The HaPpieST PlaCe On EaRth!-- Army Green Shirt Day

Nate' and Charron waiting for the bus at 6:00 in the morning!!!

John Wayne Airport...Nate' loves him soooo much!

Waiting for one of our favorite rides! Pirates of the Carriabien! It's changed a bit since last I went on this ride, it's Jonny Depp style now!

I don't know where we are in the picture, aren't we just so cute!?!?!

The HaPpieST PlaCe On EaRth!--Black Button Shirt Day

Yes...I did go on vacation, again, I know it's a rough life, but what do you expect me to do with a whole month to spare!?! Okay, seriously that could be taken wrong, what I mean is...I've been saving up to have some fun in 2008 and I just wanted to make my dreams come true...besides in the next few weeks I'll make up for my "wasted" summer time by working long hours getting ready for the school year and having parent teacher conferences the first week of school, yes you read that right, the first week of school! What is up with that! It has it's benefits though, it's always nice to develope a relationship early on!:)

Okay onto my Disneyland trip. I went with two amazing girls in my ward, Charron and Nate'...for proper annunciation call me:). Since I was gone for most of July, I couldn't really help with the planning. They found a hotel that said it was just south of Disneyland. We assumed that there would be a shuttle waiting to chauffeur us to Disneyland...so we went on our merry way and flew into the John Wayne Airport, took a taxi to the hotel (I'm an expert at waving down taxi's now!) only to find out...we were shuttle less. We put our heads together and did a price analysis of all of our transportation options, bus, taxi, rental and also evaluated the time it would take to get there using all types of transportation's...and they all came up to relatively the same price! So we went with the rental car! The next morning we got up at 5 am (we couldn't be late on our first day!) Took a bus down to John Wayne Airport and rented a car! Then drove to Disneyland, took a tram from the parking lot and arrived at the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, Tuesday Aug. 5th! (Yep, we traveled every way possible in that city!)

The pictures below were from Monday night, otherwise known as "Black button shirt day!" Even though there are no pictures of me, that is how I separated my pictures and could remember the trip in sequence, I am such a dork!

Our $30 taxi ride!!!!!!!!! (10 bucks a piece, not bad...considering..hehe!)

Nate' and Charron at El Torito, our first restaurant experience on the trip and it was muy bueno!

To be continued...get ready for a new shirt day! (

Road Trip --Final Destinanation --- Chicago, IL

Chicago, IL Temple!

Isn't it gorgeous!

On our way to the airport we stopped and went to the Chicago Temple. I went there back in December, when it was chilly and snowy! It's just as beautiful in the summer...just more shinny and covered in flowers not snow! The architecture of this temple is so different than many of the other LDS temples, the pictures I took look like paintings!

I had a blast traveling with Molly! I am so glad I went and that I am blessed to do fun little trips like this!

I had to throw away my favorite water bottle when I was checked at security in the airport...sad day! I forgot to empty it:(. Then our flight was delayed... I had a layover in Texas and that flight was delayed too! Thanks to Niki for picking me up in the wee hours of the morning!

Road Trip --- Wisconsin

Wisconsin Welcomes YOU! Home of Molly!

The first night in Wisconsin, Molly had night games at her house! She invited a bunch of people from her singles branch. This is a picture of a few of us on the teeter totter...don't you wish you had a teeter totter now! I do anyway! Molly lives in Farm House...I wish I would have taken more pictures of her house and yard, it was so picturesque!

On Monday we went to the beach! Lake Michigan is just a couple hours from Black Creek where Molly is from. It was a fun, relaxing day! Molly whipped out her umbrella to protect her from the deadly sun!

Fun at the beach! On the left you can see me "holding" a light house!

We also had to check out the Historic Washinton House, "Home of the Ice Cream Sundae!"


And what's a trip to Wisconsin without going to the cheese factory!!!! Mmmm! It really was awesome cheese!

Next stop, Aunt Patty and the Amish!

My Aunt Patty moved to Wisconsin about a year ago. I rarely get to see her, so it was a must that I go visit! She took us to where the Amish live. The Amish seemed to be very kind, plain, people. Most people waved as we drove by. The picture of the field and the hay stacks I found interesting...they do everything by hand so all of the stacks were racked up and the hay was put into piles, rather than the roles or squares of hay you typically see. All of the houses were white, with the exception of one red house...I don't know very much about their culture but it did peak my interest. Also, one family had a trampoline...strange...I can't blame them for wanting some modern toys though:).

On the left is a California Poppy. Aunt Patty insisted that I take a picture of it because she planted them and wanted my mom to see them. The California Poppy is the California State Flower. In the middle is my Aunt and her boyfriend Doug's house. And on the far right you can see a sign that they have at the entrance to their drive way. Molly and I were a little skeptical as we drove up, hoping that we had arrived at the right place. Turns out they have some strange neighbors and they put the sign up in hopes that they would stop trespassing...

Left: Doug (Patty's boyfriend) Middle: AUNT PATTY Right: Aunt Patty and Me

It was so fun to visit with them! We had some great political discussions too!

Road Trip --- Illinois

On our way to Carthage and Nauvoo we hit a raccoon! I don't have pictures for evidence, but we did...it made a sad thump as it hit the tire...I of course did a girly gasp and turned to Molly to confirm what we hit. Ironically we had just been talking about how we learned in driver's ed that if you are going to hit an animal, don't swerve just keep going head on...and she did...poor animal...

Carthage Jail...this is where Joseph Smith was killed. To learn more click here.

Left: The top window is where Joseph leaped from and was shot. Right: The jail cell.

The Restored Nauvoo Temple! I was awe-struck by it's beauty inside and out....there is an amazing spirit there. My testimony of Joseph Smith increased more and more as I learned of his great faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and determination to bare witness of the truth he came to know. To learn more click here.

Obviously, we went to the Nauvoo Pageant...look us reading! These where not posed at all, lol!

We decided to wake up early and go see the sunrise on the Mississippi River. Unfortunately it was really foggy and we didn't see much. However, it was beautiful...

Mississippi River

Road Trip --- Missouri

Liberty Jail Historic Site...Click here to learn more...

Far West Temple Site...Click here to learn more...

Adam-Ondi-Ahman...click here to learn more about this place. It was so peaceful here...