This has been a great weekend; in fact it has been SUPER! It all began on Thursday when Greg and I celebrated his birthday with presents and eating out, since we were going to be otherwise occupied on Saturday, his real birthday. So Thursday was a fun day, and then on Saturday we got up bright and early and headed to Nauvoo where I gave a presentation about the history of tourism in Nauvoo at the Untold Nauvoo Stories Symposium.
As you can see, it was kind of a gray, misty, rainy, foggy day. It was really neat to be in Nauvoo on February 4, since it was February 4, 1846, when the pioneers left Nauvoo on their exodus to the Utah. February 4, 2012 was much warmer than it was in 1846 when the pioneers crossed the FROZEN Mississippi River! They wouldn't have made it very far on the ice yesterday, since there was no ice. I enjoyed reflecting back on a day when the river was nearly frozen over, February 4, 2003, when I was in Nauvoo for the semester with BYU Travel Study. That morning we attended a special ceremony at the river commemorating the pioneers' exodus from the city. I had on my warm hat, my down coat, and numerous layers of clothes, but I was still SO COLD. I couldn't imagine having to endure those kinds of temperatures, not knowing when you would ever be warm again.
So yesterday we reflected on the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors and thought about that momentous day in 1846 when the Saints had to leave their beautiful city that they had worked so hard to build. As always, the temple looked beautiful from Parley Street, especially with all of the mist in the air. This was the last view the pioneers had of the temple before they crossed the river. One of my favorite quotes from that day is by Wilford Woodruff who said, "I looked upon the Temple and City of Nauvoo as I retired from it and felt to ask the Lord to preserve it as a monument of the sacrifice of His saints."
The river looked really pretty with the fog hanging over it. The fog was so dense to our south that you couldn't see very far down the river. Even though the frozen river in 1846 meant that the temperatures were unbearably cold, at least the ice allowed the pioneers to cross the river. I think it would have been pretty hard to get everyone across the river, with all of the covered wagons, on a day like yesterday . . . and then they would have had a big mud problem as well. But I just can't imagine how cold they must have been. I am grateful for their courage!
Greg and I spotted a beautiful bald eagle out in the middle of the river. He was SO PRETTY!!
After watching us watch him for a few minutes, he took off, flew down river a bit . . .
. . . and landed back at his nest! If you look down by his feet, you can see Mom Bald Eagle sitting on the eggs. It was so cool to watch them! But I think they were both glad when we left. After our eagle watching, we went to the symposium, which went well. It was especially fun because our friends the Andreasens were there--Bishop Andreasen was giving a presentation as well. After my presentation about the history of Nauvoo's tourism industry, a lady in the back of the room raised her hand. She said, "A few of us who work at local businesses here have a joke that goes like this: Mormons bring two things with them when they come to Nauvoo--ten dollar bills and the ten commandments. And they won't break either one of them!" Ha. That made everyone laugh :-)
The temple looked really pretty with the lights on that evening! Greg and I had a wonderful day there.
Then today after church we continued the celebrations with our Super Bowl party! Our tasty snacks included Thai shrimp spring rolls, jalapeno poppers, and two varieties of lil smokie pigs in a blanket. Everything was really delicious. We have many leftovers.
We also had Greg's birthday/Super Bowl cake! It is a little tricky to make his cake of choice, German chocolate, look like a football, but we managed to do it. To top things off, the Super Bowl was very exciting. I think you could say that we have had a super weekend!
This has been a great weekend; in fact it has been SUPER! It all began on Thursday when Greg and I celebrated his birthday with presents and eating out, since we were going to be otherwise occupied on Saturday, his real birthday. So Thursday was a fun day, and then on Saturday we got up bright and early and headed to Nauvoo where I gave a presentation about the history of tourism in Nauvoo at the Untold Nauvoo Stories Symposium.
As you can see, it was kind of a gray, misty, rainy, foggy day. It was really neat to be in Nauvoo on February 4, since it was February 4, 1846, when the pioneers left Nauvoo on their exodus to the Utah. February 4, 2012 was much warmer than it was in 1846 when the pioneers crossed the FROZEN Mississippi River! They wouldn't have made it very far on the ice yesterday, since there was no ice. I enjoyed reflecting back on a day when the river was nearly frozen over, February 4, 2003, when I was in Nauvoo for the semester with BYU Travel Study. That morning we attended a special ceremony at the river commemorating the pioneers' exodus from the city. I had on my warm hat, my down coat, and numerous layers of clothes, but I was still SO COLD. I couldn't imagine having to endure those kinds of temperatures, not knowing when you would ever be warm again.
So yesterday we reflected on the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors and thought about that momentous day in 1846 when the Saints had to leave their beautiful city that they had worked so hard to build. As always, the temple looked beautiful from Parley Street, especially with all of the mist in the air. This was the last view the pioneers had of the temple before they crossed the river. One of my favorite quotes from that day is by Wilford Woodruff who said, "I looked upon the Temple and City of Nauvoo as I retired from it and felt to ask the Lord to preserve it as a monument of the sacrifice of His saints."
The river looked really pretty with the fog hanging over it. The fog was so dense to our south that you couldn't see very far down the river. Even though the frozen river in 1846 meant that the temperatures were unbearably cold, at least the ice allowed the pioneers to cross the river. I think it would have been pretty hard to get everyone across the river, with all of the covered wagons, on a day like yesterday . . . and then they would have had a big mud problem as well. But I just can't imagine how cold they must have been. I am grateful for their courage!
Greg and I spotted a beautiful bald eagle out in the middle of the river. He was SO PRETTY!!
After watching us watch him for a few minutes, he took off, flew down river a bit . . .
. . . and landed back at his nest! If you look down by his feet, you can see Mom Bald Eagle sitting on the eggs. It was so cool to watch them! But I think they were both glad when we left. After our eagle watching, we went to the symposium, which went well. It was especially fun because our friends the Andreasens were there--Bishop Andreasen was giving a presentation as well. After my presentation about the history of Nauvoo's tourism industry, a lady in the back of the room raised her hand. She said, "A few of us who work at local businesses here have a joke that goes like this: Mormons bring two things with them when they come to Nauvoo--ten dollar bills and the ten commandments. And they won't break either one of them!" Ha. That made everyone laugh :-)
The temple looked really pretty with the lights on that evening! Greg and I had a wonderful day there.
Then today after church we continued the celebrations with our Super Bowl party! Our tasty snacks included Thai shrimp spring rolls, jalapeno poppers, and two varieties of lil smokie pigs in a blanket. Everything was really delicious. We have many leftovers.
We also had Greg's birthday/Super Bowl cake! It is a little tricky to make his cake of choice, German chocolate, look like a football, but we managed to do it. To top things off, the Super Bowl was very exciting. I think you could say that we have had a super weekend!
5 comments:
I remember being there with you in 2003! I still remember how miserable I was and all I wanted to do was go home and get in a warm shower. I can't imagine being that close to home, and knowing they just had to keep going the other way.
What a great weekend you had! Your pictures also reminded me of us all being there together on Feb. 4th almost 10 years ago - can you believe it's been that long?!
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a lovely, fun weekend! how neat to be there in Nauvoo on the 4th. Happy Birthday, Greg!
Fun pictures from a fun weekend! You're lucky you can just run up to Nauvoo when you want. (I can't believe it's been nine years since you were there in Nauvoo for the semester. Nine years since Dad and I went to visit you there.)I love the misty picture of the Nauvoo Temple, also the one at night, also the bald eagle pictures. Remember when you stayed in the room with the eagle view at the bed and breakfast in Keokuk? You didn't see eagles like that there! Those look like really yummy super bowl snacks and a delicious birthday cake for Greg. Happy Birthday to Greg!Thanks for posting the fun pictures, Tiff!
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