I am really kicking myself right now for not writing about our trip to Nauvoo sooner than three months later, now that the details aren’t as fresh in my memory.  Oh well, better late than never!  I have wanted to go to Nauvoo for about the whole time we have been married but everytime we planned to go, something big happened to stop us.  I was beginning to think we were jinxing ourselves everytime we tried to plan a trip there.  The first time we’d planned to go was after Robert’s internship in college, but then I had a miscarriage.  The second time we had planned to go was when we were living in Denver, but ended up going to a funeral instead.  The third time we planned to go was last summer while we were living in the valley, but then Robert got mono and rheumatic fever.  Needless to say we were very hesistant this time around to even think about going to Nauvoo.  We planned a trip to Chicago and nonchalantly told ourselves that we’d maybe/probably/possibly just pass through Nauvoo on our way home.  If we had time.

Well, we made it to Nauvoo without insident!   We pulled into Nauvo at around 3pm but all the missionaries were going to close up shop for the evening at 5pm (since it was the off season) so we didn’t have much time to see as much as we could.

Our first stop was to the visitor’s center and then the Family Living Center. The boys had so much fun at this building.  One missionary let us help him make a rope and talked to Andrew about how he was an important part of his family, because like the small strands that made up the rope, he added to the strenght of the family.  It was fun to see the process and get a one-on-one lesson!

Next was learning about candle and breadmaking.  The sister missionary (Sister Dalton!) talked about the process of collecting animal fat, cooking it down, straining it, then dipping and drying the candles.  What a process!  But unless you wanted to live in darkness, you didn’t have much of a choice!  I thought the candle boxes were super cool.  She said that families would punch their own design in theirs and could be recognized by the pattern the lights made at night.  Like, “Oh hey, that’s farmer Joe coming down our lane, not a cattle rustler so lets not shoot him.”  Atleast that’s how I see it 🙂  Then we learned about the huge process that was making bread.  The part I thought was interesting was the special oven for bread.  They built a fire in it to bring it up to temperature, then baked the bread in it.  We talked about how blessed we are to have so much for time on our hands because these aren’t huge project for us anymore and hopefully we are using that time to further the work of the Lord!  She also showed us a really cool pie box which I wish I’d taken a picture of!

Next up was the Wainwright and Blacksmith shops.  The wheel making guy talked about the metal band that goes around the wooden wheel and it was heated up so it would expand enough to go around the outside of the wheel and as it cooled it contracted and held the wheel tightly together.  He likened that to how the gospel can hold our families tightly together.  The blacksmith had the two boys eating out of the palm of his hand while he showed them how he makes horseshoes.  He didn’t bother making any analogies, but the boys were totally fascinated!  And they each got their own little horseshoes.  Then Alex asked him for another one for his mom and another one for his dad.  Always sharing the love!

By this point all of the little shops and things were closed for the day so we went into “town” to find something to eat.  None of the food places were open because of the time of year but someone on mainstreet suggested the gas station.  I guess I’m a bit of a snob because I was ready to call it a night and find a restaurant, hotel, and a little civilization accross the river in Keokuk, IL.  We had tickets though to a show in Nauvoo that night so I gave in and we had a gourmet dinner of beef jerky, pringles and naked juice for dinner.  Gluten-free and filled us up!

After “dinner” we walked down a beautiful path to the Mississippi River.  The sun was setting and it was just breathtaking!  I couldn’t help but be blown away as I thought about what the pioneers did.  Their trek had always seemed like a pretend story, but standing by the river looking at where they crossed to start their journey, it became very real to me.  1300 miles west to Nauvoo.  Wow!

I always thought I would have been the first to pack up and follow the prophet, Brigham Young, west. But standing on the bank of the Mississippi that night I really began to wonder if I had the strength, faith, and determination to do something that hard!  Could you?

Next up was a cute little show put on by the missionaries about the Mormons living in and then leaving Nauvoo.  It was cute and fun and the boys just ate up the cheesiness.  Andrew laughed loudly in all the right places and Alex gave the actors high fives afterwards.

Then we got in the car and drove up the hill to walk around the beautiful Nauvoo temple.  So Pretty!  We found a nice hotel in Keokuk for the night and hit the sack but only after swimming in the pool and drinking all their hot chocolate.  Well, Andrew actually opted for just a cup full of marshmallows instead.

We decided we hadn’t seen enough of Nauvoo and went back for a few more hours to see a few more things.  While Robert did a session at the temple, the boys and I went for a ride around Nauvoo on a wagon.  Andrew was just loving every minute of it.  During the ride I told him that when I was little like him, Grandpa Dalton had some horses like these and that we went on wagon rides all the time.  He said that sure would have liked to have grown up where I did because it sounded awesome!

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And this is what the ride did to Alex!  Luckily I had planned ahead (I do that sometimes) and grabbed a couple of “to-go” breakfast bags from the hotel since I knew what the lunch options would be like.

The boys and I also toured the buildings owned by the Community of Christ.  Alex and Andrew were bored out of their minds so I didn’t get much of the history out of it but the Mansion House was really need to see as well as the upper room in the Red Brick Store.

The brickyard was one of my favorite stops.  The missionary (the same one who had taught us about rope making the day before) told us about the huge process of making the bricks that a majority of the buildings in Nauvoo were made from.  He also showed us a brick that had a tiny bit of sand or gravel in it that had broken during the fire process.  He told us how in our lives we need keep out evil because even a tiny bit can cause us to crack under pressure.  We got a brick to take home which Alex so cutely modeling in the picture.

The bakery.

Stone Quarry.