RoAd tRiP...

Our road trip started in Utah on May 3, 2009 at 4:00am...and NO Anniston did not drive the car although I'm sure she would've really liked to!

After more than 10 hours of traveling we decided to stop in Nebraska for the night. Lucky for Anniston they had a swimming pool! Although it's not quite the Hawaii ocean water, it's still water to play in and Anniston LOVES to splash around!!!

We continued our trip early the next morning. About two hours into our drive we were fortunate enough to come across a cop car (ha,ha,ha)...as we passed him, we noticed that he instantly pulled out onto the freeway and I told Adam that we were BUSTED - however, that didn't make too much sense to us because we were only going over the speed limit a couple of miles. The cop came right up behind us and stayed there for awhile - then he pulled up next to us and stared into the car - it was so awkward. After about 5 minutes of this the cop exited the freeway and we Thought we were safe...

THINK AGAIN! About 5 minutes later, guess who's on our rear end again, but still not pulling us over --- Yep, Mr. Crazy Cop! He continued to follow us for a few minutes and then he finally turned on his lights and pulled us over. We honestly had NO clue in the world why he would pull us over - but he did. Well - to make a long story short - we got pulled over because we had a little yellow air freshener hanging from our rear view mirror --- LAME! Apparently in Nebraska it's called a "WINDOW OBSTRUCTION." The cop made Adam get out of the car and go sit in his car while he wrote out a warning. Yes, it was just a warning luckily, not an actual ticket, but it's still so dumb - who get's pulled over for that - I guess only in Nebraska!!!

While Adam was in the cop car, I pulled out the camera and took a few pictures! He wasn't too happy that I was snapping some mug shots of him at the moment, but now it's a funny story!!!

We continued OUR JOURNEY to Omaha, Nebraska where we stopped at Winter Quarters. This stop was a humbling experience because we were able to learn of the PIONEERS JOURNEY in crossing the plains. They had such incredible faith and always continued onward no matter how hard the trek. It made me realize even more how blessed we are and how grateful we should be for the many sacrifices that they made in our behalf.

Omaha Nebraska temple.

Our next stop took us to Liberty Jail (ironically named)- this is where the Prophet Joseph Smith and 5 other church leaders were held prisoners for over 5 months. This sacred place was also very humbling.

Elder Holland called it a "prison-temple" because of the great revelations that were received there. He then related it to our lives and said, "You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced."

Next, we went to Far West...not much is there, but a memorial and 4 temple corner stones. It was a very beautiful area.

Our little family at Adam-ondi-ahman. At first I didn't want to go here because it was out of our way, but I am SO glad that we did. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place. It's amazing to think about what will happen at this place in the future.
Beautiful Nauvoo!!! We know a wonderful missionary couple here, the Crabtrees, and they let us stay with them for two days while we toured through Nauvoo. The temple is so beautiful!
Anniston loved all of the animals there!
This is a statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith looking out over the Mississippi River. This would be the way that the saints would cross in their journey west.
Carthage Jail...On June 27, 1844 Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred here. The upper window on the side of the jail house is where the Prophet was shot and fell out.
This is a bullet-hole that went through the door where the four men were.

I do have to say that when we started our own 2,500 mile trek across the United States, I wasn't that excited. I didn't want to travel with Anniston in the car for that long, but she was GREAT - we really couldn't have asked for her to be better!!! Now, after the many experiences that we had while on our 7 day trip (I just listed a few), I am SO very grateful that we decided to drive and visit Church History sites along the way. Yes, it was long, but the memories we made were amazing.