Let the Nauvoo Fun begin!

We arrived in Nauvoo, IL last night to see for ourselves all the fun my parents are having on their mission.  And let me tell you, they are having it!  They are super busy and super cute and super happy and it is great to see them in all their pioneer glory!

We started today by visiting their missionary ward, where as luck would have it, they were giving talks.  They gave great talks on family history and the temple and we enjoyed sitting in a chapelful of missionaries.  There are a TON of missionaries serving in Nauvoo, both senior types and young performing missionaries.  One of the YPM's also gave a talk, and he said that one of the perks of serving in Nauvoo is that as soon as he walked off the bus, he had a hundred new grandparents.  Without a doubt!

This afternoon, we drove out to Carthage Jail to see the place where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred.  

 On the way, we passed miles and miles of corn fields, which fascinated Pepper.  He was dying to know if the stalks were taller than him, so we stopped to find out.  Yep.

Brothers.

Brad by the window from which Joseph fell after he was shot.

 Door to the bedroom where it all happened.  You can see the bullet hole.

After Carthage, we went to my parents' cute apartment--IN JOHN TAYLOR'S ACTUAL HOUSE--for a dinner my mom cooked for us.  Jodi and Jeff and their family was there by then, too.

The quarters were tight, but did I mention this was JOHN TAYLOR'S ACTUAL HOUSE??  So cool.  And the food was fantastic, as was the company.  My mom rocks.

That night was a pre-pageant show called "Our Story Goes On".

How cute are they?  Nauvoo is awesome.

Today we went to beautiful Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

Susanne, we were thinking of you when we took this photo.  You were the only thing missing today.

This woman told stories of the slaves who lived at Monticello.  Super interesting.  Hearing her stories, I tried to figure out how the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence could justify owning slaves.   I finally decided that Thomas Jefferson is like the rest of us--imperfect and sometimes contradictory.  All people are complicated.

Am I allowed to name Monticello my favorite Washington D.C. site if it's not technically in Washington D.C.?

That night, we went to see The Fault in our Stars, which made me cry like a possessed woman.  Afterwards, we went to Cheesecake Factory for a tear-stained, mascara-smeared dinner.  All-in-all, a great last night in D.C.  Thanks Denise and Jeremy!

What a perfect day!

After our Most Bonny Scotland Trip in October, Denise emailed to say she'd gotten tickets to a Diana Gabaldon event at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.  Did I want to come?  Um...yes!  So, here I am in our nation's fine capital with one of my favorite people in the world.

Yaaaaaayyyy!!!

We started off this morning with a tour of George Washington's Mount Vernon.

Just look at my beautiful friend!  Love her!

From there, we headed into the city to see all the stuff you're supposed to see when you go to Washington D.C.

I loved this quote in the Holocaust Museum.  What a place that is.  And so strange to experience having lived in Berlin and fallen in love with so many German people.  My heart breaks for everyone concerned.

We swung through the Smithsonian American History Museum, seeing the highlights (um, the First Lady dresses, obviously), then walked over to the World War II Memorial, which I'd never seen before.

It was HOT and HUMID, so this was the best way to enjoy this monument.

 

After a fabulous dinner, we went to the National Press Club to see Diana Gabaldon.

There she is!  The great mind that gave the world James Alexander Malcom McKenzie Fraser.  We all owe her a great debt.  It was awesome to hear her tell how she started writing, what inspires her, and how she puts her stories together.  She spoke for about an hour, and I could have listened to her for much longer.  Such a fascinating, smart woman!

They gave all of us posters for the upcoming Outlander TV series.  There are NO WORDS for how excited I am for this!

Happy Father's Day to my Mann!

I have so many reasons to love my mother-in-law. 

This is just one of them:

 This is Pepper's bedroom, the room where Mark and Lois stayed when they came to visit.  It only took a couple of nights in this room before Lois tentatively asked if she could paint the purple wall in his room.

Sure!

So, we spent a whole day painting over the purple so now Pepper's room has all cream walls.  Lois also inspired me to buy new bedding, so Pepper's room got a Home Make-over House Guests Edition.  

Too bad it didn't look this good when Mark and Lois were here.  I still have to get some things to hang on the walls to make it look Decorated, and my goal is to do that before they come visit us again.  Or maybe I won't.  I should probably just let Lois come and pick them out.  She's my own personal Haley.

My big, grown-up girl!

Jessica graduated from Northwest High School today.

Yay Jess!!!!

Mark and Lois came out for Jessica's graduation, so we've been a-partyin'!

 When the boys were out mowing, Lois decided she wanted to give the riding lawn mower a try.

 With a little coaching, she got the hang of it pretty quickly!

Onward and upward!

On Sunday, we headed out for a road-trip adventure to Knox City, TX, which is where Lois' grandparents lived when she was a little girl.  She and her family used to drive out to stay with them every summer.

First we went to the Knox City Cemetery, hoping to find her Grandma's grave, but we didn't have luck with that.  Pepper did find a little gravestone for Paul Herndon, though--a little baby that died at 11 months old.  Lois didn't know who he was, so maybe we found a long, lost ancestor.

Near Knox City, we found this old house by the side of the road.

I was NOT about to walk through that snaky grass in my flip-flops, so Brad took my camera over to the doorway and snapped pictures of the inside for me.

That's pretty much all there was to do in Knox City.  Don't be deceived by the name--there is nothing 'city' about Knox City.  It basically consisted of a gas station, car wash, and a lot of mud, some of which we nearly got stuck in (which is why we got to know the car wash so well).  But we had a great time exploring and listening to Lois tell stories about her summers at Grandpa and Grandma Herndon's house.