Sunday, April 5, I got a break during general conference and got to go to the Conference Center with everyone! Max came up from BYU.
For spring break, we flew to Missouri to see my parents and siblings! Max unfortunately did not have a spring break from BYU classes; but he would have loved to come.
Monday after general conference I had a lot of work to do, interviewing new leaders and writing up their profile articles. But Tuesday we flew out, and Millie was very excited about the plane. The last time she was on a plane she was a baby and I took her to my grandpa's funeral in Washington.
We flew SLC-Denver, then Denver-Kansas City, then picked up the rental SUV and drove 1 1/2 hours to Chillicothe, getting there late but I was so happy to hug my parents. It had been several years.
Wednesday was a cleaning day to help take some things to the dump and recycling centers. My sister and brother came by and it was really fun to talk with them. I loved talking with my dad about anything and everything, too. We did indoor work and some outdoor work, but mainly outdoors these boys loved the tree to play on.
We got Casey's Pizza for lunch
We went to my brother Stephen's house where the kids loved being with cousins and jumping on their trampoline but also really loved his cat and dog hahaha
Thursday we woke up early and drove three hours to Nauvoo.
The horse-drawn wagon ride was fun.
Ben remarked that Nauvoo felt like "Disneyland for Latter-day Saints" and he was right. Each house we went into had activities and demonstrations and the nicest senior missionaries.
The blacksmith gave us a horseshoe, then next door they had each child come to show how wagon wheels were made.
There's so much to see in sections all over the place, like the Red Brick Store and Mansion House. We didn't even make a dent in the houses and tours. We did go up to the temple to look around. Crews were finishing up the new Nauvoo Temple Visitors' Center when we were there.
Then we drove over to Carthage. This was very tender; the sister missionaries gave an excellent tour and talked of Joseph Smith's testimony of Jesus Christ.
Back that evening at my parents house, we played baseball in the huge field by their house.
Friday morning we drove over to Adam-ondi-Ahman and found the rock (or at least one similar to it) where JB and I got engaged 23 years ago.
Here's our picture of that night.
We went to the different overlooks.
Then we found my co-worker's parents, Elder and Sister Toone, who are serving a mission there. They showed us around the mission office and the boys really liked the lawn mowing machines.
Then we went to Jamesport, where my family lived before. I had actually never eaten at the famous Dutch Pantry in town, so we tried it and it was very yummy. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn!
We went by an Amish bakery off highway 90 on the way back to Chillicothe where we bought my dad a rhubarb strawberry pie. It was delicious. So were all the meals my dad cooked for us.
Saturday midday we hugged my parents good bye and left Chillicothe and its murals behind.
We drove to Liberty and visited the Historic Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith was from 1838-1839.
Then we made it to my sister Emily's house, and Stephen's family had driven there too. We had a post-Easter Easter egg hunt for all the cousins!
She also has the coolest gear for battles.
Here I am with my siblings. Sarah lives in KC too but she was at a martial arts tournament out of town.
The boys loved the Chiefs store at the Kansas City airport.
