Pins, Pins, Magical Pins!

This morning at 5AM, I left my nice comfortable bed in Glenwood and traveled up to Orem in order to be at the hospital by 7 to get ready for my *final* surgery on my wrist.

Everything went smoothly, I got there on time, I got an actual room this time, I got all ready in my gown and shorts, the nurses did all the questioning, I signed all the papers, my arm was signed, then sanitized, and finally I was rolled into the OR, transferred to my Operating bed and knocked out.

The next thing I know I was waking up in my room (no recovery room this time! wahoo! at least that I can remember. hahah) asking my mom to see the pins. I specifically made arrangements with Dr. Richards and with the nurse to see them after the surgery was done. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to see something that had been inside of them for the last 2 months? (yeah, its been almost 2 months. It will be the 2 month mark on Saturday. That means one more to go!)

I have a feeling that I asked to see them, looked at them, and gave them back to my mom before I remember asking to see them and looking at them because when I remember asking for them, my mom started laughing and said my dad doesn't like it when people ask the same thing multiple times.

When I got to see them, I was shocked! They're small little buggers! I thought they'd be way thicker and even a little longer. They remind me of sewing machine needles. They're pointed on one side like a needle, and look cut off on the other end. If you're ever at my house, I'll show them to you! *The chapstick is in the picture for size reference, not just because I was lazy.*


Dr. Richards even was nice enough to remember to wrap my hand lightly this time. He gave me the go ahead to start bending it back and forth as soon as tomorrow and I'm so happy.

I'm just hoping the back of my thumb, and, as I just discovered, the back of my hand wake up remotely soon. If it means pain, I wouldn't mind them waiting to wake up until the morning. The pins were inserted and removed right next to a major nerve that controls your hand, so not being able to feel anything on the back of my hand is kind of freaking me out, if you know what I mean. I don't even know if the back of my hand was numb after the surgery last time because my thumb was all wrapped and casted up, and my wrist was in immense pain even with the pain pills there to dull the pain.

Thats the good news! I haven't even taken so much as an aspirin all day! We were out of the hospital by 9, making that the fastest surgery probably ever, and I had an ice pack on my hand for maybe 10 minutes while we tried to stop by Brandon and Julie's (they were still asleep), then we went to Sam's Club to get goodies for the weekend (I got some sweet shorts and a 5 pound bag of gummy bears. I'm in heaven!), and then we went to the Provo Mall for lunch. Red Robin didn't open until 11, and we were like 15 minutes early, so we went up to the music store and got some piano music. Even by the time we got out of Sam's Club, my ice was melted because the hospital uses pebble ice, but I was feelin; fine! I was happy, and I even played my new piano song (WITH BOTH HANDS) when we got home. I'm really kind of excited my hand is really getting better this time.

So, 2 weeks until the stitches and the permanent soft cast come off, then I'm down to personal exercises and a brace until about August 11. I'm so so so so so happy. I'll be normal again!

Here's something crazy though. Today after I had taken a nap, my family was eating dinner and watching something on KBYU. They left, and I decided to make up something for myself (my mom made tacos) and I didn't bother to change the channel. Next thing I know I look up and see the nurse that started my IV at the hospital this morning! I guess her parents were on this show talking about coping with loss because her little sister died from a rare illness when she was 9. It kinda blew my mind. haha

So theres my update. I hope I didn't bore you with information, but you should be sure to leave me a comment because it brightens my day! We're down to the last leg, baby!

6 Weeks Down - 6 More To Go!

6 Weeks ago, on Monday, May 5, I went in for surgery to have pins inserted in my wrist as a final attempt to kind of glue everything together and secure the ligaments that have been damaged as a result of my clumsyness over the last year and a half.

2 Weeks out from the surgery, I made a visit to Dr. Richards to get my stitches out, and got a sweet cast just 2 days before my Graduation.

Yesterday, the day came to get my cast off. They cut it off, took a few x-rays, and after Dr. Richards had checked it they gave me a removable splint!
I go back in for surgery on Monday, and they will cut the right side of my wrist back open so they can pull the pins out. (I think I can feel them right now. . . I definitely can't move my wrist in more than a few millimeters in any direction.)
Once the pins come out, it will be 2 more weeks of a soft cast wrap (that he says will be thin, and I'll be allowed to move my wrist in). After 2 Weeks, I will get the stitches removed, and then be on splint recovery with personal physical therapy (read: I get to do it myself) for one more month.
The plan is that I will be completely ready for anything by August 11, 2008. Who's excited? I am!

Today was amazing. . . I was finally able to take a shower with both hands exposed! No bag on the arm! It felt wonderful. Too bad it has to go back in a wrap soon. . . but it will all be worth it.

One Week Later -- Back to Normal

So, I've been back from the CHT for one week now, and today was completely full of memories and the norm. Trent and Manda were down all weekend after going to the Manti Pageant on Friday night, so we went on the Marysvale Bike Trail yesterday and had a blast. Ryan showed up to church this morning for whatever random reason he came down for.

He was lucky enough to come on the day I was chosen to speak in Sacrament Meeting about the trip, and basically I got to cover everything anyone else had missed. Everyone said I did a great job, but I cried through most of it and I felt like I was reading one of our Debate cases. I guess the Spirit touched a lot of people because they said I did a really good job, so thats what counts.

When we got home, Trenton and Tommy helped make the, literally, meatiest meal I've had in a long time. We had delicious, perfect, fall off the bone tender, pork ribs, and they marinated a bunch of steaks, then there was the dutch oven potatoes, and all the fruit you could eat. It was amazing, definitely a tribute to a wonderful father for Father's Day.
I love this guy. He's the greatest, funniest, coolest dad on the planet. Guaranteed. We've been through our troubles, but it was all worth it to find out how amazingly incredible he is. I'm so lucky to have him for a dad.

After dinner we had a Duck Hunt Tournament, then I worked on the baby quilt I'm making for my nephew who is due to arrive in about a month. I'm super excited for him, and super sad I'll be missing the baby shower on Tuesday.

I finished sewing the quilt all together when JD B., JD S., and Matt had shown up for our traditional Sunday Walk. After saying goodbye to Trent, Manda, Ryan, and my parents, Tommy joined us and we went on our walk, and picked up Melanie and her cousin Kelsie on the way. We walked all over town and it was a good time, until Tommy had his usual downer. Then we got back to my house, and after talking on the lawn for a while, I went and grabbed my camera out of the house. When I came back out, everyone was playing leapfrog, so I snapped a random picture and scared everyone real bad. It was super funny.
After I took that first picture, someone had the genius idea to jump off our rock wall and get some sweet pictures, so I'll leave them with you. It was so much fun, and then my mom called curfew on us. Talk about lame, but its alright. It'll keep us excited for next week.

It took some tries to get the timing right. . .














And the camera positioned correctly. . .















But in the end, we had a blast. It was so worth it!!


























































































Then, right when Mom called curfew on us, Melanie had an accident, and I looked like I got electrocuted (JD B said I looked like Nan. . . .). Then we had to say good night. . . :)

Day 16: Travel Day, Home Sweet Home!!

I don't have much to say today, the main thing is I'm home! It's so nice!!!! After having Sacrament Meeting at 7 this morning, we left Grand Island, Nebraska at 9 to begin our long journey home.

On the way, we played the Smartie Game,
and Brennon showed off his awesome guitar skills.
We even watched The Other Side of Heaven, The Work and The Glory 3, Angels in the Outfield, The Testaments, and Legacy, plus some other random short church movies. It was a really long drive.

When we got past Denver and dropped off the Arizona kids, I was pretty sad because I was missing them, but then I saw the mountains, and I couldn't wait to get home.

I thought I was home when I woke up for dinner and everything around me said Glenwood, but it was just all of the Glenwood Springs, Colorado signs.

We actually ended up arriving in Richfield at 2:30, and I didn't get home until 3AM. It was so worth driving all day and all night though. I'm so glad to be home. My own room, my own bed, just being home.

Anyways, its late, or early, so I'm going to head to my bed. I'll update yesterdays post with pictures tomorrow. It feels so good to be home!!!

Day 15: Travel Day, Winter Quarters, Rainstorms in Nebraska

Right now its pouring rain outside, so the internet is acting up and not letting me post any pictures, but I have loads to share.

Today we mostly drove, but we were able to stop in Omaha, Nebraska and see the Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Cemetery, and Temple.

We then drove to our hotel in Grand Island, Nebraska. When we got here, the weather was hot and muggy, but since then, the wind has blown in a HUGE storm. We were able to frolick in the rain after dinner, go puddle jumping, watch the lightning, and take loads of pictures since we'll be heading home tomorrow. There was an emergency alert that said to expect 1-3 inches of water within the next 3 hours, so this storm won't be letting up soon. Hopefully we'll be able to get out tomorrow morning. Here's some lyrics I think fit the current situation.

Tempted By The Storm
- Maren Ord

It happens everyday now
Walking out the door
It happens everyday now
Do I know what I do this for?

It happens everyday
I walk out of my place
Tempted by the storm
That’s always in front of my face
Do I know what I do this for?

I’ve lived in this for so long
How do I feel a change?
The storm, it beats against me
Every single day

But Jesus stands beside me
He’s holding me hand
The storm, it beats against me
But I know where I stand

It happens everyday
I walk out of my place
I’m tempted by the storm
That’s always in front of my face
Do I know?
Yes, I know
I know exactly what I do this for

But Jesus stands beside me
He’s holding my hand
The storm is pressed against me
But I know where I stand

Its bittersweet. Tomorrow is our last day, and I really can't wait to get home, but I still don't want to say goodbye to all of the Arizona kids. They're seriously the greatest! Tomorrow will most definitely be a sad day. We have at least 12 and a half hours of driving, plus rest stops, meal stops, and whatever else that might take up more time. Basically it means I have lots of time to sleep. I don't know if I'll be able to survive without my 5 hour nap everyday after this. Oh well, it will be worth it to be home.

Sorry again about the lack of pictures. They'll be coming later when the weather is cooperating with my efforts. See you soon!

Day 14: Nauvoo, Temple Baptisms, Sites and Sounds of Old Nauvoo

What a long day! Who would have thought that the one day where we get to do whatever we want whenever we want would be the most exhausting one on the tour? Not me, thats for sure.

I slept in this morning until about 7:30 because somebody's phone kept going off, so I got up and jumped in the shower to get ready for the day ahead. When I got out of the shower, we went down to breakfast, and then went souvenier shopping before we were scheduled to go to the temple for baptisms at noon.

The temple was amazing. Going in, right after they check your recommends, you can see the meeting room, which is roped off, but it looks almost identical to the meeting rooms in the Kirtland Temple. Only the Prophet is allowed to call meetings in that room. When everyone got through the line, we were ushered downstairs to the baptistry, and I was in the first small group to get changed into the white clothes. Everybody else got to wait in the chapel in the basement, and I could hear them singing the Spirit of God while I was waiting to be confirmed. When we got in the room, each of us 5 girls got to be confirmed for about 10 names, and it was Brother Dungsten and Brother Sperry doing the confirmations with our bus driver Phil marking off the names. When we finished in there I was planning on just going back and changing my clothes since I couldn't do baptisms with my cast. A bunch of the temple workers offered to get me a bag or something so I could go in the font, but I decided against it, so they offered to let me do extra confirmations. That worked for me, so I accepted, but had to wait while they did a group of boys.

While I waited I got to sit out by the font, and I noticed the font was a foot or two lower into the ground than the normal floor. I later came to find out that they did that on purpose because in the original temple, the font sank into the swampy ground about that far. It just goes to show that they tried to copy as much detail as possible.

When I finished up with my extra confirmations and changing back into my clothes, I went out to the chapel to wait for some other people and to read my scriptures. I decided it would be cool to read some of the sections in the D&C that were revealed when the saints were in Nauvoo, so I found the right ones from the Table of Contents in the front. I opened to Section 127, which happened to be about the Baptism for the Dead. Section 128 continued in the importance of it, so I continued reading, and in the first verse, Joseph recorded something that really impressed me.

"1 As I stated to you in my letter before I left my place, that I would write to you from time to time and give you information in relation to many subjects, I now resume the subject of the baptism for the dead, as that subject seems to occupy my mind, and press itself upon my feelings the strongest, since I have been pursued by my enemies."

This was really cool to me, because at the time when the saints were in Nauvoo, the most pressing subject on the Prophets mind when he knew his life was in jeopardy was that of the doctrine of Baptisms for the Dead. Not the live ordinances, the work for the dead. Reading through that section was so amazing and I felt the Spirit so strong there with me. I know that the work for the dead done at the temple, specifically Baptisms for the dead, is done both for us and for them. "For their ^asalvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made ^bperfect." (vs 15). Even though I didn't get to do baptisms, I still got to do the confirmations and feel the Spirit there.

When we finished, they showed us the spiral staircase and we got to walk up it a flight to the entrance. It was a very cool experience.

After Baptisms, I walked up to the hotel and changed, and after dinner, we were able to go to the Missionary Program, Sunset on the Mississippi. It was a good time; included was lots of laughs,

Lots of funny Senior Missionaries,and a really sweet sunset.

When the sun was still setting, we decided to walk down the Trail of Hope down Parley Street where the saints walked as they left Nauvoo. On our way there we met up with all of the performers from the play we saw last night and additional characters from the Sunset performance we saw today. I learned that they auditioned to be part of the group and all those who were there were called to serve 4 month missions. They even pulled out their nifty name tags. They were all down by the trailhead because one Elder got his real mission call and opened it with everyone there. I don't think very many people get the opportunity to open their mission call while on a mission. They were super cool, but they had to go, so we walked down the trail.

At the end, right before the Mississippi, there was a huge memorial with all the names of the pioneers who had died on the trek from Nauvoo.

Then we were able to see the sun completely set on the Mississippi. Pictures just don't do it justice.
On our walk back towards the Temple, me and Alan were amazed by the amount of bugs we were forced to walk through. When we passed under the first streetlight, we were further grossed out by the amount of bugs congregated under it. We were definitely in Swamp Land.
We stopped in front of the temple, and after many futile attempts of getting a non blurry picture of the temple, we figured we had to get down on the grass and use the ground as our base. It worked, and we got loads of pictures.

We walked all the way around the temple and made our way back up to the hotel with Mindy.

So, as you can tell it was a very exciting day in Nauvoo, the City of Joseph, City Beautiful. I love it here, but not necessarily enough to live here. I'm glad we were able to come back.

Day 13: Travel Day, Nauvoo at Night.

Today was a very long day. After leaving Holiday City, Ohio at 7AM we arrived in Nauvoo at 4PM local time. We changed back time zones, so we gained an hour and are now only an hour off of home time. That feels great!

Other than that, nothing much else happened. Tonight we were able to go to the Visitor's Center and watch the play, High Hopes and Riverboats, a performance put on by some missionaries and BYU students. It was decent, but it was fairly interesting as well. It reminded me of the Hale Center Theater plays.

We came back to the motel and had dinner, and then we chilled out in the hall with Anna, Terrilyn, Jacob, Cher, and Amanda. We colored, did Fill-Ins, played on the compy, and I wrote a bunch of postcards. I feel like I actually accomplished something, so thats good. Sorry about the lack of pictures, but there really wasn't anything to take pictures of today. Thats just how it was. Here's a picture JD got of the temple on the walk he took tonight. It's all I've got.

Tomorrow is a do what you want day. I'll be going to the temple at noon, and other than that probably just chilling around town with my friends doing what they want to do. I do need to pick up some peanut butter fudge for Ry-Ry though. It will be a good time. Until then!

Day 12: Kirtland Temple, Issac Morley Farm, LDS Visitors Center, Historic Kirtland

Sorry for lack of pictures today. I ran out of batteries yesterday and had to depend on others for pictures, and I wasn't able to get ones of all of the sites today. Updates will come.

Today started off kind of dreary looking as we left the city of Mentor, Ohio, but when we had reached Kirtland within 10 minutes, the sky was brightening up for a nice comfortable day. Since I was on bus #2, I had the privilege of beginning my days journey at the Kirtland Temple, which is now owned by the Community of Christ (RLDS) church. We watched a movie explaining the history of the Kirtland area and its importance in the founding of the church, and then we were able to go on a tour of the temple.

We started on the second floor and had some basic history and layout explained to us, and then we moved downstairs to learn more about what had happened there. We were able to sing the first verse of The Spirit of God, just as the early saints had done at the dedication of the temple, and the Spirit was amazing. It was a little strange walking through the temple as a tour, and especially being led by a tour director from the Community of Christ, but I enjoyed it. I felt like people were being a little too judgmental towards their church and it made things awkward, so I tried to seem friendly and accepting of them, and our tour guide was pretty awesome.


After we finished up at the temple, we were able to visit the Issac Morley Farm. This is where Joseph was able to preach that this church would fill North and South America, and that it would fill the world. Back then, I don't know if I would have been able to believe it, but now we can see how it is coming to pass and its incredible. On the front lawn of the farm, there was a giant Tulip tree, and these were the flowers on the tree. They were huge and they made the tree look like it was covered in lily pads. I loved it.
We finished up at the Morley Farm early so we were able to go up to the rock quarry where they got the rocks for the walls of the temple. This is a picture from the scenic stroll Pres. Monsen had us take before he realized we were on the wrong path.
We then had lunch at the Morley Farm and was then able to tour historic Kirtland, including the N.K. Whitney Store, which includes the Store, the First Bishop's Storehouse, the room of Joseph and Emma while they lived there, and the coolest room of all, the School of the Prophets where the Father and the Son appeared, and where the revelation of the Word of Wisdom was given. There was such an amazing Spirit there, and the couple that was leading us (from Wayne county) gave us some time just to think about what had happened there. It was wonderful. Also, we were able to tour the Saw Mill, and the Ashery. I felt like I was back at the Taylor Pioneer Park learning about things, so it was fun.

Afterwards, we jumped on the bus for a 3 hour drive to our stay tonight, Holiday City, Ohio. My partner for the day was Jake, and we had a good time. He's really a funny kid and he likes to ask questions. Plus he can't bend one finger all of the way, and that was cool to see.

We watched cars and had a good time, and when we got to the motel dinner was ready and delicious. I chilled with my buddies until it was time to go to bed, and that brought me here.

Once again, sorry for the lack of pictures of the cool places. I had Al-dawg take them for me, and I wasn't able to get them from him. They'll be up soon though, and I'll let you know when you need to come back. Thanks for reading, and be safe!

*PS- I've posted 101 pictures so far just from the CHT. I'd say I'm doing pretty good about showing you what I've been up to. I'll do a bit better of a job tomorrow though!*

Day 11: John Johnson Farm

Today we were able to take a long 6 hour travel day to end up in Mentor, Ohio. After watching National Treasure 2, we stopped at the only sight to see of the day; the John Johnson Farm in Hyrum, Ohio, and it was well worth it to make the stop there and take the tour.

There were many things that happened in the Johnson house that aided in the growth of the Church in the early days, and a lot of amazing things came to pass there. The house showed that the Johnson's a lot of prosperity becaus they had 5 doors leading to the outside, 2 closets, 5 fireplaces with the same central chimney, and the fact that Sister Johnson loved to decorate so there are a lot of intricate details and decorations throughout the entire house.

Joseph and Emma were able to live there for a time, and Sidney Rigdon lived in a home across the street. While Joseph and Emma were there, they slept on the ground floor in the parlor to the left of the front door.

One familiar incidence that happened when they lived there was when they had adopted the twins and were struggling to get them to sleep because they were sick. When they babies had finally fallen asleep, Emma with a baby on one bed and Joseph with the other in another bed, an angry mob stormed the house, pulled Joseph out of bed and down the road, scratched him and then continued to tar and feather him. That night Emma and Sister Johnson spent their time cleaning up Joseph from the tar and feathers, and he was able to preach to the congregation the next morning from the front step of the Johnson home, and ended up baptizing a number of people. The feeling of knowing that happened there was incredible, and the original steps are still there, so I literally got to stand where Joseph stood at one of his weakest moments.
We finished up the tour and waited for the rest of the group to finish, and then we headed to dinner. It started raining and we were all able to have a good time out in the rain. We got back to our motel and me, Cher, and Taylor went on a stroll around the building, frolicking in the rain and going through the shrubbery. Then we got to play cards with the Arizona kids for a while and had a good time. Our hotel tonight is amazing.

The rooms are HUGE, we have 2 beds plus a couch, 2 separated areas, and 2 TV's, and the pool is a normal sized pool (bigger than average hotels) with fountains squirting off the sides into the pool. I so wished I could have jumped in!

Tomorrow we're off to Kirtland to see the temple! Until then, check out the newly updated pictures on the last 4 posts!

Day 10: Washington DC, Gettysburg Battlefield

All of the other blogs have been updated with pictures! Go check them out! Now!


Today was a very long and exciting day! We were able to leave Gettysburg this morning and go to Washington DC with everyone in our super sweet matching orange shirts, and it was a blast! It started with meeting my new seat partner Kelsey from North Sevier. She has pins in her knee like I have pins in my wrist, and she even went to the Central Utah Health Clinic to get fixed, so we had a lot in common.

When we got to DC, they let us off at the National Mall next to the Air and Space Museum. We had almost 3 hours to do whatever we wanted before we had to meet back at the bus, and since I had already been to DC, I had an idea of where all the cool things were. I wanted to go to the National Archives, but the line was super long as you can see in the picture, so we decided not to go inside.
Instead we went to the National Garden of Art, and had fun by the pond before moving on to see a few more sculptures and deciding where to go next.



The Smithsonian Exhibit I enjoyed the most last time I was here was closed for renovation, so we headed to the Smithsonian Castle for some information on what the cool places to go were. On our way there Elysha was getting impatient because, understandably, she wanted to go see all of the cool places there were to see, but she kept pulling us around and changing her mind, so I stopped giving advice on where to go, and when we ended up in the Natural History Museum taking pictures of the elephant, we ran into Terrilyn and Anna, and the other Henry's, so Elysha decided to go off with them. After that, things went smoothly with Me, Cher, Al-Dawg, Cody, and Amanda.

We were able to go see the hope diamond and then walk through the Gems and Minerals exhibit. Since I had been there and seen the rocks 3 years ago, I decided it was time for some fun, random pictures because I had gotten all of the serious ones last time I was there. Alan made this happen, and we had an awesome day.
After the rock exhibit, we went to the *rawr* Dinosaur exhibit and had loads of fun. Alan held a Dinosaur and picked a Pteradactyl's nose, we all got eaten by a T-Rex head, and a little girl asked, "Why is everything here fake?!" which made me laugh pretty hard because we were at the Dinosaur, of all exhibits.
We finished up in the Natural History Museum and made our way back over to the Air and Space Museum to see R2D2 and CP30, who had sadly been moved last week to get ready in their new home, but we still had a party taking lots of random pictures, like Alan throwing rockets and acting like an astronaut. There was an actual astronaut suit we were able to touch, except for the visor, because its made of a thin layer of GOLD! Crazy stuff, but we got some cute astronaut pictures, but Alan has the one of mine because my batteries died, but I do have one of Cher.
I was able to find a street vendor and get a bunch of cool T-Shirts for my 2nd family, the Singletons. We jumped back on the buses and got dropped off at the Washington Memorial,
then walked up to the WWII Memorial,
and finally ended up at the Lincoln Memorial!
There were loads of us there, and we all looked like hunters in our sweet orange shirts.
We got back on the buses and headed back to Gettysburg to experience some wartime fun. An hour and a half and a much needed nap later, we were back in Gettysburg, and we were dropped off to get some dinner and see the town for fun and souveniers. The coolest thing was that we were able to see where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.
While we were waiting for some other people, Alan showed me his hands. He biffed it hardcore yesterday morning when he was running back to the motel from the Sacred Grove. His left hand is all thrashed, and his right hand is really bruised, and you can see in this picture how his right pinky is way bigger than his left. I feel bad for the kid, but he says its worth it.
As we walked around Gettysburg, we came upon some interesting signs we couldn't pass up.
Then, looking through one gift shop, we found these sweet face mask headbands and had to take the photo opportunity.
Then, in the Visitors Center giftshop, another photo opportunity presented itself.
And another one (those binoculars are $130, I didn't dare touch).
While we were at dinner, yet another photo op literally drove past us. And we thought our tour was fun!
After dinner, they took us on a tour of the Battlefield, and when we were on the Union Side, Alan and Luke has to meditate on what had happened there.
Then, theres just a random picture of a bunch of my new friends from everywhere! Mostly Arizona though.
And, someone snapped this good lookin' picture of Me, Cher, and Taylor Brown from St. Johns.
As we were finally heading back to the motel, I was able to snap this picture of the authentic buildings.
So, all in all today was an intense day, but I loved it. As you can see, the pictures are finally back up and working, and thank goodness for that, because thats all I did today. DC is definitely one of my favorite places to visit, but I am so glad I was able to go there a few years ago and seriously have my Aunt Holly and cousins give me the deluxe tour over an entire week. It was way better than only having a few hours, so I don't feel like I missed out on much. Now I'm going to go update the last few blogs with more pictures, so don't be afraid to go check them out!!!