Our big move!!!

Well we did it... We moved across the country. The drive was long but beautiful. I think at least once, everyone needs to drive cross country and see how beautiful this country really is!!

What Preston did while we packed!

I am sick to death of packing all this mess!!

At a stop on the road!

We visited some amazing sites along the way. I had to stop in Nashville, being the country music fan that I am. We ate dinner at a "southern restaurant" right in Nashville. I had (please read with a southern accent) pulled pork, beef brisket, sweet bread, sweet potatoes, and green beans. It was actually pretty good!

Our Southern dinner!

We next stopped at the St. Louis arch. Amazing landmark!! We only had a few hours because I was really anxious to get to Nauvoo. But we still managed to see the arch and get some pictures!!

Gateway to the West!

Our last and best stop was in Nauvoo. I absolutely love this city!! It has such a special spirit there. President Hinckley said that every Latter Day Saint should visit Nauvoo at least once in their life. We saw the pageant which was incredible and then visited the sites. We spent three days there. James said his favorite site was the temple as well it should be. So I picked a different one. The Old Nauvoo Burial grounds. This site is not one of the "popular" ones but has such a strong spirit. We went at dusk and as we walked up the path to the graveyard you could see the fire flies (side note it has always been one of my life goals to see fire flies so at the age of 29 I finally achieved one of my goals!!) anyway as we walked up you could see the fire flies flying all around the graves. I looked out over all the countless graves and just thought about how much those Saints sacrificed for us. What a testimony it is to us to see all that they have given to help bring us the gospel. At each site after the tour the missionary giving the tour would bear their testimony of the gospel. One missionary said "to see all that these Saints gave makes you pause and think why?? It was because of their love for the Savior and his gospel." In the pageant Parley P Pratt said "when you're here we're here." I really thought about those words during our stay and how true they are as we visit Nauvoo we can really feel the spirits of those early Pioneers and they are there bearing their testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I truly feel that my life was blessed to be able to visit that special city.

Learning a Scottish jig!!

Preston's favorite part of Nauvoo the sock puppet!!

Our little Pioneer!

Prairie Diamonds for all!!

The Beautiful Temple!

Families can be together forever!!

Carthage, Illinois

Brigham Young's cellar

Preston dips his toe in the Mississippi river!

We finally arrived safely here in Denver. So far it has been pretty nice, not as hot as South Florida but it also is missing some people I love and miss! I really miss all of my wonderful friends and am planning on visiting (hopefully) someday! Then we can go to Pei Wei's and Jen can get us some more free stuff!!