Nauvoo

I recently had the chance to visit the great city of Nauvoo, Illinois. Where the saints built up a place for themselves to be together without persecution. Thought short lived, the saints built a town that beat out Chicago in size, back in the day. This growth & rise of the saints scared the state & persecution arose & later the saints were forced further westward. 

Right before we (my friend Jen & I) got to Nauvoo the road opened up to the Mississippi River. It was covered in gigantic Lilly pads so I had to pull over & get a picture :)

This does not do those thing justice AT ALL.

When we got there we met up with my In-laws. Brady's dad is the bishop of the YSA ward in Vernal & they were in Nauvoo on their summer activity, which included independence, MO before they arrived in Nauvoo. Since I live so close & have never been, going with the ward seemed like the perfect time. Which proved itself over & over since brady parents know the territory well & got us tickets to all the shows & showed us some cool little spots that air would have most definitely missed if I'd been alone. 

After hello's Jen & I boarded the horse drawn carriage that took us on a 45 minute blast into the past.

As we rode along the trail we were told stories about the areas by one of the senior missionaries. The spirit was amazing as he told us of the saints & their hard work to build Nauvoo.

After that we started touring the town! We walked around to each of the houses & old shops to have guided tours, put on by the many senior missionaries serving in Nauvoo. 

I loved all the old fireplaces. I think I snapped a picture of almost all of them!

There was one home with lots of amazing, hand sewn quilts. People are so talented!

We spend the next few days in Nauvoo. We saw a couple plays & had lots of great experiences! 

After Nauvoo we drove the 30 minutes to Carthage jail, where Joseph Smith was killed. We went on a guided tour through the jail, visiting each room as the tour guide told us a little bit about it. 

After a little lunch Jen & I headed back to St. Louis. I'm so glad I was able to go. The whole experience strengthened my testimony of the saints & Joseph Smith so much. They went through so much because they knew the gospel is true. I can't wait to visit all the other church sites!!

Quinn's 1 Year Old Photo Shoot

Oh man, is this little babe a stunner or what?!?

She was so good the whole time we were taking pictures

She is so happy all the time.

Getting her to give up her big, adorable grin was just too easy.

Quinn makes THE cutest faces I've ever seen. I thought this captured her personality & the curiosity she has. 

The day started out with a few showers & loads of clouds but when we showed up, somebody must have known & the sun came peaking out!!

She is a perfect child. So much fun to be around.

Look at those long lashes

Yep, that's a stick alright. What baby doesn't put stuff in their mouths??

Quinn is going to grow into a gorgeous girl. She already has an amazing personality & loves everyone. She just makes you want to squish her & kiss her to death!!

I'm so glad I had the experience to take this beautiful child's pictures in the beginning of her journey in life.

Art Museum

Last week, for my Saturday activity,  I explored the Saint Louis Art Museum

There were so many beautiful pieces of history there

There was a whole section on the Asian Era with loads of pottery & Buddah statues. Oh how I love Buddah stuff!

Old jewelry.

Walking around really made me think & appreciate how much detail, time & hard work handcrafting these artifacts would take. 

This was all painted by hand. The ancient people were very dedicated.

These are from Mexico. From the Mayan empire I believe...

 It's very interesting how each different group of people's had different styles of portraying themselves, yet you can see a connection in it all. 

The museum had a more modernish section with furniture & other artifacts from the 1800's- 

And a modern art section. This painting is called sightseeing, how appropriate :)

These were just a few of my favorite parts of the museum. I'm so glad I went! History is so important & has built our societies & cultures we have today. I had a great time traveling through time at the art museum!!

Creve Coeur Park

Close by my apartment is a giant park, probably 100 acres at least, called Creve Coeur Park.

 It was Kandice's last day of the summer till she headed back to Utah so we had to go on one last adventure!

There are tons of things to do there...fish, play sand volleyball, grill, there's an ultimate frisbee course, a forest with jungle gyms, a splash pad & a natural waterfall. 

It's small but it's behind me...

You can also walk, run or bike on miles & miles of paths, eat snow cones, canoe, paddle board,

& kayak! There is much, much, much more but that is just the basics. 

It was a little windy, but once we got over to the stream it was glass! 

It was a perfect day! The coolest part was that we saw a huge fish jump waaaaay out of the water and plop back down right by our kayak!!

We went on a little jog afterward. It was perfect jogging weather & fantastic scenery.

We had lots of fun at the lake/park.

& I'll miss adventures with Kandice...until next summer!!