I owe Iowa

My trip to Iowa was perfect. My sister Laura lives in Iowa Falls, a small town an hour or so north of Des Moines. She has a wonderful piece of property that kept us very entertained and relaxed for more than a week. I timed my visit so that I would be there for Myra's baptism, which my parents would be attending as well. So we were able to see cousins as well as Grandma and Grandpa.

The baptism was wonderful. Anna was perfectly adorable, and Hattie was extremely exhausted. Laura lives 40 minutes from their branch, and little miss Hattie isn't used to driving in a car for that long to go to Church. And since we had been traveling the days before the baptism, Hattie hadn't taken a nap in days. She finally zonked the last 15 minutes of the drive home.

And here is the whole Bernard bunch: Grace (6), Jonas (3), James (9), Anson (3), Owen (1), and Myra (8). Hattie absolutely loved them.

We decided to take a quick trip over to Nauvoo, Illinois, about 4 hours away. Considering that both Hattie and Anna hadn't been the greatest travelers at that point, I was a little leery. But they did great. And the trip was well worth it.

The kids were excited to get out of the car and check out the new temple - well, new to me since last time I was in Nauvoo there were only the cornerstones.

Of course traveling with 8 kids under the age of 9 can be a little crazy, so we didn't see a ton as far as sights go, but it was wonderful to be there and feel the Spirit of the early saints.

We were able to find a babysitter so that my parents, sister, and I could all go to the temple together.

And for the kids, the highlight was of course the wagon ride.

On the way home we stopped in Pella, Iowa for the Tulip Time Festival. It was a quaint little town, with lots of little Dutch shops. We just had yummy pastries for dinner :)

Besides Nauvoo we did a lot of random things around the house:

Play with dry beans. This is Hattie's favorite thing to do now...thanks for the idea Laura!

Dress up and sidewalk chalk

Snuggle Uncle Aaron...by the end of the trip, Hattie was really missing Paul and started to attach herself to Aaron. That's when I knew it was time to go home.

Playing with Kirby the snake

Hugs from Jonas. This little guy became Hattie and my buddy. Every time Hattie sees something that she did at Jonas' house (like play with beans, watch Cars, etc) she gets a big grin and squeals "Like Jonas??"

Tubtime!

Walks down to the Iowa River...Laura's house is just a short walk through the woods to the river. It was such a nice Sunday walk down there.

And Hattie spent a good portion of the trip at the coloring table. She could color for hours! Thanks for the wonderful week Laura...we miss you and your kids!