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.