NAUVOO

 Like I said a few posts ago, my mom came to visit in early October and we took a trip to Nauvoo and then to Indiana. And because I'm horrible at narrowing down pictures you get to see way too many from both places in two separate posts. Huzzah! So first up is Nauvoo.  We were a bit off season so it almost felt like we had the place to ourselves. We had a great time and Finley did surprising well. She was a little difficult to contain in the old houses with priceless 200 year old antiques but that's what a strong choke hold is for. Just kidding! Mostly I took her outside once she got out of hand. The weather was amazing so I was more than happy to let her run around and wear herself out for a good nap. Girlfriend has energy, but she is usually a good sleeper. Thank goodness.

Brad convinced us to take the scenic route which was supposed to make our trip just 10 minutes longer. WRONG. It delayed us almost an hour. Country roads are all fine and good when they don't go on for two hours and you don't have an unhappy toddler. Although I begrudgingly admit it was pretty. Whatever.

We ate breakfast right across from our hotel and it was fantastic. An all you can eat buffet... but the good kind. They didn't even ration the bacon! Finley discovered that she kind of likes french toast, really likes Frosted Flakes, and LOVES taking off her clothes in inappropriate places. This trend has not stopped since the trip.

 The above and below pictures show what nerdy tourists we are... but at least we embrace it!

This is Finley's "chillin" pose. Or maybe it's her "full" pose. She had just eaten three gingerbread cookies from the bakery.

I'm telling you. The weather and the leaves were gorgeous. Usually you don't think Nauvoo and beautiful weather but if I could bottle that day I would live that temperature forever. Or I could just move to southern California. Hmmm. They might be on to something over there.

Alex was the Brad stand in for this picture. As you might recall in one of my very first posts I have a picture of Brad doing this is exact some pose in the exact same spot about two months after we got married. Finley didn't really pick up on the sentimentality of it all.

One of our classic "we'll just wait outside" moments.

Another classic shot that pretty much sums up my time while we toured the homes.

Alex and I are third generation granddaughter and Finley is a fourth generation granddaughter of Brigham Young. We couldn't miss the money shot!

Alex was really helpful in helping me corral when needed. Which was often.

The second day we were there my mom and I did a session at the temple while Alex watched Finley. It was an awesome experience, and it is even more beautiful on the inside than I imagined. As we were leaving one of the temple workers offered to allow us see the baptismal font and some historical artifacts from the original temple. It was really interesting, and not the usual experience. I'm sure when the temple is really busy they don't always offer that to every attendee so we counted ourselves very lucky!

On our drive home we stopped at Carthage Jail. And again I'm glad there was plenty of room for her to run because she didn't quite seem to get the historical or spiritual significance. Go figure.

Next stop - Indiana!