Winter Quarters

Over Martin Luther King day we decided to head to Omaha, Nebraska to see Winter Quarters. It was about a 4 hour drive from us and we thought that since we've seen all the church history stuff around here, and 4 hours isn't too far, we'd make the drive. We have loved being able to see all the church history in this part of the country. Anyway, we went to Nebraska with our friends the Wilkins and had a great time. We ate at Macaroni Grill which was such a treat! (Remember that we have one chain restaurant in our town, so we love when we get to our favorite restaurants!) The next day we were able to do a session at the Winter Quarters Temple. We traded off babysitting with our friends, so Scott and I were able to do a session together for the first time in a long time! It was so nice. The temple was beautiful. It had these pretty stained glass windows that depicted the pioneers and Brigham Young on their journey. They have a nice visitors center, and a big pioneer cemetery, which we didn't go in because it was buried in snow.

It is always amazing to me to think about the faith and courage of the pioneers. I don't know how they did it. I have truthfully never been so cold in my entire life! Honestly, the weather was freezing and the wind was horrible. I couldn't even imagine the pioneer moms trying to keep their babies happy and warm, when I couldn't even keep mine happy in a heated car. It gave us a whole new appreciation for the pioneers. Some of the saints stayed in winter quarters for two winters. I can't remember the exact numbers but there were around 600 pioneers buried in the cemetery and over 200 were kids under age 3.

We spent the rest of the day at the mall and enjoying some family time! Scott and I love to travel and have had some great experiences. It was fun to hang out with the Wilkins! Here are a few pictures.