Lots of Travel and Carthage Jail

So we got back Saturday, the 2nd, from a week-long family reunion (my mom's side) in Illinois and I am just now getting around to posting about it :/  My computer's been having some issues and I've also been all caught up in getting Aiden potty trained, but I knew I'd be bummed if I didn't write about our trip, so here it goes!  I think I'll post 2 days at a time.

We flew out Saturday, July 26th.  Our flight took off at 6 in the morning, so it was a little brutal (we got like 3 hours of sleep), but thankfully the kiddos did really well.  We just took them to the airport in their jammies :)

As soon as we got into the air, Miss Janie had a blowout :/  I was afraid it was going to happen because it had happened twice a few days before our trip.  We were worried she'd be screaming as we were frantically getting her all cleaned up, but she just quietly took everything in!

All changed and clean :)

This was her 3rd flight and somehow she always manages to take over the whole middle seat ;)  Trent got squished in the window seat with Aiden..haha.

But soon Aiden was playing with his "tars" down on the ground.

And little miss slept most of the flight.

We flew into Chicago and immediately hopped onto a big shuttle with a whole bunch of family that got in a bit earlier than us.  And then we headed to Union Station and hopped on the train for Burlington, IA on our way to Nauvoo, IL.  It was quite the travel day.

Met up with my sisters.

Amber (my sister) holding Janie and Amanda holding her nephew Adler, who is exactly a month older than Janie :)

Janie and Adler just happened to be matching ;)

Aiden loved being on a train for the first time and he stayed completely entertained by all of his aunts and my cousins :)

Many of us took the time to get some zzz's in on the train.

My uncle Jeff and aunt Mimi - aren't they the cutest??

About an hour outside of Burlington, the train stopped.  We thought it was just going to be quick to let some people off and for a "smoke break" (yuck!), but then we found out the train was having some electrical issues, so we ended up there for at least half an hour.

Aiden and Trent playing out by the tracks.

Me and Janie joined them.

Our train in the background.

Aunt Jen and Janie.

I wish Janie had her headband on in all of these pictures, but with so many helping hands I couldn't seem to place it, and I actually haven't seen it since.

My cousin Melissa holding Janie and her sister Jordan holding her son Adler :)

A bunch of the girls (and Adler and Aiden ;))!

Jen's arms look super long here ;)

Another camera got pulled out ;)

My cute cousins Courtney and Cameron playing with Aiden :)

Janie had an outfit change ;)

I don't have any other pictures from the day, but we made it to Burlington and had to hop on a bus briefly which took us to the car rental where we picked up two of the three 15-passenger vans we had rented to head to Nauvoo, like an hour away.  Trust me, we were so done with traveling by the end of the day!  But we made it to Nauvoo where we stayed in 2 houses we rented, side by side.  It was so good to finally be there!

I guess I should've given a little background.  My grandpa passed away 10 years ago rather unexpectedly and quickly.  The summer he passed, our family reunion had been completely planned for Nauvoo, but it was called off when he passed.  10 years later we finally made it happen, in his remembrance :)

Sunday we got up bright and early (considering the long travel day the day before) and headed to Church for the ward at 8 specifically for missionaries and visitors (they have a lot of visitors during the summer months).

After Church we headed to Carthage, IL.  First we ate lunch at a little Mexican restaurant (Los Charros) and then got to tour Carthage Jail. Carthage Jail is where Joseph Smith (the first prophet of our Church) was shot and killed, along with his brother Hyrum.  I had no idea it was just a little jail owned by a family and they actually lived downstairs.  The prisoners stayed upstairs in a couple different rooms.

We waited a while in line (Sunday is their busiest day) and got into a little theater to watch a video about Joseph Smith before the tour. Both kiddos had fallen asleep while we were waiting, but about halfway through the video, Aiden woke up crying.  I think he was completely confused as to where he was and where we were (he was up by my mom).  Trent had to take him out and then missed out on the whole tour of the jail :(  I felt so bad.  We've decided we'll have to go back to Nauvoo someday.

Statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

The bullet hole of the bullet that shot Hyrum in the face.

The top window is the one Joseph fell out of when he was shot :(

Christensen family, minus Richard and my dad (we missed them!), who both had to work (my dad had to get back since he'd already missed the 3 previous weeks while he participated in the Hill Cumorah Pageant with my mom and Amber).

Closer shot.  I just realized we couldn't get Aiden to join us either..haha.

Front of the jail.

The testimony of Joseph Smith.  I love it.

A bunch of the missionaries came out and performed.

Blaine on baby duty ;)

All Aiden wanted to do was play in the dirt ;)

We headed back to the houses and I had to get a picture from the car. Just look at those gorgeous clouds!

Aunt Amy bathed Janie in our tiny sink..haha

That evening all of the rest of the family (40 some family members) went off to a variety show and later walked the Trail of Hope, which is the trail the pioneers took to cross the Mississippi River as they headed west.  We decided it was best to stay behind with our kiddies because they were overly exhausted.  We were sad to miss it, but as I said earlier, we hope to make it back someday.  We have learned that when traveling with kids, sometimes it's best to sit things out, or go at their pace.