Mike turns 50 in Nauvoo

 For 2 years now I've been setting aside a little money each month knowing I wanted to surprise Mike with a fun trip for his 50th birthday.  I wasn't sure what it would be when I started saving, but at the beginning of this year I decided I wanted to take him to Nauvoo.  I knew Trace had promised Ann a vacation there for her 60th birthday that they hadn't taken yet, so when I asked them if they wanted to go with us, they quickly said yes.  We flew into Omaha on the evening of June 6th, then got up early the next day to attend the Winter Quarters temple.  It was a small, but very pretty temple.  We got a little lost and ended up changing in the baptismal dressing room before we figured out we needed to go up the stairs to the bigger, nicer dressing rooms where there were actually temple workers and other people. 

 There was a nice visitors center across the street where we spent a short time looking around and decided we would try and get back in time before we flew home on Monday to look around some more.

The bottom two pictures were taken on our drive across Iowa. 

 We got to add 3 new states to our list of states we've been to.

We stayed in these charming log cabins which were owned by actual pioneers and brought to this location and fixed up and modernized a little. It made the whole feel of our stay in Nauvoo seem more authentic. Mike and I stayed in the one on the left and Ann and Trace had the other one.  We didn't get there until about 7:30 so we just drove around checking out the beautiful city and had a late dinner.

 Saturday the 8th- Mike's birthday.  What a perfect, memorable way to spend it!  We went to the temple after breakfast and were blown away by how beautiful it is.  I absolutely loved every thing about it. The feel of it was so peaceful and spiritual.  I will never forget the feeling I had there.  The picture in the top left is the view from the front steps.  I can just imagine how the pioneers must have felt building that beautiful building and looking out on that sight as all their homes were down below and didn't give them that view of the river.

 We then drove 20 minutes to Carthage.  What a sobering, and serene setting.  The church has done a remarkable job of presenting all these places of history so well.  You almost feel like you were there on that fateful day. I love church history and although I feel like I know a lot (thank you Gerald  Lund) there was still a lot that I learned.  I love and revere the prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum and all the early saints.  They truly were saints.  They sacrificed so much and by all accounts, with a faithful and cheerful attitude.

We then drove back to Nauvoo to the LDS visitors center and attended a charming play put on by young men and women who are called on a 4 month mission to Nauvoo to perform.  After dinner we then went to a wonderful production in the outdoor theater called "Sunset on the Mississippi" (isn't it fitting that we happened to be down on the river when the sun set, therefore creating our own sunset on the Mississippi?) put on by the young missionaries and the senior missionaries.  It looks like a lot of fun to be a senior missionary there. After that production, we took a walk down by the river, then came back for another production- this time by the BYU folk dancers who were in town for a week performing.  It was very good.  The weather was perfect and it was so awesome to be enjoying all that we did in this beautiful city.

 Back "home" to blow out birthday candles, sing happy birthday, and open presents. Besides several cards with money in them from his mom, my mom, his Aunt, and Dad, he still had 2 gifts to open.  One from Ann and Trace- a small sun stone like the ones on the temple.  It's a cool reminder of how neat they look on the temple.  The other one is a lifetime keepsake that he was so surprised and touched by.  Jessica had spent the last several months gathering a memory- 50 of them to be exact- from his family and friends of a memory they have with Mike.  She collected them all and put them into a book that she had made for him with several pictures through the years.  It was so wonderful to read all the things people wrote and to know how much he's loved.  It really meant a lot to him.
 
  Sunday we went to an early sacrament meeting for all missionaries and visitors, then had breakfast and drove 10 minutes out to the pioneer cemetery.  It was the most peaceful and beautiful cemetery I've ever seen.  It was huge with headstones scattered throughout.  Trace found one of his ancestors- the one he was named after.

We then toured around Nauvoo and learned a lot from the knowledgeable senior missionaries.  It was delightful to talk with them and get answers to all of our questions. The building on the left is Joseph's red brick store which is owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly RLDS) as well as the Nauvoo house on the bottom right.  That was the only one we couldn't tour the inside.  I loved looking at all these cool houses spread around a huge, beautiful little valley with lots of big trees and green grass.

We had to go through (and pay for) the Community of Christ visitors center to get tours of the Old Farmhouse, Mansion house and burial of Joseph, Emma and Hyrum. 

 We went back to the LDS visitors center and watched the movie "Joseph Smith- Prophet of the Restoration."  Wow- even though I've seen it before, to watch it in Nauvoo just made it seem all the more real.  I love the prophet Joseph and admire and revere him for all that he did.

 We had to cross the Mississippi into Iowa to eat dinner that night since all the restaurants in Nauvoo closed at 5:00, then we hurried back to attend a fireside at the church put on by the BYU folk dancers.  More Rook that night.

Monday we drove back to Omaha and spent over an hour touring the WQ visitors center and cemetery, then caught our 5:45 flight back home.  

I'm so grateful Mike and I could take this trip together and with our traveling companions Ann and Trace.  We had a wonderful time together and had some great conversations.  We're already talking about where we'll go next!