Spring Break Road Trip (Part 2)!

Monday we got up and decided to head back up to Nauvoo and see a few more things, especially some of the homes we missed, before continuing on to Carthage Jail and then Indianapolis.  It was such a beautiful day as we drove along the Mississippi River!  We were disappointed that the many of the Joseph Smith sites that are owned by the Community of Christ Church were closed, but we took time to go by them and read all the signs.  Then we went to Brigham Young's home and a few others before getting on our way.

We drove the half hour to Carthage where we visited the jail where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred.  It is difficult to describe my feelings while in that place.  I vacillated between sadness, joy, and everything inbetween.  I would have to say I settled on something that I would describe as peace.  Peace that God is in control.  Stillness because I know He is God.  I think it was powerful for the kids to be there and I'm really glad we went there as a family.

We continued our drive through Illinois (where we stopped for a moment in Adair, Illinois) to Cyle and Athena's home in Indianapolis.  Being in the van with the kids was great!  We were listening to audiobooks of the Tennis Shoes series and we were all completely entertained despite the long hours in the car.  Every time we got in the van, the kids would start chanting, "tennis shoes, tennis shoes!"  I don't think they even wanted to watch a movie until our very last stretch of driving when we were almost home.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Cyle and Athena.  They have done their home up beautifully and we such gracious hosts to our crazy family.  On Tuesday we went to visit Cyle at his work and then to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, which apparently is the largest children's museum in the country.  It was really cool with lots of great exhibits for the kids.  We especially loved the water clock, the hot wheels exhibit, and the ScienceWorks area.  It was also super cool that we were able to meet with Ken's cousin Kyly and her son Isaiah and spend the day with them.  It was the first time that I had ever met Kyly and I just adored her!  It meant so much to us that she would take the time off work and take Isaiah out of school to be with us.

The next day, Wednesday, we just laid low and went to a movie.  It was nice to have a down day after the breakneck speed at which we had been doing activities.  That evening Morgan babysat and we were able to have a nice evening out with Cyle and Athena.  How I love being with them!

Thursday we were packing up for another busy day on the agenda.  We were almost done packing the van and Athena was showing Morgan how to use her new blowdryer/curler (way cooler than if her old mom was showing her) when I heard a loud crash from the bathroom.  I thought a shelf or something big had fallen.  I ran into the bathroom to see Morgan twitching (but not in a seizure-type way) on the floor and a huge hole in the wall.  Athena is freaking out as she explained that Morgan had just passed out.  I did my best to stay calm and got her flat on her back instead of being crumpled up against the wall.  Athena ran to get Ken.  I kept talking to Morgan and after about 30 seconds -- a very long feeling 30 seconds! -- Morgan's eyes popped open and in a startled voice asked, "what happened?!?"  She was very surprised to wake up on the floor and even more surprised to see the big hole she had made in the wall with her head.  After giving her some juice and a little more to eat she felt just fine.  We're still not sure what made her pass out.  We're guessing she had her knees locked.  Probably should talk to her doctor about that one...

We finally got on our way.  Drove back across Illinois and the Mississippi River for our first stop of the day in Hannibal, MO.  Hannibal is where Mark Twin lived and set several of his books, especially Tom Sawyer.  We toured the cave (the one where Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher got lost), drove up to Lover's Leap, walked around downtown that had Mark Twain's house, saw an old-fashioned Mississippi Riverboat, and had ice cream.  It was a fun stop that we all enjoyed!

We continued on our way driving through some of the back roads of Missouri.  We stopped at Far West where temple cornerstones had been laid by the early saints.  We were the only ones there.  It was just before sunset and everything was golden and tranquil.  It was so beautiful!  It was neat to read how that area was once a large town of over 5,000 Saints before they were forced to leave.  I would have loved to spend more time in that peaceful setting but several of us had to use the bathroom so we continued onto the visitor's center in Liberty.  Our whole family was moved when they saw Liberty Jail and its walls that were 4 feet thick.  For them, and for me, experiencing that makes sections 121-123 even more powerful as we learned all that Joseph and his companions had to endure.

 

After one more night in a hotel , we only had 2 more stops on our adventure.  We visited the grounds of the new Kansas City Temple.  I was just dedicated last year and was beautiful!  I'm glad we took a few moments to go see it.  We then headed over to the visitor's center at Independence.  We learned about how it was important for the Saints to build Zion and how we can build Zion today.  My favorite was when the missionary how we could build Zion in our own families.  Cooper confidently raised his hand and answered, "with a hammer."  That provided all sorts of colorful visuals in my head. :)  Ken had to work a change that night, so we were under a deadline and had to get home, so we got on our way.  I think we were all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds that night.

There is something powerful when you have the opportunity to be somewhere and see it with your own eyes rather than just reading about it in a book.  It was amazing to see my kids really become engaged in church history during this trip.  I'm so glad that for the rest of their lives that they will remember this trip, I know I will.

Spring Break Road Trip! (Part 1)

For spring break we decided it would be fun to do a road trip where we visited many of the history sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and visited Uncle Cyle and Aunt Athena in Indianapolis.

We began our adventure on Thursday after school and drove late, late into the night to Omaha.  We got up and drove to the Winter Quarters visitor's center.  We spent the couple of hours exploring the cool exhibits pulling handcarts, and being told some of the hardships that the pioneers endured.  I especially loved the collection of Liz Lemmon Swindle's beautiful artwork depicting moments in the Savior's life.

From there we walked across the street to the Winter Quarters temple and the pioneer graveyard.  It was a beautiful and sacred site.  My heart ached thinking of so many that gave up their homes, possessions, and even their lives as they tried to escape persecution and to find Zion.  Made me evaluate my own testimony and ask myself if I would do the same.  It was a question I asked myself many times over that next week.  

From Winter Quarters we headed across the river to where the Kanesville Tabernacle site was.  There we spent just a few minutes learning about when Brigham Young was sustained President of the church at the tabernacle and how the Mormon Battalion went to fight the Spanish American War. 

We got on our way heading east so we could meet Cyle and Athena in Nauvoo, but had to do a little detour in Adair, Iowa. :)

When we were first coming up with the idea of our trip one of the bonuses was that my brother Cyle and his family were fairly close to the main site of Nauvoo where we would be spending a few days.  We asked if they would like to join us for the weekend in Nauvoo and then we would continue on to visit them.  Lucky for us, they agreed, and we were all so excited to spend several days with them!

We got into Keokuk and found where we were staying.  We had arranged to stay in the same hotel in Keokuk near Nauvoo.   We couldn't wait to hug Uncle Cyle and Aunt Athena and I especially wanted to love on my nephew Kingston!  It had been far too long since we had seen them and it felt so great to be all together!  We watched some basketball and organized our plan of attack for the next day. 

Cyle and Athena got up early on Saturday and brought Kingston to our room so we could get all the kiddos ready and eat breakfast while they went up to serve in the Nauvoo Temple.  We went up to meet them at the temple after their session so we could swap the kids and Ken and I could be in the temple.  We were waiting out front, on a rather dreary day, but could still feel the importance of that beautiful building.  (As a child, I had been to Nauvoo many times when we lived in the Chicago area.  Back in those days we could only see where the cornerstones and a few other stones marked where the original temple was.  It still blows my mind that now the temple has been rebuilt!  Makes my heart rejoice!)

I went inside to inquire if the session Cyle and Athena had been in was finished.  As I was waiting by the front desk, I saw a girl come out from doing baptisms.  She looked so much like my cousin Shannon, but I kept telling myself that she was in Arizona.  When she finally turned around and started walking towards the front doors I noticed that she started eying me too.  It WAS Shannon!  She was in Illinois doing an internship and had decided to attend the temple on that Saturday morning.  What a small world!!!  We had a wonderful time hugging and catching up for a few minutes.  I love when little miracles like that happen.  It thought it was so fitting have that to have that experience at the temple because I imagine that is what it will be like when we get to the other side and we get to greet members of our family that we have been sealed to.  Such a neat feeling!

 When Cyle came out we realized that we wouldn't be able to do everything we wanted, so we decided to head to the visitor's center and get our tickets for the carriage ride.  It was a rather rainy, cool day and it was fun to bundle up in the blankets and ride all over Nauvoo hearing cool stories about what it would have been like to live there.  After spending the afternoon getting a feel for all that was there to see.  Cyle and Athena took the kids to a movie about Joseph Smith while Ken and I were able to attend the temple.  After our session, we met everyone playing at a park near the temple and then headed to the cultural hall to see "Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo" a short musical put on by the couple missionaries.  It was cute and the kids really liked it.  After the show, we headed back to Keokuk for a late dinner and swimming in the pool before falling into bed.

On Easter Sunday we found a branch that met in Keokuk and attended Sacrament meeting.  We went back to the hotel where Aunt Athena had arranged an awesome Easter egg hunt in the field behind the hotel.  The kids ran all over finding eggs and then had to put the numbered eggs in order.  Once all the eggs were found, the kids would open the eggs in order and find a little reminder and a scripture that would talk about a part of the Easter story.  It was the perfect little devotional that really put all the Easter focus on Jesus Christ and His Atonement and sacrifice for us.  I was so grateful that Athena had done that for our family!

After our Easter egg hunt, we grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back up to Nauvoo.  The rain the day before was gone and it was an absolutely gorgeous day!  It was perfect for walking around and seeing the sites.  We went to the family living center where we learned about how families lived back then and saw demonstrations on how to make ropes, barrels, bread, and rugs.  We went and saw the restored homes of families that had lived there.  The kids especially loved the bakery, the brickyard (where we got to take home a brick), the tinsmith, the printing office, and most of all, the blacksmith (where we got a horseshoe and a prairie diamond ring).  The weather was perfect and it wasn't busy at all so we got lots of attention from the missionaries working there.

This little guy was totally tuckered out and fell asleep on the benches at the blacksmith shop.

It was getting late in the afternoon and Cyle and Athena had a 5 hour drive back home because Cyle had to work the next morning.  We said our goodbyes, knowing we would see them the next evening, and went our separate ways.  Our family headed down to the quarry where they had gotten the limestone to build the temple.  We also took a drive up the Mississippi and through the farmland.  It was a beautiful drive and it was so delightful being together, enjoying the beauties around us, and not being on a strict schedule.  Before going back to the hotel, we made one other stop and spent about an hour at a little park just outside of Nauvoo that I had seen.  It had a small river going through it that created some pretty, small waterfalls.  The kids had a great time and it was so beautiful to watch the sun setting over the Mississippi.  Perfect serenity.

Seriously!  It was just about the PERFECT day!