Nauvoo

This was the first time Ben had ever been to Nauvoo. It was fun to go back for me and revisit all the little homes and shops. Most of the family even got to do a session in the Nauvoo Temple. It is a beautiful place and the history just makes it even more beautiful and amazing.

Here we were outside Carthage Jail. You can't see it in the picture, but the 2nd story window is the window that Joseph Smith jumped out of trying to save his life. It always is a great experience visiting this place.

Guess who won? Ben totally kicked David's butt! :-) I was proud!

Ben's favorite shop...The Browning Gunsmith Store. He never knew that Browning was LDS.

Ben totally won the little horseshoe that the blacksmith makes for each group. I have always wanted that horseshoe!! Unfortunately, there was a 2 year old in the group and Ben just had to give it to him!

Thanks mom and dad for a fun reunion!

Ozark Adventures

Here are just a few pictures of our Knecht Family Reunion. We all had a fun time doing about everything possible you can do outdoors.

I just thought this was a super cute picture. Little Luke sure knows how to cheese it up for pictures. We were on our way to the hay-ride and cook-out.

After an intense game of tug-of-war, I decided I was on the wrong team! I lost against my sisters how embarrassing. ;-)

Ben tried to wind surf. He finally got the hang of things after a couple of hours. He definetely doesn't give up easy. The life-guard actually had to come tow him to the opposite side of the lake because he kept drifting towards the dam while trying to get going on the surfboard. I was ina a kayak next to him, giving moral support! :-)

The Arch

K, this thing is huge. We had to be like a half-mile away just to fit the whole thing into a picture. Ben and I got to pass through St. Louis on our way to Ozarks and Nauvoo. It definitely isn't a very pretty town, but we got to see it's few highlights.

Outdoor Adventure!

Ben finished his thesis so we finally went camping! It was really fun, but for some reason I was scared a bear was going to eat me the whole time. :-) We got up there late on Friday, set up camp right before it starting pouring rain for the next 3 hours. Our tent wasn't quite water-proof so we ended with a lot of puddles under us. Not the best sleeping conditions!

The next day was beautiful so we got to hike all day. We tried to hike up Bald Mountain, but it still had a snow pack on it so we couldn't go all the way up. We adventured out and found another "trail". We reached the top and got a great view.

The next camping trip we will remember matches and bring more than PB&J and Beef Jerky!