Oh, my word!!! I am here after all.

I just had a really good trip to Nauvoo, Illinois. My son, my father, my sister, my niece and I went to attend the wedding and celebration of another niece who lives in Iowa. We left here on Wednesday evening at 6:05 and arrived in Fort Madison, Iowa, the following evening around 6:00. If I knew how to download pictures and insert them here I would show you a picture of the temple at night. What a lovely building! And of course inside is even better.

We hurried on over to Iowa (a two hour trip) to prepare for the reception. Our group was probably a little in the way but we tried to be of help and assistance. We spent the next day playing around. My brother teaches at a local college and showed us some chemistry tricks and then made ice cream with liquid nitrogen. That was interesting and we had lots of fun. Afterwards, the building became the venue for a game of freeze tag that covered four floors and stairwells. We have been in on that action a couple of times before and it really is a lot of fun. I guess it isn't exactly college learning, but probably fits with college hijinx.

The next day we attended church where my brother is well in to his eight year (and third time around) as branch president. We stayed for the first meeting and then hurriedly changed clothes and headed on down the freeway! We stopped in Florence, Nebraska, and went to the Winter Quarters visitor's center. The change to that neighborhood is quite drastic. I can remember visiting there when there was NO visitor's center and again later when the "center" was a trailer. The surrounding streets gave one cause to worry about safety. Today, with the temple in the midst of this quiet scene, the streets are clean, the stores are new, the feeling is truly peaceful.

Onward. To Laramie, Wyoming. But first we had to pay homage to the rest area where I was left in the middle of the night with no identification, no money, no one to call, no description of vehicle to tell the highway patrol so they could find my family and ask if they wanted me back. That was a long night.

We caught a few hours of sleep in Laramie and then headed home, arriving about 4pm. That adds up to, let's see, 5 and a half days, approximately 4,000 miles, a little TB, but fun times. We even laughed a little in the car at times.

So, now, do you have an inexpensive little apartment for a very newly wedded couple? They need a place to nest in. Both are students, naturally, with very little money.

There is a beautiful clear view from the front of the temple to the Mississippi River. The grass slopes down into the flat where the church has restored and also built many new homes and businesses. At the visitor's center there is an absolutely breathtaking exhibit of 13 sculptures depicting events in the life of Christ that lift us up and cause us great joy. You can see pictures of some of these at either ajsculptures.com, or iamthelightoftheworld.org. The artist also has a web page where you can find out more about her: mormonsoprano.com. You will enjoy the visit. I have favorites, but I saw them in person and the feeling is different than looking online.