Supreme Court Ruling

As I was sitting down this morning after my workout I couldn't find too many stations that were not talking about the ruling the Supreme court decided on doing away with the traditional meaning of marriage.  People seemed so excited and happy that the ruling went through and I was upset that not one station had the reaction of the other side of the story.  They just keep saying how gay couples will have the same federal rights as traditional marriages including tax breaks.  When did marriage become defined as tax breaks???  I thought marriage was a covenant with God that you make with your husband or wife.  But not one broadcasting station even mentioned the religious and moral side of marriage.  We have pushed God out of our schools and out of our government and basically out of our lives.  Why are we not surprised by the events unfolding around the world when we won't listen to our Savior and his commandments.  The church released a statement regarding the ruling and I was so glad to see something in print that was agreeable with how I felt.  You can read it here.  I just don't understand Prop 8 I guess.  Why have the people vote on something if it will not be held up?  What a joke and I have to say this just felt like another blow that I have been let down by the government and people in general.

Drive Home

Really the drive home was uneventful.  Then as we got closer to home, right on the CO border we ran into this huge storm.  Somehow we drove right on the outskirts of it.  And we heard on the radio that there was a tornado located in Dix and we had just passed that town.  We had missed driving through it by like 10 minutes.  Really felt like that family prayer before we left helped us miss out on the worst of it.  It looked pretty mean.  But we made it safe and sound back to WY that night.

 

 



Jailhouses

We visited two jails while in MO.  In Independence we visited the county jail where Orson Porter Rockwell (who is related on my Dad's side) was said to serve time.  Now this is the way to jail criminals.  I think after staying in these places for a couple of months no one would want to go back.

 These are the cells from the outside.  It was super thick limestone, the whole cell.  It was said to get very cold in the winter.

 Josh and Corey inside one of the cells.  Doesn't it look homey.

The day that we drove back we stopped at Liberty Jail in Liberty MO.  It really was interesting to see what the jail looked like that Joseph Smith was held in.  Very depressing and just to see how they stayed for months makes it even more impressive that He received revelation here and stayed humble.  I didn't know that between the thick stone walls on the outside and the wood on the inside they filled with loose rocks.  This made it impossible to escape.

 The cell was only 6 foot tall and every one of the men were taller than 6 feet.  So they had to hunch over the whole time.

 The only door into the prison.  The inside door had no way to open from the inside.  You had to open it from the outside.

 Josh and Sally left early that morning so they are missing here too.

Independence MO

A couple of weeks before we went to OK my mom called to ask if we wanted to drive up to Independence MO on Friday after the reunion.  We thought it sounded fun and the fact that Corey and I have not been there yet made it even more appealing.  All of us went except for my brother Beau who made previous plans to drive to NC.  So we all trained the cars to MO.  It was so stinking hot with the humidity.  There was a breeze which just felt like getting slapped in the face with a wet hot towel, but it did help a tiny bit.  We went to the Visitor Center first and did the little tour and then did a small walking tour around town with a book my mom had.  It really is so cool to think of our ancestors in that exact spot almost 200 years ago.  Granted we bought a stroller at walmart right before we left and realized when we got there that a wheel was missing.  This made me even more upset with Walmart and I vowed that Target would get my business from there on out.

 

 The original court house built in the later 1700's.  It is still original and in great shape.  The church owns it and we missed the tours though.  Mary Elizabeth Lightner lived here with her family for a little bit.

 Gabe in front of the wood work.

 At the visitor center they had a kids play room.  I know this is a hoop that you run and roll with a stick but Gabe found another great use for it.

 The site of the temple.

 We walked by this old house that was a bed and breakfast.  I loved it....this would be a dream house for me.  Maybe one day.

 This was the spot that our ancestors saved the book of commandments.

 Too cute

Family Talent Show

On the last night at the cabin my brother organized a talent show.  It seems that some families were more prepared than others (my family being the one not very prepared) and the talent was impressive.  I didn't get pictures of most of the talents.  There was a lot of singing and I won't go through the whole program but just from my family all 3 older kids sang songs.  Hailey sang a small snippet from a song she knew as well.  Corey did a stand up comedy skit which I am sure tomatoes would have been thrown if they were available.  My parents did a synchronized swimming routine that was pretty funny.  Just seeing my dad in a swim hat and goggles was funny enough.  It was really entertaining.

 At the very end Josh put on music for a dance party.  The kids were having a blast.  They just looked so cute dancing around.  I have to say there were some pretty good dancers in the group.  And Hailey granted us all lots of butt slaps.

Waterhole

For me this was the most fun part of the vacation.  The day before Josh and Sally drove around the park to locate some fun things for us to do.  When they came back they told us of this waterhole that was fed from a stream so it wasn't all mushy on the bottom.  It would be perfect for the whole family to swim.  So we all loaded up and went for a dip.  The weather was warm but it was perfect since the water was really cold.  The water ran under a bridge which was poured concrete so it was shallow for the little kids, then it ran over this ledge of rock into a swimming hole about 5 feet deep at the deepest.  All of us had a great time.  I tried to stay high and dry but should have known having 3 brothers there it was not to be.  Thor grabbed me and threw me in.  I hated it, but the worst was the fact the rocks were so slimy I couldn't get out.

 Danni and I, it was nap time.

 Hailey was squirting everyone....and it was inconvenient for the men since she is at crotch height.

 Gabe and the alligator floaty

 Lexie really played well with Paisley and Avenly.  She misses them already.

 Camera shot of the water

 I love this picture just because this is a real smile.

 There was this random rock right in the middle of the hole.  The kids would swim out and then jump off of it.

 Standing on the rock.

 Cute Danni

 What can I say...at least he is consistent.

Everyone was all smiles the whole day.

 

Little did we know that all of us adults would have bites all over us.  We are not sure where we got them or what caused it.  They are in places that you know mosquitoes could not get access to.  Pretty sure we all got attacked by chiggers.  Looking back if it happened at the swimming hole it was well worth it.

Nature Center

Inside the actual state park for Ten Killer Lake there is this nature center.  It was just a small place, but it contained the animals that were around in the park.  The had a lot of snakes and yes there were more poisonous ones than I wanted to know about.  And of course some spiders and turtles.  All things except the turtles that I don't want to come across in nature.  The kids got a good look at some of the things and touched some real animal fur.

The lady who worked there had a pigeon from Africa.  Now everyone has heard of cat ladies, well this was the first time I saw a bird lady.  This bird was in love with her and she seemed to think this was the best thing ever.  No matter how cool a bird is, it shouldn't replace a relationship with a human but whatever.  She seemed happy to sit in her chair and love all over this bird.  we all took pictures touching it...

Nice skunk on her head. 

 Took this picture in the dark room...I love Paisley's face.

 Diamond head which was shaking it's rattle the whole time we were there.

Just so cute couldn't resist.