Vrska: temple

We set off for Illinois early Saturday morning, excited to visit places we had never been before. We drove with Mike and Nancy and enjoyed spending time with them. It was nice sitting in the back where I could stretch my legs and help with the kids. We were all interested to see how a fifteen hour road trip with Mike would go, and I have to say it wasn't as intense as I thought it would be. Some of our favorites of the trip - "I like my phone on a lanyard so when I drop it, I wont drop it." "If I whip my head around like The Exorcist could you fix my finger up?!" This was said after soaking his finger in hydrogen peroxide for two hours! "Whitney, you know i'm really glad your kids are honest good kids so I could leave my hanky laying here, you know that!?" He was happy my kids didn't take his dirty hanky off the table. "Hey Molly! I should have brought more of these ties and I could have sold them at church, you know that!?" Talking about his lovely Nauvoo tie. "I'm serious! When I was in the Nauvoo Temple people were asking me where they could buy one!" Oh how we loved having Mike along for entertainment! I don't know if Stephen would have known the speed limit or where the side of the road ended. I don't know if Stephen would have been able to get us there at all had it not been for Mike's impeccable back seat driving skills!

We saw so many rainbows along the way! This was by far the best! It should be a puzzle!

The Missouri country roads were like a roller coaster, especially in the back seat!

Kingston did pretty good in the car, but no more than forty-five minutes into the trip he said he wanted to go home and play with his toys! He would cry and cry saying I want to go home! and unfortunately this was a common phrase throughout our adventures, especially while driving!

Our first stop was the Independence Visitor's Center. It was a nice place to get out and stretch our legs. The missionaries there were so sweet and sang us one of my favorite hymns, Nearer My God to Thee. It was beautiful! Many of the missionaries we met shared their same musical talent!

We stopped briefly at the Kansas City, Missouri Temple. It is always special seeing the different temples throughout the world, and feeling the same peaceful spirit at every one.

Next stop before Nauvoo was Liberty Jail in Missouri. We had been focusing our family home evenings the last couple months on the history behind the places we were visiting. It was so special getting to visit these important places, feeling the spirit that dwells there, and getting to talk about what Taelee felt while we were there. I hope that it will be something we will always remember.

It was so humbling to see this replica of Liberty Jail. I was grateful to learn more about the history, and really get a feel of what it would have been like for them. I knew it was dark, but didn't realize how dark it really was with only two small windows surrounded by four foot thick walls. How grateful I am for Joseph Smith and many others who went through so much during the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Over 550 pictures to sort through and zero motivation. Needless to say, I have been quite the slacker on posting our Moab trip!

It was quite the trip! Unlike any of our other trips this one took a lot of planning and food prep. The kids were so excited! Kingston would ask every day for months before we were leaving if it was time to go to Moab. When I would tell him not yet he would burst into tears! When it got a little closer we made our infamous countdown chain, which helped him understand a little bit better. When the day finally arrived we loaded the kids up at 4:30 in the morning to hit the road. I knew they would be wide awake when we put them in the car, but I was hopeful they would stay asleep. Yeah right! They were wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to get to Moab! The "are we there yets?" and "how much longers?" began as soon as we left Denton. The drive to Utah is sure a long one, but they really did a good job and stayed entertained the entire time with chalk and stickers! We made a pitstop along the way at Four Corners Monument. There wasn't much to see but it was fun to have each of us in a different state for a second. We made it to Moab and the kids couldn't wait to explore! We were crazy and decided to stay four different places. Now we know that staying in a cabin for a week would be ideal and all that moving around was downright unpleasant. We were at least able to scope out different areas and know what will work for us the next time we go. The first place we stayed was really nice! Small little cabins at the base of the Canyonlands entrance. They were super clean and they had a great play area for the kids. Taelee of course made a friend with our neighboring cabin, and they played all morning! We left to go explore Canyonlands about nine, and I was sad to leave so quickly! Canyonlands was absolutely beautiful! It is amazing how vast Moab really is! Every time we have passed through I never imagined what was beyond that main road. It was breathtaking to see all of the Lords' creations so broad and beautiful! It made us really think about the creation and how much detail and time it must have taken. The next night we stayed at Dead Horse Point. We were pretty disappointed with the camp site. With the pictures we thought we would have a beautiful view of the canyon, but it wasn't anywhere near it. It was extremely windy that night! We were grateful we had a sturdy tent because I really thought it was going to blow away! The tent spots were on a sand pit so the wind created a lovely sand storm that we felt sprinkle down on us while we were sleeping. Eventually I had to go read and "sleep" in the passenger seat of the car because I couldn't fall asleep with the noise. Luckily the kids slept right through it, and had loads of fun playing in the sand and getting filthy! We felt like we were tasting sand the next couple of days! Luckily the next place we stayed had showers! We set up camp and anxiously waited for Nana, Gonka, Kelli, Natalia, and Dakoda to arrive! While we waited for them we went to Arches and went on quite the hike to Tower Arch! There were a couple points where I thought we were crazy for taking our kids on such a steep climb, but after a few tears we made it to the arch! All the tears were well worth it when we got there and got to eat lunch under the arch! We told many stories as we walked to help pass the time and distract from the tears. By the end Taelee was sure she was the best hiker in the world and both kids left happy and exhausted with walking sticks in hand. We got back and started a fire. Shortly after the Suburban pulled in carrying a few of Taelee's favorite people in the world! Taelee was so excited to have her cousins there - they were inseperable! That night was freezing, and we didn't come very prepared for the cold weather. Kingston woke up early and threw up all over his pillow and jams. Luckily none got in the tent or anything else. I think he must have had a little heat stroke or something because once he drank some liquids and ate a little something he was back up and running. That morning was pretty cold - seven layers of clothing cold. Eventually it warmed up a bit so we were able to go on a few walks to see some arches. By lunchtime it was a beautiful day. We found an awesome park that had large musical instruments to play-coolest thing ever! All the kids caught caterpillars and butterflies to put in their bug catchers. Kingston didn't let go of his for one second. (My camera died that morning so I didn't get any pictures!) I pretty much felt naked without it and had nowhere to charge the battery. Luckily they had a Radio Shack in town where we were able to buy a car charger! Good thing too, because the next stop was Needles Overlook. It was a bit of a drive to get there so the perfect opportunity for Kingston to nap. We were on the top of a cliff with some crazy cold wind. It was a brief look, but breathtaking-and a bit stomach turning. My dad was on pins and needles the whole time "be careful, oh don't get too close!" hmmm maybe that's why it's called "Needles Overlook"?! At least my camera charged enough to get some pretty awesome pictures! That night Stephen ate two brats and FIVE s'mores! Going to bed that night he said his stomach wasn't feeling great. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I heard him rip open the tent and heave his entire helping of s'mores, hotdogs, and then some! He claims it wasn't from the food...I beg to differ! The last day we ventured back to Arches where we took on the Devil's Garden. We had no idea what we were getting into, and lets just say that hiking with a group of little ones made it a little difficult! Along the trail there were seven beautiful arches-definately worth the trek! There was a point in the hike that was pretty steep and scary with the little ones, but WE DID IT and we all came out unscathed! It was an exhausting end to a wonderful trip! We went out to dinner in Downtown Moab that night, and then headed to a cabin for our last night. We wished we would have gotten to the cabins sooner because they had an amazing kids play area with giant checker, chess, and other game boards. The kids played with all the giant game pieces until after dark. Another place we will definitely stay again! We left early the next morning to head home. The drive home is never as enjoyable! We even had a little car trouble in Albuquerque, but luckily we were able to make it home safely!

Now onto the pictures...

Shiprock on the back road as we drove to Four Corners.

Four Corners

Wilson's Arch, an arch on the way into Moab.

Our first cabin. Taelee wore her backpack and binoculars everywhere-our little explorer!

Entering Canyonlands!

Mesa Arch

Upheaval Dome

The main thing Kingston was excited for - LIZARDS! He knew that Gonka would catch him a lizard, which of course he did (something that happened when my camera was dead!)

We saw "one eared gorilla man" (made up Vrska name) on our walk at Whale Rock

Kingston decided that he wanted to be a cat and crawled the rest of the way.

While walking on Whale Rock we found these prints in the rocks. I am not a paleontologist, but they definitely looked like dinosaur prints weathered away over the years. The kids had fun following the "dinosaur tracks" up the mountain.

Beautiful view of the Colorado River

Dead Horse Point

Kingston cracked us up with his hammer, working away at the sand.

Playing away in the sand! They built cakes for Lambie and Toby's birthday party.

Dead Horse Canyon

Arches National Park

Bum Cheek Rock (another Vrska name)

Tower Arch Trail aka sandy and steep, but well worth it trail

The pictures show very little of how steep it really was.

We were story telling buddies!

The BEAUTIFUL Tower Arch! We made it!

A well deserved lunch under the arch!

My favorite picture of the entire trip! Sweet boy was worn right out!

Finally reunited with her cousins on a very brisk morning! The last picture before my camera died!

Needles Overlook

They were convinced that this was the trolls home!

Little explorers! Kingston was conked out it the car :(

Tummy taking how high up we were!

Kelli's hat flew off the side of the cliff! In case you can't tell the ground is about 1600ft below YIKES!

You could see over 120 miles from up there!

A great dollar store purchase, it kept him very entertained! He loved playing with Koda!

If you ask the kids what their favorite part of the trip was they would say, playing in the sand with their cousins! They could have played there all day, building a fortress for their Power Puff girls!

Balancing Rock

Kingston LOVED jumping off the rocks! It took us twice as long to walk the trails because he had to jump off of any ledge or rock along the way. Thank goodness for the backpack on the long hikes! It just took some coercing the first couple times, but eventually he got used to it.