Pictures

For better or for worse, here are the pictures from our trip, for those of you who are interested (but I guess mostly for me, since this is my journal.) Most of the trip I was holding a child, so I didn't keep up with my settings very well, so some of them are a little disappointing for me, but I couldn't afford to have Tara Whitney come with us and photograph our trip. So, here goes.

These are pictures at the visitors center in Independence:Alex and the Chocolate Factory. (You'd have to read my previous post to get that one.) Actually this is the temple for the Community of Christ church (formerly RLDS).This is Adam-Andi-Ahmen. I loved this place. The spirit was very strong. As we drove up to it I had the strangest feeling that I'd dreamed about it before.
I love how Alex put is arm around me in this picture.I learned a lot about my kids on this trip...what with being locked in a bus with them for a week. One of the things I learned about Lily is how incredibly social she is. She would make friends with anyone who would look at her. I think that one of the qualities she gets from Jacob is her extreme like-ability. People are drawn to her...and not just because she's an adorable 15 month-old. She really oozes personality. This little girl she is with is named Kaylee and was one of the first friends she made on the trip.Nauvoo. These are some pictures I took at the temple. It is such a beautiful temple. A lot like St. George, only more beautiful, I think.We took these in Old Nauvoo where the missionaries teach about how the pioneers lived in Nauvoo. It is such a cute town. I feel like I would have been very happy living the simple life here. You know, mobs, persecution, 14 hour work days. Peaceful, no?I had no idea where the prophet was buried until we got here. Carthage. I made it all through the jail until the Martyrdom room where Lily decided that she was done. I was disappointed that I missed it, but it was also here where I learned that I don't physically have to see it to gain a testimony of what happened here.
This is the upper window where the prophet fell after he was shot.We went to this awesome old cemetery in Nauvoo. I have never been in a more peaceful cemetery. The birds were singing all over and the wind was rustling through the trees. It was amazing. We looked for ancestors there but we only had like 10 minutes so we didn't find any, but we did find the tombstone of Edward Partridge who was the first Bishop over the church.

Here is a picture of Lily by the fence in that cemetery. I have a picture of Edward Partridge's tombstone too, but this picture is cuter :). Kirtland. At the ashery.Before and after in front of the doors of the Kirtland Temple.A butterfly in Nauvoo.Niagara Falls.Lily saw Alex brushing his teeth here and had to sit right by him. Just one of those cute sibling moments.Jake: "What a waste of water. In St. George they would have at least turned it off at night..."Jake to Alex: "Have you seen anything like this before?"
Alex:"yep"

That mist rising up shows the force of the falls. That was the boat we took up the the falls to feel that very mist. (Wow, was that a chiasm?)We got to wear these lovely blue slicker-thingys to keep our clothes dry.Whack-a-sharkAlex fighting the Green GoblinThey had this narration that would come on every so often between Spiderman and the Green Goblin, and the first time Alex heard it he was petrified. Literally couldn't move.New York: The printing press where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.OK, this is out of order, but this picture of Lily is inside the house where the church was organized.Palmyra: I think this was the highlight of my experience. The Sacred Grove was so beautiful. When I walked up the path and around the bend that lead inside I had to gasp for air. It is the most beautiful, spiritual place. There is no doubt in my mind as to what occurred there. I am so grateful that I got to go inside and bear my testimony to my kids about what happened there. They probably won't remember, but I always will. This is Lily with the Palmyra Temple in the background.At this visitors Center at the Hill Cumorah we got to have the Christus experience. Alex kept remarking to me in a very loud whisper that the statue was talking to him. He seemed excited about it, so I don't think he's too worried about his state of mind, if you know what I mean. I love this one of him touching the Savior's feet.Inside the Sacred Grove:Mushrooms on a logOh, How Lovely Was the Morning, indeed.This is Alex's new found road-trip friend Kyler.on top of The Hill CumorahFam with temple in the background. Alex refused to take this picture, so this was the best one we got. We are a happy fa-mil-y.Lily in the Sacred Grove
Well, there you have it. Our whirl-wind trip to see the church history sites. It was really great, despite the fact that we brought kids with us. They did really well, all things considering. Our next trip will be just for the kids, though.
I forgot to mention our bus driver Eli, and I have to say something about him because he impressed me so much. He grew up Amish and is now anti-organized religion, but he was the most wonderful person to talk to. I saw him serve happily everywhere we went. He said that he doesn't pray to do good works, he prays that Christ will be able to live through his actions and service to others, and that the glory will go to God, and not to himself. I just loved it because that's what we teach, but how often do we see it in action? He is truly trying to live a Christ-like life and he inspired me and everyone else in our group to do the same.
OK, that's enough. I'm done. Back to my normal life. See y'all soon.
The end.