More Nauvoo Fun

In the second half of our second week in Nauvoo, we had some extra time since we were no longer rehearsing.  So on Wednesday we decided to take advantage of the warm weather, drive a couple of hours into Iowa, and do some water sports, namely waterskiing.  We wanted to go closer and ski on that large body of water we were right next to, namely the Mississippi River, but we couldn't find anyone that would rent us a boat and skis.  Apparently the Mississippi is a business river, not a recreation and fun river.

So we drove to Coralville Lake where we rented a boat and driver who took us out and did some wakeboarding and waterskiing.  We ended up only having about 2 hours to do it but it was fun and the kids had a good time.

Everyone who tried (Scott and the three oldest kids) got up except for Scott who got up for a few seconds but hurt his ankle and decided not to risk any further injury.

On Wednesday evening, some of our favorite people--David and his family showed up all the way from Louisiana!  It was really fun to see them.  We did some sightseeing with them, including going to Carthage.  I stepped out of the jail tour to take care of Max who really wasn't interested.  We also took care of the kids while David and Stephanie went to the temple.  They were able to see most of the two pageants although Max got a little too tired on the second night.  I appreciate them making the effort to come see us.

Scott and I went on the Trail of Hope early in the morning while everybody else slept.

I got up early to get tickets for a ride but made a mistake.  I thought I got tickets to the wagon ride but instead got tickets to the carriage ride, which was not in the same place.  Fortunately they barely had room for us on the wagon ride after we all squeezed on.

This was in Pioneer Pastimes.

Outside at Carthage, there was a man with a large cockatoo that he let Katie hold.  And Katie was brave enough to hold it!

The Kansans were also in Nauvoo that weekend with their stake youth conference.  We didn't get to see them much, but we hung out with Faith, Hope, and Abbie while the adults went to the temple. This is the oxen ride.

We enjoyed one last greasy lunch with them at the Nauvoo hamburger joint before they took off again for LA.

One of my favorite things about Nauvoo was meeting audience members and making connections with them.

On the last night of the pageant, our favorite elementary school teacher, Mrs. Siebach, was in the audience and came up to say hi.  She even claimed that she came because of my Facebook post about being in the pageant!  The next day, we went to the same branch in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on our way home, attending Sac. Mtg.  It was really fun to talk to her.  Also in that audience was a man who turned out to drive to work every morning with a friend of ours in Maryland.  Talk about random.
The first week, I talked to a man from Montana who farms alpacas with his daughter.  After talking to him for several minutes and him saying that his father used to work at BYU, Scott and I both suddenly realized that he looked just like Smith Broadbent who is in fact, his father.  I had been talking to my mother's first cousin, Nathan Broadbent, without even realizing it.

We also made connections in the cast.  Our DIL's parents have been friends with the man who played Brigham Young for a long time.  Also, the woman who played Emma Smith, is the first cousin of our sister-in-law.  It truly is a small world especially when you're a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.