Can I just say how much I LOVE Missouri?! It’s pretty much the best state {next to Utah} EVER! We had so much fun on our trip. We were there from August 7th-16th. That might seem like a little overboard for the Missouri Madness, but trust me when I tell you I could spend an entire month there without thinking twice about it. We saw pretty much all the sites AND had plenty of down time to relax and just hang out. The only bummer of the whole trip was that I forgot my temple recommend!!! So upset! So we weren’t able to do a session at the Nauvoo Temple. BUT we will. Next year. FOR SURE. We were able to see Liberty Jail, Far West, Nauvoo, and Carthage Jail. We saved Adam-Ondi-Amen and Independence Visitor’s Center for next year as well {more like we got caught up in the *fun*ness* and ran out of time!} Get ready for some ph.o.t.o overload!
I spy. With my little eye.
MILO
Can you see him?!
Busted!!! Thanks for helping me pack buddy.
The awesome panoramic feature on our camera..sweet. The car’s all packed and the lawn is mowed.
16 hours later…..and we made it! It was a loooong drive that actually went by quite fast because we drove straight through stopping only for gas and potties. Not even food cuz we took a cooler for drinks and breakfast. We left at 9:30 pm Utah time and arrived at 2:30 pm MO time. We were tired and stinky but Gid {grey shirt, 2nd pic} was sure excited when we got there!
The kiddos were sure having a good time getting to know each other. Nothin like a little jumping party right before bedtime to get them settled down….right.
*The Wedding*
Everyone looked so great.
Care & Mike your wedding was beautiful!
Enjoying the yummy cupcakes
Ashlyn was so nice to share with TJ
Just loving the outdoors. Notice how shiny our faces are. Yeah its pretty humid in Missouri.
Delila’s Lego castle she built for Gid to destroy!!!
*Liberty Jail*
Liberty Jail was an awesome experience. I have been here before but it has been a lot of years and I forgot all the amazing stories and details. The prisoners were kept in the very bottom level of the jail. The floors were lined with straw. There were no windows and the ceilings were only 6 ft. tall. Nearly all the men kept in there with Joseph were over 6 ft. and the tallest was 6’ 6”. So for the several months that they were kept there they could never stand up straight. While in the jail Joseph Smith wrote D&C 121-123. I wish I had done this while in Missouri but I started reading the sections on Sunday and the revelation given in them is remarkable. What a blessing we have today, for our Prophet to receive modern-day revelation! I just have to post this because it really hit home. Remember this revelation was given while he was in the Liberty Jail.
D&C 122 7-9
7: “And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if the fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."
8: The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9: Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
He was just such an amazing man and prophet!
Just hanging out with Aunt Dee!
Trying to get brave and go play at Spray Park with the other kids.
Not too sure about this…
OK it was LOTS of fun!!!!
Misty, Gideon, Jake, and Ashlyn
*Carthage Jail*
The Ranagan Clan
The window we are sitting by is the one that Joseph Smith fell from when he and his brother Hyrum were martyred. The top window in the 2nd picture is the same one. He fell next to the well. Most of the building, the windows, and woodwork around them are the originals from when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were kept here.
Joseph and Hyrum Smith
*Nauvoo*
Notice the guy in the blue shirt. On the left. And the same guy on the right. That would be Andy. Usually when taking the panoramic photo if you move it distorts the picture. But leave it to Andy to figure out how to be in it twice!
The boys making a rope!
*Nauvoo Temple*
…..so while we were in Nauvoo we decided to camp one night. The whole camping part was great. The bug part…not so much. We all used the same bug spray, slept in separate tents, and didn’t have any scented lotion on, but for whatever reason {kool-aid blood I think} the girls got EATEN ALIVE and no one else really got anything! The kids didn’t have a single bite on any of them. Seriously these pictures do absolutely no justice. It was wicked. We were all sitting around the campfire {husbands-wives-kids-Andy-Dee} and Misty, Delila, and I kept saying we were getting eaten. One of the boys {probably Andy} was like “their just landing on you. They keep landing on me too” and we were like “NO they are biting us”. Sure enough we wake up in the morning with leprosy. That's seriously what it looked like. Like we were rotting. NASTY. And I can’t even describe to you how painful the itch was. It was torture. It wasn’t just our legs either. Our arms and stomachs had the same thing. It was BAD!
Walking down to Watkins Mill with Aunt Dee. Watkins Mill is a park in Kearney where we have been swimming since I was TJ’s age. Its nothing fabulous but we LOVE it. There are so many wonderful memories here. We would spend hours of our Missouri days swimming in this lake. It was wonderful. Such an awesome experience to pass it on to the next generation. It is gorgeous and has a 4 mile walking trail all along the outside of the lake. Just gotta love how they do their parks in MO.
Watkins Mill Beach
*Far West Temple site*
The loooong drive home. We took I-80 {Wyoming way} out and I-70 {Colorado way} home. I-80 is about 2 hours faster than I-70 but we had to pick up my mom and aunt at Estes Park Colorado on the way back. Let me tell you…never again will we make it a 2 day trip. The drive out seemed 10x faster than stopping in Colorado and spending the night. Some people might think its nice to stop and have a rest but honestly both Tim and I would so much rather just bust the whole thing out in one go. BUT Estes Park was beautiful and it was nice to see a little change of scenery.
Playing at the park at the resort.
This little hummingbird was for you Grandmom Lisa! Tim saw this little guy and thought he would snap a few pics to brighten your day and let you know we were thinking about you and missed you!
We had such a great trip and miss everyone already! Can’t believe how fast those 10 days went. Hope everyone enjoyed the ph.o.t.o overload!!!! Just wanted to share every piece! Miss you MO! *Until 2011*
