Yeah, it’s been a while…

We’re in the middle of a crazy summer here — with the family currently scattered to the 4 winds! Well, the 3 winds anyway. Jacob’s in NY enjoying a visit with Grammy and Grampy Vollmer, I’m currently on my 2-week AF Reserve tour, and Dave and Timmy are holding down the home front in Nebraska.

On June 13, my sister’s family came for a visit on their way home from a 2-week cross country drive between their house in NC and Las Vegas. They spent a full day with us, and in typical “Major Mom” fashion, I crammed a bunch of activities into that one day.

I presented my sister with a variety of options of what we could visit, and the Mormon Trail Winter Quarters Visitor’s Center caught her fancy. Jacob had been here as part of a Bellevue Schools summer camp program in 2009, but didn’t really seem to have an opinion about it. He didn’t even remember making the trip until we pulled into the parking lot and said “Hey, I’ve been here!”.

I had seen some reviews of this attraction on Trip Advisor, and prepared myself for some, uh…Mormon education? Some of the more brash reviewers spoke pretty rudely of the “preaching” that the center seemed to emphasize. I will say up front that I learned a lot…only a couple times did our guide ask some pointed questions about whether we might think that we’d be interested in the Mormon message.

The kids enjoyed the statue in front:

From 2010 06 14 Baba Visit to Omaha

I enjoyed the pretty flowers:

From 2010 06 14 Baba Visit to Omaha

As soon as we walked in, we’re greeted by a tour guide. In our case, we were greeted by “Sister Worthen”, a young LDS member on her mission.

From 2010 06 14 Baba Visit to Omaha

Sister Worthen did a pretty good job establishing a rapport with the boys and getting them involved in the hands-on exhibits in the visitor’s center. The kids enjoyed donning 1840s-style costumes, pulling a hand cart, and simulating how quickly they had to pack their belongings to leave Nauvoo, IL.

From 2010 06 14 Baba Visit to Omaha

From 2010 06 14 Baba Visit to Omaha