My husband and I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary. With a little help from my friends, I was able to plan a fun surprise for him! Disclaimer: As of September 2023, I am a promotional partner of The Nauvoo Grand Bed & Breakfast This means I promote their business for compensation such as discounts and …
It was just another typical summer morning. Make breakfast. Get dressed. Take the kids to the park. Put the baby down for a nap. Get my morning workout in. But then, the sky turned green. We hid in our basement closet and waited for the storm to stop. When it was over, we went outside …
Facing Destruction with Remarkable Bravery and Faith Read More »
In honor of Pioneer Day (July 24, 1847) when the first company of pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, I’d like to take you on a “walk” through the Nauvoo Pageant. Experience the Magic Before it even begins, you’re in love. On your way to pageant, you pass the Mississippi River. Wait, look! The …
Sunsets, Music, And Dancing: The Magic Of Summer In Nauvoo Read More »
The Camp of the Poor Travel back with me 176 years. The year was 1846. The October morning was cold and biting. Imagine over 600 people camped out right here on this riverbank. They were sick and shivering. They didn’t even have blankets. Food was scarce. They were starving. This group of Saints included the …
Riverside Service Honors ‘Miracle of the Quails’ Read More »
Nauvoo is a magical place in the summer. Suddenly, the main street is crowded. The pioneer village wakes up, stretches its limbs, and begins to dance. Costumed pioneers wave. An orchestra plays. Wagons packed with tourists lumber past. You can almost see it: the ghosts of the past awaken and you capture a glimpse of …
Last weekend my family participated in what’s called the Nauvoo Exodus Commemoration. Hundreds of people met on this freezing Saturday morning to remember something remarkable—beginning in February 1846 thousands of Latter-day Saints began their journey west in search of religious freedom. At the event we all wore name tags honoring our ancestors whose footsteps led …
Fifteen-year-old Eliza stood at the well near her home in Nauvoo. As she drew water, a canon ball struck her chimney.1 She was living in a battlefield. The Battle of Nauvoo lasted less than a week. Helplessly outnumbered, the remaining Saints, including Eliza and her family, fled to the banks of the Mississippi. Circumstances were …
This week I learned about an early Latter-day Saint named Theodore Turley. It turns out we are distantly related! In his autobiography he wrote, “I came to Nauvoo with Joseph Smith the Prophet and built the first house that was built by a Mormon in Nauvoo.”1 I was intrigued by the phrase “first house” because …
The other day I had a peculiar experience. I saw a caterpillar climbing a single strand of silk high up into the trees. Because the silk strand was nearly invisible, at first it looked as if he was floating, frozen in mid-air. Upon closer examination I could see how the little guy was using his …
As I stood on the banks of the Mississippi I was humbled and inspired by the thought of the early Saints. In just seven years they transformed Nauvoo from an empty swamp into a developed and populated city, even rivaling Chicago.1 Then, in a mass exodus, they made their way westward, carving the “Mormon trail” …
