Lilies in the Mississippi

There are acres of lilies in the river. They are all white (the ones in Guyana were both white and pink) Lilies will not grow in water that is over 18 inches deep. The river here, is more like a lake. In the 1930s a dam was built at Keokuk to create a hydroelectric power plant. The backed up water has changed the river and Nauvoo. Much of the waterfront of old Nauvoo is now under water. This picture was taken by Elder Ogden. I admired it and he said he does what his wife tells him. They make a good team.

Old buildings - Iowa

 

This is typical of what we see. The stone first floor was built in the early 1800s, the brick second floor was added later.

Turtles

 

I was very surprised to notice turtles out in the river. This log only has three but some of the logs are so full, they are on top of each other. Now I know what it means when someone says, "Don't sit there like a bump on a log." They look like bumps.

geese

 

Here are two families of Canada geese. I have been watching them and had a tough time getting good photos of them. Usually I am in the car and we are whizzing by. The goslings have gained their adult coloring. Notice the lilies growing in the river.

Nauvoo Brass Band

 

 

There are 20 young musicians from BYU who serve a three month mission here in Nauvoo. They are very good and entertain the tourists about three times a day when they are not on stage for one of the shows. This day, their wagon was parked and they were playing. The kids were marching to the music and the little girl did not miss a chance to stamp in the mud puddle as often as she could.

4th of July

 

We had a pot luck picnic on the 4th of July. All of the temple missionaries were invited to come and bring food and visit behind one of the apartment buildings. There is a lot of green space and a lot of trees. We had a great time.

 

 

There are a bunch of log cabins up on Mulholland Street. They are for rent by the night or the week. They are a change-up from a motel or hotel. On the property is one log cabin that is a museum. It is so full of stuff, that I couldn't get any good pictures. The uniform is from the Nauvoo Legion. It is not Joseph Smith's uniform. There were thousands of members of the Nauvoo Legion. Every museum has a uniform. What makes this museum fun is the variety of stuff in there. All of the walls are full of picture frams with either pictures or documents of some sort. All of the documents are copies. There is no one tending the place, so they aren't worried about theft. It was fun to inch our way through it. If you come to Nauvoo and would like to stay in a log cabin, we'll find out the price and make a reservation for you if you wish.

Quincy, Illinois

 

These are two of the beautiful homes we drove by in Quincy. There are about 4 streets full of these gorgeous old homes.

Critters

 

Here are two red foxes crossing our back yard. There are many foxes, and it is fun to see them.

Sunday School

 

Here is a Canadian family visiting our Sunday School class. Three little kids have decided to nap on each other.

Amana

This last Thursday, July 14, we traveled to the Amana Colonies near Amana, Iowa, with Burt and Chris Wasson. Amana is the center of the colonies. There are seven of them. They were settled in the early 1850s by two groups of German people, who wished to live communally. If you are old enough, you will remember the brand name Amana on a refrigerator or stove. Their plant invented the first microwave oven, called the Radar Range. There is a big plant there now, making Whirlpool washers. We toured the colonies looking at the cute shops. There is everything there from leather, jewelry, antiques, art and FABRIC. We visited two quilt shops and I was a good girl and only held the party up for 20 minutes at each. We had lunch there and then drove home. It is a two and a half hour drive from Nauvoo. We enjoyed getting to know the Wassons. They served a site mission here about 18 months ago. Burt is a convert to the church. His father was on a plane on a business trip and happened to be sitting next to President Hinckley. Always the missionary, President Hinckley saw to it that missionaries visited their family. They were all baptized except his father. President Hinckley kept track of the family visiting them when he was near where they lived and inviting them to visit him in his office. They got their plum Nauvoo assignment because President Hinckley made it happen. They are delightful people. He worked for the forest service (President Hinckley got him into the forestry program at Utah State)We had a great day together.