Day 7

WE ARE HOME!!!!!

Day 6: Hi Emma!

Today was just another day of travel. 4 states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. We had a pretty uneventful day. Emma slept alot and we enjoyed the views. We are just a day away from Home!

Since we didn't really do anything special today or take any pictures we decided to put some videos from last night up with Emma's new tricks. Here Emma displays her talking skills.

Emma has also learned to wave!

Day 5: Nauvoo

So after a very long and painful night with Emma...We decided to stick with our plan of visiting Nauvoo in the morning. We crossed the Mississippi River and entered Illinois. After a short 12 miles we pulled into the familiar town of Nauvoo. We knew our way around pretty well from our visit last year. We parked on the back side of the temple and then went for a walk in the downtown area. We hit up some local bookstores and let Emma stretch her legs. We also walked around the temple grounds and got some cute pictures of Emma.

This is the "Stuart" pose. We then went down to the historical part of town. We stopped to let Emma see her ancestor's house and play with a buterfly. We then drove down Parley Street to the Mississippi along the Trail of Hope, and then back up to the Joseph Smith home and cemetery. Emma has been teething again so we decided to drive down to Quincy to give Emma a little nap in the car. We then had lunch at Applebees. Emma also had a nice lunch of gerber stars... We then drove back to Keokuk where we will stay the night again. Leisha and Emma are taking a much needed nap while I do this post. We head to Ohio tomorrow and just a short trip to home in Geneva!

Day 4: Goldie gets stitches...

In case you didn't know, we named our car Goldie. So I took the car to the local Honda dealer in Sioux Falls while Leisha watched Emma at the Marriott. I arrived just before the hordes of other locals could get oil changes. It took them about 30 minutes to check out the car. They reassured me the leak underneath was just the condensation from the air conditioning (which is normal). This made me feel a lot better. The car also recieved 3 "stitches" to keep the bumper from moving. unfortunately the cut in the bumper will not heal...

We were able to leave Sioux Falls around 9:30 and made it to the Mormon Pioneer Trail Center around noon. The Winter Quarters temple is beautiful. It is similar in shape to the Tri-Cities temple. It is situated next to a pioneer cemetery. This is a picture of a beautiful stained glass window on the back of the temple.Emma enjoyed seeing her great great great great great uncle Brigham Young! She was very cute and just wanted to touch his face. Emma loved Winter Quarters! We are now safely located in Keokuk Iowa at the Marriott just a few miles south of Nauvoo. We look forward to having the whole day tomorrow to visit all the sites in Nauvoo and Carthage.

Day 3: The Tire...

Day 3 started out just like any other day, we woke up, got ready, had breakfast, Emma slept for 2.5 hours, we crossed into another state, hit a piece of tire on the road...

That's right, we were having a great day. We quietly left Wyoming while Emma was asleep, crossing into South Dakota just in time to stop in Rapid Springs for lunch and to by the next book in the Twilight series on tape (much to my dismay...). We lazily continued through SD, passing all the small towns with numerous billboards promising a great time. Luckily we avoided all the temptations of stopping at Wall Drug and kept a smooth pace toward the center of the state. Then about 3 hours before our destination of Sioux Falls a stray piece of shredded tire jumped out from the weeds on the side of the road and attacked the car! I tried to use my cat like reflexes to dodge but the tire slab proved to be too quick and smashed into the bumper. We pulled off the road at the first exit, Leisha hyperventilating, and checked out the damage. I blame Tom and Mike for repeatedly backing into the car and weakening the front bumper. We also noticed a small leak underneath. Luckily there is a Honda dealer about a mile from our hotel so I will take it in morning to get checked.

All in all we had a great day and are grateful we made it to the hotel.

Day 2: Yellowstone

Our second day on the road was our sightseeing trip to Yellowstone. We drove down the north entrance and to Mammoth Hot Springs

We then continued south toward Madison and further down to Old Faithful.

Emma needed some food...

Emma and Dad at Old Faithful. We waited for a good 45 minutes for it to finally go off.

After Old Faithful we headed toward the east entrance (in our case exit). Just after the fishing brigde (the north end of Yellowstone Lake) we just about ran into a buffalo. He crossed in front of us and then...

...walked next to us for a while.

Leisha also spotted a moose on the outskirts of Yellowstone.

We got to Sheridan Wyoming around 8:30 and quickly went to bed. After a long day we all slept very well.

Back to New York: Day 1

Today was a nice day of driving. Emma slept for the first 3 hours! Then she quietly played in her car seat for another hour until we stopped for a potty break. After we got back on the road Emma lasted another 30 minutes before she fell asleep again for another hour. We got to our hotel in Bozeman, Montana around 5:30 (4:30 WA). We grabbed a quick dinner at McDonald's and then settled into our room. Around 6:30 there was a huge hail storm with thunder and lightning. It was crazy! We are glad to have one day down. 6 more to go!

Here is a cute picture of Emma from a few days ago.

Mixed Vegetables...

We have started Emma on a better eating schedule lately. She has rice cereal and fruit in the morning and then fruit and veggies at night. She loves all the fruit and enjoys sweet potatoes and carrots. Mixed vegetables are another story...notice how she gags after each bite...

Patriotic Baby!

Emma got this dress before she was born and we have been waiting patiently for July 4th to roll around so she could wear it.

She really loves playing in the grass, we just have to make sure she doesn't eat it...