Day 5 Badlands National Park

How much stuff can one little boy put on and behind his head?....a lot.  We stopped to see the minute man missile museum and Badlands National Park

Megan, Kade and I headed down to drive through part of Badlands. Above Megan running around the parking lot barefoot (oh and it wasn't very warm).

Megs is just too cute.

Time to stretch our legs and check out the view.  It was beautiful!  It would be great to be able to go back and hike around and explore the area.

I love the color of these hills

I am ashamed to say that we only drove through the park but without much time and it being cold and having Kade we didn't have much of an option.

Day 4 Sioux Falls with the Larson's

Kade and Peter.  These two would not sit still hopefully Thad got better pictures.  We had the best time staying with the Larson's.  Malinda was one of the 'cherry chubbs' I lived with her when I went to school in Utah. She got married and moved to South Dakota and then little Peter came along. Well he isn't so little he is actually really tall.  Peter is just a few months older than Kade so it was fun to watch the two of them play together.

Kade crawled through the chair and under the table and then came out the same way he went in.  It was pretty funny watching him and I'm glad that I caught it with my camera.  Below is the series of him crawling out.

Malinda and I with our boys.  I wish we could live closer to the Larson's they are such a great example.  Malinda is the most loving unselfish person I have ever met.  She makes everyone feel like they are the most important and loved.  I don't think I have ever seen her angry or mad at anyone.  She really is the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met.  If I had to choose someone to be like it would be her.  I guess I have a lot of work to do.  Thank you Thad, Malinda and Peter for letting us stay with you.  Oh and her cinnamon bunns were the most amazing ones we have ever tasted.

 

Last day in Nauvoo

I went down to the temple with just my camera to get some pictures of it.  It was so nice and peaceful to be able to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the temple.

The trees were all blooming

And the tulips were beautiful. There were so many!

Red tulips in front of the temple

Oh and yellow tulips in front of the temple

More blossoms

Jesse found us a cool pioneer cabin to stay in.  It is original but had some nice upgrades.  It was fun to stay someplace unique for 2 nights.

We loved Nauvoo and wished we could have stayed longer.  Maybe one day we will get to go back and see all the sights.  They say you need a couple of weeks for that and we just didn't have the time. I really do enjoy learning more about the pioneers and all that they did.

More of day 3

We headed out to Carthage to check out Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed.  It was a very special experience to be in the the room where they were right be fore they died.

Here is the door that went into the room where they were prisoners.  The grove in the door was where the mob members stuck their guns in the door to pry the door open.

This is a picture of the bullet hole that went through the door and killed Hyrum.  It is the original door.

This is the room that they were killed in.  We learned that the jailer and his family lived at the jail and the day that Joseph Smith and Hyrum were killed the jailer had moved them into his bedroom because the dungeon room was too hot and the bedroom was a lot cooler.  It was interesting to us that the jailer would live at the jail with his wife and kids.  His wife even cooked for the prisoners.

A picture of the outside.  Its the original building and latter an outdoor kitchen was added so that is what the smaller building is in front of the jail.

A view of the jail from across the street

Reading a sign about Abraham Lincoln.

We then headed back to Nauvoo and checked out a few more sights.  This was the Nauvoo House that Joseph Smith had started but it was never fully finished.

My cute sister in law Megan

We went to the cemetery where Joseph, Emma, Hyrum, Lucy and Joseph Senior are buried.

Ahh my funny child

The Mansion house

Funny pictures of Kade in his seat.

Look at those teeth.  I just found another tooth coming through tonight on the top.  That is tooth 7 he has 4 on bottom and now 3 on top.  Man those teeth are coming in fast.

And I'll end this post with this silly picture. I sure do love this kid

Day 3 continued

I like this picture

I love spring time. All the bulbs were blooming.

Melanie this one makes me think of you cause its yellow

Megan making rope

We saw some really cool old quilts

They are so pretty and I can't wait to get my sewing machine back so I can finish Kade's blanket.

The temple from the 3rd floor in the Conference Hall

The conference hall where they had plays, dances and other town events.

The bakery where they gave us ginger bread cookies

So I really had fun taking pictures of flowers.

The tulips were so pretty