Nate and I celebrated our 10 YEAR Aniversary on September 7th!! We were able to leave our boys with Nate's parents (many many thanks to them) and drive to Mississippi to check into the Beau Rivage resort on the Gulf of Mexico! We checked in on Tuesday and left that Friday afternoon. It felt like the perfect amount of time!
The Hotel was beautiful and the buffet was super yummy! We had a ocean view room from which we saw gorgeous sunsets on the Gulf. The hotel was a casino as well which we basically walked around once and thought how crazy people can get sitting in there all day long and losing track of time (casinos don't have clock up anywhere just so people
will lose track of time) and money, but we didn't come for any casino gaming anyway. We spent over 5 hours or so shopping one day at an amazing outdoor shopping outlets called
The Gulfport Premium Outlets
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=83
Shopping with Nate can be enjoyable with no time limit and no kids, who knew, he he j/k :)
I made the best decision marring Nathaniel Stephen Cottrell! He is the rock that hold us together. We have three healthy, happy, enegetic boys that are our life and we love deeply. Nate and I work so well as a team at our families goals and just living life. He is my best friend. Life will always be busy and crazy with kids, stress, duties, and obligations, but Nate has always taught me to give it all that you have, care for the people around you, and be strong in what you believe. And I know for I fact that I believe in US!!
Super bright ehh Nate!!
Our whole time there was sunny and beautiful. We shopped well, relaxed well, and ate very well!!
The beach next to our hotel didn't have tons of people, probably because anyone wanting to swim would just go use the pools, hot tub, and lounge chairs at the hotel, but it was nice walking in the water and getting my feet all sandy. There was a long pier that we walked down that made us feel like we were surrounding by water on all sides. I stopped and laughed and said to Nate "I think it is so funny the things we don't have to be saying right now because our kids are not with us. Things like, 'don't climb that, you'll fall in, don't lean over so far, stop, that wood will give you splinters if you drag your hands along it'." I didn't have to worry one bit about Nate not being able to take care of himself or not be aware of dangers, he has that handled all by himself! A whole line of instructions, worry, and alertness was unnecessary right then and it was good to just enjoy us.
10 years has been wonderful and I look forward to so many more. As they say life has many twist and turns, bumps and bruises, but I have NATE with me and he has ME!
Clay is such a smart kid. He is thoughtful of others, is concerned if someone else isn't happy, goofy, thinks he knows more than his mom at times, wants to get tough to beat his dad in wrestling, a really good big brother, and is tender hearted. He needs no help with his homework and is good at getting it done first thing so he doesn't have to worry about it. The teacher has told me that Clay easily gets along with everyone in the class and she can sit him by anyone which is helpful to her. Clay has his own locker at school. It is by a wall right next to his classroom which he thinks is cool.
Hayden has the same teacher that Clay did in Kiindergarten. Mrs. Morrison. Hayden thinks that is cool and wants to show her he is smart like Clay too. Only I know he will be a bit more energetic and class clownish than Clay was. :) He loves going to school, but feels that it is boring sometimes. When I asked why, he said that the work is super easy and he gets it done fast. He didn't need any reasurring to get on the bus, even though he was the only one getting on at his stop and didn't know anyone else on the bus. He tends to give me a hug and say bye before the bus gets there so maybe he can do it without anyone looking which is fine with me, I still get my hug. Hayden has tons of confidence and doesn't worry much except when it comes to him having to try hard to beat a level of Super Mario, then he does it till he has it mastered. He is good to Justin before he leaves and likes riding the bus home with Clay.
Before Sophie left us in Chicago we had to take her to the famous Brookfield Zoo!! A huge zoo with amazing animals pretty much sums it up. The day was beautiful, the dolphin show awesome and all of us in heaven. I just love zoos!!
To continue on posting about our summer RoAd TrIp, I need to mention all the things we did in Nauvoo, Illinois! Driving back towards home was so much fun this time around because we had more to our group. The Abercrombie Clan was taking on the road with us. Oh, the games that we played on the walkie talkies together. The laughing so hard that you cry and need to use the bathroom scenario, the hilarious knock, knock jokes from all the kids even when the punch line was missed, comments on the scenery like, "Holy windmills Batman", or the try to guess the movie line trivia. It got really good when we tried to sing the theme songs to the movies as well.
My boys loved seeing all the details of the Nauvoo Temple up close. Justin kept repeating, "Moon, stars, sun". It was great just being on the temple grounds and discussing with my children the importance of such buildings and what they mean to me personally. The hardship and trials that the early pioneers went through to make such magnificent temples is truly amazing to me. There is so much history in Nauvoo. It makes you want to research everything and get to know the stories and background of each building, landmark, and people who lived there. My beliefs are confirmed and my testimony stronger that there is purpose in all things and everything has its time and place here and under heaven. I am so glad I have the gospel and am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It keeps me grounded, it keeps me strong.
Here is our clan enjoying the Frontier County Fair that they put on every night before the Nauvoo Pageant begins. Cast members from the pageant that are dress in full pioneer attire, which made me even hotter just by looking at them, helped visitors: play 1840's games, dance, sack race, rag braiding, hand cart pull, log sawing and much more. So fun to watch the kids giggle and play.
The Nauvoo Pageant was amazing! They have over 150 volunteer cast members who tell the story of Nauvoo, how it came to be, and what it meant to those who lived there in the 1840's. The pageant also pays tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith, commemorates the building of the original Nauvoo Temple, and celebrates universal themes of faith, family, and community. As the pageant's temple was being built, piece by piece, I loved the feeling that I had after it was completed and how the saints felt at that time. I was completely moved when towards the end of the pageant when the cast reenacted the time when the saints were driven out of the Nauvoo area and the temple prop was removed and the actual Nauvoo Temple was lite up on the hill for everyone, cast and audience, to gaze at. It was as if we were all saying goodbye to it as well in that moment in time.
Carthage Jail was the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum on June 27, 1844. Joseph and Hyrum, with two companions, were imprisoned here. A mob broke into the jail, shooting through the door, charging in and killed Hyrum and Joseph who was shot while falling out of the two story window. There is still a bullet lodged in the door today. Visiting the jail cell and the quarters in which the Prophet spent his lasts days is a very humbling experience. John Taylor, who was one of the two companions with the Prophet in jail said these words:
