This is a summer that will go down in history for our little family. It started out with me graduating from USU with my Bachelors Degree in Social Work. Now Doug is not only selling this summer, but he also has an internship at Yale for 8 weeks. We have only been gone from Logan for one month and I am already so behind with posting pictures and stories. In the last month Doug, Puma, and I have traveled through 16 states; this does not include going through a couple of them twice. We started out by heading to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to sell. For our last week of selling before the internship the selling office we are a part of got moved to Midland, Texas. It was an obvious decision to us that we would need to drive to Texas for the week and then all the way to Connecticut.
Doug started his internship today, and yesterday (June 6th) happened to be his
{[BIRTHDAY}! Love my hubby! I will now attempt to catch you up on the things we have gone through and seen in the last month. It has been an amazing month. We were able to visit many church history sites and visit with my Great Uncle Robert and his family Cindy, Robbie, and James.. love them.
My Grandma and I on my graduation day.
Puma trying to be sneaky in our hotel in Omaha, Nebraska.
This is what most of the drive looked like through Nebraska and Iowa. Much better than Wyoming's view!
Despite what EVERYONE (besides me) thought, Puma was a perfect traveling kitty. This is what he looked like for most of the drive.
Doug and I at our hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where we were for 2 weeks. I am so proud of him!
Puma in his "spot" on the bed with his new toy that he got for his birthday. He loves that toy!
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| This was taken when we were driving through Kansas City, Missouri. This storm turned into tornadoes. |
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| Doug and I actually ended driving through the worst thunderstorm I have ever been in. It had a tornado warning issued and the hail was about the size of a quarter. I. Was. Scared. |
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| This was a sign in the middle of nowhere Texas (Go Vincent's!). Doug's selling team got moved to Texas one week before we were going to start heading to Connecticut. | |
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| Puma is my little pal out here on our adventure. This is one of his favorite spots. This was taken in out hotel in Odessa, Texas. |
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| This is smoke from a huge fire that broke out by Odessa and Midland, Texas. It burned over 2,500 acres and they had to shut down an entire Interstate for a little while. Good thing Doug and I were on the same side of the Interstate before the fire broke out! |
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| These next pictures are in Joplin, Missouri. We had to drive through it to get to Illinois. This is what an F5 tornado can do. It was so devastating. It was literally a mile wide strip of the city that was flattened. It was wonderful to see all of the help and volunteers there! These were taken a week after the tornado actually happened. |
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| This used to be a neighborhood with homes and stores. |
The next pictures are from a day we spent in Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois! It was such a wonderful and much needed day.
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| This is one of the most beautiful temples I have been in. Doug and I were able to make time to go through and endowment session. |
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| There were these cute little leather chairs in the child's area in the visitor's center. The kids are just as important as the adults! |
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| This is called "Inspiration Point." This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith would come for some time alone to ponder. |
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| On the Carriage Ride! |
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| The horses Rick and Rod.. so cute! |
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| Doug in front of Joseph Smith's mansion home in Nauvoo. |
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| This is where Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith are buried. |
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| This is the room in Carthage Jail where the prophet was martyred. |
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| Doug at Carthage Jail. |
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| Puma was let out of his cage to stretch his legs whenever we stopped for gas. He loved looking out the windows. |
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| Doug and I were blessed to be able to spend a few days with my Great Uncle Robert and his family in Jefferson, Ohio. We love them! This is their beautiful home. |
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| This is me in front of my Great-Grandparents home in Rome, Ohio. I have always wanted to see this house! |
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| This road was named after my ancestors! |
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| Doug and I in front of my Great-Great-Great Grandmothers home. |
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| My Great-Grandparents headstone. |
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| The Upstairs of the N.K. Whitney store in Kirtland, Ohio. This is the room where Joseph Smith received many important revelations such as the Word of Wisdom and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. |
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| Me, Doug, Cindy, and Robert. |
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| Doug and I at the Kirtland Temple. |
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| Robert and Cindy treated us to a Cleveland Indians baseball game! It was so much fun, and we had great seats. They truly did spoil us. |
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| My new friend, Amy. |
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| This is at Walnut beach. (I believe that was the name) It sits on Lake Erie. |
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| This is at the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York. We were able to stop by on our final leg to Connecticut. It was so beautiful and it felt like I was in the Celestial room of a temple. |
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| This is in the Smith's cabin in Palmyra. This is where Joseph lived when he prayed in the Sacred Grove. |
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| This was the boys' room in the Smith cabin. Moroni visited Joseph here. |
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| In the Smith's frame home up the street from their cabin. This is where the plates where hidden many times. |
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| This is where the first Book of Mormon was printed. This is an amazing tour; it really shows how much sacrifice it took to make the first 5000 copies. |
Well.. whew! These pictures are only a few of the ones that we have. We are now in Connecticut, and I will need to update this blog more to keep up with this summer! We love all of our family and friends so much.
On another note, my little brother is leaving tomorrow for the MTC in Provo. I will miss him so much, but I couldn't be more proud of him. He will be serving in the Calgary, Canada mission. Yay for Elder Vincent!
Whit
