041016

Well, the Tulips are getting ready to end here.  They don't last long and we had a night that the temp got down to 25 so they were damaged pretty heavily.   for the most part, they look pretty good, for now.

On the South side is a little patch, near the entry from the parking garage, that has this great display of mostly yellow Tulips for our observation.  just as pretty as can be.  For some reason, this little patch escaped the freeze.

Quite a bed of red Tulips but not the traditional ones.  

Some of the variety behind the entry sign.

Right in front of the temple steps.

The garden area in back

The center tree is just starting to bud

Lots of color

We also got to bid a fond farewell to the Williams, on the left, and the Allreds, on the right.  Sister Simons was officiating last Monday as we had a BBQ and said goodbye to these two couples as they finish their one year missions in Nauvoo as Winter Missionaries.  Brother Allred is an accomplish musician and played the violin for us for request for quite a while for his going away gift to us.  A few tears were shed as we all have known these four for quite a while.  The Simons will be leaving in August as the next set of missionaries to go.  We will be welcoming the new summer missionaries the end of April as we prepare for the summer activities and new faces on staff.  So much to get ready for!

040416

We decided to take off for Peoria, Il and do a little site seeing for the day after Arlene had some dental work done.  We visited Costco and bought some of the items we were out of.

On the way up in the morning, we drove passed, on the Iowa side, the Nauvoo temple and took a shot from the other side of the Mississippi.  This would have been what the Saints saw as they headed West in 1846 when they abandoned Nauvoo and were driven out of the town.  Well, except for that ugly water tower.  That wasn't there then.

The trip there is pretty flat.

The grass is just starting to grow and it's starting to look a lot like spring most everywhere we look.

Not too far from the Nauvoo Visitor's Center are a few protected burial mounds that have been left by indigenous North American tribesmen.  We have been meaning to visit the site but were waiting for better weather.  I guess that is now.  some say there is no evidence of these people having ever lived here in the North American continent but these kinds of areas apparently dot the mid-West.  It's just that they are owned by private land owners who don't have the funds to excavate and explore these ancient mounds. 

This explains all that you would want to know, for now.  Note that it's an Eagle project.

This is just one of many in this area.

There are several in this area, about 10 and there are several of these in the surrounding areas..

Protected, of course.

Ancient Mounds Cemetery

We haven't been able to see any of the other ones but this one is very close to us.  

040316

Catching up a bit...

Remember my last entry and the prairie grass burn?  Well, here is what it looks like the day after.

Taken from the opposite corner in a South West direction.

It'll look like this for a month or so till the grass starts to grow back again.

This "Tulip Tree" is a couple hundred feet from our apartment.  They are really pretty this time of year as they blossom and show their spring colors.

This is the Riser Boot Shop.  This missionary was demonstrating how they made boots for those living in Nauvoo in the 1840s.  Riser believed that if you made a great boot a bit better then people would buy them more.  He made a boot/shoe that you could wear on either foot.  Apparently, he was pretty successful.

Some of the necessary tools of the trade.

So, the price of a pair of shoes was not too ridiculous, was it?  Consider that to build the temple was in the neighborhood of a million dollars, you can appreciate how expensive that was at the time.

We also decided to go on a wagon ride that day because...

...Sister Joines (one of our Sunday ride alongs to Burlington Ward) was narrating the ride that morning...it was 45 degrees and the wind was blowing 20 MPH with gusts up to 30 MPH.  Even with blankets and double coats it was colder than a witches....

This is what Nauvoo looked like before they drained the swamps and cleared the land.  Inviting, no?  Note the little geese in the picture.  Nope, I can't spell that correctly...

Cold day on temple hill as we head back to the barn and end of the ride.

So, this was conference weekend.  We had Sisters Joines and Webb over for dinner between conference sessions and sat and watched the Sunday sessions the rest of the time.  They are truly delightful site missionaries and we enjoy their companionship on the Sunday drives up to Burlington Ward for our assignment there.

Sister Seger, Sister Webb, and Sister Joines.  I'm taking the picture, of course.  This is the kitchen/dinning room in our apartment.  The laundry room is the louvered door behind the two Sister missionaries and I am standing in the living room.  The rest of the kitchen is just to the left of Arlene.  Cozy, huh?

We got our schedule for the summer missionaries today.  All 30+ of them due to arrive April 29/30th and then the fun begins.  Training and so much else to get them up to speed.  We will actually be doing training while the temple is in session.  Now, that is going to be fun and exciting!

We have a new engineer starting the end of April.  They haven't announced him yet but he's a local and, apparently, he has told everyone that he got the job.  That ought to be pretty interesting when he shows up for work.  He starts after one week into shutdown.  Hmmmm...that's going to be tough.  We have so much to do and he's starting out at a disadvantage already...well, it does not matter to me.  We have less than 7 months left and we will be heading home.  So, Harold, it is what it is....