Nauvoo and Carthage Jail

Pictures from our drive across the country.....

there are lots.

tons.

sorry, but I like to take pictures and cant seen to decide which to put on the blog.

so i add them all.

These are are mostly from our intentional stop at the Nauvoo temple and carthage jail.

I wanted to go more places but the hubs just wanted to get the drive over and done with....So I got to go to one place. I was very happy with my choice.

the nauvoo temple

I didn't adjust my settings completely before taking this picture so it was totally blown out...this was my attempt at saving it.

you can see on the clock, it's 5:00

we weren't dressed for a session. I was sad. I wanted to throw something on and just run inside for a quick self tour. The hubs laughed and said no. Oh well. Next time, when we have more time.

it was a gorgeous clear day. very mild and nice.

the tulips were out and looking lovely.

i love this photo

(click on the picture to make it larger)

I love this plaque.

Reading it, I feel closer to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I can see him doing this. See his love of the gospel and love for the people in Nauvoo. The temple was only half completed by the time he was killed at carthage jail.

trying to get all artsy.

he didn't like this photo because he hadn't shaved. lol.

(can you see us in the glass?? lol)

this is one of the original sunstones that was on the original temple, before it got destroyed by fire and then a tornado. It was in use for less than 3 months. There is also another one on display in the Smithsonian in DC.

I wish I knew that.....I was just in MD. I never saw this there.

love this! I wish we could have went inside....everything, the visitor's center, all the sites were closed at 5... just missed it.

A wanted this picture to remember how the saints saw the temple in their time.

Carthage Jail-the place where Joseph and his brother Hyram were martyred.

(click on photos to make them bigger, so you can read them)

there are about 12 of these plaques on the grounds. i only got to see these two.

The Prophet and his brother, Hyram.

i just love this picture.

i am so glad we were there while no one else was. it was so quiet. so reverent.

the two of us... <3 him!

This is the place....Joseph Smith fell out of that window there after being shot numerous times.

to learn more visit here. Or go there and visit it for yourself....when it's open, of course. ;) we have to go back for that too! lol.
this tree is huge!
this was where we stopped for a late meal, at ihop. lol. his favorite. plus, he won some bet or something and we had to go. I guess because we went to white castle for me :)
You can't see it but that sign says welcome to Utah :)
the mountains in utah

Miss K update

Just a quick update on Miss K. These are photos from maryland, right before we left....there will be new ones coming soon.At her recent appointment, her 2 year well check-up she was 36 in long (in the 94th %tile) and 26 lbs (the 41st %tile.) She didn't want to open her mouth and show the doctor until after he left. Then she was kind of upset no one was looking in her mouth. silly.
she's a wild child
Seriously, though. WILD CHILD. she likes to do her own thing. If you ask to hold her hand as you cross the street, she will quickly say pockets and shove her hands in her pockets so you can't. She runs around the house and just flops herself anywhere.She has to do mostly anything herself....dressing, eating, playing at the park, and if you do it she will freak out.

she went around to every bunch of flowers and smelt them. silly girl.
Her Favorite phrase for a while was "mama do it." I just refused and eventually she just started to say whoever was doing it. She can't be picky. now, if daddy changes her diaper, "daddy do it" lol
this is her "whoa" face.
She still doesn't know her colors, we work on it all the time. seriously....her default used to be green. now whenever we ask what color something is, it's pink. sometimes, she's right. lol.
sitting nicely as she watches the boys play some basketball.
We went to the stadium one night so A could play some soccer. k was so excited all day. she kept saying soccer, soccer....and when we did get there it was basically snowing. we still had fun, and everytime we pass by any feild it's "soccer" or "daddy soccer"
this was so funny....she was saying "ow wow owo wow ow" the whole walk from the ball in the background to me. she wanted her shoes off though.
She is a big footed girl. wearing size 7-8. her feet are sweaty and stinky too. mostly because she always wants to wear her snow boots, with no socks. it's yucky.I can't wait until we can wear flip flops all day.
with dan.
She asks about the boys all the time. She misses her uncles.
riding on uncle karson's skateboard.
everytime we read the daddy book, there is a skateboading part and she always points out that karson has a skateboard.
chasing after the duck that come into the lawn.
we have a love hate relationship with the ducks. lol. she loves them and will find them and point them out....but she also balls her hands into fists and says "scarry" about them.
"all gone"
We found a stool at the DI for $2. I was thinking a great get on the potty stool....nope. still no luck in that department. Here is a frequent conversation of ours:Me: (enthusiastically) Want to go sit on the potty?!?K: No, diaper change.Me: Are you sure, mama uses the pottyK: Sure, diaper change
She still refuses to poop. serioiusly.weirdest thing in the world. I really hope that ends soon.

spending some last moments with masani
we get to skype with masani and she talks to her on the phone as well.
hanging out on the porch.
And said stool....I will post a pic soon.She LOVES that thing!She took it to sleep with her a few times.She uses it to get into more stuff! Getting stuff out of the sink, turning on and off lights, getting into her chair to eat. anything. she is seen most times running through the house all excited with her stool in her hands.
With oscar. She misses him too
She knows exactly where the park is. We can go on a walk and completely avoid the park, and the whole time she is looking in it's direction, like....ok, when are we going that way, I know the park is there. She gets very excited when we see the temple (this is daily, since it's about 2.1 miles from our house) Sometimes, she even claps, when we get close. And she knows which is the temple vs. chapels. And that you have to wear a dress to go to the temple....more about that on her 2 year birthday post! :)
She really is a sweet girl and we love her so! She started saying sorry all the time. For anything. even to her doll. She was rolling on her bed and saying sorry, sorry, sorry....I guess she was squishing her baby. poor thing, it's really not as neglected as it used to be. She does kiss it too.
She still points to her cheek and says, "wisten." She can hear an airplane, motorcycle, or truck super quick, and knows the difference.She no longer needs the tv on for a nap! a book works just fine now. usually, whenever she wakes up from her nap or in the morning we have to go in and get her. (which I still don't understand, she can open the doors--but that's okay!) When we do go in, she is usually sitting in bed, reading a few books. its super cute.
ok, done for now!

Wedding Day!!

Just some pictures from my camera and some descriptions.
I have been having trouble with posting this and I couldn't put my finger on why....I wanted to, but didn't at the same time. Until I ran across my friend's blog here. She says she didn't want to blog after her husband's homecoming. This was, I believe his first deployment, so, first homecoming, and she says, "it really was so dear to my heart that its hard for me to share that part with anybody."
I can understand that.
I'm not going to go into too many details or share too many of the pictures. Trust me....there are TONS! But I see this as our family's own personal journal, and I am doing this for my friends and family that would like see.
It's hard because there are certain people that I hope never come across this blog, hence the fact that the old blog went private for a while. But as long as our family is safe, we will be public and we will share :)

Tiffany, the make-up artist...with her massive collection!
You can check out her work here

Sunglasses we got for everyone in the party. They were fun! I still wear mine all the time

More Make-up!

The dress that I wore! Big thank you-again goes to Amber to loaning it to me....and to Jared for bringing it out from salt lake on some last minute notice! He is awesome!

I was up by 7, showered and hair in curlers by the time Jess and Tiffany got there. They said something about how calm I was, that they would have been nervous wrecks! LOL. yea. I can see that. I was more excited and more....just ready.

On the drive to the temple with my handsome man!

Post temple pics....
It was freezing!
Ok, not freezing, just so windy that it made it freezing. It was a gorgeous day, partly cloudy. Just so cold from the wind.
Brrrr.....Just thinking about it is making me cold. lol.
Jared and Amber. Great pic of them!

I love this picture of the boys! They're just lookin all cute. lol.

Gotta keep things light.
I don't even remember who stole my camera at this point. But they got some pics!

With all the guys..... they are so funny.

My side of the family

it was cold, and somehow miss k didn't have a jacket. So we tried to protect her from the wind.
poor thing.
that's why she isn't in too many of the pics.

The girls....I heart them!

My mom looks so pretty in this picture!

She is with my brother and Jonathan here

And her sister Betty and sister(in law) Esther. They all coordinated to wear purple.

with her brothers Jr. and Robert

My nephew Jon, being silly.

Jus, Brandon, Dan....posing for the camera.

They are making fun of brandon here. lol. too funny!

The Candy Bar. Big Hit.

A's guitar, which we forgot to bring to the temple for the professional pics, but that's okay!
He did serenade me during the luncheon. Sang, Just the way you are, by bruno mars. He has a video on FB singing it, he's awesome. He says he learned that because of me :)

a bit blurry but still cute!

we are awesome! hahahaha.

We found this picture on there too....guess justin took it when he brought my camera home. Thanks for keeping it safe, this is a funny photo, glad he didn't break the camera! LOL. ;)

So, those were a few from my camera.....more posts soon of pics from Brother B, who took tons of pics at the reception as well as the professional photogs!

Yayyy for trying to catch up on the blogging!!! GO ME! lol.