Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo

So, this year was the year Jake and I organized the his family reunion.  We wanted to stay closer to home since we had Pace, so we planned on Nauvoo.  It is a great little old time town.  It was set up by the Mormons before they crossed the plains to Utah.  It was a thriving town for it's time and they have restored it with all the little shops and houses, so you can experience how life was there in the 1840s.  Check this website out if you want to know more: https://www.lds.org/locations/nauvoo-visitors-center.  Pretty fun place, plus some of Jake's ancestors lived there, so it was a great place to do the reunion.

Monday was just our driving and settling in day.  We stayed in a great rental house that was up on a hill near the Mississippi, just outside of Nauvoo.  Tuesday we went to Springfield, Illinois to see Lincoln's hometown and his tomb.  It was a fun day and I learned some fun things about the culture then.  Like it was fashionable to have your curtains so long the bunched on the ground, because it showed you could afford excess.  It was fun to learn more about Lincoln as a person.  He seems like he was a really great guy.  When we visited his tomb, that was when Pace felt like he had had enough.  He started to scream.  If you have ever been to Lincoln's tomb you would know that it is all granite inside so it echoes like crazy.  So everyone in the building got an earful of Pace screaming.  So much for keeping the reverent, respectful calm of Lincoln's tomb.  Needless to say we took turns going through and then left quickly.  On the way back to our house we played categories for a long time.  Car games can be so fun.

Lincoln's Home

The famous top hat

Now here is a squirrel that is afraid of heights, but still likes looking over the edge.

Lincoln's tomb

Wednesday morning we went to the Nauvoo temple with Seth.  It was beautiful inside and it was nice to be in a temple again.  I love the Spirit in those buildings.  The rest of the day we just played with family as they arrived.  It was a pretty fun day.

Thursday Jake, Seth and I got to watch all the little ones while everyone else went to the temple.  Ben, Tommy, and Pace had fun together.  Pace really just smiled at them.  He is a little too small to play with them.  Then after everyone got back we went to see the Joseph Smith Historical buildings.  Our guide was amazing, so we got lots of fun stories and interesting facts.

Off to see the sights

Original Joseph Smith house

Josh showing us where Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma were buried.

Family picture in front of the red brick store

Friday we went around to all the other stores, shops, and old houses in Nauvoo.  Pace was pretty good.  Before this vacation I was having a hard time knowing how to go and see and do stuff with a baby.  But this day really gave me more confidence that we can still go do things we like with baby Pace.  We went to the Browning Gun Shop, which of course was a highlight for Jake.  We also enjoyed the other old houses.  Our last stop was the  Parish lane trail, which highlighted the stories of the pioneers as they left this beautiful city that was still so new because of all the persecution.  It was really touching and helped me understand what Nauvoo really meant to those people.  That night we went to see the senior missionary musical Rendezvous at Nauvoo.  It was a cute, funny musical.  It was mostly just fun to see the older missionaries singing and dancing up on stage.

Some stylish Dads with their jogging strollers

The temple

Sightseeing

The gun shop

Clark, Janelle, and Ben

Cute Tommy!

Jake and Pace loading up to cross the Mississippi

Saturday we went to Hanibal, MO, which is the hometown of Mark Twain.  Of course Mark Twain was a funny guy.  My favorite part was going through and reading all his quotes.  He just had a fun way with words.  That town definitely inspired the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books.  In the afternoon we took a ride on the riverboat in that town.

Tom and Becky ;)

Tommy and Mommy ;)

Josh painting the fence

A light house that Jake, Josh, Crystal and I all hiked up to.

Pace's first boat ride.

River boat

Sunday we went to church all together as a family and then we went to visit Carthage Jail.  Carthage Jail is where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.  It was a sad place, but it was interesting to see what happened there.

Carthage Jail

Joseph and Hyrum

Monday we all headed home.