Nauvoo, IL

The first week of June, we joined the majority of the Stewart family for a family reunion in Historic Nauvoo, Illinois. Nauvoo the city is a thriving metropolis on the Mississippi River, boasting about 1,000 residents. Historic Nauvoo, on which the entire city's economy is based, is the Mormon version of Colonial Williamsburg (i.e., an historic village reconstructed to bring in family reunions). Suzy, Tennyson and I were just glad to leave the city and visit the fruited plains.

Suzanne and I both have pioneer ancestors who lived in Nauvoo at one point during their trek from the East Coast to the Wasatch Front (Utah). Here is Suzanne in front of the home of Drusilla Hendricks, her great-great-great-great (we think) -grandmother.
We had a lovely trip (thanks mom!). Tennyson especially loved the pool (that's the Mississippi River in the background). The pool was pretty chilly, but he wouldn't let us get out. The first time he jumped in, I grabbed him and brought him up to the surface, and the instant he caught his breath he yelled, "You've gotta be kidding me!" He then proceeded to jump in and out about 6,000 more times. Crazy kid.

We spent most of our time visiting historic sites, such as....

...Carthage Jail,

the rebuilt LDS Temple,

and the old pioneer cemetery,

where we took (the obligatory) family pictures.

This is me with my sisters and mom standing in front of our ancestor's headstone. (From left to right: oldest sister Tammie (and I do mean old), Tessa, mom, me, youngest sister Heather; missing is my second youngest sister Holly Anna).

Sister Tammie with her fam.

Sister Tessa with her fam.

Sister Heather with her fam.

And Tennyson took the opportunity to spend some quality time with his ancestors.

We really enjoyed getting back to our roots and slowing down the pace for a while. As you can tell by the delayed post, we haven't been able to maintain that pace since returning to DC. More on that later. Oh well, we now have memories of peace.