This past June we took our first real family vacation. We drove back to Iowa to spend time with Blair's sister, Malia and her family. She lives about an hour and a half away from Nauvoo, and we had such a wonderful experience seeing the historic sights, and gaining a new appreciations for the early Saints of the church.
We took two days to drive the 18+ hours on the way out. The kids did great in the car, thanks in part to our "new" used Honda Pilot- equipped with DVD player. We stayed over in North Platte, Nebraska to swim at the hotel, and rest up for another day in the car. We ended up experiencing the craziest storm I've ever seen, complete with tornado warning around midnight. It was quite the experience to see buckets of rain being dumped out of the sky rather than drops--not to mention the wind and the hail.The next day we stopped at Winter Quarters to see the temple, cemetery, and visitor's center. This ended up being one of my all time favorite parts of our trip. I felt such awe and reverence standing on the hallowed ground where so many died during a perilous winter there. It was amazing to see how the kids felt and reacted to the sacred feeling there as well.
We spent Sunday with Keith & Malia, visiting and letting the kids get reacquainted. And Monday we headed down to Nauvoo. Our first destination was obvious--the Nauvoo Temple. What a humbling and joyful experience to be there, and see the magnificence that came from such sacrifice and service of so many Saints.Blair and I were able to do a session there the following day, and were even asked to be the witness couple. Unfortunately, between the heat, a lack of breakfast, and the early stages of pregnancy, I nearly passed out not long into the session. We were replaced with a sweet missionary couple sitting next to us (who kept assuring us that they had been through the same thing during the wife's seventh pregnancy on a trip to Manti). It was a sweet (and a little embarrassing) feeling as they stopped the session briefly to see to my physical needs...a glass of water, wiping my neck with a wet paper towel, and at least half a dozen ladies offering me certs, or sweets, or whatever they had in their pocket. What a charitable people we are privileged to be counted among. The upside of the story is that everywhere we went in Nauvoo for the next two days, people recognized us from the temple session, and were extremely open and friendly--especially the missionary couple who took our place. The sister was waiting when we came downstairs after the session, and showed us a few special things and places in the temple that an average visiting couple would not normally get to see--including Joseph Smith's personal saber inscribed with his name hanging in one of the offices. They were also excited to meet our children as we bumped into them around the town, and we got to watch them in one of the many fun shows we went to see.
Our first night there, we stayed in a darling little log cabin that was actually rather authentic looking in many ways-except for the wonderful inclusion of modern facilities. We had such a fun night.
There were several guided tours that we took advantage of--including a wagon, carriage, and ox-drawn wagon ride. The timing was always perfect in the middle of the day to rest our feet, and Tait took advantage of the bouncy mellow rides to nap.The weather probably should have been hot and muggy, but we were blessed with overcast and slight rain drizzle throughout our visit, which made it pleasant to be outdoors all day. The kids loved learning how the pioneers had lived, and surprised us with their attention to the missionaries during so many presentations and explanations. We came away with new found gratitude for their way of life, and the sacrifices they made.
On our last day, we took a drive down to Carthage to visit the jailhouse where Joseph Smith was incarcerated and martyred. Stepping into the room where he spent his last hours was an equally sacred and hallowed feeling. I am grateful to have learned more about him as a prophet and a man, and to have been inspired to "try a little harder, and stand a little taller" to show appreciation for the way that he and the early Saints pioneered for us.The remainder of our trip was spent at Keith and Malia's home, where we visited, laughed, ate good food, danced Dance Revolution, relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. Hopefully, it won't be too many years before we are able to make the long trek to visit again. It was definitely a highlight in our family's life!
I'll leave you with a little clip of Tait grooving to the Nauvoo band that parked their wagon by our picnic table and thoroughly entertained us during lunch.
