It's a Classic.......

        ......Save the Original.....It is Priceless!!

     Our granddaughter Elle did a drawing of Grandma and Grandpa for a fourth grade school project.

The results speak for themselves.........Van Gogh has a protoge'!! 

     I think one of the things that we miss are these little bits of heaven that our grandchildren bring us.

The school fund-raising projects.......Not So Much!! (but we are always willing a glad to help)  Thanks to Face-Time and Skype we are able to see them and their life changes but it is surely welcome when they visit.  The Texas Gibson's were here a couple of weeks ago and we are looking forward to seeing our daughter Stephanie and her family...along with Jaustin, when they will visit us

over the Easter Week.  YIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Spring Brings Blossoms......

                              .....And April Showers

     Driving by the Nauvoo Neighbor office I noticed blossoms on the tree....it's a sure sign of things that will be coming.  What has been here for the past 10 days is pretty much cloudy skies and intermittent rain and thunder storms......Which are pretty impressive to say the least.  It always gives one to wonder if there is a Tornado hiding somewhere nearby waiting to strike.  It's   interesting to note that it is easy to find something to worry about....it's earthquakes in Utah.  We had a first siren test of the season a couple of weeks ago.....thank heavens it was a cloudless day at the appointed time that it went off.....otherwise it might have been scramble city. 

     We have a large Magnolia tree out our front door that is just preparing to blossom.  It will be spectacular and welcome as it will also mean that the tree will quit dropping giant pods on the trucks that are really annoying.  We still see deer in the back fields every evening and now the squirrels are beginning to emerge.

       She's not Indiana Jones.........

                   ......Yet She Found a Treasure

     One day last week three crates showed up at the FM warehouse where Sister Gibson and Sister Lee Master noticed them.  On the outside of one box was written "original Moonstone" while the other said "Sunstone".  Like curious little squirrels the Sisters climbed a ladder (since they had so much practice on ladders over the fall).  Inside revealed the treasure.  It must have been the annual check to see if they are still inside the crates since the top had been removed revealing the stone as well as the commemorative plaque.

     The whole episode reminded me of Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Since it's not the federal government it's likely to assume that they will be stored in a place and never forgotten.  But then it is Nauvoo.....what more can I say.

The Handcart Barn Moves to Completion......

          ..Though the Handcart Trek is Wiped Out!
    

On Tuesday we were summoned to the Handcart Barn to help with more concrete pouring.  With the cheap missionary labor it is deemed more practical to keep the truck standing around while we move the concrete in by hand.  It still took so long to do that renting a pump truck would have been much easier and pretty much the same cost.  But then I would have missed the experience of Elder Sims as a skidster operator.  The goods new is that no one was injured during the pouring of the concrete.....If there is any bad news it would be that I appeared to look like a slacker as I stood outside away from the action inside the barn while fearing to get too close to Elder Sims.  After two close calls I figured it was not worth risking life and limb over.

      After we finished the pour we went to lunch in the FM room where the topic of conversation among those already present was that Salt Lake had decided to discontinue the handcart experience in Nauvoo.  After all it wasn't "period correct" as the handcarts were employed many years after the saints had left Nauvoo.  I hope they don't figure out that electricity, indoor plumbing, sidewalks, internet, tv, or any other modern conveniences aren't period correct either. 

     It is ironic, to say the least, that all of the handcarts were re-built  last year to replace the fleet which had been weathered and damaged from sitting out in the elements.  It was with the understanding that the new handcart barn would be built to house them and protect them from the weather. Somebody needs to wake up the person who was sleeping through one of the many meetings where all of this was discussed and correlated many times over.  Building a barn when there were to be no handcarts......?

   I'm sure the barn will be used for storage of some kind and the handcarts will be well used at the Martin-Willey sites.  It is just a loss for Nauvoo as it was a very popular attraction for the many families that came to visit.  It also caused a lot of havoc for the youth groups that had planned on the experience when they were here visiting.  I'm sure they can find a replacement activity....hopefully it will involve service and not mischief.

     Chaos............and Progress

                ....from One Comes the Other
     We plowed along stumbling around and over each other and everything on the floor until we got to the point we needed to tile the kitchen and bathroom.  Then...and only then.....did the elders strike a blow for cleanliness as they moved everything outside to the garage....that worked well until the end of the week when it was decided we needed to hang the sheetrock in the garage.  It was only out of shear necessity that tools finally started to get put into trucks and trailers to get them out of the way....at least most of them.  Rather than take the excess materials out and return them to the warehouse it was thought best to leave them in the middle of the garage.  We wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to trip over them.
     Nothing stops our determined Elders here...so they dove in working around each other.  We were cutting molding and parts as others hung sheetrock over their heads.  No casualties....no catastrophes...just a lot of chaos.
     Friday brought more of the same as it was announced that the appliances were being delivered so we needed to seal the tile floor before they got there in the next thirty minutes.....really guys?  Adding to that was a new command that the downstairs dirt room (original house) needed to be shored up more fully so more beams and plywood were brought in to complete the task.  I can only ask..."Why couldn't that been thought of while we were working in the room and putting up six metal support poles and 6x6's to support the floor above...after all it is only a 12x12 room with a dirt floor.  Somebody is afraid the walls might crumble in.....  At day's end all I can really say.....
                                   "It's the Nauvoo Way" 

The Nauvoo Prairie Burn..........

   One of the things that we had heard about before coming to Nauvoo was the annual Prairie Grass burn Grass burn which was held on the Nauvoo flats on the last week of March.  The block is four square acres and is bordered on all sides by streets.  The prairie grass is allowed to grow from burn to burn with no care or consideration.  It is to replicate what the original prairies looked like when the pioneers would have crossed them.  Last year the burn took 3-4 minutes with flames rushing to heights of 20-30' (depending on the story teller).  It made a sound of thunder and drove people back as the fire intensified.  Not to worry, however, the Nauvoo volunteer fire department is on hand!

Hot Dogs.....Kettle Corn......and Rain...Really?

      Preparations for the burn begin weeks in advance and culminate on the day of the burn.  It is a community event....meaning anyone in the community is welcome to the festivities.  It just wouldn't be a good FM event without kettle corn so early in the day the FM missionaries who work in the compound bring out the old kettle, fire it up, and stir away.  In some ways it resembles a Chinese fire drill but the kettle corn is delicious.  Sisters Gibson, Lee Master, and Hopkin jumped right in helping with the bagging of 700 bags for the visitors...far less than the 2500 that were required for Bootiful Nauvoo at Halloween.  The only side bar is that there probably was a lot more that could have been bagged.......the sisters kept eating it all!

The Prairie Burn ....Not a Blazing Fire.....

       ................Just a Smoldering Success  

    The "Great Prairie Burn" is preceded by a hotdog roast complete with chips and kettle corn.  It had rained pretty much every day last week with a drencher over the week end.  It was decided to postpone the burn from Monday to Friday.  It rained nearly every day after with another drencher on Thursday.  Good news, however, Friday was only overcast so without any hesitation the burn was held.  I am assuming that whoever was in charge expected heavenly intervention for success....or was embellished with blatant optimism...or in frustration said "lets get it over with.... one way or the other".  The crown assembled, ate the hotdogs, chips, and kettle corn and tried to stay warm until the big event was started.  Soon the drip cans were in the hands of the capable fire fighters and FM staff as they circled the block lighting the DRY piles of straw that had been strategically placed every few feet to expedite the burn. And then we watched and waited for the inferno.....actually is was more like we wanted to see if anything would even burn at all.  It finally did.....sort of.  Instead of retreating from the fire, however, the masses moved closer to embrace the heat.....And that's how the great Prairie Grass Burn of 2017 went.

     Just in case you missed it in the pictures.....you can see the temple in the background on some of them.  And that's Elder Lindeburg cooking hotdogs in between eating bags of chips.

One Last Thought......
     Last week is now another memory.  The General Conference and Priesthood addresses were of great worth as they always are.  No one ever said life on earth was heaven......so with a renewed vigor I will march into April looking forward to more chaos and progress....somehow they relate very well to each other here.  It is well worth the experience and I am grateful for it.