At the end of September I journied to Chicago to visit my best friend Naomi, Kevin, and Brooklyn. From Chicago Naomi and I were going to drop off Brooklyn in Ann Arbor with Brian and Natalie and then take a road trip across the northeastern part of the country. But before we left I got to spend some time with them in Chicago :)
Brooklyn's potty training and doing an awesome job thanks to her super amazing Mom! We had a fun giggle one day when she successfully went potty!
They say kids eat strange things and Brooklyn proved that true- cream cheese on a potato chip anyone?
Oh Panera bread how I love thee!
We ventured out to the "waterfalls" near Kev and Omi's house. For being artifically built they're actually not too bad. And we saw a water snake. And skipped rocks. A successful outdoor adventure for sure :)
I'm not sure Naomi was thrilled when I suggested this pose for the pic. But fortunately she's still talking to me.
We could totally pass for twins :)
Brooklyn decided she liked wearing my shoes.
The Saturday before we left, we took a trip downtown. Much better than my previous forays into town!
Naomi and Kevin suggested we take the river boat from the train station into downtown. It was awesome to see the buildings from the river!
Chicago Sun Times- want to watch some Early Edition Mom? :)
Larger than life: American Gothic takes Chicago.
We stripped Brooklyn down and let her run around a fountain place. She wasn't too thrilled with us at first, but of course by the end she didn't want to leave!
These large towers were on either side of the pool. Pretty :)
The famous Bean with Chicago reflecting on its side!
View of Chicago from the top of the Sears (now Willis) Tower.
Standing in the Ledge-the glass box over Chicago!
You can't see it, but Brooklyn is laying on glass that looks straight down to the street from the top of the Sears Tower. We all went out on it-awesome!!! 
Monday morning Naomi and I left on our adventure! We dropped off Brooklyn, picked up our bikes in Cleveland, and then made our way to Kirtland! We drove around the sites Monday night, but actually took the tours on Tuesday.
In front of the Newel K Whitney store in Kirtland.
On the upper floor of the store Joseph and Emma stayed when the first came to Kirtland. It was also the location of the revelation room and the school of the prophets.
School of the Prophets room.
Joseph and Emma's room. Sleep tight! :)
The Ashery- it's the only one in north america.
The saw mill-actually a replic resting on the old foundations. This is where they cut wood to build the temple.
The Whitney home was across the path from their store. This is the family room. That metal object in the crib? Old fashioned baby bottle made from lead and pewter. Genius.
Split rail fences were a very common, and to me very cool, sight!
After going through the church owned sites we went over to the Kirtland Temple. What an amazing place when you think of everything that happened there! So glad I got to go inside!
After Kirtland we drove to the John Johnson farm in Thompson where Joseph and Emma stayed for a year.
For my labor friends-this is the "borning room" where women would have delivered their babies. Not a lot of room to move around in there-glad our rooms are a little bigger!
Elsa Johnson was an awesome lady, but somewhat eccentric in her painting styles. This one is feather painting, which was found on almost every wooden surface in the house.
That is a wood plank floor painting to look like...a checkers board?
Omi and I standing in the room where Joseph received several revelations in Thompson, including section 76. So cool!
Before we continued our drive to Niagara Falls, we stopped for dinner at a yummo Amish restaurant. Awesome!!
And this is what he was making- a pumpkin! 
We stayed in Manchester for the night, then started the long trip back to Ann Arbor to pick up Brooklyn. We decided to find Harmony, Pennsylvania on our way to see the Susquehanna site. There was a beautiful monument commemorating the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.
