Nauvoo, Day 3

 Hello, and welcome back.  In today's journey to the past, we will be visiting.......

SATURDAY, 8 JUNE 2019

According to my journal, the agenda for the day was to tour the Joseph Smith Historic Site, which is owned and operated by the Community of Christ.

We had heard rumor that you could go up to the barns early in the morning and watch the horse handler missionaries bring the horses in from the field, feed them, groom them, get then in their harnesses, and hood them up to the wagons and carriages.  So, to start off our day, those of us horse lovers got up early and made our way to the barn......

We were the first people to arrive, so we had a bit of time to ourselves to watch the horses grazing in the field.

Big and beautiful

While we were waiting for them to bring the horses into the barn area, the kids discovered a cute and friendly barn kitten-katten and a turtle.

Breakfast time!!

This fella here really liked playing with his feeding bucket.

These are very well trained horses.  They all know their names and come when called.

They also know which stalls are theirs and go right to them.

After breakfast, they brought the horses into the barn to get brushed, curried, and put into their harnesses.

Did you get my best side?

All ready and excited to get going for the day.  I love how his ears are all pricked up....like an excited little puppy.

They let us pet the horses and take as many pictures as we wanted while they hooked them up to the wagons and carriages.  So, naturally, we took hundreds of pictures.  I narrowed it down to my favorites.

Meow-Meow isn't so sure about these giants.

He finally warmed up to them, but had to stand on his tippy-toes and stretch just to touch their noses.

Oh how my Spider Monkey loves horses!!

Nuzzle, nuzzle

He was a very silly horse. Such a show off!

When we all got back from seeing the horses, we had some breakfast and got ready for our day of touring the section of Old Nauvoo that is owned by the Community of Christ church.  They own and run Joseph and Emma's homes, their graves, and the Red Brick Store.  

Our first stop was their version of a visitor's center. 

We went on their guided tour.

The tour ended at the Red Brick Store.  

And, of course, we bought a few souvenirs. 

Jaina really wanted this.  I must admit, that I would probably have fun with it as well.  It was pretty pricey, so we passed it up.  But she had to have a picture of it.

We visited Joseph and Emma's graves

The sun was shining directly into our eyes.  

After the previous night, seeing the Mississippi River in the dark, we had all decided that we wanted to go back during the day and see it.  And, naturally, we had shenanigans at the river.....

We at least got one nice photo at the river.....

I believe it is a requirement that when you have a group this large, you all have to try jumping at once and get a picture of everyone up in the air.

Yeah, we aren't coordinated enough for that.

But we gave it our best shot.

I believe the next requirement is to take a shot as if you are falling into the river. Some of us did better than others.  Spider Monkey got distracted by a stick in the water that looked like it would make a really cool cane.

I decided that I needed to fish that thing out of the river and make it mine.

We did a little better here.

A little bit better

Lion Heart has the zombie move down pat.

Photo op at the statue.

I'm not entirely sure what Spider Monkey was up to.

We went back to camp after this to have a quick lunch and then set off to do some more touring.  We went up to the temple to get some photos of everyone there.

And once again, the sun was in our eyes.

Poor Firecracker, these were the best shots of her.

Now it is time for an episode of, "What did the kids take pictures of now?"

We went to the blacksmith's shop and learned about the "desert diamond."  Railroad nails that were used for engagement/wedding rings back in the day.

And feet..

Why in the world did we take photo's of our feet?

June 8th is another important day in the history of the Davis Family.  It just so happens to be Lion Heart's birthday.  He turned 15!!  AND had to have a picture of himself behind the wheel of the D.S.S.V.

We all loved the "Sunset on the Mississippi" show so much that in the evening we went back to see it again.  There was a rainbow over the church building next door.  Naturally, I had to take a picture.

After the show, a few of us took an adventure out to see an old pioneer cemetery.  

This was a wonderful end to our three days in Nauvoo.

Alrighty then, let us go and consult with my journal pages.

Interesting things I have learned: The Community of Christ church is very confusing.  In their gift shop, they had the Book of Mormon & Doctrine and Covenants from our church.  (Apparently they have their own Doctrine and Covenants, but they don't have it for sale.) They also had a lot of anti Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stuff as well.  They also really gloss over the important parts of church history.

Thoughts and impressions I have had: You can really feel the difference in spirit between the sites owned and ran by the church and those owned and ran by the Community of Christ church.  There was a powerful spirit at Carthage, yet I felt nothing at Joseph's grave site.

What was my favorite part? Why? Learning how the early saints lived and worked.  It gave me a deeper understanding and connection with them.

How has this helped my testimony grow? Actually seeing the historical places has made it more real and tangible.

And.....

Today's date is: 8 June 2019

Today we visited: Community of Christ Joseph Smith sites and more Nauvoo.

Today's weather: Sunny

Today I feel: Happy

What I saw today: Joseph and Emma's homes, their graves, and the Red Brick Store.

My favorite part of the day: Talking to the sister missionaries.

I liked: Going to see the Sunset on the Mississippi again.

I did not like: ALL OF THE STINKING FLIES!!!

It was funny when: We saw the Sunset on the Mississippi again.

Hmmmmmm, does anybody want to take a guess as to what was going on in 2020?

8 JUNE 2020

Happy birthday to you!!  Happy birthday to you!!  Happy birthday dear Lion Heart!!!  Happy birthday to you!!

I think this is the first year that I don't have any birthday pictures of any of our June birthdays.  I was really slacking.  Actually, I KNOW I took pictures!!  I know I did! At least I'm sure I did!!  

My take-away from this?? DON'T TRUST TECHNOLOGY!! SELF DRIVING CARS ARE NOT THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE!!  I MEAN, REALLY!! IF A COMPUTER CAN GLITCH AND DELETE PICTURES OR LOSE PICTURES...........................

Just sayin'

I will see ya'll tomorrow!!