  It was hard for him to stand for very long so we had him sit with Grandma so she wouldn't be lonely.

 Blacksmith, wheel wright shop where we got our prairie diamond rings (bent nail).

 print shop, tin shop, gun shop,  as well as many of the homes,

 We played pioneer games and pastimes.

 She loved playing house in the log cabin wearing her costume.

stick pulls were Ike's favorite.  We also enjoyed the country fair especially the puppet show and the tug o war.

 We watched the Nauvoo Pageant every night that they performed.  We loved it, the message, the spirit of it, and the energy and enthusiasm and testimony.  Then early one morning we did the 3 mile trek.  It was a lot drier this year, which was best for our smaller family.  Tall One was the main puller, sooo glad he was willing and able.

 He wore his five finger shoes that make his feet look like gorilla feet.  This picture above is a present left by one of the cows. . . makes it all more authentic.

 Along the way we read pioneer stories, most of them being of the handcart pioneers.  We did find this very large snake skin.  So grateful that we never found a snake.

Teaching gentleman art to the boys.

 . . or just letting them get a taste of what some of our heroes did that rescued the Martin and Willie handcart companies.

The thorns on the trees were massive but there is my love, my protector

 Another important trail job came when we entered the thick woods.  Ike was put in charge of swinging a stick to get the spider webs out of our way.  He is now an expert in web removal.

 This is all that was left of the big pond we had to wade through last year.  It was pretty green (the scenery but also the mud.).

 Pausing for a view of the Mississippi river.

 Which eventually led to finding a place to play in the Mississippi river.

 The stone bridge.  Thoughts of Joseph and Emma's romantic spot to steal a kiss out of the snow.

 A trip to Carthage is always special.  Even today, a week later, Doodle was sharing some of her feelings of sadness that she felt at Carthage jail.  We discussed the feelings of appreciation for the prophet Joseph Smith, his willingness to be completely obedient to God and be instrumental in the restoration of the gospel in these days.  Because of him we have the fullness of the gospel, true joy.

 Doodle always adds a few interesting views on my camera.

 Back to the Mississippi and sunsets.

 Sweethearts down by the river enjoying the sunset, just like Emma and Joseph.  My sweet parents.  Thank you for your example and willingness to serve a mission.  Thank you for hosting us and making this experience possible.  Thank you for being great grandparents and loving each of us.

 Brothers, supporting each other, willingly (because we have to ...) becoming all they are meant to be and appreciating one another.

On our way home we visited our dear friends in Missouri.  The Richardson's have gathered 25 children and are now creating a family ranch and raising a great family.  To read more of this great family get their book, The Gathering by Annie Laurie and Brian Richardson

 Beautiful place to be.  The bushes on the side were wild blackberries.  They treated us to blackberry cobbler as well as dinner, breakfast, lunch, and a place to stay.  It is amazing what you can do when you feel it just needs to happen.  36 under one roof and they welcomed us too.

 We had some car trouble on our way home.  It actually died on the freeway a couple of times while we were out of cell phone service but luckily there are not dead spots with prayer.  We prayed our way home and arrived safe and well.  Once we got the car cleaned out and tried to start it again, it was completely dead, locked up and required the dealer picking it up to be able to repair it.  The other half of that amazing story is the tow and repair only cost $150.  We are counting our blessings and recognizing the Lord's hand in each moment.

 I highly recommend experiencing Nauvoo. We began reading aloud the Work and the Glory in preparation for our trip.  The stories were familiar and the book came alive before us.  We are continuing our reading as there are 9 volumes but is has become the time we all look forward to and will keep working our way through them.  We also reviewed a few of our own ancestor stories and visited their homes.  A rich heritage gives us courage to do hard things, stay true to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and grow in gratitude and understanding of the joy that comes when we are obedient, work hard, and love lots.