Nauvoo

While my mom was here, we decided to take a trip down to Nauvoo. It's about 5 hours from my house and my mom hasn't been in over 20 years. It wasn't too bad of a drive. I love the greenness of Illinois and saw plenty of it on our drive. We did have to stop on the bridge going over the Mississippi while a ship passed through. That was not fun. I discovered that I'm not a fan of huge bridges. I don't envy the toll collector stationed in the middle of the bridge.

We spent one night in Nauvoo and saw a ton in the 24 hours we were there. My mom and I took turns going to the Temple.

We checked out some of the pioneer homes. We made sure to stop at the Heber C. Kimball house, because he is Ryan's great great something Grandfather.

We went on an oxen ride, visited the horses, saw a couple shows, and played pioneer children games.

We had a great visit and enjoyed feeling the spirit of Nauvoo and the faithful saints who lived there. I'm so thankful for their faith and perserverence. What great examples they are of truly faithful disciples of Christ.

A few days before we headed to Nauvoo, we went to the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove, a historic town near our house. We went with our friends, the Cottrells, and enjoyed looking in shops, getting and losing multiple balloons (yes, each loss was accompanied by a fit), and eating some festival food.

We had so much fun with Grammy. We kept her busy and we all loved having her. It made such a huge difference to have her here while Ryan was gone. Thanks for coming Grammy!!