Really.

There really is a Piggly Wiggly in my town.  I think that means I definitely live in the South.

Have you seen the movie "Sweet Home Alabama"?  I remember the line when Reece Witherspoon's character says to her ex-husband, "What?!  Do they not sell soap down at the Piggly Wiggly?"  I thought that they had MADE UP that name. 

Not so.  It's a grocery store in Clover, South Carolina...

crazy. LIFE.

grammy.

It has been quite a while since I've seen my Grandma.  We saw her at my sister's wedding a couple of years ago.  I love that we got to go through Indiana so that we could see her.  When we found out we were moving our number one stop we wanted to make was to see my Grandma.  We wanted our kids to have some time with her and talk with her.

I love seeing Grammy Louise (that's what my kids call her...).  she says what's on her mind and you never wonder if she's holding anything back.  I wish we could have had some more time with her.  Hopefully, now that we're out this direction we'll get to see her more often.

**with gas going nuts and how many times we stopped for it...I had to have a picture! **

sweet. LIFE.

 

my brother's family.

We were so excited to get to go to Missouri to see my brother, his wife, and their little girl.  The kids totally couldn't wait to see their little cousin, Sabine.  I think she got a pretty good mauling from Emma who is ever the protector.  She loves to mother anyone younger than herself. 

I think poor Lily, their dog, also got mauled 1/2 to death.  She was a great sport about it though.  She let the kids smother her with kisses, hugs, and love.

love. LIFE.

 

 

Nauvoo fun.

We got up the next morning in Nauvoo and went around to all of the old and restored homes in the original Nauvoo. The kids loved going to see how they made bricks over 150 years ago and then getting to pick out a brick that was made in the same process. Everyone also got a praire diamond. A praire diamond is really a horseshoe nail bent into a circle to make a ring. As young men and women became engaged but didn’t have rings on the trail from Nauvoo to Salt Lake they realized that a horseshoe nail looked a lot like a big diamond…

The Saints lived in Nauvoo for seven years turning a swamp into a beautiful city full of growth, happiness, and good. The time there ended with the people of Illinios forcing the Saints from Illinios. Similar things happened in the state of Missouri seven years earlier where the governor of the state issued an order saying that anyone who saw a Mormon could shoot them on sight. So interesting for a land that was founded on the premise of religious freedom. The Saints were persecuted endlessly and had to cross the plains during a terrible time of year leaving Nauvoo to head west. After the Saints left their beautiful city the temple that they had built with their own hands was burned to the ground by mobs.

We also visited Carthage, Illinois. Eighteen months before the Saints left Nauvoo Joseph Smith was killed by similar mobs because of his testimony of Jesus Christ.

It was so fun for the kids to see what school was like for the pionner children in Nauvoo, a candy store, a post office, a printing shop (where they printed the newspaper…ohmiheck! What a tedious job. And you better hope you don’t trip once all of that work is done!), and the beds they slept in. Emmett kept commenting on how small and steep all of the stairs were. Emma loved a lamp with crystals hanging from it, and the girls all bought bonnets so they could look like pioneer girls and Emmett got a straw hat that pionner boys used to wear.

Nauvoo is a wonderful place. We’ve had such a great trip being able to visit all of these places full of history and miracles.

fun. LIFE.

 

 

Over ½ way.

When we arrived in Nauvoo we were so glad to pull in to town and get into our vintage hotel. It meant we were over ½ way through our trip. Yay!

We quickly went to dinner and while we were there realized that Miriam wasn’t feeling well. She had a headache and a fever. She didn’t want to eat (which is definitely a tip off for us that something wasn’t right) and she was just really lethargic. We got her an advil and hoped that it would help her.

That night in Nauvoo there was a pagent about the history of Nauvoo and Joseph Smith. Before the pagent there was a field filled with pioneer activities like sawing a log, branding, quilting, dancing, ducks and geese game, and the cast walking around meeting and talking to everyone. It was really fun for the kids. The pagent has about 175 people in it…150 of them are volunteers that come for 2 week intervals through out the summer. There is a core cast that stays all summer long and Matt Dickamore and his brother, Jeff, were Joseph and his brother, Hyrum. Matt and Jeff are very gifted in so many ways but even more than that they are genuinely good people. They care about others and their faith in Christ is strong and it’s evident in the way they are so gracious and kind to people around them. If you get the chance this summer I really recommend going to Nauvoo and seeing the Nauvoo Pagent.

We got to go to the Nauvoo Temple Open House when Emmett was about 5 years old and Miriam and Emma were about 18 months. After over 150 years the Nauvoo temple was rebuilt after being burned to the ground by mobs that forced the saints from Illinois. The inside of the temple is so beautiful and there is such a sweet spirit there. Every detail was so perfect. The furniture, the mouldings, the architecture is so reminiscent of the time when the temple was originally built. It was really a gift to get to be there in Nauvoo…

sweet. LIFE.