Sunday - It really is the day of REST!!!

WOW! What more can I saw but... Ahhh a few moments to rest and relax today. So much for thinking that I would have time to update the blog... maybe 2x a week is what I am now thinking. We have been extremely busy and running like crazy every minute of the day.. .and night...but it has been SOOOOO wonderful!!!! We are all having a great time and really enjoying the very special feeling that is here in Nauvoo. What an amazing spirit!

Currently Reese and I are back here at the apartment and missing out on church this afternoon thanks to a VERY nasty diaper mess that she blessed me with just minutes after we got to church. Thanks too the antibiotics she is on - at least it is giving her a much needed long nap with all the other boys out of the house. She is on meds thanks to a very high fever and double ear infections that we discovered after getting here. She made it great to St. Louis on Monday night and then started a fever. We thought it was from the shots she had before we left home, but the fever just never broke and lasted for 3 days - time to find a doctor after that long. Oh the joys of her poor little ears - I think we will need to reschedule her surgery for tubes which I cancelled because I thought we were done. Bad Mommy!

The pageant is so much FUN. We have had hours of song practice, rehearsal in the hot sun on stage for hours and dance till our feet hurt and we love it. The boys are having a great time and beginning to make friends. For the last few days and this next week, our family is in charge of one of the pre-show games called stick ball. It's basically baseball played with a large ball of yarn and hit with a stick or piece of wood. The kids hit and then run the bases - but in stick ball you run opposite of baseball - 3rd base, 2nd, etc. The boys have loved playing each night and have created quite the mess for the costume crews with the grass and mud stains from sliding bases and jumping for fly balls. Mark makes a great pitcher and coach and Reese and I are the cheering squad. Look below for some pictures!!!

Today we got to spend the morning visiting one of the most beautiful places in Nauvoo - the old burial grounds. Far in the country, out through the corn fields, there is a very quiet and serene grove of trees and path that leads to a very peaceful cemetery on the hillside. It was so amazing to walk the path and think of the many times the early saints traveled there to bury their loved ones. Many of the headstones are very hard to read now, but still lovely all the same. The boys were very surprised to see that many of the names were young children and babies. What a sad time and challenge for these families. It was truly a blessing to walk there and feel of the very special people that lie there. Hopefully this afternoon we will be able to see a few more sights. It is all so lush and green from all the rain... the grass is incredibly green and soft and the flowers are in the bloom like nothing I've seen for a long time. Oh to have a little of the rain back home.

We are currently just in the finale each night, but will start preforming the entire show in a one week. The kids are SOOOO tired and really do fall asleep just about anywhere. Yesterday during the dance rehearsal, Tate was asleep on Mark's lap and Brock on mine while Tanner was walking with Reese while she started to doze off. Although Tanner and Brennan have not found the love of a nap here and there, they soon will need it! The show is really fun to watch and to be a part of - I highly encourage everyone to see if they can. It's well worth it! Well I should probably get a few things done myself while all is calm and quiet - it will be another long week!

Enjoy the pictures!!!