Day #6 - Our Adventure

Stick Pull

Today was the day of the pageant. We slept in a little later and then went over to Nauvoo. It was a beautiful day with cloudy skies. It was in the 90's and the humidity was really high. We had sweat pouring off of us, as did everyone else. We felt bad for those wearing the costumes.

Dancing

Saw cutting & Branding

Gunny Sacks

We went to some of the shops and picked up a few things we wanted, but hadn't bought before. We got us a Christmas ornament and a few other things. I had an epiphany in the store. I was reading a plaque that said, "Someday everything will make perfect sense...someday." I turned around and there was a picture of Emma and Joseph. No one went through more trials as a couple than them and she stood by him every step of the way. I may have treated wounds on Kyle I never thought I could touch, but Emma pulled tar and feathers off of Joseph and who knows what else. What Kyle and I have gone through doesn't compare to what they did. Joseph and Emma are my new idols. I bought a keychain and a little statue of the two of them to remind me when times get hard for us, Emma and Joseph made it through worse.

 

At the burying grounds

Burying Grounds

We went to the Nauvoo Hotel for dinner and the buffet was delicious. We really enjoyed it. We had a little time so we drove up to the old Nauvoo burying grounds. There was such a special feeling there. There are a lot of the monuments we couldn't even read, while there were other markers that were new, as ancestors had put them in to honor their families. It was a special place. We passed a guy in the area who told us he rarely sees anyone up there and wondered how we knew about it. It's right on the map they hand out.

 

We went down to the County Fair they hold before the pageant. They have a lot of the old games and activities done in the days of the pioneers that you can participate in: stick pulling, dancing, rag tying, quilting, log cutting, hoop spinning, gunny sack races, and more. 

 

Right before the pageant

The pageant was really good. They did a really excellent job. I'm glad we stayed to see it. They basically showed the development and the exodus of Nauvoo after Joseph Smith was murdered. They showed the building of the temple and formation of Relief Society. It was very well done and we enjoyed it very much.

 

In this picture those in white/glowing have passed on.
It was kind of freaky.

Day #5 - Our Adventure

Today we got up early and got a good start. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed for Nauvoo.  I took tons of pictures today so I'll try to limit myself. The day started out dreary, rainy, and cloudy, but in the early afternoon cleared up and the sun came out (coincidently exactly how they described the day that Joseph Smith was killed). We started at the Brickyard where we learned how they make bricks and received a souvenir one to bring home.

 

We then went to Lucy Mack Smith's home and met Sister Readfield. We were visiting with her upstairs as no other group had come along yet. We were discussing what we had done so far and we mentioned having gone through the temple and she was saying what a special experience that must have been and Kyle told her it hadn't been that great and she soon got the gist of the story out of him. At this point she decides we need to go back and have a good experience and her and her husband are going to take us. Because today was Monday the sessions end early and we couldn't make it work. She was just so sweet, it makes me teary to think of how important it is to her that Kyle have a good experience here in the temple.

 

From there we went over to walk around the Joseph and Emma Smith homes and Nauvoo House. I was able to show Kyle where the prophet and Hyrum were originally buried before being moved to where they are now with Emma.

We moved onto the boot and shoe shop, saw the big water truck they use to keep all the flowers alive, toured the original Browning gun shop, the post office/store, the print shop where we saw how they printed "The Times and Seasons" which precluded "The Ensign", and visited the tin shop.

 

 

From there we went to the Visitor's Center and got a schedule and decided we had time to go down to Carthage, get dinner, and be back in time for a show on the outdoor stage. Along the way we saw a Ford F450 6x4 along the way and Kyle now has a new dream truck, perfect for pulling his dream 5th wheel travel trailer. It was pretty awesome looking. Here is a picture for your enjoyment:

 

 

We happened to get to the Carthage Jail at the same time as two family reunion groups so it was fairly crowded. I enjoyed it more this time than my other visit, since then I got literally soaked to my skin. For those of you who don't know the story of how Joseph Smith was killed in the Carthage Jail it was in the Ensign last month: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/two-witnesses-three-days-and-the-aftermath-of-the-martyrdom?lang=eng

Kyle and I then ended up driving to Hannibal so he could say he had visited the birthplace of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We finally had our first really good meal of the trip in Quincy at a Mexican restaurant. We went into a Dollar Tree to restock first aid supplies for Kyle's blister and ended up waiting in line FOREVER!!! Kyle left me unattended in a clothing store and I "accidently" may have purchase a couple of things off of the clearance rack. Due to all of this we did not make it back to Nauvoo to the show. Tomorrow night is the Nauvoo Pageant and I'm praying for decent weather so we don't get rained on.

 



The window Joseph fell out
of after being shot



The mob shot the lock off of
the door. That is Willard Richard's
walking stick behind the door.

The bullet hole in the door thru
which Hyrum Smith was shot.

Day #4 - Our Adventure

We didn't do much of anything today.  Okay I did a whole lot of nothing today. Lucky for me it was Sunday and most things were closed. I don't have any control of when I get a migraine, but I think Kyle is pretty annoyed with me.

I tried to get him to go explore and he eventually left. He explored Fort Madison, the river boat that is across from our hotel, and from the looks of the sack when he came back he explored McDonalds. I know he's bugged because I didn't get anything from McDonalds. Of course if I had asked him to bring me something back he would have.

 

One of the trains that runs by our hotel every
hour and honks it's horn. Day and night might
I add. It's pleasant and is driving Kyle crazy.

Day #3 - Our Adventure

Today is the first we have had the internet since our first night. It's a long story but has involved us having to change rooms today just for that reason. We are in a nicer room, but I'm also paying more for it. When I finally get hold of the manager of this place we will be having a chat.

 

I was so excited yesterday because we were doing a session at the temple in Nauvoo! Kyle agreed to go even though it would be the first time he didn't have someone to help him with his clothes and things. I could tell he was really nervous.

 

This is hard to write, because I don't want to reveal too much about what goes on in the temple. There was only one male and one female officiator and they were in the front. Kyle told them at the beginning this was his first time alone and he was nervous. The male officiator said not to worry he was presiding over the session and would take care of him.

 

So I notice when we are going through the first part Kyle has his clothing on the wrong shoulder and nobody has noticed. So I get the attention of the lady and tell her. Now I wish I would have just left it alone. So the guy goes back and tells him and helps him take it off and just tangles it up and gives it to Kyle and walks off. So Kyle is struggling to straighten it out and get it on. There are 2 young guys behind Kyle and from my view I think they are both helping him. I even caught the eye of the one who turns out to be the "dirtbag", as Vicki so eloquently called him, and tried to convey my desire for him to help Kyle. Kyle finally gets it straightened out and on and the guy right behind him helps a little.  Kyle looks a little upset and I feel bad.

 

We continue on and switch things to the other side. Kyle does fine, but it takes him a little longer. Again the guy behind helps a little.

 

Kyle started through the end of the session ahead of me and was already in the Celestial room when I got there. When I get over to him I can see he is crying and very upset. I pull him over to a chair and sit with him. I ask what is wrong and he says he can't talk about it right now. We had plans to spend some time and pray together about some specific things. I ask him if he needs to leave and he went down to the dressing room.

 

After we got out of the temple we walked down and back the main street with the stores. We got some custard, which didn't even compare to Nielsen's. We stopped for some fudge, which is divine.

 

Once we got back in the truck and headed out for Keokuk in hopes of somewhere to eat and the WalMart I asked if he was ready to talk about it. He got all teary again and said when he was struggling the first time the guy behind him said, "Hurry up retard you are holding us all up, we have places to go." The guy next to him told him to be nice it was Kyle's first time. The second time when they changed the clothes and the guy behind Kyle was helping the guy told him, "Not to help the retard, he needed to figure it out himself."  Kyle said all he wanted to do was get up and walk out. I told him if it was me I probably would have. He said he knew how important it was to me and he just wanted to get through it.

 

So then he gets to the end of the session and is so upset he can't remember anything. The officiator helping him was not nice and upset Kyle even more. Another gentleman then takes charge and coaches Kyle thru everything and gets him through.

We ate at a Chinese buffet that was pretty good and then went to WalMart and got a small cooler and some more snacks. Basically the temple part of the day was a bust!

Day #2 - Our Adventure

Today we got up and finished our drive to the Nauvoo area. We went to Nauvoo before finding our hotel. Everything was closed up, but we drove around and followed the "Trail of Hope" and read all of the plaques. Wow, there aren't words for me to describe how reading the words of those who lived through the exodus that February made me feel. here are just a couple of the plaques along the trail.

 

 

We saw the flatboat replica that carried the wagons across the river. Kyle climbed up on the wagon to get a feel of how it would have felt to drive the wagon. We looked at the monument showing the names of those who died crossing the plains. We saw little Peter's name. It is spelled wrong. I forgot that from our visit before. He died when he fell from the seat of the wagon and was run over by the wheels. Unfortunately we didn't know what names to look for from Kyle's family.

 

We have to wonder if this was named after Kyle's family

Day #1 - Our Adventure

 

Kyle and I left today for our summer vacation/trip to the Scentsy convention. Things went smoothly with packing and we made it to the airport on time. We parked at Don's office at air cargo and proceeded to haul our luggage clear over to Terminal 2 in 100+ weather. That was a pleasant experience, but we didn't have to pay for parking so a bright side.

 

We flew standby and had no problem getting on the plane and we were on the first row behind first class so plenty of leg room, yeah! I usually don't sleep on planes, but as soon as we were in the air I was out and I didn't move until we were almost there. That may be due to a lack of sleep last night. Kyle was even able to get in my bag and eat all the cashews and I had no idea.

 

I had booked a car rental deal they call the wild card. You are guaranteed a compact car, but can end up with anything. It was cheaper and I figured what the heck. We are now cruising around in a shiny black, brand new, fully loaded F150 pickup truck, because they completely overbooked. I told Kyle I booked it for him so he could have his dream vacation, but he didn't buy it. I guess I better double my gas budget for this trip.

 

We stopped and grabbed some dinner at Steaks and Shakes. Kyle had a good burger, with an egg on it. They had free Wi-Fi so I booked us a room for the night while we ate. We drove a couple of hours towards Nauvoo to cut down on the drive tomorrow. While driving down the interstate I realized I was seeing lightening bugs all over on the side of the road. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the flashes were. I have never seen them before and it was amazing. I wished I had Garrett with me. It's cool to think that Heavenly Father thought of making bugs that light up at night. We pulled over and I tried to get a video for Garrett, but it didn't really work well.  I got a video message from him instructing me to catch one as soon as possible. We then pulled over a few minutes later and watched an amazing fireworks show off in the distance. We got to listen to our favorite patriotic songs on the radio and it was a nice evening.

 

A bit later my phone rang and it said Abby (Sandberg) wanted to FaceTime. I answered and she didn't realize she had called me let alone done the FaceTime thing. She was so thrilled and it was great to hear her voice. Earlier when we got off the plane she'd left me a message about how amazing it was that the 2 missionaries who came to see her in answer to my referral, were the 2 she had met at the funeral home and how incredibly sweet and amazing they were. They talked with her about death and left her a brochure. She said she will probably give them a call and talk with them again. It really is a coincidence because when I spoke with the Relief Society President from Abby's ward earlier in the week she told me they have so many missionaries since the First Presidency decreased the age requirement they have so many missionaries, that they are all tripping over each other trying to find enough to do, but she would make sure 2 of the sisters had gotten my referral and would follow up on it.

I made Kyle promise me when we hung up that he will never die, because I never want to experience the pain she is going through. When we got to the room and he took off his shoes. His custom made for his feet, $650 shoes. He has a huge blister. Luckily I packed a small first aid kit I put together. Please pray it heals up and doesn't get worse. We will try his Dr. Marten shoes tomorrow. It's a little frustrating that I can spend $100 on shoes at Gordman's that have been doing a better job than the ones we had to have specially made from him.

Wicked Witch

Have you ever felt as if you have no control of the words or tone that come out of your mouth? A couple of weeks ago my anti-depressant was changed for various reasons. On Thursday it was like someone flipped a switch inside of me and I became a totally different person. I felt like I was hanging onto sanity by a rope that was slowly fraying and I was losing my grip. By Friday afternoon it was all I could do to sit at work. Kyle called and said he was pulling out of the driveway to pick me up. So I was down in the lobby and waiting 20 minutes later and he didn't show up for another 15 minutes, because he stopped to wash the car. Of course this was a very nice thing for him to do, but by the time he got there I was ready to strangle him.

She kept pretending she was going to squirt us.

Things went downhill with my mood from there. It didn't matter what Kyle said I had a snarky reply for it. I also had a small breakdown in the parking lot of the WalMart in Logan. My opinion is that everyone has a certain voice they use when they are in a mood or upset that is different from their normal tone. In my family we refer to that as "The Voice." Tyler has a very distinct tone he uses when he is worked up and when we comment that he is using "The Voice" he totally hates it. The thing was I knew how I was acting and I knew it was mean and rude and yet everything I said still came out in "The Voice". I eventually just tried to quit talking, it was nicer.  Anyway back on track.



He didn't care it was only 12" deep

Aside from my breakdown there were several other minor problems from Thursday to Monday I had to deal with which totally didn't help things. Although in spite of all of these I really did have a fun weekend with my family and enjoy some quality time with Garrett and Abby at Bear Lake. And the temperature was only in the 80's (be jealous).

Anyway needless to say by the time I was able to get into see my doctor this morning I was totally on edge and in tears. We have made changes and I anticipate within a week or so I'll be back on an even keel. Also I'm hoping the knee pain from the arthritis will be more bearable as well. I also begged for Kyle's forgiveness and he has been very understanding. Although, he did almost jump for joy when he found out I had an appointment with the doctor.

I think most women can understand this whether they are on medication for chemical imbalances/depression or not. I am optimistic I will be able to enjoy our trip to the Scentsy Convention. We leave tomorrow. Let's pray things go well on this trip.