Built-in Babysitter! Woo Hoo!!

Today, I finally let Sam talk me into going to see a movie and leaving Aileen to babysit. Even though I was babysitting at her age, I have been hesitant to let her for more than 20 minutes! She did great!!!  Yes, I called before we went into the movie.... and yes, I went out half way through the movie to call and check on her......and yes, I called right when the movie was over.........and yes, the theater is only 10 minutes from home, but I couldn't help it. Everything was great when we came home. She had even played some games with Parker and he declared that "He had fun when Sissy was in charge".  They survived.......I survived.......and I'm excited we've entered the built-in babysitter stage. So is Sam. Sam is way excited. I mean WAY excited. :) 

Remember the blessings.......remember the blessings.......

I hate car trouble. We've had too much of it lately. After a while it gets really hard to "look at the bright side" and "find the blessings".  Recently, Sam's truck had started having some huge problems. Yes, of course, a couple months before our move across the country. We ended up buying my grandfather's truck (who passed away in Feb) and thought we had it all worked out and that we now had 2 vehicles ready to head to Utah.  Well, on our way home from Nauvoo last weekend about 2 hours from home my car's check engine light came on and 2 seconds later shut down completely. We were on a back highway in the middle of nowhere and we happened to break down right at a little gravel road. David and Sammy turned around and we tried to figure out what was going on. None of us are car people, so we said a prayer that we would know what to do. 2 minutes later a car came down the gravel road and the guy pulled over and asked us what was going on. We told him what happened and he said, "My neighbor is a mechanic! Let me go get him."  5 min later they came back down the road. The mechanic neighbor had one of those computer readers you hook up to the car to see why the check engine light came on. After doing that and running a few more tests he determined it was the timing belt. He told us he could pull the car up into his garage and fix it for us.  We were so grateful!!!  Our prayer was answered in a way we didn't expect.  So, we all piled into the Jacobson's van and came the rest of the way home. We were packed in like sardines, but I am so so grateful they were with us and we didn't have to rent a car and so grateful we didn't have to have the car towed 2 hours away and that the guy could fix it for us there. I mean, what are the odds we break down in the middle of nowhere in front of a mechanics house???? It's not odds people. Its a blessing!! Yeah, it ended up being more than just the timing belt. Apparently when it busted it damaged other things in the engine. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot more money than we anticipated, BUT there are so many blessings in this story it's hard to complain too much.  

a) we were traveling with friends and could ride back with them
b) we broke down in front of a really really nice, fair, military appreciating mechanic
c) he could fix it for us and we didn't have to have it towed back to St Robert
d) my wonderful friend Kori instantly and amazingly offered one of her cars for me to use while mine is in the shop
e) IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORN FIELD ON OUR WAY TO UTAH!!!

Would it have been better that our cars were perfectly fine and this didn't happen?  Yes. But it did happen and it honestly couldn't have happened in a better way. I could spend my energy mad and frustrated (which I have done a little of) that both our cars broke down right before we moved, or I could count the MANY blessings we've received during this trial (yes, it is a trial!!!!!).  Maybe not in the exact way we want or hope, but Heavenly Father answers our prayers and blesses us in ways we would never think of. I am SO SO grateful for this. :)

Nauvoo

We finally went to Nauvoo last weekend. We had to do it while we were in this part of the country.   It was a quick trip, but so worth it. We were lucky enough to go with the Jacobson's. I absolutely adore this family and am going to miss them so much. Best not got into that now.........it's too early in the morning to cry. :) Anyways, it was a great experience. We spent Sat walking around Nauvoo.....visiting the blacksmith shop, the bakery, the cultural hall, the family living center, the visitors center, Brigham Young's house, the brickyard, lots of cool places to see how the early Saints lived. It was striking to me how beautiful Nauvoo was. I kept thinking it must have been so so hard for them to leave. There was a wonderful feeling there. I could almost feel the joy and happiness there in the beginning and how excited they must have been to be building this city and the temple, and all the excitement there must have been in the early days of the church. All of the Joseph Smith sites were closed, unfortunately, due to a Community of Christ conference (who owns those sites) but we were still able to walk around them, we just couldn't go inside. How sad that the church doesn't own them.  (I kept thinking.....I bet the church has an outstanding offer on all the historical Joseph Smith sites the Community of Christ church owns.)

After walking around we went to our hotel. Well..."villa". It was a 3 bedroom villa with a shared kitchen/living room. So we all ate dinner and let the kids rest a bit and then headed out to a little musical that the senior missionary couples put on about Nauvoo. It was darling. The kids LOVED it!! Especially Parker. He said, "That was cool.  No! That was awesome!"  The senior couples were so cute. How fun would that be??? Maybe Sam and I could do that on our mission when we are old fogies. I'd love to go on some sort of performing mission. After the play we came home and put the kids to bed....they were dog tired...and we stayed up and ate puppy chow and played cards. I know I said it before, but I LOVE the Jacobson's and was so glad to get to spend this time with them before we move. 

Sunday morning we slept in a little and then went to sacrament meeting at one of the Nauvoo wards.  Well, there was no room in the chapel so we sat in the hall and took the sacrament and then went to check out of our "villa" and head to the temple. It's a gorgeous temple. Even just walking around the grounds you can still feel the difference and still feel the peace. 

Our last stop was Carthage jail. Probably my favorite thing we saw.  It's a totally different feeling. A totally different spirit than I've experienced before. It's heavy. Somber, but at the same time still amazing. I don't really know how to describe my feelings while I was there. You must go visit and experience it yourself. I do know it strengthened my testimony of not only the Prophet Joseph Smith, but Hyrum as well. What a strength he must have been to the Prophet.  It could not have been easy for him either, and he too gave up his life.  Everyone needs a friend like Hyrum.

I am so grateful for the physical places we can go as members of the church to better visualize and feel certain things pertaining to the church. Last year we had the opportunity to go to Independence, Liberty Jail, Far West, Adam-Ondi-Ahman and now Nauvoo and Carthage jail.  So glad we were able to take advantage of living in this part of the country and see the church historical sites. 

Now for a bunch of pics :)

The First Vision

"Bill" the Carriage Horse

Rope Making

Aileen and the super cute sister missionaries

Blacksmith shop

Dancing in the upper room of the cultural hall. The kids thought this was super fun!

Early Smith home

Smith mansion home

Joseph and Brigham at the bank of the Mississippi

Nauvoo Temple

Joseph and Hyrum

My sweet babies at the temple

Carthage Jail

Housing prayers have been answered!!!

This move to Utah has had my feelings all over the place. I've been having a hard time thinking about leaving my friends and an area I have grown to love so much. I remember feeling this way when we left Phoenix 4 years ago.....so it shouldn't be so surprising to me, but it is. Anyways, I knew once our housing situation was figured out I would feel much better. Boy was I right. We got word that we got the housing we wanted!! We got a house in the new construction. YAY!!!!  It's quite a bit larger than the house we have here in MO, and it has been fine for us....so the extra room will be great! It really has given me the spark I needed. It will even be ready within a day or two of our arrival to Utah. Happy day!!!  Comforting to know the Lord is taking care of our needs and even giving us a few things we want. :)  This isn't the exact house we are getting, but it is what ours will look like. Exciting!!!