Indiana Vacation: Day 4 - Friday

After our time in Nauvoo, we headed for Indiana to meet my sisters, Laurie and Kath, as well as my brother Mike. We arrived in Lowell at around 9PM. We hit some snowy weather the last couple hours so it took us a little bit longer than planned. It was great to see everybody and we spent a couple hours visiting and catching up. Our last visit was back in 2004. Mom is looking better than I expected. The cancer is flaring up, and has spread to her lungs. She is back in chemotherapy and we are hoping for the best. She was very sick last week with the flu, and we were all very concerned. Her spirits lifted, however, when she heard that we were all coming out to see her.

Today my sisters and I (along with Michelle and the girls) spent the day re-visiting our childhood homes as well as various other places in our hometowns. It was quite a surreal experience as many memories came flooding back to me. We grew up in a rural Indiana town called Schererville, which has a population of around 6,000. We spent some time in cemeteries where we visited the graves of families, friends, and classmates. I was able to visit, for the 1st time, the gravesites of my maternal grandparents, Adolph and Erma Graper. They passed away in 1992 and 1993, respectively. I loved my grandfather and have many fond memories of him as a young boy. I used to love going over to Grandma and Grandpa Graper's house when I was little. I was able to visit the graves of several other relatives as well, both direct and distant. Again, I felt the Spirit strongly and had a strong impression to do the temple work for my ancestors. This work has not been done, and I have spent the last few months putting together my ancestry files so that I can take the names to the temple and perform these saving ordinances for my family. It was a testimony to me as I was inspired about certain individuals as we visited their resting places.

This used to be the drug store
where I would go to buy candy.
I would get .25 allowance each
week and I would go down
and buy 25 pieces of
penny candy. Life was
simple then!

This used to be the barber shop where
I would walk to get my haircut. I
remember my mom giving me some
change to go down and get my
haircut. There was a wait for
the barber, so I ended up
spending the change on soda
pop from the pop machine
inside the barber shop.
Needless to say, I came home
without a haircut!
I got a sore behind from that one!

The house where I was born.

This is a sepulcher in a Catholic cemetery not
far from our house. We used to play
in this. There is a statue of Jesus
praying inside...it is a depiction
of the Garden of Gethsemane.

Statue in sepulcher

After visiting the cemeteries, we headed out to Winfield Township where both sets of my grandparents were from. We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Graper's house (long since bought by my Aunt Carol after their passing) and walked through the house again. It was very emotional for us siblings to be there again after over 35 years since our last visit.

Grandma and Grandpa Graper

We then headed up the road a couple of miles and dropped in on my fraternal grandmother, Mickey Riley (my last name used to be Riley; I was adopted by my stepfather when I was 12). I had not seen my Grandma Riley for close to 37 years. We stopped at the farm where we thought she lived (it had been over 36 years!), and my sister Laurie and I walked up to door and knocked. A very old woman answered the door, and it was my Grandma Riley. We introduced ourselves and she invited us in. The rest of the family soon followed and we had a wonderful visit. The house was just as I remembered it from when I was 5 years old. Grandma Riley was very sweet and was very happy to see her grandson after so many years, and was happy to meet her great-grandchildren, too. After a while her daughter, my aunt Carol Sue, and my Uncle Jim came over to check on her (there were strange cars in the driveway, so they came by to see what was going on!) and we were able to get re-acquainted with my aunt and uncle as well. Emilie took to Aunt Carol Sue very quickly as you can see in the photo below. I was a little nervous to go out there, but I am grateful we did! The barn is in a big pile of timber, as my dad Jim and his brothers had come over a few days earlier and pulled it down with trucks as it was unstable. One of my earliest memories of this place is when I was attacked by a German Shepherd at the age of 4; I had a large gash in my head for weeks. They were unable to sew it up for fear of rabies, and had to quarantine the dog as well.

Meeting Grandma Riley after 37 years


Grandma Riley and Family


Great Grandpa Riley (blacksmith)

Aunt Carol Sue and new best friend Emilie


Grandma Riley and Riley sons. My dad is
on back row, far left (Jim Riley)

Indiana Vacation: Day 3 - Thursday

Day 3 started in Nauvoo, IL. We woke up to heavy rain, and some thunder. Michelle and I had planned on attending the temple during the day, but it did not open until 2PM. So, after checking out of the hotel we headed over to Carthage to tour the jail where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred in 1844. During the drive from Nauvoo to Carthage, Michelle read aloud Section 135 from the Doctrine & Covenants (account of the martydom). After a 30 minute drive from Nauvoo to Carthage along the Mississippi River we arrived and started the tour. The Spirit was strong as we recognized that we were on sacred ground. The tour covers the visitor's center as well as the various rooms and areas of the jail, and concludes in the upper room of the jail where the martyrdom occurred. This was our 2nd time (2000 was the time of the 1st visit) at the jail, and it left a profound impact on us all.

Carthage Jail - Joseph & Hyrum. I love this statue! It depicts Hyrum's devotion
to his brother, the Prophet.

Jail cell where John Taylor was taken
by Willard Richards for protection
from the mob during the attack on the
jail. It is recorded that while being held in
this cell for a short time, the prophet Joseph
prophesied that in a short time
bullets would fly around Bro. Richards like hail,
but that he would escape unscathed. That prophesy
was realized a short time later.

Bullet hole in door to upper room


AGirls in front of Statue

After Carthage we headed back to Nauvoo and took turns doing work in the temple. Michelle felt the spirit in a very powerful way as she ascended the steps to enter the temple. There were some very neat artifacts inside that we were able to see. All in all a very sweet experience! The brothers and sisters serving therein were wonderful, and very excited to serve the patrons. I have had similiar experiences while visiting other temples, and it is always a treat to mingle with these faithful Saints serving in the "mission field". It is a great perspective, as we are so blessed to have so many members, temples, etc. in Utah.

This statue is right across the street from
the temple. It depicts Joseph
and Hyrum on their horses. One of the things
I gained from this visit was the great support and love
the prophet Joseph received from
his brother Hyrum. I really felt that as the story of
Nauvoo and the martyrdom was recounted several times.
The Spirit testified in a
very powerful way while we were here.

Nauvoo Temple at night. Not a great photo;
there was not a lot of light, and
I did not have a tripod so the picture isn't very sharp.
I wish I would have spend a little more time trying to
get a better photo, but it was
very COLD and rainy.

Indiana Vacation: Days 1 & 2 - Tuesday/Wednesday

Tuesday 8AM MST: Left SLC UT for Lowell, Indiana. Loaded up the Suburban with food, kids, and lots of anticipation! Day 1 was pretty uneventful; drove through the beautiful state of Wyoming (yes, you did detect a small amount of sarcasm) and halfway through Nebraska. Stayed the night in Kearney. Tomorrow we will tour the somewhat famous "Archway"; it is a museum that spans Interstate 80. We toured it back in 2000 shortly after it opened. It is fun; it is themed after the progress of America, from the pioneers crossing the plains to the construction of the Interstate highway system instituted by Pres. Eisenhower.

Long drive today; Michelle said that being trapped in the car with the kids for a week will be good for me. Teach me more patience, I suppose. I have been working on humility this month, so I suppose that patience will help with that.

Wednesday 11:33PM CST: Had a fun day today. The morning started off with a tour of the Archway (see above). It was fun, and it didn't take too long. It was the same as it was 8 years ago, but fun again nonetheless. We got back on the road and drove to Omaha, where we stopped at the Strategic Air Museum. We spent a couple hours there and had a really fun time! They had an honest to goodness flight simulator that we all rode twice (Michelle had an upset stomach all the way to Des Moines; I told her not to let Emilie fly the thing!). It was awesome! We all walked around the flight hangars and checked out the various airplanes. Maddie & I spent a good part of the visit in a real, live B-52 cockpit pretending to fly over France; more good times! There must have been over 200 buttons and switches in the cockpit.

Kearney Museum

Strategic Air Museum

Maddie not excited about getting hair done!

SR-71 Blackbird

B-52 Bomber Cockpit

B-52 Bomber Cockpit

After finishing up at the SAC museum, we drove straight through to Nauvoo and checked into our hotel; before that, we did a quick drive-by of the temple; it is absolutely magnificent! I can't wait to go in tomorrow. I forgot my Sunday clothes and ended up stopping at Walmart to get some appropriate clothing for the temple. I am going to go for run through downtown 1st thing in the morning and soak it all in.

Return of the Blog.

I think I have had so much fun reading everyone else's blogs, that I have neglected my own...

Not much really new going on these days. We are currently on vacation; in fact, I am blogging from a motel room in Nauvoo, IL. We are on our way to see Grandma and Grandpa Rupprecht in Indiana and since Nauvoo was only about 100 miles out of the way, we decided to spend a day here. We were last here 8 years ago. We arrived at around 9:30pm, and the first thing we did was drive over and see the temple. It is beautiful! Michelle & I are going to over tomorrow to take turns doing initiatories so that one of us can watch the kids. I hope to have photos up soon of our trip. We forgot the USB cable for our camera so I don't have a way to get them uploaded to my laptop. There is a Walmart on every corner so I am hoping to pick one up tomorrow sometime.

A quick family update:

Maddie: Growing like a weed and full of energy! She turns 4 in a couple of months. Very imaginative and loves hanging out with big sister Emilie. She loves Primary.

Emilie: Emilie has been in pre-school, and is doing great in here reading, counting, etc. She loves to read, and reads everything she sees. She enjoys being a big sister and is very protective of Maddie. It is not uncommon to see her getting after the kids who pick on her little sister. She is very social and has many friends.

Justine: Justine is progressing rapidly in dance and piano. I think we will put her on the competitive team this year for her dance studio. It is also nice to actually have some accompaniment on the piano during FHE!

Michelle: Doing great, staying busy being a mom and a homemaker. She participates in the community council here locally and stays busy and involved with church and school. Still running the Nursery in the ward.

James: As busy as ever with work, etc. Not too much travel; a trip or two to Idaho each month. Was recently released from the YM and is now working with the missionary effort in the ward and stake.