Visiting with the Bjornberg's - Friday 4/9 - Nauvoo and Quincy

For the last week, we've had the privilege to have James' cousin Lisa Bjornberg and her 4 amazing kids come visit us. They arrived on Wednesday, April 7, in the evening. We put up the play pen and moved Mackenzie's crib into the office, turning it into a toddler bed for Jay. That way her family could have the kids' bedroom all to themselves. It worked out great and Jay really loved getting to sleep in his "little bed" again. When we moved it back, after they left, he was really upset that he had to sleep in his "funny bed" and was a little jealous of Mackenzie sleeping in it.

On Friday, April 9, we all went to Nauvoo, IL. We began our day at the visitor's center where we learned that you have to get tickets for the horse drawn tours far in advance. Sad, but we got to see the Christus statue. Mickey was adorable and wanted to tickle Jesus' feet.

From Left to Right: Mackenzie, Jay, Mikey, Jera, T.J., and Ryan

After that we headed to the Family Living Center where the kids got to learn from hands on presentations about life in the 1800's.

They got to learn how they used flax and sheep wool for clothing.

They learned about bustle ovens and bread making.
They learned about using animal fat and candle making.
Learning how to make a rope was their absolute favorite though.

After the Family Living Center, we went to the brick yard and the blacksmith. The kids loved seeing the demonstrator hammer out a small horse shoe. Jera's birthday was closest so she got to have it and then each child got a "prairie diamond ring" (a nail bent into a ring).
After sight seeing, we headed up to the temple and the statue of Joseph and Hyrum. It was spectacular and so beautiful.

Group Shot (L to R): Lisa, Mikey, T.J., Jera, Mackenzie,
Ryan, James, Jay, Sarah

So this picture deserves a little explanation. When walking home from the Easter Egg hunt a few weeks ago, Mackenzie refused to hold our hands and stopped often getting distracted. To get her to keep following us, James would dangle pieces of candy from the eggs in front of her. So here walking by the temple I was walking backwards trying to keep her going in the right direction and she kept opening her mouth at me looking for candy. I thought it was simply hilarious and adorable!!

The kids did really well and so we stopped at Going Bonkers in Quincy, IL. It is an amazing, huge indoor play yard and arcade. The kids had an absolute blast!