meet me in nauvoo

last friday our family took the day off and headed for nauvoo. after several wrong turns and several "did we miss our exit?" "are you sure we turn that way?" we made it to nauvoo where we were met by my sister and some of her family. claire and jeremiah were thrilled to see their cousins. well, jeremiah was a little slow on the warming up part, but within a bit he could have cared less if stuart and i had fallen off the edge of the earth.

i was glad they met us in nauvoo. having my sister there made the trip more enjoyable, not just for added visiting reasons but the kids entertained each other making my parenting duties less formidable. claire was semi-interested in the historical places and jeremiah had zero interest unless someone was handing out food.

at lunch time we met up with my dear friend, jodi, who was the reason for the trip. jodi and i have been friends since i first got married and years ago i promised i would come to her temple wedding when that day came. 9 years later, i got to keep that promise, surprisingly convienient for me as nauvoo is only 3 hours away. i was so excited to see jodi and realized how much i miss being around her.

jodi's folks are missionaries in nauvoo and graciously opened up their home to our entire clan for lunch even though their home was already full with family. i enjoyed visiting with the family. they are easy going and make anyone feel right at home.

after jodi's wedding i said good bye to my sister. jeremiah was determined to stay with his cousins. stuart said, "do you want to go to iowa and live or come home with daddy and mommy." with no hesitation jeremiah said, "go to iowa!" jeremiah did not get his wish but had to return to his own, less exciting home.

then it was time to say good bye to my friend. it pained me to say good bye, knowing it might be awhile before we meet up again. i have no doubt we were supposed to become friends, i just haven't figured out why our lives had to wind up so that we live so far apart. perhaps it's because someone knew we'd have too much fun together and neglect our other responsibilities. (:

whatever the reason, i am stronger because of jodi and am blessed for knowing her.