The Ladies

I was blessed when I attended BYU to have 5 beautiful roomates. They all came from Payson High and I was a bit nervous because they would all know each other. From the very first day I was accepted and loved by these ladies. They even adopted Peter, as we were dating at the time. If I had a scanner I would add some great pictures of other gatherings and celebrations in our lives. These ladies laughed with me, cried with me, vented with me, danced with me, prayed with me, and loved me. I cherish them. This is a photo from the last time we were together for Rachel's shower. Heather is missing she was visiting family in New Zealand. If any of you ladies read this know that someone in Las Vegas loves you!

(L to R: Wendy (Brown) Johnson, Paula (Hatch) Kremser, Rachel (Bushman) Biesinger, Lora Jean (Bennion) Buss, and Me)

Chicago

Finally, I put the pictures in the right order. Our first stop in Chicago was at the Museum of Science and Industry. We met Peter's sister and niece there for some great fun! It was such a fun place and we could have easily enjoyed a few more hours there. Hanging out in (and by) the tractor's wheel.


Joey is driving the combine (actual combine in the museum).

Jon in front of the racecar that broke the speed record if I remember right. He is enjoying snacks from Aunt Kelsey. The Booth's were the best hosts from the moment we arrived.

Sorry Kelsey, not the best shot of you but we only had two pictures of they boys together at the museum. They were just running and playing so fast that we had a hard time getting them to hold still long enough for pictures.

Joey loved this engine becauase it reminded him of one of his engines at home (Trevor-if I am not mistaken).

Cousins, laughing and playing together. Jon and Alexandra had a great time together.

I really have no explanation as to why this picture is sideways but as you can see it does not matter which way you turn Arabella she is adorable.

More of the great fun! They had a great little kids area. We played there for almost an hour!

There was a really neat water feature, these palstic ball went through all of these different things and floated down river and you could spray them and do all sorts of things. It was really fun!

Kelsey and I had a great time visiting and catching up in person. Kelsey is really goo about calling us to see how we are doing but it is so much better to talk in person.

My pirate princess Arabella!

Yes, that is an actual submarine behind us! I wish we would have had time to see more of this exhibit, but we only had 20 minutes until the museum closed.

Walking on the Magnificient Mile! I truly felt like the country girl in the big city. I have never been to a city like Chicago before. I loved looking at everything and seeing all of the people.

There is some really neat architecture!

A bit blurry but this is our Chicago style Pizza. It was so delicious! Thank you Anthony for carrying it so far, so we could eat at the park.

Anthony's dad runs a charter fishing boat and so the Booth men were kind enough to treat some of the men and boys from our group to some fishing on Lake Michigan. They all loved it, as is witnessed by the huge grins on their faces. These were some of the biggest smiles I saw on my nephew Josh's face the whole trip.
Check out the Sunrise pictures Peter took, gorgeous!

Joey loved sailing with Captain Ernie!

Josh is reeling in his catch. It was a football field length out!

Go Grandpa!

There was a lot of waiting as well, but Joey did not seem to mind at all.

Happy fisherman!

Randy was really excited to go fishing too and took his fish home! I hope it was as tasty!

Group shot! Look at those smiles!

That fish is half as big as Joey!

We met the boat at the dock and Captain Ernie tooko us on a short ride. Jon was so happy since he did not get to go fishing. Thank you again to the Booth's!

Our last day in Chicago we went to this great wild life preserve that had paddle boats, canoes and a beach. We rented two boats for an hour and had a wonderful time. Joey was working so hard but Anthony had to work harder to keep them from going in circles.

I have such a handsome husband, I love you Mr. Rabner!

I was so thrilled that there was a life jacket for Arabella too. She did have about 10 minutes where she did not want to be in it anymore, but oh that smile!

Ali and Jon were all over the place and we told them to sit still but they were still very wiggly. Ali eventually decided to sit on the edge and so we slowly made our way back to the docks. She looked over too far and in she went. She handled it so well. She was a bit panicked but she did not cry! What a brave girl you are Alexandra!

Joey was such a trooper on this trip, he was always ready for the next adventure and would have gladly played longer almost everywhere we went! I love you Joey!

Jon, you are sometimes a little rascal but I love you all the more for it!

We ended up with only an hour at the Field Museum which is not even close to enough time. We would have been able to spend at least half a day there but we got stuck in traffic. It was amazing to see how traffic can get backed up in Chicago, wow! I can not wait to go again. I would love to see the aquarium and planetarium and more of the Field Museum. And of course, it was so wonderful to have our own personal tour guides; Kelsey, Anthony and Alexandra we loved seeing you!

They had a priate exhibit going on that we did not get to see but there were pirate statues all over the place. This was an especially fun one! Pirate Joey!

Pirate Jon!

We loved Chicago and that is all there is to it.

Nauvoo

I am slow getting these posted but here are some more pictures from our trip. (Yes, I put them in reverse chronological order-again! ) Joey took this picture of Peter and I behind the Nauvoo temple.
We walked around the temple on Sunday evening and took pictures of our kids near the beautiful flowers.

That smile will melt your heart!

What a cheeser smile!

I love these windows on the temple. They are so bright and beautiful!

I love that they are round!

I am so grateful this temple was rebuilt. The early Saints were such amazing craftsmen. They sacrificed so much to build the temple because they wanted so badly to have the blessings received by entering the House of the Lord.

This not so great picture taken by me is of Peter and Joey in front of the statue of Joseph and Hyrum. It is to commemorate the ride to Carthage, their last before they were martyred.

This is on the Trail of Hope (once called the Trail of Tears). This is the street the Saints walked down to get to the Mississippi as they were fleeing Nauvoo. They were leaving such a wonderful place to face unknown hardships but they had faith the Lord would lead them to Zion; and they Lord as he always has lead his people to the promised land.

Oh the excitement of seeing real live oxen! "Here comes the oxcart, oh how slow."

This is where Joseph Smith is buried and he is flanked by his brother Hyrum and wife Emma.

The Community of Christ Church rebuilt the Red Brick Store (Joseph's store) on the original foundation. This is where the Relief Society was organized, so here is a picture of current and future members of the Relief Society.

The Mansion House-this is where Joseph and Emma were living when he went to Carthage. It is a beautiful house and there are some original pieces of furniture inside.

The first house the Smith family lived in when they settled in Nauvoo. The white siding you see to the left is the addition that was added later.

I love random group shots! I have such an awesome family!

Joey-really all of the kids-loved this well. This is where Joseph landed when he fell from the 2nd story window after he was shot by men from both within the house and men shooting from the outside into the window.

Here is the window. The jailer had let Joseph and the other men stay in this room because it was so hot and not in the actual cell room which had little to no ventilation.

Actual door from that day with the bullet holes still there.

The cell room.

We found this giant moth outside while waiting for our tour to begin. Jon named it Skinny-Skin. It actually let us pick it up and we put it in a tree so that one of the kids did not accidentally step on it.

View of Carthage Jail from the street.

This is the side where Joseph fell from the second story window.

My little family! If I could only have a portion of the faith that Joseph and Hyrum had.

Pretend you can see fireflies! I saw fireflies for the first time and was truly amazed. I will forever remember watching my boys trying to catch them with their dad while Arabella and I simply enjoyed watching them randomly light up.

What an action photo. Joey and I were playing pioneer games.

The other half of the game! Joey is such a fun boy!

Peter and Joey cut this piece of wood off using a two man saw. He was so proud. We then took it to another booth and had a Nauvoo temple symbol burned into it.

Jon slept through a good portion of the games, he really needed a nap though.

Starting to cut off their piece of wood! Go boys, go!!!

Enjoying the pre-pageant games and activities!

Jon and Sadie in the Pioneer Living Center. This was really neat, you could learn how they made such things as cloth, candles, rope, pottery, barrels, and bread.

I just can not get enough of that adorable little princess!

More fun in the Pioneer Living Center.

The Brickyard, a must see stop for any Nauvoo trip.

Peter and I know how to make cute kids, what can I say!

This was a little play area they had set up for kids, and of course adults could join in the fun, to experience pioneer pastimes.

Jon a rough and tough cowboy!

Peter has skills, he was able to walk on the stilts quite well, even with his center of gravity slightly altered.

Joey would have been a great pioneer-so helpful!

The Jonathon Browning Gunsmith Shop. The house was originally built by one of my ancestor's.

Our three kids fell asleep during the Nauvoo Pageant. I am glad they saw what hey did but it was really nice to be able to enjoy it fully sitting next to my handsome husband. It was such a wonderful pageant. They music was so uplifting and the spirit was so powerful. There is no denying that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and the gospel is true!

This is how the pageant ended! Amazing!

Weary travellers! You are a great dad, Derick! We loved spending time with my family! I am so glad my kids will have these memories, hopefully for the rest of their lives.

There was a children's parade before the Sunset on the Mississippi show. Jon you are so patriotic!

You look great Joey!

You can not miss the temple as you drive around Nauvoo, it is picturesque!

It is amazing as you drive through old Nauvoo, you see these tiny houses and then you learn that a family of like 8 or 10 lived in a tiny house like this one.

My adorable niece Katelyn!

My smiling princess again!

A wagon ride around Nauvoo, a great way to see all of Nauvoo and the river.

Adam-ondi-Ahman. We stopped and saw this on our way to Nauvoo from Kansas City. A truly beautiful valley and much larger than I thought or knew it was.