The End of Nauvoo

 The fun ended on August 4.  We had to clear out Saturday morning and it was a sad day.  There is just never enough time to hang out with family! We stopped for a little bit on our way out to tour the blacksmith shop and enjoy the last drops of fun before we drove to Jonathan's house.

Delaney really loved her cousin Rachel.

All these awesome cousins are the best!

We had to wait a little bit for the tour. 

They may have had a little too much fun waiting! 

Mostly Geode Hunting

On Friday we had some grand plans.  Most of them worked out fairly well.  I got to take the kids back to explore more of Nauvoo in the morning.  And in the afternoon we went to Carthage Jail and did that tour.  Kind of on the way back from that we detoured to a Geode hunting quarry and had a marvelous time looking for geodes. It was a successful day.

Chilling in the shade for a moment. 

Delaney liked the climbing bears a lot.

Rylee was really good at this game. 

 Apparently this is the only picture I took at Carthage!  Oops.

This was the road into the geode place. Fun!

 Josh, showing off his mad skills!

Some people looked for geodes.... some looked for frogs! 

So happy he found a little geode! 

Marian and Katie. 

 Mighty Marian!

 Callie, doing her Heroic Pose.

Nauvoo Pre-Pageant Fun

They had a large set up with all kinds of pioneer activities to do before the pageants.  The kids thought it was a lot of fun.  So on Thursday we went early enough for them to play a bit before the pageant.

Delaney enjoyed braiding and made a cute headband. 

Josh and Aaron engaged Isabelle and Katie in a log sawing competition. 

Josh was impressed with himself for catching the ring. 

He was quite successful at this game. 

The kids loved the handcart races.

Marian was quite speedy. 

There was dancing as well.  They taught the steps, garnered you with a pioneer expert and started the music!  You can see Miranda and Kristy here.

Kristy and Isabelle had a good time.  It was really fun to watch as well!

Nauvoo Family Photos

 We had to be up and ready too early on Thursday morning!  But we did it! We went to the Nauvoo Temple to do big family pictures.  It went surprisingly well.  We also relocated down for more pictures.

A dark selfie with the temple.

My favorite parents with the temple behind them. 

Temple selfie with the best photobomb EVER! 

Cool kids waiting their turn. 

And Josh.

Nauvoo, First Day

 All of my siblings and their families got together in Nauvoo with my parents.  We weren't sue this was even going to happen, with Mom's health. But she has miraculously been improving and was well enough to make the trip. I'm so glad she could!  We had so much fun!

We arrived in Nauvoo on Wednesday August 1, too early to check into the house, so we went to play.

The kids consented to pose for me.

We got to go on the wagon ride with these horses.  It was pretty cool. And we had a good time getting to know the horses beforehand. 

We had to try out the stilts. 

I'm pretty sure they were Josh's favorite thing. 

They were a lot of fun!

Delaney enjoyed the pioneer games.

We spent a little time in the Family Living Center, but ran away once we could check into our house. 

I am mildly obsessed with trying to make a rug like this.  We shall see.... 

We went to the British Pageant that evening.  It doesn't end till 10:30pm, so it makes for a late night!!