Wonderful time of year

This is one of my favorite times of year...and no, it's not because of the weather!

I like it because...

school is over

spending time with friends & family

peaches (and other fruits) are in ripe & yummy

SunShine

swimming

Beaches

Getting a tan

Memories of one of my favorite days

Loads of beautiful lily pads

Visiting Historic Nauvoo

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Yes, Steven & I recently celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. It's our little tradition to go to Nauvoo, attend the temple, see the sights, get eaten by bugs, and just sit and "get away" in a small town.

We did a few things for the first time on this trip:

-eat at the most talked out buffet of the Nauvoo Inn. The salad bar is pretty shabby, but the "hot bar" was something to speak of...fried chicken, lobster, fish, delicious cinnamon rolls, casseroles, and freshly cut meats...yummy yummy!

- we drove down Parley Street and read through lots of the names of the pioneers that died on the trek out west. It was amazing to see that there were literally thousands of names!

Well, we didn't take lots of pictures, but I'll post a few to share of our trip. Most of these were made by my "auto-pilot" function on the camera, so they aren't great quality or anything, but hey--they are pictures, right?!?!?!

1. Here we are, relaxing at the Hampton Inn, in Keokuk, Iowa. We had just checked in, and decided to snap a shot before heading up to Nauvoo to do some shopping!

2. I told you...I LOVE lily pads. Seriously, they are my favorite plant. I'd never seen them in person before, until I went to Nauvoo. The road to Nauvoo is right by the river, and you can see these lining the highway for about 10 miles or so. So beautiful, and well worth the trip!

3. Ok, so this area was roped off, and there were bugs EVERYWHERE! Steven was getting nervous that someone would come by and we'd get in trouble (I don't know if you were really supposed to get up in the wagon), but I needed a picture of me in one. So, here it is! Vio-la!

4. Seriously, it took us 10 minutes to get this shot! It was so hot outside, and I didn't have a great place to sit. So, this is the best one...please ignore the messy hair and rolls. Gotta love pics by the river!

5. Souvenirs. Every year, for our anniversary I wanted to get something memorable. Something that would be useful...something that wouldn't rust, die, or collect dust just sitting on a shelf. This has become one of our favorite traditions in Nauvoo--shopping from store to store, trying to find the "perfect" gift for ourselves. Last year, we couldn't find one BIG gift for us, so we decided on two separate smaller gifts, and this year we did the same.

For me, I bought the above...three little iron stars. I will use them to decorate the walls of my home. Haven't decided exactly where yet, but I'm excited to put them some place special. As for Steven, he purchased the book below. He LOVES reading, and has already been caught flipping through the pages.

And there you have it...for better or for worse, our weekend in a nutshell (or blog post, if you will). Hope your weekend was fun!