Our first family road trip was quite the adventure! We packed up our car Thursday night and headed out to the Lee family reunion. Armed with numerous treats and a plethora of children’s movies we planned on driving through the night and reaching our first destination in record time. Little did we know are kids had a different plan. Driving through Wyoming at 2:00 in the morning with both of our kids wide awake, we asked ourselves what did we get ourselves into? Despite the sleepless night, we made it to Omaha, NE on Friday Morning. Dewight took us to some of his old mission stomping grounds and we got to meet some of his converts. We also attended winter quarters, and then headed to Kansas City, MO in the afternoon. We met most of the family in Kansas City, and in true Lee fashion found some great Kansas City barbeque to stuff are faces. Saturday was spent visiting church history sites there in Missouri (Liberty Jail and Independence). Some of the girls also managed to get a little shopping in as well. Sunday we woke up rested and reenergized and headed off to our final destination Nauvoo. We took the scenic route and visited Far West, Hauns mill, and Adam-ondi –Ahman. Missouri was beautiful, and these were some of my favorite spots. We made it to Nauvoo on Sunday night for the official start to the Lee reunion. We spent the next couple of days touring Nauvoo. We got to visit the brick shop, the bakery, and the blacksmith. We also got to tour the original houses of many of our prophets such as Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and John Taylor. Tuesday was a special day for me. All the adults were able to attend a session at the Nauvoo temple and later that night we got to see the Nauvoo Pageant. Wednesday we finished our site seeing at Carthage Jail and headed home. We were exhausted and our family was anxious to get home, so we pulled another all-nighter and made it home Thursday afternoon.
We had an amazing time. There was definitely some lows; both our kids having diarrhea for 2 days straight, throwing up all through Monday night, and Dewight missing the last of the pageant because our kids refused to behave any longer. But the highs made it all worth it. It was so great to get to see our whole family and to be able to feel of the spirit as we were visiting all these sites. I remember walking down the trail of hope, reading all the trials that the saints went through, and realized I can’t complain about my kids and spending so much time in the car when these people had to make this same journey in wagons! My testimony also grew regarding Joseph Smith. He was an amazing man and a true prophet of god. Being in Liberty Jail and hearing about everything he endured and still keeping his spirits high and continuing to serve our lord with all his heart and mind was very humbling. And last being able to attend the temple and get a glimpse of what the saints had to sacrifice to build that amazing place and then turn west and leave it all behind was inspiring. We are so grateful we took this trip and cherish all the memories we made.
