nAuVoO day 2

Well the second day we decided to drive into Nauvoo and see the sites. The kids were so excited to see Nauvoo! I think Avery was the first to spot the temple...and what a beautiful site!!!
Our first stop was to the Church of Christ. They own Joseph Smith's house and his store. We were lead by a nice old man. We went to the first log cabin the Prophet Joseph Smith had. It was so neat to be in the same spot that he had lived, walked and talked just like us. We thought it was so small and they had added on the other part of it later ... so imagine how small it was when they first lived there.
This is the Nauvoo house which was used as a hotel a lot. This is also where Emma passed away, in the corner bedroom. We didn't get to go inside this one I think they have it set up to use as a bbq place in the summer. But it was such a good feeling to walk on the sidewalks and just look around at the neighborhood that was there. I loved picturing it back when they were there no cars just horses and kids running and playing it is such a beautiful place, with a strong spirit.
Then as we walked we saw the headstones of Lucy Mac Smith and Joseph Smith Sr. Then we stopped at Emma, Joseph and Hyrum Smith's headstones. This was a neat feeling to visit their actual grave. The tour guide said that the mobs wanted to destroy the bodies so Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were hid just down the hill from this spot for quite a while until they thought it was safe to dig them up and mark their grave.
Then off to the Mansion House! Isn't it so pretty? This was Joseph and Emma's home. They used it as a hotel too, and served meals. I LOVED seeing their home. This is where they were living when Joseph went to Carthage.
We ended at Joseph's store. It was very cute! They had a lot of old fashioned candy and souvenirs to buy. Reddek had kind of been a pain this whole day but we bought him a sucker and he was good the rest of the day! I think it is hard for young ones to walk around old houses that they can't touch anything nor do they have much room to walk around in. I felt so stupid because we had been invited then Reddek was a being a pain, but he ended up doing lots better.


We drove down the road from the Church of Christ and saw Parley's street it was so pretty to see. We stopped at the first stop that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had, The Seventies Hall. It was so pretty and you could feel the spirit so strong there knowing the important things that went on in there and the important people that held meetings there. I loved seeing the older missionaries and hearing their testimonies. Then we were all starving so we went to this little diner Dottie's. It is a little inside joke and i laugh everytime I think about it. It was a small town and this diner was not our style. I thought Jason and Joe were going to walk out. But we stayed and I enjoyed my food. Jason on the other hand doesn't like other people preparing his food let alone in this run down little diner. So I am sure he was still hungry when we left. But it is all part of the experience.

We then hit another site...the Family Living Center. This place was so cool! They showed us how the pioneers survived. They made their barrels...
their ropes.
their candles, rugs, bread, and so much more. The kids loved this much more! They got to help hands on and see how to make stuff. A sister missionary told us about how they made their candles and just little things they had to do. The candles were made out of animal fat so they had to make some tin containers so the mice wouldn't eat them, and then to let the candles breath they had to have holes in the container. It made me realize how much they had to do to prepare to go across the plains. I gained a stronger testimony and more appreciation for the pioneers. My favorite part was the sisters had certain candle that they hung in their window when they had made treats and wanted to have people come over and socialize. I wish we still did things like that :)
By then we were all pretty tired and so we went back the Mansion house. This vacation was so nice and relaxing. I think having a house to go back to instead of a hotel room made the difference. We ate dinner watched shows talked laughed and watched the kids run around. I loved having some time off work to just be with family. After we put the kids down the men usually ended up reading Church History books while Andria and I talked. I loved it!!! And this was only the second day on this fabulous trip...