Goodbye Illinois...Hello Provo?

So it's been a little over two weeks now since we left Hoffman Estates and a lot has happened since then including WE GOT INTERNET! So now I'm catching up on what we've been doing, starting with our trip home. 

We left our apartment right around sunRise. Brady was so excited he actually woke up at 4:30AM but gave me an hour more of sleep before he forced me out the door. I never got a picture of it in daylight but I passed that water tower every day that we lived there. (it's really not as rural as it looks)

As part of our itinerary we made the pilgrimage to Nauvoo.

We walked around for about four hours before Brady decided it was time to move on.
The Fudge Factory is a family favorite but, unfortunately since we were there on a Sunday it was closed. So no fudge for me.
This is actually one of my favorite Nauvoo sites, the Heber C. Kimball home. I just like it.
Here's a little gem. Brady sitting in front of the ole' Sessions family cabin.
He said that these actually are his ancestors. So thats pretty neat in my opinion. 

After Nauvoo, we went to Carthage to see the jail where the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and his brother Hyrum were murdered. It was a good experience but slightly tainted by our awkward tour guide who pointed out to the group, more than once, that there was a non-member couple among us. Leading the husband to say, somewhat jokingly, "Wow we feel like intruders here" And as they walked back to their motorcycle I heard the tank-top clad wife say to her husband, "But how did she know we weren't mormon?" I'm not sure if that was the best missionary experience.
In that same day we made it to Liberty, Missouri by sunset.
Although we missed all the other Missouri sites it was worth the drive just to see this jail. Its hard to describe but there is definitely a special feeling in there. As we heard about the suffering and growth experienced in the prison I almost felt as if I was there watching it happen live. I never really understood the importance of this place until I went there. For me this is right up there with the Sacred Grove, School of the Prophets, and Carthage as favorite sites of early church history.

By the way, the Kiwi sister missionary tour guide that we had was awesome. After the tour she offered to take a picture for us but I felt strange smiling in front of the display, so that's what my weird half-smile face is doing.
The next day we drove through Kansas. You might be wondering what Brady is doing in this picture. 

He's just cleaning blood and guts off of the car. 

I had to plug my nose while taking this picture to keep from adding to the mess (if you know what I mean). 

I couldn't decide which was worse, the smell of deteriorating dead deer carcass partially cooked by the heat of the engine or the unexpected sight of thick red slime plastered to the front bumper.

So moving on from that horrible experience, it was great to drive through Colorado. There's not much to look at until we got past Denver, then it was really so beautiful.

Finally we made it into Utah just as the sun was setting on our second full day of driving.
Now we're here in the unique Utah Valley for about 2.5 months. I pretend like I don't like it but really Provo feels like home to me.