Ohio

In Ohio we went to see where my Brother lives and also Kirtland. It was great to see the sites and know that many of the Saints were faithful all the way through. It was sad to hear about saints that fell away.

Outside the Temple:
Isaac Morley Farm: This was my favorite spot. (It was tough to decide between this spot and the John Johnson Farm though.) I felt the spirit very strongly here, and the Friendly Hero loved the dirt.
The Temple:
It was great to spend two weeks with my family and have them play with us. We laughed and joked tons. It was sad to leave them, but the Friendly Hero was glad to get back to his own crib and sleep the whole night through. Come to think of it--I was glad that he started sleeping the whole night again.

West Lafayette

My family has a fascination with Fire Museums. And there's one in my town where I live. Of Course we had to go. It was fun and awesome. There was a free hat for the little boy. He loves to wear it around the house.

Learning how to drive with an Aunt.
Playing with an Uncle, who wouldn't let him drive.
We also went to our favorite park in West Lafayette.

Getting Wet at the Park. Second favorite activity.
Swinging at the Park--All time Favorite Activity.
We ended by doing all of the Friendly Hero's Signs. (Hurt, Cracker, Please and Thank You).
Best story about the aunt doing hurt. The Friendly Hero walked up to her knocking on his head, which is how he tells people he's hurt. She didn't know and so she knocked his head back. He was very confused and went to his dad and knocked his head and got the hug he was looking for. He never went back to the aunt to tell her he was hurt the rest of the trip--he found other people to give him hugs.

Nauvoo

There were 3+ camera's on the trip, and we're in the process (hint, hint) of sharing pictures with each other. This means that while there were lots of pictures taken, I only have a few.
We loved Nauvoo, the Friendly Hero, was actually really good for the car rides. He was content for the five hours as long as we had plenty of crackers to give him. He loved the attention showered on him by all of his Aunts, Uncle and Grandparents.

They gave him some fun new toys:
And we spent a day in the temple.
I know this was my second favorite part of the trip. My favorite part was seeing my family, immediate and extended family. The youngest in the family just barely turned twelve, so we were able to do baptisms as a family, and then the endowed members of the family did a session. It was incredible to do it all and then be taken on a tour of the temple.

The Friendly Hero didn't mind being left behind because there was a swing for him to sit in for hours. A wonderful day and just perfect for the spirit of Nauvoo!

Samara House

One of the places I took my family to when they came to see us was the Samara House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW). This house is known as being one of the few most complete FLW homes and still occupied by the original owner. Dr. Christian and his wife called up FLW to see if he would design a home for them, even though they were of limited means. He said that he would be happy to. He took his time doing so, and after five years he gave them the plans for their house.

FLW designed it after the Samara--which are the helicopter seeds in plants. He specifically used the pine cone Samara, and it's really cool to see the motion in the house. We enjoyed the tour and the stories about FLW. My two favorite stories about the architect are 1. While under oath he told the court that his profession was "The World's Best Architect." and then later when criticized by his wife he told her that he had to say it because he was under oath. 2. He had a habit of dropping by old customers and staying in homes he had designed. One place, as he stayed there he realized they had moved the furniture from where he had specified, so at 3:00 am he moved the piano back to where he decided it needed to belong. This man had a large ego.

As a family, we all agreed that it would be awesome to have an architect design your home, to have one pick out all of the details, down to the china, tables, carpet, fabric, furniture, and placement of everything is a little much for us. It's cool, but we all agreed we couldn't give some one else that type of control in our own home.

It was awesome to see it. A big shout out to the Bug Hero who took care of the Friendly Hero and let him nap while the rest of us toured the house sans child. He's amazing!

Outside the house, coming in.
The Samara Lamp. One of five in the home.The Dining Room Corner. Designed to make the room bigger than it is.The Living Room Windows. Samara designs near the ceiling to let in more light and make the room seem like it's in motion.The Living Room. View from Corner.The Samara Rug. The Dragon Statue out side.
A fun tour! I just wish I had a better camera to show off some of the really cool parts of the house.