Nauvoo 2012

The view from Skovil's Bakery, always our first stop.

Inside the bakery. Fresh gingerbread cookies make this place an even better stop.

And of course Alan had to take his requisite toilet picture.

The foundation of a home

The Cultural Hall

How Noah entertained himself inside the cultural hall

I love that they were able to use every scrap of material in these "Crazy Quilts."

While restoring the cultural hall building to it's original form, they found the original wood dance floor on the third floor of the building. I love to think of Emma and Joseph dancing around on that very floor.

Noah enjoyed the sheep in the Family Living Center

Nate and I learned how to make candles using string, sticks, rocks and tallow.

Nate and Abbie helped to make the rope you can see below.

Carthage

The thickness of the walls is incredible.

We took turns reading the quotes as we headed down to the Mississippi River. What a sobering walk.

Noah got a bit crankified, so he and I left the river a little early. Then we napped in the van together (with him on top of me) for almost two hours. I guess he was tired.

We learned that these stars or the shape you can see below were just to disguise the metal rods that went through the house. They added stars or other decorative shapes to cover the rod exiting the house. 

This is on Lucy Mack Smith's home

And another toilet picture...

This kid is a hose magnet. If it's there, he will find it.

Hugging the statue.

Just look at those freckles. Seriously, could they be any cuter?

I'm desperately need to know what kind of flower this is. Any ideas?

I love Nauvoo. I absolutely love it. I think that if we could go every weekend, I probably would. It's such an amazing place. If you haven't been, it's only a 4-5 hour drive from Madison and beyond worth it. The temple, the missionaries, the history, the Spirit--There's really no place like it.