Nauvoo, Part 1

We spent Friday and Saturday in Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois. It is a four hour drive from where we live. I'll be doing this in two separate posts since I took so many pictures and didn't want it to drone on forever. We had a great time on this mini-vacation. Ethan felt very special on his birthday, we learned a lot about the early pioneers and their hardships, and we're so glad we went.

When we first arrived in Nauvoo, we got slightly lost (okay, I slightly lost us because I wasn't watching signs) and we couldn't find the visitor's center. Then all of a sudden, we saw this:

Yay, we're there! And of course, it was SO beautiful. The temple is just amazing...the feeling there, and the beautiful flowers surrounding it, and the excitement of being in this special place was really breathtaking. We immediately got out of the car and I started taking pictures. When I turned around immediately after taking this picture, this is what I saw:

Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, reminiscent of when they were leaving the Nauvoo valley. This is what the plaque underneath says: "On the morning of June 24, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum left their families, homes, and fellow Saints for the last time. Traveling on horseback, they paused on this bluff. Joseph looked admiringly at the unfinished temple and the city of Nauvoo and declared, 'This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them.' Joseph and Hyrum then continued on to Carthage, Illinois, where they faced legal charges and eventual death at the hands of a mob."

Here are a couple of cute pictures of the boys enjoying the flowers:

There were tons of purple trees around. This, I realize, is a purple bush rather than a tree. But I thought it was so cute being as tall as the boys that I had to take a picture.
When we finally found the visitor's center, we got tickets for a wagon ride around Nauvoo.

This was great because the sister missionaries narrated and told stories about the buildings in Nauvoo, and the boys loved the ride.

Aidan loved it so much he was lulled to sleep by the movement!

Ethan wanted to pet the horses afterward.

We asked the boys what their favorite part of Nauvoo was, and they both replied, "Making rope!" They have a Family Living Center, where they have many different sections talking about how the pioneers made candles, rugs, clothing, barrels, and rope. The boys got to make a rope out of sisal and bring it home.

Check back tomorrow for more Nauvoo and Carthage...