Nauvoo Trip

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a mini church history trip.  My friend Sam decided that he wanted to go to Nauvoo and he decided to see if anyone wanted to join him on the 12 hour drive.  I hadn't been to Nauvoo since I was 14 and the temple site was just rocks in the ground.  So I really wanted to go see the re-built Nauvoo temple.  We also planned on going to Liberty Jail, and as an added bonus we had time to go to Carthage Jail as well.  It was a really great trip! We had 8 of us in 2 cars and walkie talkies.  It was one of those rare times when when perfect group comes together who are all genuine friends with each other.  We spent the car rides talking about ancestors we had at Nauvoo, and reading out loud about the important things that happened in those places.  We also played the alphabet and license plate games car vs. car which was hysterical.  Here are a few of the pictures from the trip.

Here is the other car in our group ahead of my car and the Mississippi River in the background.  I vividly remember crossing the Mississippi as a 14 year old when it was flooding, but it was no less impressive as a 32 year old!

Rebecca, Erica, and Sam in Nauvoo

This is a statue outside the visitors center.  I remember Mom having a ceramic version of this one and I always loved it.  It was kind of fun to see the big one.

Here is the temple!!  It was so gorgeous.  And it sits up high so you can see it from most places in Nauvoo.  It was so wonderful to see it.  We didn't get to go in and do any work inside but just being on the grounds was so wonderful.  I felt the spirit so strongly as I thought about what this Temple meant to the pioneers as the made thier journey across the plains.

Here is the view from the Temple looking out accross the country.  You can see the Mississippi from there.  The also have this beautiful statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horseback.

This is the view from Joseph and Emma's house.  That is the Mississippi in the back.  I just thought this was a really pretty picture.  I love the sky!

This is one of my favorites!!!  This is the view of the temple from Parly Street.  This is the street that basically dead ends at the Mississippi.  It is significant because this is the road the saints walked as the left Nauvoo.  Along the road now they have  quotes from letters and journals on plaques that you read as you make the walk.  It was an amazing experiance for me.  I have no memory of Parly street from my last trip.  And you walk and read the quotes that are filled with some saddness and uncertainty but mostly faith and testimony you can't help but be touched.  Then you turn arround to go back to Nauvoo and there is the temple up on the bluff.  It was an awesome reminder of the power and strength the saints must have gotten from the covenants they made in that temple before leaving.  No one crossed the planes with out loosing someone or paying a high price, and I know the peace and strength that must have come knowing that families had been sealed for time and all eternity in a temple. 

This is my new best friend Ethan!  I have now performed surgery on 3 of his animals, so he thinks I'm pretty cool!  Really it is just sewing up holes or putting tales back on his stuffed animals.   

The temple at night as we left the pageant.

Our group walking back to the cars after the pageant.  The Nauvoo Pageant is pretty awesome.

We went to Sacrament Meeting in Liberty MO on our way home Sunday.  And then had a chance to visit Liberty Jail.  It was really cool.  We read D&C 121-123 in our cars on our way wich was pretty special.  

We also went to Carthage, but a friend had my camera and between the two of us we still forgot to bring it in, so no pictures.  But I think Carthage jail is a special special place.  Ethan who is 8, felt the spirit so strongly he was in tears.  It was amazing to see this little boy who was quite hyper after spending so long in a car, get instantly reverent because he knew what had happened in the very place we were walking, and felt the spirit so strongly.  It was a really neat thing to see it through the eyes of a little boy. 

May Camping Trip

Back in May a few friends and I went camping at the Whichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  We had a blast!!  We rode around the park from place to place taking turns in the back of a truck.  Went on a few hikes, and even did some cliff jumping!  That sounds more dramatic than it really was, but it was a lot of fun!  Here are a few photos from the trip.

Rebecca and Christine in the back of the Truck

Erica, Sam and Lori at the start of our hike.

Some pretty wild flowers

I thought the moss on this rock was so pretty.

Some cool waterfalls.  Unfortunately those brave enough to get in discovered they are full of leeches and came out with leeches all over thier legs.  I stayed out thank heavens!

Here is our group at the top of the cliff getting ready to jump.  It technically was a cliff but it was only about 20 feet high so nothing to terrifying.  But it was still kind of a rush to actually jump off!

Here are some of my friends getting ready to jump. 

Here is a view of the little canyon we were in.  It was really pretty

Some of us had to hold hands and jump.