Wednesday, May 21, 2008
So I got up for work like any normal day...except I was leaving early to fly to Albuquerque. Yes I understand that is not exactly close to the intended destination of St. Louis but I flew home to help my parents with my 2-year-old nephew on a plane. So after a few short hours at work I headed up to the airport. Of course I was early because I always am but it was alright. The flight went on with little event. For some reason I was so glad to see the brown ground below me as I landed in Albuquerque...very strange feeling for sure. It was good to be home. I watched part of the finale of American Idol and then grabbed some Denny's with some friends. It was a good time and I really wished it would have lasted longer. When I arrived at the house, Chad and Darbie had already taken off for St. Louis where we would meet them the next day. Jay and I played hardcore until we put him to bed.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
It was a race to the airport...for anyone who knows my mother you might understand that getting out of the house and to the airport on time was not an easy task. Adding a 2-year-old to the mix didn't help much. We did however finally make it to the airport where we met my dad and began the actual vacation. The airport was a bit of a tramatic experience (as everything with a 2-year-old is) but the flight was relatively uneventful...thank heavens for that one. Once in St. Louis it was time to figure out how to get all of the luggage along with all of us to where it needed to be. St. Louis has a little bit of a southern flair and I LOVED IT!!!! The people were very laid back and for some reason I fell in love. We made it to a hotel where we were met by Chad and Darbie and handed off Jay. This is where the real fun of the trip began.
Friday, May 23, 2008
I was sleeping quite cozily in my bed when suddenly I feel someone tugging on the sheets and eventually getting into bed with me. A little bit confused I look over and ask my mother what she is doing. She says she can't sleep....so apparently moving to my bed would help her sleep better. The only problem with her brilliant plan is that I now can't sleep because she is all over the place. They used to complain when I was little about moving around a lot and now I know where that comes from!! Losing a few hours of sleep isn't a big deal....the big deal happened at about 6:30 when all the sudden a shout comes from the other end of the room: "I'm Dead". A little confused I open my eyes and see my mom looking on the floor next to the other bed in the room. "I think I broke my hip" was the next pained cry. All my mom could say was "Pray" and that's just what I did. I turned onto my knees in bed and prayed...for what I'm not really sure because I didn't really know what was going on except that I was scared for whatever it was. Eventually my dad got up and moved which was a relief to all, well kind of. Later that morning the full realization came to play. My dad had tried to get out of bed by supporting himself on a chair that was next to the bed. Unfortunately that chair had wheels and whoosh....there went the chair and my dad.
The plan for Friday was to drive to Hannibal, MO which is the birthplace of Mark Twain. If you don't know who Mark Twain is....don't worry about it you still won't know if I tried to tell you....Hannibal was an interesting little tourist traps with lots of antique shops and craft stores. The main historic street also had a few museums and such. The only thing my mom wanted to do was to go to "Injun Joe's Cave"....which once again if you don't know don't worry about it. I kind of liked to walk around the little stores and actually bought something from one of the craft stores. I know calm down...I bought something that was already made. My mom took my dad into the urgent care clinic (which I'm sure must have been a hoot and a half) and they took X-rays and said that there was no breaks or cracks and he would be okay if he just walked with a cane. In her true fashion my mom tried to get pain meds for dad that would work well with his liver. The people at the clinic wouldn't give them too her...they probably thought that she was a drug pusher, but she really was just trying to look out for the poor man's liver.
So cane and all we pushed forward through to the steamboat ride at night. At this point I should probably clue you in on who all is on this trip at the moment. Right now it's the parents, me, my brother Chad, his wife Darbie, and Jay. Also along for the trip are the Turners who are some family friends who live in Pullman, WA. Apparently, the Turners met my parents when they lived in Albuquerque and joined the church. The Turners have a daughter named Erin, who is about my age so you can only imagine how cute everyone thinks that is. So the crew heads onto this steamboat where we enjoy a fabulous meal and watch some dancing. Jay decided he wanted to dance and headed to the front of the ship where some older couples were dancing. He gladly joined in with them and entertained the whole ship. Man, I love that kid!! It was an overall good time. We then headed back to the hotel and slept....peacefully....thank heavens.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
This was the morning of all mornings....the day we got to go to Nauvoo. In the morning the adults went to the temple while Erin, Jay, and I stayed in the lobby of our hotel and waited for them to finish. Once they were done we relaxed a little and then went to dinner at this buffet at the Nauvoo Hotel. One thing that is interesting about Nauvoo is that the people in the west part of town are not members of the church...It's all residents who sell Mormon paraphenalia to tourists. The east side is divided into the LDS and the Community of Christ churches....it's all very interesting. Anyway, this is the point in the trip when everything blends into one. After dinner we walked on the main street in downtown Nauvoo and got some chocolate from this really good shop and then looked in a couple of other stores.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
We got up and went to the Illinois, Nauvoo Mission sacrament meeting, which was pretty awesome. It was only an hour and a half meeting and the speakers were missionaries who were about to come home. Most of the missionaries there were older couple missionaries so it was interesting to hear their experiences serving on the many sites and in the temple in Nauvoo. After the meeting we went back to the hotel and took a nap (blessed day!!!). After the nap we headed over to Carthage where we visited the place of the Martydom of Joseph Smith. Even though it was my third time being there I still loved to feel the Spirit and know that someone so great had died there. Then we headed off to see some of the sites in Nauvoo. I LOVE Nauvoo...there is nothing better than to be there and to feel the spirit of the early pioneers and all of the sacrifices. Every time I go there I can feel the spirit of Joseph Smith so clear and it helps me to press on in the midst of all of my afflictions and trials.
Monday, May 26, 2008
I knew the today would be my favorite part of the trip. We started the day doing baptisms in the temple. What a perfect way to start!!! I have decided that I really really want to get married in the Nauvoo temple...I know cliche or whatever but I just love it! After the temple we headed to the visitors center to get our tickets for the shows that we were going to see that day. We then went over and visited some of the houses, including the Browning Gun Shop and the Scovil Bakery. Then we headed off to see Just Plain Anna Amanda. It was a cute children's show put on the by the young performing missionaries in Nauvoo. Even thought it was for kids I've got to confess that I kind of liked it. Then we saw more sites....while this may seem to be getting boring to you it really wasn't to me!!! Then we went to the visitor's center to see our second show High Hopes and Riverboats. It was also performed by the young performing missionaries and has a little bit of romance in it so we all know that I loved it!! After that show we ate dinner and did some shopping in the newer part of town. Then we went to see Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo. This show was done by the older missionary couples. It is always hiliarious because some just aren't really the performing type, but they all get up there and do it anyway!! To cap off the trip we went to the night show called Sunset on the Mississippi which is kind of a variety show of all of the missionaries. It was the perfect way to end the trip!!! Walking back to the car was a little scary because the show was outside and it was dark and dad can't see in the dark. Mom and I (with the help of some sister missionaries) had to lead him to the car. It was a scary experience because not only could he not see but he wasn't very stable because of the bad hip...(you probably forgot about that but it will come again later)...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Mom and Dad's anniversary!!! I think this was their most special anniversary...well to me it was the most special of their anniversaries. During the day my mom would look at the clock and tell me things about their wedding day that I hadn't heard before. We got up in the morning and went to the Lyon Drug store, which for some reason I had missed my last two times in Nauvoo. Then we headed down the road to St. Louis. When we got to St. Louis we decided to drive up to the arch (we had a lot of time to kill). It was kind of a cool little structure although I was more interested in downtown St. Louis. We also saw the Rams' Stadium....which is the first NFL stadium I think I've seen that close. Then we headed to the airport where we sent dad off to Albuquerque and Mom and I went to Salt Lake.
Whew....I finally made it through the trip log. After the trip dad's hip gave out and cracked completely. Mom immediately flew home and dad called an ambulance to come get him and take him to the ER. Nearly 15 hours after he got to the ER that transferred him to the Presbyterian Hospital downtown. He had a very successful surgery on Thursday and was sent home Monday. His mom flew down from Utah to help take care of him. He's going a little stir crazy but is finally starting to heal.
1 comment:
Aren't blogs great. It's like a journal and then your keeping up with people and doing what we're asked all at the same time. Yeah!
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