Nauvoo for the 4th of July Weekend!

Mom, Brianna and I left on our road trip early Wednesday morning (July 2nd) for Nauvoo, Illinois.  We got there in the evening, just in time to meet Allison and girls at the condo, unload our things, and go take a few pictures.  We were staying just up the road from the beautiful Nauvoo Temple.  The weather was gorgeous- and no humidity.  What a delightful surprise!

     Monument to Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and the view looking west across the Mississippi River

Curt flew into St. Louis that evening….Nathan picked him up after work and they drove the 3 hours north to Nauvoo, arriving after midnight.  We hadn't seen Nathan's family since Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful to spend a few days together.

We were able to do an early morning temple session…

Then we tried to see all the sights we could in the next couple of days.

Katelyn loved the little pioneer village, where we all dressed up for a family photo:

And the adults got into the fun…

Sure love these kids…

                                                 

    We saw a couple of musicals in the Visitor's Center.

We drove the half hour to Carthage, where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred.

Love Brianna's photo-bomb here…

Back in Nauvoo, we took advantage of the wagon rides around town…

 and all the cute senior missionaries coming out to wave...

  Mom and I loved the pageant about the British Saints….our heritage!

A highlight for me was walking the Trail of Hope down to the river at dusk, where a quote from my great-great-great grandmother, Jane Black, is engraved on the last plaque before the river.

 Three generations of Jane Black descendants…well, actually it should be my Dad, but that's okay.  :)

 There is definitely a special spirit in Nauvoo, and I'm so glad we were able to spend time there as a family!  We love our pioneer ancestors!

Inner Harbor!

Before we picked up Brianna at the airport, Mom and I spent the day at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  Luckily, even though Mom's almost 88, she's an avid walker, so this was a perfect outing for her.

We spent the majority of the day in the Aquarium-

We ate yummy food and delicious gelato, did some shopping...

                     

...and just had a fun day together!  Sure love my mama!

Amish Country and Hershey!

The next day, we visited two of our favorite places- Amish Country and Hershey!  We started out with a fun tour of an Amish Farm and House in Lancaster.  Both Mom and I had been enjoying reading Amish novels, so it was fun to learn more of the culture and history of the Amish.  Interesting people!  I didn't think to take many pictures, but we got a few.

 Of course, we can't go to Amish Country without visiting Kitchen Kettle, and getting a soft pretzel at Immergut.  Yum!

Pennsylvania's known for it's abundance of covered bridges.  Here's one we went through                               on our way to Strasburg.

I had bought tickets for us to attend a showing of "Moses" at the Sight and Sound Theater 

("Where the Bible Comes to Life!")

We've lived here almost 18 years and had never even seen this place less than an hour away!  Pretty incredible theater (seats 2,000) out in the middle of Amish farmland.  There are only two of them in the country- the other one is in Branson, MO.  So it was certainly about time we visited and saw one of the shows.  They change the show each year, and show 3 sold out performances every day!  Next year I'll take Curtis for sure! 

And then, of course, we came home by way of Chocolate World at Hershey.  Love it!

Mom and Me Time- Summer 2014

It's been 5 years since I blogged, but it's been a fun and full summer.  I thought this would be a good way to capture and share those memories with family and friends.  I started summer vacation with a visit from my sweet mother, Barbara!

The day after she flew in, we visited the Washington DC Temple- always a favorite place!

Then we came home by way of Gettysburg, and stopped for a couple of hours.

 We took a nice walk through the National Cemetery where the Gettysburg Address was given. and then drove around the battlefield.

                                          It was a good beginning to our summer adventures!