"MARRIED....to a BoHunk!"

My brother, Jason, is getting married on the 24th. He just told me that he thinks that he forgot a lot of people. (Those of you who know my brother know that he always has too many things going on at once...so its understandable that he would forget). Anyway, I thought I would just put a little "shout out" and see if anyone that knows him wants an invite. He asked me to help him remember people and help get a hold of them.

Let me know

"I'm the other one. I'm beautifully tragic"

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!!!! Rob and I had the most amazing seats to Wicked! We were like 5 rows from the front! I am still so excited from it and Rob had so much fun. This was both of our first Broadway shows. Right after Rob goes, "Isn't Phantom of the Opera in Vegas?? I want to go to that now and whatever other Broadway show there is." I love it. I have such a great Husband!



I didn't know that we weren't supposed to take pictures inside. I got one of the big dragon above the stage too but I decided not to post it.


We were getting ready to take a picture of us in our seats and thats when the usher finally caught me!! HA! I had already taken about a dozen pictures!! But I had to get one of me and Rob inside so I snuck this one. I'm EeeeeVIL!

I want to go again....right now!

Old Nauvoo

This last week Maria, her baby, and I got to go to Nauvoo. We got to leave the boys behind and have a little time to ourselves (although I would have loved to have my hubby with me). Old Nauvoo was so cool. I learned so much about our church history. We were lucky enough to be there during the Nauvoo pagent. It was so awesome! I didn't post all my pictures because I took so many but here are a few of the better ones. Sorry they are out of order.

This is the Mansion House. The Smiths lived there and then they leased out the rest of the house because they couldn't afford it. The person that leased it out used the rest of the rooms as a hotel.


This Joseph Smiths house. The Community of Christ (RLDS) owns this and the mansion house and didn't allow us to take pictures inside. They had tons of original stuff that belonged to the prophet and his family. The well on the side has a cool story about using dynamite to make it deeper and the rocks from the blast almost hitting Joseph. I don't want to tell you all the stories that they told me because I want you all to go there and experience them yourself!


This is the cemetery. There aren't any gravestone markers. It's a very peaceful place. Originally the bodies were hid/buried under the bee shack. They were later exhumed and buried in this cemetery.


This rocking horse belonged to John Taylor's son. When the saints were forced out of Nauvoo the Taylor's left this rocking horse behind. His son was so upset about it that John Taylor (3rd president of the church) risked his life to go back under disguise and get the rocking horse. I don't know how far they had traveled before he came back to get it. That is the actual rocking horse.



This is Brigham Young's house. Most of the houses looked like this on the outside. John Taylor's house, the Browning home (yes the guy who started making the Browning guns), the post office (operated in a families home), Lucy Mack Smith's house (Joseph's mom), and many other places all look like this place outside. Each place you go into has a different story with a few original family items. You learn about their way of life (wheelwrights, blacksmiths, carpenters....etc)

The Nauvoo temple at night with the Joseph and Hyrum monument to the right.


I thought that these wild flowers were really pretty. This is also were the boats would come in directly to main street. You can kind of see the Mississippi river in the background.


The headstones of the prophet, his wife, and brother. This is on the edge of the graveyard next to the smith's house.


The side of the Nauvoo temple in the day time.

Here is the Joseph and Hyrum Smith monument. Thats the Mississippi River in the background. I believe that monument was brought here in 2003.

The Nauvoo temple again. It was just so beautiful! I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.


This is a hibiscus flower. They have them everywhere in Nauvoo. They are HUGE and BEAUTIFUL!! This one is about the size of a seedless watermelon.

This is a statue inside the visitors center. I loved it. There were tons of cool shows and places to see. I learned so much about the places and the people. I can't wait to go back with my Hubby sometime!

Carthage Jail

Carthage Jail was really neat to see and spiritual too. We stopped here on our way back from Nauvoo. Just Maria and I (our husbands couldn't come with us). They take you in to see a short video about the Prophet Joseph Smith so you can get an idea of the type of man he was. After that they take you through the jail. Most of the furniture are just period pieces and aren't the actual ones that the family owned.

This is the bullet hole in the door from the upstairs room. Where Joseph and Hyrum were murdered. This IS the actual door.



This is the actual jail. There were about 20 men crammed into this little place. just being in there you could tell that it would be extremely hot with that many men in such a small place. Joseph and Hyrum were here for a little while but then were moved to the bedroom upstairs that belonged to the jailor and his wife.


This is where the family who lived at the jail lived. There kids slept on that bed and the parents slept upstairs. When Joseph and Hyrum were moved upstairs the parents moved down here to this bed as well. They say that they don't think that the family was involved in the conspiracy to kill the prophet because the wife and two kids were shot at while the mob was looking for Joseph and Hyrum.




Another view of the main jail.


This is the front of Carthage Jail where the mob stormed in. If you look close you can see stars on the outside. Those stars actually help hold the building together and are not just for decoration.


This is the window that Joseph went out of.


This is me with Addalyn, Maria and Nolan's baby, in the debtor's cell. Anyone who owed money was put here until they could pay it.


This is what you see walking up to the vistor's center and the Jail (straight ahead). It was very peaceful and beautiful there.