Vacation

You know how when you are stuck in a daily routine all you want is something exciting and new to happen. Well Kyle and I had been working and going to school all summer which was necessary but extremely tiring. His family had planned a family vacation around labor day weekend and Kyle had mentioned to his mother a desire to return to St. Louis (where he served his mission) to visit people and show me the sights. Well we worked and worked, went to Kristin and Holland's wedding (which was amazing and beautiful), and then flew away.

Our first stop was Kamas, Utah. Never heard of it? Most people in Utah haven't. Well its a little town of about 1,000 and is where Kyle's grandparents live and where his family had driven down to for our family vacation. Originally, we were supposed to go to Seaside OR but some scheduling mishaps sent us to Kamas instead. We got picked up in Paul's (Kyle's dad) new camero (midnight blue with white racing stripes). It is basically a dream car and was very nice. I wasn't that impressed though...I am just not a car person. A highlight of being in Kamas was beating Kyle at chinese checkers, watching the Time Travelers Wife after getting some much needed ColdStone Icecream, going to Provo to see friends,and having Kyle's grandpa let us ride in his horse buggy. One of the best parts was going to the Salt Lake Temple. It was so beautiful and amazing. So intricate and utterly breathtaking. Some downsides to the trip were the fact that we were stuck in Kamas until we rented a minivan (it was the only thing available) and I had to spend my labor day at a sheepdog festival where I got sunburnt. The only entertaining thing there was dogs jumping as far as they could into water.

After leaving Utah we flew to St. Louis. Our first stop was seeing Lisa (my old roommate and GREAT friend) and Chris her husband. They made us dinner and we caught up for awhile and then we were off.......to where? where were we going to stay? Well we were supposed to stay with a family Kyle knew but that plan fell through and we ended up hotel hopping the trip. We went up the arch, dressed up in old time clothes, ate a lot of food, and had a lot of fun. The highlight of the trip was our mini trip to Nauvoo. Nauvoo is a Church history site in Illinois about 3 hours from St. Louis. This was the last settlement for the Saints before they headed West. In fact a town 20 minutes from Nauvoo is where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. It was an amazing experience to go to Carthage and Nauvoo. Nauvoo is mainly a historical town now that offers free tours and fun. The best part was getting to go to the Nauvoo temple. Nauvoo was where the Saints had built a temple before they left to Salt Lake. The temple was burned after they left but rebuilt in 2000 back to almost original condition. It was so simple, but so special. It was an amazing experience.

After being on vacation for nearly 2 weeks. Kyle and I were ready to go home though. Vacationing can be fun but it makes you appreciate your home and the day to day freedoms you have.