All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Nauvoo is filled with lots of memorable moments-- and this post is dedicated to all these moments that didn't quite fit into the other posts. 

All over were statues of memorable historic moments. They were all beautiful and very powerful. This was the statue across the street from the temple. It's Joseph and Hyrum Smith on a horse when he was riding off to Carthage Jail. There was a definite reverence surrounding this statue. 

After we saw High Hopes and River Boats, we walked out into the courtyard next to the Visitor's Center. Nauvoo's Brass Band was out there playing all sorts of great tunes! 

This cute little family was listening to the band as well, and they were dancing up a storm. It was so darling!

The Reorganized Latter-Day Saints are in possession of all the Smith's property. Things weren't as well kept as the church's property. But these are the graves of Joseph Smith Senior and his wife Lucy.

These are the graves of Hyrum, Joseph, and Emma Smith. 

Lance, being the Harry Potter nerd that he is, loved Granger Street!

After church Sunday, we changed into our road clothes and these were some flowers by the bathroom we changed in. They were absolutely huge!

We had to get a sunstone picture... This was after church too!

On the way home, we went through Bethany, Mo... Of course, we had to take a picture! I love that our trip came full circle-- we saw the Bethany road sign on I-75 driving up to Nauvoo, and we drove through Bethany the city on our way home from Nauvoo. It's just because we love her so much, we planned our trip around her! :)

The trip was amazing, and so was the ride home! We pulled into Bethany's house to drop her off at about 1:00 in the morning. We hugged and said our goodbyes, and we all agreed it was a wonderful and uplifting trip for all of us! 

Shopping in Downtown Nauvoo

Downtown Nauvoo sure was a hopping place... There were a few antique stores, a cute little pharmacy, a grocery store, and no more than four places to eat at. There were a couple fabric shops. At one of them, I bought a couple embroidery patterns and a Nauvoo plate for my mama, and at the other I bought a Nauvoo glass ornament.

In true small town form, there were several t-shirts... This one was my favorite!

This was Nauvoo cafe. Bethany, Lance, and I ate here before the pageant. It was alright. This is where Lance found cinnamon apple jam. I think he fell in love! 

This was Bethany's favorite find... The Jello Cook Book. 
Does it get anymore mormon than that?!

The Mighty Mississippi

At 2,320 miles, the Mississippi River is the second longest river in the US
159 years after the saints were forced across the Mississippi as they were fleeing their beloved 'City Beautiful', the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution of regret for the forced expulsion of the Mormons from their state. Can you believe that? It wasn't 'till April 1, 2004 that an apology was made. Stunning.

The late summer weather resulted in these lovely purple flowers growing out of the banks of the river. 

There was this beagle running around up and down the river. She was so cute... Until she dug a diaper out of the trash can. Haha, this seemed to be one of her favorite spots. Perched, on the picnic table. Beagles are such funny little dogs!

Bethany told us she always wanted to get out and look at a historical marker as we passed several of them on our way up to Illinois. So we got out of the car, read the informative sign, and took a picture next to the Historical Marker sign. She was so happy! 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Keokuk, Iowa. Here we are next to the welcome sign!


After we saw the Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo show, we went down to the shore of the Mississippi river to watch the sunset. It was stunning.

Kisses are always good, but they're just a little more romantic as the sun is setting behind you!
I sure do love this boy! :)

In True Fashion...

Happy Forth of July! I have been reflecting on our Great Country and the many blessings living here affords us. My heart is so full of gratitude for our forefathers and all the sacrifices they made on our behalf. We truly are a blessed nation!

In true Mormon fashion, we started this patriotic day with a delicious pancake breakfast at the Old {new} Celina Park with our ward family. With bishop Platt manning the pancake making/flipping/serving, we had a great time fraternizing with everyone in an outside of church environment!

Lance came with us, and this is a group shot!

A little sibling love!

This is the fun of living in a small town... The fire department was there cleaning their engine. Because they had the water blaster already in use-- they sprayed all the little kids who were only too happy to get wet and run around in true summer fashion.

We decided that Lance was celebrating the Irish independence day... in a sea of red, white, and blue-- he stuck out all day like a green thumb!

Trevor looks Asian in this picture... We're going to start calling him Mr. Chu.

In true LeSueur fashion, we kept up with our Independence Day tradition and went to the FC Dallas soccer game. They played the New York Red Bulls, and we won 2-1! This is the third consecutive year we've cheered on the Dallas hoops for the Fourth of July!

This was our little star-spangled banner! Her first professional sporting event was a soccer game! She loved it... except for the cheering. She wasn't a big fan of the loud noises!

This was Brianna's first soccer game. Trevor was giving her a play-by-play the whole time...

My hunny-bear and me :)

In true Frisco fashion, the fireworks show following the game was great!

Audrey, while unsure of the big booming sound of the fireworks, loved looking at them! Her mama sang in her ear the whole time to help her feel safe :)

This is the whole fourth of July gang...

We had a lot of fun together!

(We always do!)
Happy Fourth of July!

Audrey's First Soccer Experience!

Our little soccer-star brother was playing in the Southern Regional Soccer Championship Tournament this last week. The Dallas Texans did really well, and it prepared the whole team for the Nationals in Boston the last week of July!

Aside from the awesome Dallas Texans making this a special event, it was Audrey's first soccer game! Much to her father's dismay, she loved it!

Recently, Audrey has found her fingers... Her mama keeps telling her, "No fingers!" but she just laughs and sticks them back in her mouth-- she's growing up so fast!

Audrey with Grandma and the soccer star, Uncle Trevor!

The Jensen clan... This is the soccer field Trevor's team won on!

I love this picture-- Audrey loves her grandpa!

Today was another "first" for the books. We all had fun at the game. Afterwords, we met up with Spencer at Rudy's Barbecue for some good Texas cookin'.

Good food, good company, good day all around!

"These Are A Few of My Favorite..." Pictures! *Part Two*

Where This Is: This picture was taken in Ireland at the field where Trevor played all his soccer games the summer of 2006 after I graduated from High School.
Why I Love It: My momma and I were so cute in our "matching" jackets that day... This picture reminds me that we are "two peas in a pod"-- even if we sometimes have differing opinions!


Where This Is: This photo was taken in Cooke County Jail... Just kidding!! This is Trevor's pretend mugshot taken the night before we left for Ireland, Summer of 2006.
Why I Love It: My little hooligan brother had been chased by the cops after a neighbor called them reporting some illegal firework goings on in the neighborhood. I would like to say that this event scared Trevor away from his life of crime- but when the cops were in front of our house a couple weeks ago, we sadly shook our heads and remembered this incident. Oh, the foreshadowing!

Where This Is: This was taken Fall of 2005 at my friend Serena's 18th birthday party which was at this cute little deli in Addison.
Why I Love It: These were some of my best friends in high school, and it's fun to look back and see how much we've all changed in four years- yet, how much we're the same! Left to right is Paris, Me, Marissa, Serena, Allie, and Kate Lynn. It was a really fun night, and whenever I see this picture, it takes me back to the carefree days of high school!

Where This Is: This was taken at my cousin Jared's wedding in November 2004 at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.
Why I Love It: This picture was taken by my sister, and from what I understand (and the way it looks in the picture) it was a blustery day full of wind and rain. My grandpa was being so chivalrous and holding the umbrella for my grandma-- They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is why this is my favorite photo if the two of them because it has love and commitment written all over it!

Where This Is: August of 2006 after seeing the Barnum and Bailey circus show, I spotted this little mommy/son duo. I couldn't help but snap a candid photo!
Why I Love It: A baby with a Mohawk... really?!?! Need I say more?

Where This Is: This was also August of 2006 after I had moved up to Utah for my freshman year and Cam had graduated from BYU. This was a fun family barbecue with all the family who were in Provo at that time!
Why I Love It: This is a long-standing Jones tradition. And cousin Jared, not being the exception, has his eight-month-old Mackayla carrying on the ritual! I'm pretty sure if we looked hard enough, we could find a picture of all four Jones uncles doing this with at least one of their kids... And yes, it never fails to make the mothers nervous!