THE EVANS CLAN: May 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Touring the Joseph Smith's sites

Monday, our p-day group toured the Joseph Smith sites owned
by the Community of Christ. Lock MacKay was our private guide and gave us an amazing 3 hour tour. He is the director here for his church.

We could not take pictures in any of the homes except the Nauvoo House which is usually not on the tour. It is used now for youth groups and families to rent.

The Mursets, a new missionary couple outside the north side of the Nauvoo House. This was to be a 5 story building, and about the size of the Temple!!

In the dining area of the Nauvoo House

Emma's bedroom. This is where she died in 1879. This window looks out over the Mississippi.

Walking to the Homestead.

Our P-day group by the graveside of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum.

A Bicycle Ride

Decided to take a long bicycle ride the other day on the bike the Eickbushes gave me. I rode north of old Nauvoo along the river road clear to the end and back. I was mighty tired by the time I finally got home and my legs hurt the next day, but it was fun and a beautiful ride. You see a lot more of the world when you are on a bike as opposed to just being in a car.

The sky was so beautiful...the sun was coming through the clouds and making rays of sunlight

Brother and Sister Tufuaku's round house. They are building it themselves. I told you about them. They both work in the Temple. He is Tongan, and is in remission from cancer. She makes and plays harps and other musical instruments, and they both sing. They raised 14 children! Here is her blog if you want to read about them and their amazing house. http://irenetukuafu.blogspot.com/

Tomasi and Irene Tufuaku

A beautiful lake front home that I passed by.

Plowing up the corn field to get ready to plant again...probably soybeans this year, since they rotate those two crops a lot.

These beautiful flowers were just growing by the roadside!

By the time, I got back the sun was close to going down. It was a wonderful afternoon.

The Goslings are growing!

It is so fun to watch the little goslings all around Nauvoo. They were just hatched a few weeks ago. These first two pictures were taken the end of April, just when we return and they were small and yellow and fluffy. The mom and dad goose stay right with them until they are full grown and they follow in a line with the mom in front and the dad behind. They are very protective, so you don't want to get too close.

These two pictures were taken on May 24th, and you can see how much the goslings have grown! They are now brown and about 3x the size they were a few weeks ago.

These two pictures were taken last night, May 27th on Waters street by the river. I couldn't believe how many babies there were!! That mom and dad must have "adopted" some ...or kidnapped some :) Can you imagine trying to take care of this many! The parents were just keeping a watch while the babies were eating and eating....don't know quite what, but there are certainly a lot of bugs here for them to eat.

The Turtles are back!

While walking on the trail in the woods, the other day, I saw quite a few turtles out on the logs. Here are some pictures I took... as soon as they heard me, they all dove into the water :)

You have to look close to see them.

The next day, we saw a great big one out by the river. He is about a foot and a half long! I don't think the ones on the logs were that big!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Back in Nauvoo!

It's Summer in Nauvoo, even though it is only May and everything is so green and beautiful.

The Grandfather Oak tree...magnificent!

Another great old oak...but only about 1/4 the size of the "Grandfather Oak"!

David's chamber in the Summer!

The peonies at Sarah Granger Kimball's home are amazing!

Parley's Street looking back at the Temple....see the robin.

One of my favorite sites in Old Nauvoo: The Riser Boot Store.

More sunsets...I will never get tired of watching the sunsets over the Mississippi. They are gorgeous.

More pictures of trip home.

I know it has been almost a month since we returned to Nauvoo, but I wanted to post a few more pictures of our trip home and of our wonderful family. Thanks to all of them our trip home was such a treat. We love and miss you all!