So on the 2nd day I didn't get as many pictures as I probably should have gotten. Nick got up early and headed to Nauvoo with Edward and Andrew to assist in the nieces/nephews/cousins Baptism Session. So, the kids and I got up and headed over to the hotel that Edward and Andrew's families were staying at and went swimming with both Felker Families. I didn't get any pictures taken here as I was by myself with all three kids and the pool was pretty deep as the most shallow part was 4 or 5 ft deep. The kids had fun swimming though and then Nick, Edward, Ross, and Andrew came back and everyone swam a bit except Nick because I forgot his suit back at the hotel. Then we all got dressed, went for lunch in Keokuk and headed to Nauvoo to see a few tours and then start babysitting for those wanting to attend the sealing session that afternoon. We ended up watching Sarah and James' kids and Andrew and Sarah's kids. The Carles were nice enough to let us crash their hotel room as their hotel room had a very open layout and was great for corralling all the kids. They all had fun playing together. Once the adults all got finished with their sealing session, we went around Old Nauvoo for some more tours. It was neat to learn all about the early Saints and Kayley and Cora really enjoyed learning some of the information. This horse is the horse from John Taylor's home. After they had already left Nauvoo, they left all their belongings behind. His 4 year old son kept crying and they couldn't figure out why until John Taylor finally found out that he missed his rocking horse that was left behind. This was a horse that John Taylor had made by hand for him. So John Taylor went in the middle of the night (as it was very dangerous for him to be seen by the mobs) and went back to their house to retrieve this horse. It was neat to learn this little detail on describing how much love John Taylor had for his children.
Then we also went to the John Browning house....it was Nick's favorite tour as you can see why from this picture below of one of his displays of guns he had made. What I thought was very interesting about his story was that Brigham Young had personally asked John Browning and his family to stay behind to help the Saints instead of moving west. At this point they had already been driven out of Nauvoo and had temporarily settled in Council Bluffs, IA. But Brigham Young knew that a lot of the Saints weren't going to have adequate protection if John Browning didn't stay behind. What a great sacrifice he and his family made to help the Saints in staying behind.
We also visited the gravesides for Joseph Smith, Hyrum, Emma, Lucy Mack, and Joseph Smith Sr. Kayley was so interested in knowing who was buried where. Here they are pictured by Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma's grave and she immediately asked where Joseph Smith's parents were buried.
So we found their graves, which were right around the corner.
Then we headed to meet my siblings for dinner. Now I have 6 siblings and almost all of us have kids. 5 of us were in Nauvoo totaling 20 kids and 10 adults...finding a place for all of us to eat together in Nauvoo was difficult, but we eventually found a place called Grandpa's Cafe. It was good food I thought and plenty of space for all of us, although Rex had to sit in our laps to eat as my other siblings were using all of the high chairs! It was funny! After dinner we headed to the Nauvoo Temple to get some pictures. The girls were so excited to see the Nauvoo temple in person. Kayley specifically has always said that the Nauvoo temple was her favorite, well she says the temple that was burnt down was her favorite, which would be the Nauvoo temple. So it was exciting to see her get excited to finally see it in person.
We got some random person to take our picture altogether in front of the temple. It would have looked a lot better had Nick been wearing his cool tie-dye shirt that Sarah Kirchmann made for us! I had so many compliments on them....they really look great don't they?!?! He left his in the hotel room as he went to help with the Baptismal session and I packed his clothes and packed the wrong shirt.
And then of course it's hard to get the whole temple in the picture as it's so big, but he tried!
Then a couple pictures of the girls up close to the temple.
Aren't they cute?!?!
And them touching the Temple walls. They kept asking why they couldn't go inside this temple and I had to keep explaining to them how it had already been dedicated and you had to have a recommend and be at least 12 years old. They are so excited to go through the Kansas City Temple when it opens for the open house soon.
And them holding the door handles...it really was cute seeing how excited they got just to touch the door.
Cora taking her turn holding the handle...
And this by far is one of my favorite statues in Nauvoo! Everytime I read it I can barely make it through without crying. This is a statue of when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were riding to Carthage and they turned and looked at the city of Nauvoo and looked at the Temple and just marveled at what had been built. It also mentions what the Saints had been through and would go through, I can't remember all the wording, but it is very sweet and I just love the love that you feel from this poster that Hyrum and Joseph had for one another.
Then we headed to the Visitor's Center to watch the Sunset by the Mississippi performance. It was fun and nice to be inside for once in the air conditioning as after this we were heading outside to the Nauvoo Pageant.
Here's a mini display of the Temple outside the Nauvoo Pageant. They had some games and things for the kids to play...we did a few, but not many as we wanted to make sure no one took our seats. Jessica had taken their hotel sheets out earlier in the day and roped off 30 seats for our family. We were worried someone would take them down or that they had fallen off. Luckily they were still there so Jess and Jud didn't have to pay for the missing sheets and it was great that we all got to sit together for the pageant. Let me say that other than being at Nauvoo with family, the pageant was by far my favorite part of the trip. I've seen it before, but it always gives me such a great perspective of what the early Saints had to sacrifice and go through. I'm not sure I would be as strong as some of them were. I also loved being able to learn a little bit more about Joseph Smith and his character. Two of my favorite things from the pageant were 1) Joseph is talking to Emma about meeting with the sisters the next day to start the Relief Society program and then he stops and says, but tonight Emma...and then he stops everything and just dances with her. I just love this part in showing how much love he had for Emma. And 2) the whole story follows this family that moved from Scotland and lost a child when he was only 3 years old. The wife gains a testimony and desires to be baptized very quickly. The husband on the other hand takes a while to come around, but when he does, he says to his wife, "I can't believe I gave up everything I had to get receive everything that I ever wanted." I just love that part! So, the pageant was my favorite part and best of all...Kayley and Cora learned so much and still talk about it. In fact tonight when Nick was reading scriptures to them he said, "come here girls, it's about Joseph Smith tonight." And they both perked right up and ran right over to him to listen.
Then we also went to the John Browning house....it was Nick's favorite tour as you can see why from this picture below of one of his displays of guns he had made. What I thought was very interesting about his story was that Brigham Young had personally asked John Browning and his family to stay behind to help the Saints instead of moving west. At this point they had already been driven out of Nauvoo and had temporarily settled in Council Bluffs, IA. But Brigham Young knew that a lot of the Saints weren't going to have adequate protection if John Browning didn't stay behind. What a great sacrifice he and his family made to help the Saints in staying behind.
We also visited the gravesides for Joseph Smith, Hyrum, Emma, Lucy Mack, and Joseph Smith Sr. Kayley was so interested in knowing who was buried where. Here they are pictured by Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma's grave and she immediately asked where Joseph Smith's parents were buried.
So we found their graves, which were right around the corner.
Then we headed to meet my siblings for dinner. Now I have 6 siblings and almost all of us have kids. 5 of us were in Nauvoo totaling 20 kids and 10 adults...finding a place for all of us to eat together in Nauvoo was difficult, but we eventually found a place called Grandpa's Cafe. It was good food I thought and plenty of space for all of us, although Rex had to sit in our laps to eat as my other siblings were using all of the high chairs! It was funny! After dinner we headed to the Nauvoo Temple to get some pictures. The girls were so excited to see the Nauvoo temple in person. Kayley specifically has always said that the Nauvoo temple was her favorite, well she says the temple that was burnt down was her favorite, which would be the Nauvoo temple. So it was exciting to see her get excited to finally see it in person.
We got some random person to take our picture altogether in front of the temple. It would have looked a lot better had Nick been wearing his cool tie-dye shirt that Sarah Kirchmann made for us! I had so many compliments on them....they really look great don't they?!?! He left his in the hotel room as he went to help with the Baptismal session and I packed his clothes and packed the wrong shirt.
And then of course it's hard to get the whole temple in the picture as it's so big, but he tried!
Then a couple pictures of the girls up close to the temple.
Aren't they cute?!?!
And them touching the Temple walls. They kept asking why they couldn't go inside this temple and I had to keep explaining to them how it had already been dedicated and you had to have a recommend and be at least 12 years old. They are so excited to go through the Kansas City Temple when it opens for the open house soon.
And them holding the door handles...it really was cute seeing how excited they got just to touch the door.
Cora taking her turn holding the handle...
And this by far is one of my favorite statues in Nauvoo! Everytime I read it I can barely make it through without crying. This is a statue of when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were riding to Carthage and they turned and looked at the city of Nauvoo and looked at the Temple and just marveled at what had been built. It also mentions what the Saints had been through and would go through, I can't remember all the wording, but it is very sweet and I just love the love that you feel from this poster that Hyrum and Joseph had for one another.
Then we headed to the Visitor's Center to watch the Sunset by the Mississippi performance. It was fun and nice to be inside for once in the air conditioning as after this we were heading outside to the Nauvoo Pageant.
Here's a mini display of the Temple outside the Nauvoo Pageant. They had some games and things for the kids to play...we did a few, but not many as we wanted to make sure no one took our seats. Jessica had taken their hotel sheets out earlier in the day and roped off 30 seats for our family. We were worried someone would take them down or that they had fallen off. Luckily they were still there so Jess and Jud didn't have to pay for the missing sheets and it was great that we all got to sit together for the pageant. Let me say that other than being at Nauvoo with family, the pageant was by far my favorite part of the trip. I've seen it before, but it always gives me such a great perspective of what the early Saints had to sacrifice and go through. I'm not sure I would be as strong as some of them were. I also loved being able to learn a little bit more about Joseph Smith and his character. Two of my favorite things from the pageant were 1) Joseph is talking to Emma about meeting with the sisters the next day to start the Relief Society program and then he stops and says, but tonight Emma...and then he stops everything and just dances with her. I just love this part in showing how much love he had for Emma. And 2) the whole story follows this family that moved from Scotland and lost a child when he was only 3 years old. The wife gains a testimony and desires to be baptized very quickly. The husband on the other hand takes a while to come around, but when he does, he says to his wife, "I can't believe I gave up everything I had to get receive everything that I ever wanted." I just love that part! So, the pageant was my favorite part and best of all...Kayley and Cora learned so much and still talk about it. In fact tonight when Nick was reading scriptures to them he said, "come here girls, it's about Joseph Smith tonight." And they both perked right up and ran right over to him to listen.
And then the funniest thing was Rex is very clingy to Nick and I and when it comes to new people, he's usually really shy and clings to us even more. But when it came to JT, he went right to him! Here he is playing with him. I couldn't figure out if maybe Rex thought JT was Andrew who had been living with us for almost a year or not. Either way, it was really cute seeing how he took to him so quickly!
