Nauvoo: A Thanksgiving to Remember

 My mom and dad are serving an LDS Mission in Nauvoo, Illinois.  They have been there since June and serve until December 2014.  The last time we visited Nauvoo was 12 years ago, when we went for the Temple Open House.  The boys were just little so we have been really excited to go visit again.  When we found out that Amtrak has a route from Salt Lake City to Burlington Iowa (only 25 minutes from Nauvoo) we decided we wanted to do something we have never experienced before.  Take the 30 hour train ride to Nauvoo!  And what an experience we had.

(Hope you are ready for tons of picutres!)

Our route from SLC to BRL

All Aboard!!

"Coach" Car

The train wasn't full so all the kids got their own row to sleep on, and they slept great!
Todd and I on the other hand, well not so great.

"Cafe" Car

$7 Chicken Finger Kids Meal

$25 Steak Dinner

Hanging out in the "Observation" Car

Games in the "Lounge" Car

"Lounge" Car Snack Bar

Through the Rocky Mountains! 

Beautiful Scenery

Our snack cooler!

Our tickets above our heads on the train.  After the 30 hour train ride we were so excited when they would come fold our tickets, which means we get off at the next stop!

Grandpa picked us up from the train station and we drove to our house for the week.
Aka: Grandma and Grandpa's apartment on Parley St.

We spent the week touring all the sites and participating in all the missionary activities!

Dancing and looking out the window to see the temple on the top floor of the Cultural Hall:

Learning to make Bricks

Post Office tour from Grandma

We would go to the site that Grandma and Grandpa were at each day and get the tour from them!
We got to make envelopes and stamp them with the Old Nauvoo stamp!

Learning how the Pioneers carried water

Wagon ride through town

Grandpa coming out to wave as we passed in the wagon

Getting a tour through the Browning Gun Shop from Grandpa

Brigham Young Home

Grandma showing us around the Sewing Room.  This is where Missionaries get to go if they have good enough sewing skills to help make the costumes and help with Humanitarian projects.  The kids are wearing their pioneer hats and bonnets grandma made for them when we went on the Trek two summers ago.

Learning to make rope

Learning to make barrels

Standing at the pulpit in the Seventies Hall

The deer are everywhere in Old Nauvoo.  Braeden had fun chasing these two with the camera.

Graves of Hyrum, Joseph and Emma Smith

These are relatives of ours buried in the Old Nauvoo Cemetery

Precious moment in the Cemetery

Next up: Carthage Jail

This is alway a highlight and such a sacred, spiritual place.  We took a tour from a tour guide who drove us from Nauvoo to Carthage.

Joseph and Hyrum statues called "Last Ride" 

This is a small part of the original road that Joseph and Hyrum took to get to Carthage.

The top window Joseph fell out after being shot.

In the room the men were in when they were attacked.

The door the mob shot through.

 We celebrated Braeden's Birthday while we were there.  

We drove to a farm/craft store and decorated plates.  We went on a couple tours, played games, opened gifts and had cake and ice cream!  His cake had so many candles it set off the fire alarm in the apartment!  Grandma put trick candles on so he couldn't blow them out and the smoke was terrible.  Happy 17th Birthday Braeden

Grandma and Grandpa had to give tours on Thanksgiving.  Missionaries don't get days off.  We went on a few tours and got ready for dinner.  The mission provides turkey and ham for all the Missionaries in Nauvoo and they all each bring something to share.  There was about 250 people at the dinner.  175 of those being Missionaries and the rest were families of the Missionaries visiting.  They had a little program after dinner and our family was somehow asked to participate by singing I am a Child of God.

Practicing our song!  Ashlynn and Analee sang the 1st verse, Carson sang the 2nd verse and we all joined in on the chorus.  The boys sang the 3rd verse and the girls sang the descant.  Grandma played the piano, grandpa sang with us and another Sister Jones played the violin!  It turned out really nice and we were grateful for the chance to participate!

Getting ready to eat Thanksgiving Dinner

Another Highlight was being able to see Grandma and Grandpa on stage performing in the Rendezvous show the Missionaries do every night!  The kids loved the songs and had Grandma and Grandpa's parts memorized before we left!  They do such a great job, and what a funny show.

All of us on stage after the show

The Missionaries practicing their Light Up the Tree song for Christmas in Nauvoo.
This song reminded me of TaVaci!!

 When we travel we have been trying to attend temples where we visit to do Baptisms for the Dead.  All three boys are able to participate and we have had some special experiences.  What a privilege to be able to attend the Nauvoo temple.

Night view of the temple on the hill!

What an awesome week we had in Nauvoo!  Grandma and Grandpa were such amazing hosts, with all our meals prepared and ready for us, beds for us to sleep, tickets to all the shows and transportation to all the sites covered!  We had such a great time.  It was so neat to be able to see them and watch them as they serve in Nauvoo.  Thank you mom and dad for a Thanksgiving we will always remember!