This year we had the opportunity to take our vacation to the Mid-West to visit friends and family. Because it is such a long distance, we are only able to make the trek every other year so we were really looking forward to this trip and taking advantage of all of the fun things along the way. (I took over 200 pictures on this vacation but will only show a few here.) Our first night we stayed in Salt Lake and visited with my family members there. It was a quick visit because we had to be on the road very early the next morning in order to make it to our hotel in Nebraska. The third day we made it to my aunt's home in Iowa to visit with her and my uncle and my sweet grandma. We were there a couple of days and loved every minute of it. It's been seven years since we last saw them so it was very special to be with them again. They had never met Samantha and Emma was about a year old when they saw her last but it only took about 30 seconds for the girls to feel a special kinship with their Iowa relatives.
After our visit in Iowa we drove a few hours south to spend some time in Nauvoo. Mark and I visited Nauvoo when I was pregnant with Emma but we hadn't been back since. It rained so hard while we were there but we were determined to make it special and enjoy every aspect of that wonderful city. Here is the beautiful Nauvoo Temple! What a site it is!
One of the places we went to was the Family Living Center where we saw several displays on what life was like back in Nauvoo's heyday. This sweet sister missionary showed us how bread was made and then allowed us to try a bite. Of course, it was delicious and the girls were tickled to get up close to the large oven.
This area was the Monument to Women which had about a dozen statues representing the many roles of a woman. It was one of my favorite exhibits.
Here we are at the Blacksmith shop. We learned how the Nauvoo pioneers made wagons, wheels, horseshoes, etc. We each came home with a nail ring and a horseshoe.
Of course we had to spend some time in Carthage as well. That was a wonderful experience and we were so grateful to have taken the girls to this sacred place. The sister missionary was a great tour guide and the Spirit was very strong. The girls listen intensely and had lots of questions.
After our time in Nauvoo we drove up to Minnesota to visit with Mark's family. Along the way we met up with a dear friend of ours and her boys. (Tami, Hawkeye, Orion) We went to the "Bounce Depot" and had a great time catching up with each other. The kids bounced and jumped and ran around and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we were ready to leave.
While in Minnesota we stayed a night with Mark's sister Karen and her family. Their daughter Amber is Sam's age and the three girls had a blast playing with each other! Here they are at Famous Dave's!
Another fun activity we did was visit an indoor water park. Oh my goodness, did the girls have a great time! Who doesn't love swimming and going down water slides for four hours straight? Thanks to Uncle Dan who took the girls down the big slides because the mommys were a tad bit nervous to go themselves. In this picture the girls are sitting and waiting for Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan to come out so we could head home. They were so tired they could hardly see straight so they needed a little sugar pick me up for the drive home.
We had a nice dinner with all of the Minnesota family members where we took lots of pictures and laughed about old memories. This is me with Karen.
After six days in Minnesota it was time to head home. We went to Wyoming to stay with Mark's other sister (Joanie) and her family for a couple of days. Her girls are our girls' age and they had the best time playing together! Rebecca and Mariah raise chickens so Emma and Sam learned how to pick up chickens and feed them and gather their eggs. It was a great adventure for them!
After we left Joanie's house we headed towards Salt Lake and made a stop at Independence Rock. The girls were very intrigued with finding the scratches in the rock where people have signed their names over the past 170 years.
Down the road a few more miles is Martin's Cove where we stopped to look around. Martin's Cove is where the handcart companies stopped during their trek west in 1856 and is a very special spot. The Perrys have ancestors who were in one of the companies so we found their names on the wall.
We made it back to Salt Lake to visit with family for one more night before heading home to Oregon. Here the girls are with their Auntie Tracie who made us breakfast before we hit the road one last day. I forgot to get pictures of Todd, Sue, Luke, and Kate but we had lots of fun being with them, too!
It was a wonderful and LONG trip - it took us 16 days. We were glad to be home but we made so many fun memories along the way! The girls were troopers and didn't complain too much about seven entire days in a car. Thanks to everyone who helped make our trip so great!
After our visit in Iowa we drove a few hours south to spend some time in Nauvoo. Mark and I visited Nauvoo when I was pregnant with Emma but we hadn't been back since. It rained so hard while we were there but we were determined to make it special and enjoy every aspect of that wonderful city. Here is the beautiful Nauvoo Temple! What a site it is!
One of the places we went to was the Family Living Center where we saw several displays on what life was like back in Nauvoo's heyday. This sweet sister missionary showed us how bread was made and then allowed us to try a bite. Of course, it was delicious and the girls were tickled to get up close to the large oven.
This area was the Monument to Women which had about a dozen statues representing the many roles of a woman. It was one of my favorite exhibits.
Here we are at the Blacksmith shop. We learned how the Nauvoo pioneers made wagons, wheels, horseshoes, etc. We each came home with a nail ring and a horseshoe.
Of course we had to spend some time in Carthage as well. That was a wonderful experience and we were so grateful to have taken the girls to this sacred place. The sister missionary was a great tour guide and the Spirit was very strong. The girls listen intensely and had lots of questions.
After our time in Nauvoo we drove up to Minnesota to visit with Mark's family. Along the way we met up with a dear friend of ours and her boys. (Tami, Hawkeye, Orion) We went to the "Bounce Depot" and had a great time catching up with each other. The kids bounced and jumped and ran around and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we were ready to leave.
While in Minnesota we stayed a night with Mark's sister Karen and her family. Their daughter Amber is Sam's age and the three girls had a blast playing with each other! Here they are at Famous Dave's!
Another fun activity we did was visit an indoor water park. Oh my goodness, did the girls have a great time! Who doesn't love swimming and going down water slides for four hours straight? Thanks to Uncle Dan who took the girls down the big slides because the mommys were a tad bit nervous to go themselves. In this picture the girls are sitting and waiting for Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan to come out so we could head home. They were so tired they could hardly see straight so they needed a little sugar pick me up for the drive home.
We had a nice dinner with all of the Minnesota family members where we took lots of pictures and laughed about old memories. This is me with Karen.
After six days in Minnesota it was time to head home. We went to Wyoming to stay with Mark's other sister (Joanie) and her family for a couple of days. Her girls are our girls' age and they had the best time playing together! Rebecca and Mariah raise chickens so Emma and Sam learned how to pick up chickens and feed them and gather their eggs. It was a great adventure for them!
After we left Joanie's house we headed towards Salt Lake and made a stop at Independence Rock. The girls were very intrigued with finding the scratches in the rock where people have signed their names over the past 170 years.
Down the road a few more miles is Martin's Cove where we stopped to look around. Martin's Cove is where the handcart companies stopped during their trek west in 1856 and is a very special spot. The Perrys have ancestors who were in one of the companies so we found their names on the wall.
We made it back to Salt Lake to visit with family for one more night before heading home to Oregon. Here the girls are with their Auntie Tracie who made us breakfast before we hit the road one last day. I forgot to get pictures of Todd, Sue, Luke, and Kate but we had lots of fun being with them, too!
It was a wonderful and LONG trip - it took us 16 days. We were glad to be home but we made so many fun memories along the way! The girls were troopers and didn't complain too much about seven entire days in a car. Thanks to everyone who helped make our trip so great!
