Nauvoo Thanksgiving

This has been a fun and busy week. Aaron and Katie came to visit us on Saturday. They helped make cookies… because Tom is the cookie man for Stake Conference. He has people he hands out cookies to. It’s a tradition, and he loves it. He makes Gluten Free cookies for a few that need them and regular cookies for other families.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday were taken up with Stake Conference. There I was officially released, again, from my calling as Stake Relief Society President. I also had a chance to visit with the new president.

Monday Tom put the kids to work. They did a massive leaf clean-up. I had been complaining about all the leaves in the yard. When you have big, lovely trees… you also end up with a thick mat of leaves in the fall. Tom wanted to wait until all the leaves dropped before shredding/raking them. We had some terrific winds that did a good job of de-leafing most of the trees. Katie ran the mower and mulched many of the leaves. Tom and Aaron raked them onto tarps and dragged them to the garden for mulch. Some got burned on piles.

Tom and Katie also took the tractor around and cut off low lying limbs from the trees. Katie handled the tractor while Tom worked the chain saw. This means Katie lifted Tom up in the bucket to the height that he could cut the branches. She did a good job.

Then Aaron was the fire guard. One pile had several outer piles so that when the center one burned down, the other piles could be pushed in. Alas, the heat of the center fire ignited the outer ring of brush as well. Aaron ran for help and with the tractor and three of them, they managed to contain the fire. Not too much pasture went up in flames….

Speaking of pasture, the cows seem to be staying in the West pasture, even though it doesn’t have good fencing in the back. It just has woods, puny fence, and more woods. I guess the woods don’t seem attractive to the cows.

They also made pies, cookies, and muffins for our Thanksgiving. Wednesday morning we drove to Nauvoo. Well, actually it took most of Wednesday. Kera had rented a house right on the Mississippi river. It was fun to look out across the river for the sunsets and to see the many faces of the river. At times it was smooth as a blanket. Then on the windy day, there were whitecaps and waves. The next morning, it just had a series of gullies. I didn’t know water could change like that.

We also had some resident bald eagles in the trees on our way to Old Nauvoo. We stopped to take pictures many times. Our eyes, however, could see better than our cameras could.

 Everyone— Andy, Kera, and their 5 children; Miranda, Dan and their 4 children; Tom and I; and David, Kera and Dan’s father— all arrived by about 4:30 or 5 pm. We discovered the stove and the hot water didn’t work. Fortunately, a sweet lady who lived next door, and had built the house, came over to fix things. She mentioned that this might be the last night they performed the play, “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo.” We didn’t have tickets, but we ate dinner quickly and all piled into cars to go to the play.

It is amazing to see 70+ year olds singing and dancing and courting. What I like about the play is that there is enough going on that even the little kids are engaged. Throughout the play there is a nagging wife who never lets her husband get a word in edgewise. Shortly before the doctor comes to visit, he acts a bit crazy. When the wife reports it to the doctor, he acts just fine… and the doctor hauls her off for rest and evaluation… and the husband plops down with his feet up and a big grin. One little kid from the audience called out, “You’re naughty!”

Thursday we rode the oxen wagon, viewed videos at the visitor’s center, wandered around Old Nauvoo, and came back in time to heat dinner. 

 Alex and Katie with the oxen

The smoked turkey was pre-cooked, as was the ham, yams, potatoes, etc. We brought pies. Miranda and Kera made some there the evening before. So it wasn’t long until we had a wonderfully tasty Thanksgiving dinner served. We played games that evening.

 The cousins played games, ran around, and generally had fun with each other. Aaron went out looking at the night sky. There were Indian mounds just up the road from us. Apparently they were burial mounds with many, many Indians buried there. The earliest dated back to 200-400AD. Aaron proclaimed the Mississippi river the River Sidon, from Book of Mormon times when great battles were fought there and many died.

Friday everyone went to the temple. Katie and Aaron took a bunch of names and did baptisms. Tom, David, and Dan helped. Andy and I went on a session. As the baptismal group got out, they took over kid sitting of the kids who were enjoying being at the temple outside. Then Kera and Miranda went to the temple. We took the kids and went sightseeing while they were in the temple. Little Rachael did very well while Mom was not there.

We went to the old post office, the gun smith shop, the brick yard and the blacksmith shop. We saw the drug store, the boot factory, Lucy Mack Smith’s house, and the Nauvoo house and the graveyard where the Smiths are buried. In the afternoon we went to Carthage Jail and took a tour. The grandkids were really good and interested in each place.

 Friday we came home and porked out on left-overs. Miranda had planned another dinner, but there was so much left over, we just heated it and ate! Oh! It was just as good on day 2. Again, we played games in the evening. We also might have watched a Christmas movie or two.

  

Saturday we packed and headed back home. I had brought a computer, thinking I might do a little work, but the internet didn’t work well…or at all… in the house. Dan and David went next door to get some Wi-Fi. But I just checked the phone for email messages. I did ask Dan for help finding a good next lap-top computer… and ordered that on his cell phone.

We stopped for more pictures at the temple and more of bald eagles on our way out of Nauvoo. We also got some pictures of the horse drawn wagon. We went home a different way. I don’t know that it was faster, but the roads were better, I think. We got home just after dark and we were all pretty tired, in spite of the fact that most of us slept some in the car.

Sunday we had missionary talks for sacrament meeting. One new convert shared how the gospel changed his life. “I was one of the walking dead,” he said. Without purpose, not knowing why he was here or what he was supposed to do. He fell among bad company. The gospel just made a huge difference. He is still working to change ingrained habits, and it has been exciting to see his transformation. Also, Carolyn, the new Stake Relief Society President came to our ward looking to meet people who might be good choices for counselors. So it was fun to tell her who everyone was. And a bit embarrassing as their names occasionally eluded me.

In the afternoon we are on our 9^th Self Reliance lesson. It’s been a good class. I love how it blends spiritual and temporal.