Our Trip to Nauvoo

I took way too many pictures on our trip to Nauvoo.  If you don't believe me, ask my parents.  At one point my mom said, "You know, Olivia, you don't need a picture of every site."  I knew, but I was trying to take a bit of that wonderful Nauvoo feeling home with me.  Every place was so spiritual and beautiful.  My plethora of photos started even before we reached Nauvoo though.  It was the first time we'd driven over the Rocky Mountains.  They were gorgeous.  The leaves were starting to change color, and it rained for two days straight as we drove through Colorado and Kansas and Missouri.  It felt good to us thirsty Nevadans to get drenched.

These weren't necessarily the most beautiful trees we saw, but we were stopped anyway, and decided to take a picture.  Somebody had to go to the bathroom or Omar had to eat or my conscientious Edgar felt he ought to check the tire pressure.  Needless to say, it was NOT a non-stop drive.  We stopped an awful lot.

 

 

 In Golden, Colorado (near Denver), we went to a Railroad Museum that we'd been planning on visiting for months.  My boys all love trains.  The day we went to the museum it was pouring rain.  The museum is 15 acres large and almost all outside.  The museum staff was so kind.  They gave us a rain check so that we can return and see the museum for free when it's not raining.  I'm not sure when we'll be back there, but it was a great gesture.  We bought all the kids hats and took some nice pictures anyway. 

In Independence, Missouri, we went to the LDS Visitors' Center.  It was a lovely place.  We went on a little tour with a nice sister missionary.  My youngest boys were very restless and had a hard time paying attention, but at the end, when we approached the Christus statue, they sensed something.  Ammon came and sat on my lap and Marcos settled down and snuggled into me as we listened to some of the words of the Savior from the New Testament.  "Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."  I got teary for the first (but definitely not the last) time.  It was very spiritual and even my littlest children felt something of the love of the Lord.

With our frequent stops and slow travel, it took awhile.  We stopped at Liberty Jail and Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  Finally, we arrived in Nauvoo and had these wonderful folks waiting for us outside their house:

Could there be a more welcome sight?  It was actually dark the night we got there--this picture was taken the next night before Elder and Sister Dahl's performance in Rendezvous.  Please note the hose.  They seem to be a great rarity in the mid-west.  I guess you can either have rain or hoses.  In Nevada we have hoses.

 

Here are the performers in action:

They were so great!  We were right on the front row, cheering them on.

Afterwards, they practiced a part for us that they are preparing to do later.  Let me tell you, these parents of mine have talent!

After the show, we felt like celebrities.  So many wonderful senior missionaries, missing their own grandchildren, doted on my kids.  They let them try on their fancy hats and told them they were cute.

Here are some other shots from beautiful Nauvoo:

Lili took this picture of Edgar and me in front of the Nauvoo temple.  I think it looks a little like an engagement shot.

This was in an ox wagon.  I was snapping my finger so that Ammon would look at the camera.

Elder Dahl, narrated a carriage ride.  I loved it.  He did such a good job.

Sister Dahl narrated the wagon ride we went on and Elder Dahl drove.  They were wonderful, and I just loved seeing them in action!

Here we were at Carthage Jail. It was a sobering place, but the Church has made it (and all of their sites) so beautiful with gorgeous and well-cared for flowers everywhere.

Sister Dahl gave us a tour of the Log School House in Nauvoo.  We loved it.

Sister Dahl also made these darling hats for each of the kids.  They loved the hats and insisted on wearing them all the time.  Even little Omar got one.

On our tour of the Cultural Hall, Sister Jardine had us dance on the dance floor because it is the original floor from the good old days when the city of Nauvoo was in full swing.  Edgar was very hesitant to dance and he wouldn't have done it just for me, but the outside pressure from Sister Jardine and my mom was too much for my Eddie.

Elder Dahl in the Browning Gun Shop with the Cobian children.

This picture was taken in the Seventies' Hall.  This is where missionaries were trained.  With our current missionaries and all our future missionaries, we thought we'd better take a photo.

 

This picture is at the Winter Quarters Visitors' Center.  The kids got to dress up as pioneers and pull a hand cart.

 

Near Cheyenne, Wyoming, we took these pictures on our way home at a bison ranch.  We were too late in the day to take a train ride to see the buffalo, but we did get a shot with this fellow.  Our kids are so different.  Ruben had no desire to "ride" the buffalo, and Ammon wouldn't even get close enough to the buffalo to be in the picture, but Marcos couldn't wait to get up there!

Lili rode the jack-o-lope.

Though we didn't see any live buffalo, we saw a lot of other animals.  This camel was overly friendly, and kept trying to put its head near mine.  I was a little nervous because there was a sign that said, "Camels can bite and spit."

  We enjoyed Nauvoo so much that I think everyone should visit there.  If you act quickly, and go within this next year, you'll get to see these wonderful missionaries there: