Happy Pioneer Day!

Happy Pioneer Day everyone! I told them at work that we should be getting holiday pay today, but they didn't believe me :-) Here are some pictures of my last fun couple of days (you can click on them to make them bigger). There on the left is my second family: the Wesselmans. They are so nice, and I love them a lot! Next you'll see my kids--Abby and Bailey--and me. Tonight Bailey was asking his dad why I was going to move to Charleston, Illinois, and his dad was telling him that I'm going to go to school there. He was sad (as was I) but thought it would be fun if I come back to visit, which I surely will. The Wesselmans will be leaving for Florida on Saturday and won't return until after I leave, so we've been trying to enjoy our last bit of time together. Next we have a picture of me on the bridge at the Ratcliffe farm yesterday--isn't it pretty and green there?! And finally we have the cool old Ratcliffe Farms truck that Tim and I found out in the woods. Notice the bullet holes in the windshield! :-) Probably from hunting season. Don't you think that the truck looks kind of like the tow truck on the movie "Cars"?

Today was a really fun day. We have another new employee at the park. Her name is Donna, and she is really, really nice. She is working on her master's degree at Alcorn State University, and we had a good time today chatting about her family, her grandkids, and life in general. It will be fun to get to know her better over the next couple of weeks. I was trying to explain to everyone at work what Pioneer Day is, and they thought that it sounded like a fun holiday. Sharon said, "Sometime I need to have you tell me more about Mormonism." So today when it was just the two of us in the visitor center, I was giving her the scoop on what Mormonism is. We started at the beginning, and were in the middle of the First Vision when this loud group of people came into the VC--talk about bad timing! But we were able to resume our conversation after they left. She thought that it sounds like a pretty cool religion. She thought it was especially neat that we believe that people get to be with their families and friends after they die. She said that she hopes to eat cheesecake in heaven with me someday. :-)

Then this afternoon we had Abby Wesselman's big 13th birthday party! First we went bowling, which was super fun. It was Brother and Sister Wesselman, Abby, Bailey, Bishop and Sister Breland, Sister McClure, and me. I beat Bishop Breland in one game, but he beat me in the next two. I was going to show off my mad bowling skills, but I just didn't quite have my A-game on this evening. Then we went to the Wesselman's house and had chicken pot pie--made from the Mammy's Cupboard recipe! We also had some tasty birthday cake that Sister McClure made. Abby loves horses (a girl after my own heart), and so the birthday cake had this cool horse on it. We had a really fun evening together!

Today is my Friday night (even thought it's only Tuesday), so for my days off I will be going up to Vicksburg. Matt and Angie left on their trip today, so I'll go take care of the kitties and do some sightseeing. Tomorrow I'm planning to hang out in Vicksburg, visit the National Park there, visit the Old Courthouse Museum, and do some skulking around downtown. Then on Thursday I will be driving up to Greenville, Mississippi, so that I can experience the Mississippi Delta. There are supposedly some fun places to see up that way, so I am looking forward to it.