Grandma comes to Iowa... and Nauvoo!

After Emily was born, Grandma, Mindy's mom, was able to come and spend two weeks with our family in Iowa. Since my parents live in Nevada, they have not been able to come and see our home in Iowa yet, so this trip was such a treat! I loved having my mom here, and Bradley loved having Grandma all to himself (although he did have to share her with me...), and my mom loved being a full time Grandma for 2 weeks. It was a great trip and reminded me how wonderful mothers are, and how much a girl needs her mom, even when she grows up. To start out her trip here, she arrived in Iowa during the first heat wave of the season. It was 90 degrees outside, and guess what...? Our air conditioning was broken. It was funny and horrible at the same time. I had to laugh to keep from crying. For the first night, my mom, Emily, and I all slept in the basement (where it stays pretty cool), and Jon and Brad camped outside in the tent (that first night it was cooler outside than in the house.) The next day, we lasted until about 10 am in the house when I had a breakdown and couldn't take it anymore. Both my children were laying around the house naked with diapers on, and since Emily is still so small she couldn't get her temp. regulated. I was trying to cool her down with a cool towel, but finally it was just too hot. Well, we decided that we were going for a drive in our air conditioned car, and we got all ready, when I realized... my keys were locked in the car... could the day get any worse? Well, blessings started flowing our way. The air conditioner guy showed up to fix our A/C, and our neighbor and friend let us stay in her house for the rest of the day. It felt amazing to finally be cool. That night our A/C was fixed and we were able to sleep at our house. It was quite an experience, and now I am so grateful for my wonderful air conditioning. First night of Emily sleeping down stairs. We were all so hot, that none of us slept with blankets.

Bradley watching a movie in the basement with no clothes on to try and stay cool.

Well, the rest of the first week with Grandma went great once we had air conditioner. We practically never left the house. We did get some things done around the house and enjoyed spending time talking. For the Memorial holiday weekend, we decided to travel to Nauvoo for 2 days and give my mom a tour of the area. She had been once about 3 years ago with my Dad, but it is always wonderful to feel the spirit in Nauvoo. It is just a 2 hour drive, and seemed possible with our new Emily. The kids were both amazing on the drive. Emily let us drive for the full 2 hours without waking up. What a champ! We loved being in Nauvoo as a family and it was especially great to bring my mom there. Nauvoo is just so wonderful!

All of us enjoying a ride on the wagon pulled by oxen. This is a 10 min. ride that gives a small idea of the wagon the pioneers had when they crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah from Nauvoo, Illinois.

Our family standing in front of the Mississippi River in Nauvoo. The river is so huge, it looks like a lake, but it is a river. I love this picture. It just feels so wonderful to see our family all together with our sweet Emily.

In Nauvoo they have many shows to see in the evening. We saw "Sunset on the Mississippi" which has a lot of fun singing and dancing. Prior to the show they had a children's parade and all the kids could make hats and march with the band. Brad loved hearing the music and was so excited to go march in the parade. He walked up to the stage all by himself to march, and Jon had to hurry after him. Brad just loves being a part of activities.

Emily did great during the trip. I do think that she was exhausted afterwards, but she was a great sport while we were there.

I love this picture also. Grandma and her grand-daughter. It is so beautiful!

We had a great time with Grandma visiting and seeing Nauvoo. I was so sad to see my mom leave, but I was also so grateful she could stay for 2 weeks. As a new mom, I needed her to be here that long, and we had a blast together.