Missouri and Nauvoo

 Tyler came back in town from his sister's birthday party Sunday after church. This time I had my phone so no getting lost but the traffic at the terminal to pick him up was insane. I got directed into a lane and then it didn't move. I finally called Tyler and asked him to just walk out to  me. Once he got in the car, the police men then helped us get out of there. Tyler said most of the cars by the doors were parked and waiting. Seems like the better way to have done it would have been to tell those cars to go to a cell phone lot and clear them out. Not a fan of the North Terminal. 

Monday was spent finishing up school work, packing for our trip and running some last minute errands. However, that evening we had some fun and went as a family to watch "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." For a sequel it was really well done and everyone enjoyed it. There was some language, some scary parts and some sexual innuendos that went over the kids heads but it honestly felt cleaner than the originals. Not perfect for kids but I didn't feel too terrible about letting them watch it.

Tuesday after Seminary we headed out to Missouri to spend Thanksgiving with Tyler's sister Mariah and her family. The drive there went smoothly and somehow, even with all our stops we still made it there at the eta that Google gave us in the beginning. We got there just in time for pizza and enjoyed chatting and catching up. Then we even got a visit from their local missionaries and had a nice lesson on gratitude.

Wednesday was a pretty chill day. We all went to a nearby playground where the kids had a blast while the grown up chatted (and I shivered- boo to the cold!). Then we had an epic adventure at their local grocery store with all our kids (6 total). It was a little grocery store and our kids pretty much were moving road blocks. Not everyone appreciated our crazy but thankfully we only had a few things left to get for Thanksgiving dinner. Then that afternoon we basically just hung out. The kids enjoyed having playing Smash Brothers and Mario Kart with their Uncle Jeff and their cousin Jessie. Their cousin Red thought he was playing but his controller was never actually connected ;)

Thursday was Thanksgiving so it involved lots of cooking and dishes. I did the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Tyler did the Turkey, Green Beans and his "Christmas Punch". Mariah did the rolls (which turned out way better than mine ever have), the stuffing and the gravy. About lunchtime the kids were restless and it was super cold outside so we attempted to go walk Walmart, but it was closed. So instead we took our moving road block back to the local grocery store. It was worth it. They needed to get out. A couple hours after that it was feast time! With all our combined efforts it was a really good meal. Later on we topped everything off with some pie- Cookies and Cream seemed to be the favorite of all my kids.

Friday was cold again so we decided it probably would be best not to be cooped up all day so we drove out to Columbia. It was an hour and a half drive and when we were only 30 mins out Steven started freaking out because he needed to pee. Tyler was frustrated because then we lost his sister, who we had been following. It was a lot of drama. We ended up eating lunch at seperate places and then meeting back up with them at Tiger Bounce. The kids had a blast a Tiger Bounce. It was a kind of hodge podge of different kid things- bounce houses, indoor playgrounds and a skating rink. All of our kids attempted roller skating (Mariah's kids are too young). It was quite fun to watch them attempt to skate. Ben really started to get it and did well- he is definitely our sportier kid. Steven got really frustrated with it and whiney but eventually sort of got it. It took the girls awhile to let go of the walker but eventually they started to be able to go small distances without falling.

After Tiger Bounce we went to Target and the mall for a quick second and then headed back to their house. On our way back to their house, the surburban was making weird noises but Tyler just couldn't pin point what was going on. When we got back to their house we enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers, and watched a movie with the kids and then stayed up chatting with Mariah and Jeff.

Saturday we said goodbye to Mariah's family which was sad. It had been nice getting to hang with them and they had been such good hosts (constantly making us yummy food- they even made us breakfast every morning). Their kids Red and Jessie were lots of fun and they had really taken to their Uncle Tyler so they were pretty sad to have him leave...not sure if they were sad about the rest of us ;) 

On our way home we stopped in Nauvoo and Carthage. There wasn't enough time to do all the things but we got to do some. We hit up the visitor's center where the kids did a scavenger hunt and got a brick. Then we went on a carriage ride. It was super cold and not too exciting for the kids. They just took us through the back roads while they told us stories about various people who lived in Nauvoo. But Penny enjoyed getting to pet the horses afterwards.

Next we did the Trades Tour where we learned about the Baker, the Tinsmith and the Gunsmith. Tyler was definitely most excited to see all the John Browning guns they had on display and to see some of the tools he used to make them. He probably could have spent much longer there.

Our second and final tour was the Pioneer Tour. In this one we saw Brigham Young's home (learned about his poor wife rowing across the Mississippi river with a baby strapped to her), and then we saw how wagon wheels were made and got to see a Blacksmith in action. The Blacksmith was really funny and the kids especially loved this one. He made a horse shoe for a "fairy pony" and the kids all got to keep one. The last stop of the tour was at the congregation hall.

After this we walked the ground of the Nauvoo Temple. It is such a beautiful temple.

Our last stop in Nauvoo was at a gift shop in town- it was such a ghost town, it was eerie. The kids all got a little something. Steven got a pocket watch, Ben got a small metal gun (he says it is the perfect size for his dolls), Lucy got a bear with a Nauvoo shirt and Penny got a small plastic horse. 

Then we headed to Carthage Jail. We made it just in time to get the last tour. We had a really powerful moment singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" in the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith died. To me it felt like a choir singing, even though there was just a few of us. It was beautiful. And then the nice spirit got interrupted by two large families coming in. Oh well, they didn't want to miss the tour either. 

We hadn't eaten lunch because there wasn't really anywhere to eat in Nauvoo so after the Carthage Jail tour we had a very late lunch/early dinner. Then it was time to make the 7.5 hour journey back to Michigan. It was going to be a long night- our ETA was 2am but it ended up being even longer. Not only did the kids have to pee every hour but at 12:30am, when we were about 2 hours away from home (in Battle Creek, MI) the noise the Surburban had been making previously got crazier and it started driving weird. Thankfully there was a rest area right as this happened so Tyler pulled over. After some looking and jacking up the car, he realized that a wheel bearing was about to die. This meant we were not driving the Surburban home. I did my best not to panic on the outside but I was all kinds of panicking on the inside. 

We first called our insurance because they offer roadside assistance but apparently they only offer it for accidents. Since it wasn't an accident they would only pay to tow us 20 miles and we were 114 miles from home. Their tow truck also only had capacity for 2 people. They told us to check into an uber. So our next thought was for the kids and I to get an Uber to a hotel and Tyler would pay the absorbent fee to be towed home and then come pick us up later. Unfortunately there were no ubers available, no lyfts available, no taxis available. So we went out on a limb and called a towing company. Blessing of all blessings they could fit all 6 of us and tow us home for cheaper than our insurance was going to. Thankfully they also were not super far out. So we all squeezed into a tow truck and made it home by 4am. It was quite a long night, in which the kids did not sleep, and yet they still woke up at 8am. Here's the picture of the kids showing their excitement for waiting for a tow truck ;)