Day 1 in Nauvoo

Day one started in Carthage. This is where we like to start with the kids because you go away with such a deeper love for the Prophet Joseph Smith. 

Brynlee heading upstairs to the jail cell as we took the tour...

The window where the Prophet was shot... 

A bullet hole as the mob came upstairs ready to kill a prophet of God, a father, and a man of great faith, who walked and talked to a loving Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Love this shot of Bryn and Grandma Joy!

We had fun acting as if we were the statues in this beautiful garden...

Of course Bryn loved this little girl. She is so in love with babies right now. She asks almost everyday if we will please have another baby...

Being a parent is not easy. How thankful I am for the scriptures and prayer. I know that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and that He knows my children because they are His. He created them and will not leave me alone in this challenging world. I need to turn to Him. He is our Father. 

Brynlee is her own little person and so different from her two older sisters. She is a little shy. I never knew this until watching her on this trip. I knew that it is hard for her to make friends at school but now watching her I see that she gets nervous with people she doesn't know. I had to practically force her to sit on the front row for some of the plays. These girls were so nice and were from Arizona. She told them that we used to live there:)

The play was called Anna Amanda and it was a story about being happy about being YOU...

She really liked it. She loved this girl who played Anna.

She got to eat a cookie at...

With her Papa!

Nothing is better than a rootbeer float and seeing your BFF on vacation. 

Our Bishop and his family were there during the same time as us. We happened to be at the same place at the same time and so we had to have a photo. We love the Roberts! Such a wonderful family!

The pageant is such a spiritual highlight! So powerful and always stregnthens my testimony in the knowledge we have that we lived with a loving Heavenly Father and that we come to earth and get a body and that when we die our spirits will live. There is an eternal purpose to our lives. I am so thankful for Temples that unite us for all eternity.

So fun to run into a high school friend. Tusdi Taylor??? Oh my goodness it has been a lonnnnggg time!

And then another really good friends little sister (Juli Patten) and her family were in the pageant. Too fun! I also saw Ashley Lewis another high school friend who was with her mom and sister. The sister happens to be neighbors of  my brother Tad and Sister in law Jaclyn. Such a small world in the church...

The night ended with a photo of Bryn with the actor who portrayed the Prophet Joseph Smith. 

He did a fantastic job!