Day 5 - Nauvoo to Chicago

Nauvoo is such a great place to visit.  We really wished we had more time there.  Also, it was cold and windy when we visited so we had to change some of our plans (no carriage ride).  We visited the Family Living Center where we learned about making pottery, rope, candles, and bread.

My favorite stop in Nauvoo (besides the beautiful temple) is the Scovil Bakery.  You get little gingerbread cookies when you come in!  Plus the sister missionaries there told us a very moving story about the Scovil family and their firm foundation of faith in Christ.  They related it back to the strong foundation of the bakery itself which is still original.

We visited a couple other spots then we had to go.  On our way we stopped at Carthage, which is always such a special place.  Lily was having a hard time being reverent - she's just not that into church history yet - and she kept getting into trouble.  Here she is touching the display that says "do not touch".

Here's a picture of us by the window where Joseph Smith was shot.

The missionary that gave us the tour of the jail took a really neat picture of our family.  This is a picture of us by that same window taken through the bullet hole in the door (the bullet that killed Hyrum Smith).

One of the BEST parts of the trip was meeting up with my college roommate, Becca, and her family.  They live in Illinois and it was right on our way to Chicago.  She was so nice to invite us all over for dinner.  It was so yummy, especially since we had eaten way too much fast food by this point of the trip.  It was so great to catch up and see how similar our interests still are.  Lily really loved being able to play with her kids.  It warms my heart to know that we are still good friend despite all these years and my failure to keep in touch.  Blogs are wonderful for that.