Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018

Be prepared.....this might be alot of pictures !!

We needed to run to Keokuk after work one afternoon and (of course) it was dark when we were ready to head for home.  We had heard that Keokuk has an amazing light display in their town park and so we found it.  It was amazing!!  They have you drive through the park in a marked direction.  Here are a couple of pics.










Next, we have a very talented carpenter that works in the same shop as Jim and this is a nativity set that he made with a scroll saw and pieces of wood. He is very talented.  I love it !!


Jim was working at putting the fence back up at the John Taylor historic home after they had taken down two old trees and replaced them with new ones




Then, the next day, he was repairing a gate and a fence that surrounded the garbage cans and an air conditioning unit at the Coolidge historic home.  They don't like having the modern conveniences showing at the historic sites....LOL

Thursday evening we finished up all the quilts that were ready to be tied.  I brought one home and got it bound on Friday evening.



Saturday morning, several of us couples from FM went to Marty Steen's house and cleaned the yard.  He is the lead carpenter (hired employee).  Two weeks ago, they lost their little 18 month old grandson.  The entire family had the flu but this little guy got very sick and quit breathing.  They couldn't revive him and called 911 but by the time that they got help, he had been too long without oxygen and was declared brain dead at the hospital so some tough decisions had to be made.  We have all expressed our sympathy but felt that we could show our love by cleaning up the leaves, etc. in the yard.  It is really a big job out here where the leaves are about a foot deep...no exageration!!  We filled an entire trailer (borrowed from FM) with them.  Here are a few pictures of the crew...they are amazing people to work with !   Marty was very appreciative, as well.  I couldn't help but compare to our little Evan and his close call after his bout with the flu and felt very grateful for the Lord's hand of protection over him.







Last night, we put on round 2 of the" Light the Tree and Live Nativity".  These pictures show the tree and the nativity display in the Visitors Center.  Then, Jim had just got costumed as a wise man and they had put on the crazy beard with stuff that was "itchy" so I was giving him some lip balm to calm it all down. 



Today, we did our usual meetings in the Quincy 2nd ward which includes the nursery.  We will lose 9 of our 13 nursery children as they move on to Sunbeams in two weeks.  They have done alot of growing up and will sit for a quick lesson now....which was really a challenge when we first started !!





All in all, it has been a very rewarding experience and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve wherever the Lord wants us.   Being in Nauvoo has deepened our appreciation for those early saints who sacrificed so much to establish a beautiful place and then leave it behind as they moved to an unknown future in the West where they could worship without fear of mob actions  Our sacrifice seems to be very little in comparison.  We do miss our family but know that we are where we need to be at the right time of our lives.  Love you all !  Have a great week :-)






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