Nauvoo Pt. 1

We celebrated Brad's 31st bday this weekend in Nauvoo! Most of you reading this blog immediately know what is in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the historical and spiritual significance it holds for members of the church... but some of you may not have even heard of it before. I couldn't begin to thoroughly cover the early history of the Mormon church in a brief blog post, so I apologize for any lack of detail.

In the early days of the Church, Joseph Smith (a prophet called of God to restore the full truthfulness of the Gospel which had been lost over time) and the growing body of membership were met with much persecution from the community. They were chased from their homes and lands reapeatedly - moving from state to state in hopes of establishing a peaceful community where they could be free to worship God as they desired, and as the Constitution promised. Their homes were burned and lands unlawfully taken, their persons abused and tortured, and sometimes even killed. When they ended up in Nauvoo, Il, it was a swampland along the Mississippi river. Through hard work and sacrifice, they were able to build it up into a beautiful city (Nauvoo means "beautiful" in Hebrew) and begin construction on a Temple within a seven year time period. It was one of the happiest times in early Church history, though persecution and mobocracy never completely ceased ... after the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred by a mob, the Saints were again forced to leave their home. It was from Nauvoo that the Mormon Pioneers began their famous exodus Westward towards the Salt Lake Valley...

As you can see, a visit to historic Nauvoo is an exciting thing! Many of the old buildings have been preserved, and in addition to the historical and religious points of interest, there are fun pioneer related activities and theatrical re-enactments that go on there. Check out this site to see what all there is to do.

To start the ADVENTURE, we stayed in the Nauvoo Log Cabins - a hotel that consists of a handful of old pioneer cabins that have been moved, reconstructed, and renovated with modern conveniences. They had a nice rustic feel, and it was the perfect way to get in the Pioneer spirit. The boys especially loved the chicken coop right outside our door, and the log framed bunk bed that Eli dubbed "the tree bed." He pretended to be a squirrel climbing in a tree for at least two hours straight, and had a hard time falling asleep because he was so excited! Owen played along too, and couldn't resist trying to climb to the very top of the bed over and over again.




I have to say that nestled along the banks of the Mississippi, Nauvoo truly IS a beautiful place! It was drizzly and cold during our visit, but oh so lush and green! We were able to take a horse drawn wagon ride through the historic town for a historical overview. Eli got a kick out of the horses, Owen used the time for a nap, and Brad and I just enjoyed the tour!

View of the Nauvoo Temple on the Hill

One of several groves where outdoor church was held.

Brigham Young's home
(He succeeded Joseph Smith as second Prophet of the church and
led the church members West to Salt Lake)

Part of the town of Historic Nauvoo is owned by the Community of Christ Church (a group that splintered off from the main body of the Mormon Church after the death of Joseph Smith) - we were able to go through their vistor's center and take their guided tour through the Smith Homestead and family cemetary, the Nauvoo Hotel (also owned and lived in for a time by Joseph Smith), and the Red Brick Store (owned by Joseph Smith; some historic church meetings such as the organization of the Relief Society [women's group] took place in the upper room).

The Homestead and Smith Family Cemetery
were situated on a beautiful plot right on the bank of the Mississippi.

Remnants of Nauvoo Hotel

The Red Brick Store
On Saturday evening we were able to see Rendezvous- a musical production about Old Nauvoo that was performed entirely by the "Senior Missionaries." It was very comical - though hard for us to follow because we each had to leave multiple times with one or the other fussy child at that late evening hour.

Sleeping Acrobatics

Isn't it amazing the crazy positions that kids can sleep in? We sure have some cuddly boys in this house! I am now addicted to sneaking in and taking pictures of them when they are asleep (Daddy sometimes included). Eli and Owen share a queen sized bed... sometimes Daddy falls asleep in there with them when putting them to sleep. Owen eventually wakes up in the middle of the night and I bring him to our bed... then sometime early in the morning Eli comes in and gets in bed with us too (usually just before it's time to get up). So, we get the best of both worlds now - some privacy for a few hours while the boys cuddle, then lots of family snuggle time... I love it! Someday I hope for sweet pictures of them snuggling their own babies.





*Edited to add 2 more pictures... I told you I'm obsessed! =)

Butterflies

The boys and I had a playdate at a friend's house the other day who has 3 girls. Eli disappeared with the two oldest ones for a minute, and came back sporting pink fairy wings. He proudly announced, "Look, I'm a beautiful butterfly!" It was time for us to go home, and the only way I could get him to cooperate was to promise we could make some of our own butterfly wings at home.

The next day I asked Eli if he would like to do something special with me while Owen was napping, and he reminded me of my earlier promise about the butterfly wings. So, we scrounged around in the garage for some cardboard. I'll admit that I considered making the wings for some other more "manly" insect, but then I figured that there are male butterflies in nature, so what's the big deal!

Since Owen was asleep, Eli painted both sets of wings and I don't think he minded at all! I painted two smaller butterflies and attached some yarn to them so the boys could run around the yard with them like a kite. When the breeze picked up, the butterflies would lift off even without running around, and the kids were thrilled that their butterflies were flying! For the larger wings, I just taped some yarn on them and tied them on the boys' backs. I might actually punch holes in the wings and use some sturdy ribbon for a more permanent attachment if I get around to it.

After the paint dried and Owen was up, the boys were occupied for at least an hour out in the yard pretending to be butterflies! Eli even "flew" from flower to flower "helping them grow" (I had talked to him about pollination and what a butterfly does to help plants grow). The best part was when they held hands and flew around. I still crack up every time I see Eli wiggle his torso to get his wings flapping and tell me over and over "I'm a beautiful butterfly!" Yes, indeed you are Son!

All Painted Up

The Mini Kites

Beautiful Butterflies!

Tadpoles

It seems with the warmer Spring weather we are more motivated to get out and do things - hence I take more pictures and need to get in gear with my blogging!

This week for FHE (Family Home Evening- Monday nights are set aside to spend time together and to teach our children morals/manners/Gospel principles/family history etc, and to have FUN) we went to a park near our house to catch tadpoles. The boys and I had seen them earlier in the day on a walk, so we brought along the small fishnet we have, a pretend fishing pole, and a canning jar to see what we could capture. We talked about the beautiful world that Heavenly Father and Jesus made for us - Eli especially likes to tell us about how "Jesus made the Earth" and that we "live on the Earth." We sang some songs in the car and then set off into the mud! There were hundreds of little tiny tadpoles swimming around just near the shore, as well as big fat ones just resting on the bottom, trying to blend in with the mud. The boys had a BLAST, and Brad and I enjoyed watching their carefree adventure. I've never seen two boys happier for two straight hours! They were freaked out at first by the sight of the giant, slimy tadpoles squirming around in the net... but they soon caught onto the fun and wanted me to catch more and more! They even tried their own hands at it. We thought about taking the little tadpoles home and trying to raise them, but we decided just to release them afterall. I guess we aren't quite ready for the work of "pets" again =).

"Fishing" for Tadpoles

Giant Tadpole

Temporary Aquarium

Boys+Rocks+Water = Inevitable Rock Throwing

Our Stalker - this cat wouldn't go away!

Mystery Track: HUGE paw with big CLAWS

Fire House

As a part of the Network of Resident Spouses playgroup that we attend, we were able to tour the local Fire House last week. The boys had a great time meeting the Firemen, and of course investigating the HUGE garage and firetrucks! They were even allowed inside one of the trucks. One of the firemen gave us a demonstration of how he dresses in his gear, and when the oxygen tank turned on with a loud hiss, Owen about went through the roof. It was tough to convince him to loosen his death grip on me after that... but I at least got him on the bumper of the truck for some pics. I actually had a lot of fun myself checking out the trucks up close!

Hair Cuts

When Brad and I got married, one of my longtime/childhood best friends gave us a hair cutting kit as a gift. I was shocked when Brad actually wanted me to use it to cut his hair! I had never cut hair, other than trimming my sister's LONG hair.... a man cut with clippers was totally new to me. We sat down in front of a mirror so he could see what I was doing, and he guided me through it (his Dad had always cut his hair so he knew a little about the process). It took about 2 hours and I was covered in hair and unsure if I ever wanted to attempt it again. Fast forward 7 1/2 years and I not only remain Brad's exclusive stylist, but I now have two little tow heads to keep trimmed up as well. It's not a process that I necessarily look forward to, but I'm much faster now, I've learned a few things, and it saves a lot of money.

Owen Before:

Owen After:

I use a combination of clippers and scissors for Brad and Eli, but I wanted to keep Owen's hair relatively long. It's much shorter than I was going for, but I messed up his bangs, then I watched some helpful videos on youtube and was able to fix it with a complete scissor cut. I find it helpful to use smaller scissors on toddlers, and to invest in some blending shears! I also sprang for a child's cape and a cape for myself this time - I figure 7 1/2 years of detesting the feeling of hair stuck in my clothes warranted me a cape! It also helps to strap the kids in a booster chair, plug in a movie on the portable dvd player, and give them endless goldfish and yogurt raisins!

The Setup:

Here are links to the video series I watched in case you are inspired to try this at home.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

St. Louis Temple

Just before Easter, we took the boys to St. Louis so Brad and I could attend the Temple. It ends up being an all day affair for us, as it's a two hour drive there and back, and we each take turns going in for a session so the other one can stay outside to watch the kids either at the park or in the visitor's lobby (children under the age of 12 do not participate in Temple attendance). That's at least an 8 hour day, and we usually work a picnic and some shopping into the trip as well. Eli LOVES to see the Temple, and will point out any local church building with a steeple and insist it is the Temple.
We always stop at our FAVORITE store - Whole Foods! We stock up on a few of our favorite natural products, and then buy a picnic's worth of food from their salad bar. As a special treat this time, we tried their Italian Gelatto (like thick ice cream) - oh, it was YUMMY!