Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs

I've made it to the final post about our trip... and if you are still reading this blog, then I consider you the dearest of friends! Good timing too as we begin our move tomorrow... in the midst of Brad working on-call the entire 3 day holiday weekend. It seems like the major events of our lives always seem to clump together inconveniently... oh well. I think now if some transition was easy for us, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves! Anyway, on to the good stuff...
On our drive home from Utah, we put in a long 15+ hour day and made it to Omaha to spend the night. Usually we'd cut down through Lincoln, NE instead of going out of our way through Omaha, but this time we wanted to tour the Winter Quarters Temple and visitor center, as well as Council Bluffs, Iowa - two important sites in early church history. It's been really neat to live so close to so many significant sites the past two years (New England and now the Midwest). As I mentioned in my previous post, we had just learned some history about Brad's great great great grandfather, George Washington Taggart who joined the church in it's early days. He lived in Nauvoo and helped build the Temple there. His first wife died, leaving him with an infant daughter, Eliza Anne Taggart (Goodrich), who Brad is descended from. We know that Eliza spent some time at Winter Quarters with her step mother (GWT remarried) while her father (GWT) was away serving with the Mormon Battalion. So, it was especially neat for us to visit a place, knowing our family connection to it. Here is a brief synopsis of the sites' significance as noted on lds.org:

"Witness a moment in the great "Mormon Migration." Explore a pioneer cabin, pull a handcart, and see what life was like for thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who spent the winter of 1846 to 1847 in the encampment they called Winter Quarters. A short audiovisual presentation will teach you about the struggles and hardships they faced on their journey to the Salt Lake Valley. Visit the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, where you can see the final resting place of more than 325 Saints who died at Winter Quarters from illness, hunger, and poor living conditions.

Persecuted for their beliefs and driven from their homes, the Latter-day Saints set out from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846. They were seeking Zion–a place where they could worship as they pleased. Their destination was Utah's Salt Lake Valley. Thousands of Saints crossed Iowa and encamped on both sides of the Missouri River, including the site of Winter Quarters, where they constructed hundreds of shelters. These temporary towns became safe havens for the Saints–a place to gather strength before resuming the trek west.

While in the area, visit the Kanesville Tabernacle across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This is a replica of the log building where Brigham Young was sustained as the second prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Winter Quarters Temple, dedicated 2001

The Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters

Picture of the original Nauvoo Temple in Nauvoo, IL. It was destroyed by arson and a tornado. The current Nauvoo temple was rebuilt and dedicated in 2002. Brad's ancestor helped build the original.
Pioneer Cemetery at Winter Quarters

Kanesville Tabernacle replica in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As noted in the synopsis, Brigham Young was sustained here as the second Prophet and President of the church. Council Bluffs served as a headquarters of sorts for a few years after Winter Quarters was abandoned. It is also the place from which the Mormon Battalion was mustered (the Mormons, even after being chased from their own lands and robbed of their freedoms were asked to send 500 men in a battalion to march to California during the Mexican war). Though it was a difficult thing to ask these men to leave their families to make the trek west without them - and in most cases not to see them again for a year or more - the reimbursement they were able to send to their families was a blessing which enabled many of them to afford to make the trip. Many of the battalion played an important role in the early development of California as well... but enough with the history lesson.

Since Brad's ancestor (GWT) was one of the battalion, his name is inscribed on a plaque inside the visitor's center, along with the others of his company. He was a commissioned officer and played the fife apparently. It was really neat to see, but of course my camera died just in time so I didn't get a picture of the plaque. However, we did get an entire handout about GWT from the visitor's center that they had on file - it included a brief biography and picture of him! They have a little bit of information on each of the battalion members filed away for people who ask (mostly descendants of whoever).

Great Grandparents and Temple Square

Another Utah highlight was visiting Brad's grandparents (and the kids' great-grandparents!). It was the first time in a long time that we've been over there with just our little family for a quiet visit, and it was lovely! Mimi and Papa as they are called, have an exciting basket of toys that kept the boys busy - and of course the enjoyed trying out Mimi's wheelchair (a temporary fixture as she recovers from foot surgery).

We had some good long family history discussions, which really has me fascinated right now. They have some family books I would love to sit down and spend a few hours with, and we found out some really interesting things about Grandpa and Grandma Goodrich, as well as their heritage. One ancestor in particular is George Washington Taggart, who was the first to join the Mormon church on Grandpa's side... back in the 1800's when Joseph Smith was alive. We learned that he and his young wife moved to Nauvoo, where she died when their first child was one year old. He worked on building the original Nauvoo Temple and would bring his baby daughter with him in a wheelbarrow while he worked. He also served in the Mormon Battalion, and played the fife as an officer. He remarried and eventually made his way to Salt Lake City, where he also worked on the Salt Lake Temple. I have always loved Temple Square - it was one of my favorite summer trips as a child, and of course now that Brad and I were married there. But knowing the personal stories of one of our ancestors who actually worked on it makes it even more meaningful to visit. I really want to learn all I can about our family heritage (on both sides) to pass down to my children - I think it really helps to feel more grounded and to find meaning in life when we feel connected to the earth through generations past.

Anyway, we sure loved the visit!


And of course we went to the Salt Lake Temple to walk around for a bit on our way back up to Morgan.

Dinosaur Park and Riverton

During our second week in Utah, after Owen started feeling a little better, we met up with some friends at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. You might recognize these friends from many of my blog posts while we lived in Pittsfield - they moved there about the same time as we did and their son Stew was Eli's bestest friend while we were out there. Amy was such a blessing to me as well while we lived there... her daughter was born there just one month after Owen. We spent many a wintery day at one or the other's house just nursing our babies and letting the big brothers play until they were exhausted. We also went on a sleigh ride in Vermont, and walked on a frozen lake together! Through a serious of unexpected events they actually ended up moving back to Utah before we even left MA... so we haven't seen them in an entire year! It was so fun to meet up at the Dino park - the perfect place for all 3 of our Dino crazy boys! Stew even wore the same shirt as Eli and Owen (unplanned), and since it was raining, we had the ENTIRE place to ourselves!

Outside we got to see dinosaur replicas and listen to "roaring" sounds coming from the bushes, as well as "dig" for dinosaur bones in the sand. Inside we saw real dinosaur fossils, and the electronically animated T-rex and Triceratops. The kids were all pretty scared of the moving dinos at first, but after they warmed up it was hard to tear them away. Eli STILL talks about it and constantly wants to re-create the scene saying he's the T-rex and I'm the mommy Triceratops and I have to protect my baby (Owen). Lol.







Very soon after the Dino Park (maybe the next day) we met up with the Woodwards again closer to their home - at IKEA! Eli and Stew played in the children's area while Amy and I did some shopping. Then we went over to their house for lunch and got to see some of the neat animals they have there. They are living with Amy's parents while her husband finishes up some schooling, and the home and land out there in Riverton is gorgeous! You can see the new Draper Temple across the valley from their backyard. The kids were ecstatic to be able to feed the ducks, see a real horse, and a beehive! It was a wonderful day! We sure appreciated being cheered up after that long drawn out yucky sickness.... and we remembered again how much we love and miss our Woodward friends... I hope we can reconnect more often!

A Few More Family Hi-Lights!

Heidi's high school graduation! We are so proud of her and so glad that we could be there for the event! She heads off to UVU in Provo this fall to study nursing.

Snuggling in and reading a good book are the best ways to spend an evening!
Chrisopther's baby blessing. In our church when babies are born we have a naming and blessing ceremony for them... usually held at church. Aubrey was able to arrange to have it at her house with just the family and a member of the bishopric. We did the same thing with Owen's since we had his blessing in Utah with family while we were living in Massachusetts. It makes for a lovely and peaceful ceremony. Little Christopher Erlank Slabbert looked so handsome in his little white suit too! My mom and I were able to pick it up for him when we were out shopping the day before. We so appreciate them arranging to have the blessing while we were in town... it was an honor for Brad to be able to join in the blessing circle for his nephew. It certainly helps us to feel loved and connected when we can be involved in the special events, even though we can't be there for the day to day stuff... we love you guys!



After the blessing we had a little bbq in the park area at Aubrey's house. Eli had a ton of fun spraying down the fence, cars, and ants with a spray bottle he found. He and Grandpa K. watched bees, and ants and Grandpa taught him all about ant colonies.





Even little Grable (my Chihuahua from high school who is now 17 years old) made the trip, though she had to stay pretty close to my mom!