Family trip to Illinois

Every since Michelle and Carter moved to Illinois in December, I've been trying to plan a trip to see them. Much to my surprise, we actually went! I was not looking forward to the drive with 2 little kids, but they were ANGELS and we made it! Aisley taught Rigdon to say his first sentence on the way...."Whoa, crazy driver!!" And the best part was he only said it while Jed was driving. I guess that makes me the good driver! We were all excited to get there and get out after being in the car for 28 hours straight. The only stops we made was for getting gas a few times, breakfast in Amarillo, and the museum in Oklahoma City. We enjoyed stopping at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum. It was fun to get out, walk around and see all the old cowboy stuff. We were excited to find John Bowman's name on the Rodeo Hall of Fame wall. John worked for Jed's grandpa on the farm. Halfway there...only 12 hours to go!!! We were welcomed in Missouri with major humidity. We had to run the wiper blades to keep the moisture off the windshield. Then my poor mom's glasses fogged up as soon as she stepped out of the car. We missed out dry heat! We made it about 2:30a.m. (their time) after our GPS got us lost since they had a road blocked off just a mile from their house. Needless to say we crashed when we got there and slept in that morning, and pretty much every morning after that too! The kids played and played. Aisley and Rigdon were so excited to have a play set to swing and slide, and grass to run and play in. They were easily entertained. We were all amazed at how green and pretty it was. Randall even made the comment that we were there 3 or 4 days before we had even had seen a patch of dirt. And we only saw it then because they were digging on the side of the road and had a little pile of dirt they dug up. Other than that, the whole state is covered with corn, soybeans, and green grass. I was amazed that they don't even have dirt roads between their fields either, its just solid green. I've never seen so much green in all my life.

We went to see Cars 2, which everyone liked except Ridgon who decided that he and I needed to watch the people in the hall instead of the movie. The kids played at the park, played football in the yard, swang for hours, went to the pool, played wii, had slumber parties, went on bike rides, and played house to name a few. A couple of the main attractions we did while we were there was the boys got to go to see where Carter works at the CAT Proving Grounds. He tried to get them in the Dozer Factory, but they can't do tours anymore since the layoffs the last couple years. But hopefully will get to start again then end of the year......already a huge incentive to go back! The guys loved it even though there wasn't too many things running when they went since it was a holiday. It was still fun for them to see the facilities (3 acres in a covered building). The girls got to do some shopping which is always fun! The stores were only 15 minutes away which made it even better!! Then one of MY favorite things was one night I asked Delanie if she would like to play beauty shop and doing my hair. And of course, being the happy, do anything for you kind of girl she is, she said SURE!! And it was wonderful!

Then we were off to NAUVOO! I was so excited to go and learn more about Joseph Smith and the early saints of Nauvoo. We started preparing for this part of the trip several days before we left. We watched movies, U-Tube videos, listened to songs, and read storied in the church magazines. It was so worth it. It was definitely a long, HOT, exhausting day but we did our best to get as much in as possible and still feel the spirit and hear the messages they had. It was all worth it when we sat down at dark to watch the Joseph Smith Pageant. It was absolutely wonderful. They did such a good job, and the spirit was so strong. We stayed the night in Keokuk, IA and went back the next morning to do some baptisms for the dead. It was awesome to be in the temple that morning. We then went back and got the kids and brought them back so that they could see the temple up close and actually touch it. My kids loved it. We finally made it all the way down Parley Street where the saints crossed the Missouri River. The spirit was so strong there. I could just picture them as they headed out for their journey. I stood at the edge of the water with gratitude in my heart and tears running down my cheeks. I LOVED the spirit of Nauvoo. One last stop was Carthage Jail. Once again very humbling experience to be in the same place that history took place. Definitely a testimony building experience and one that I will never forget.

We love spending time together as a family. We laugh, we joke, we play, and we cry together as we shared some touching moments of the people of Nauvoo and the mind boggling experiences they had to endure. I wish my other two sisters could have made it to be with us, but I hope they know they were missed. Thanks again to Carter and Michelle for the WONDERFUL hospitality that you showed all of us.

Happy to say the trip home was little faster. We made it from Washington, IL to Fort Thomas, AZ in 24 hours. On the trip we went through 7 states; 4 of which I've never been, and 1 I'd only flown into stayed at a hotel and flew home. So that really doesn't even count of really being there since I didn't get to see much. It was a fun trip, but my butt cheeks will forever be embedded in the seats of my car!!! I took tons of pictures so I'll have to put them in a slideshow.