I saw this quote on a girls t-shirt and heartily agreed.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself......and spiders!"
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Nauvoo Pageant
We've been in Iowa for 3 years now and we FINALLY made it to the Nauvoo Pageant. We drove down late yesterday afternoon and managed to do some Temple work and see the pageant. We had a lot of fun, but we were dead tired when we got home at 12:30 am this morning.
There were many activities for everyone to do before the show started. There was stickball, tug-of-war, relay and sack races, handcart pull, graces and hoops, horseshoes, log saw and branding, stick pull, stilt walking, stick and hoop, dancing, and games (like checkers).
As the sun was setting over the Mississippi, we decided that we needed to go get in our seats for the show. According to the Nauvoo Neighbor (the program for the pageant that looks like the old Nauvoo Neighbor newspaper) the production features a cast of 20 performers who deliver their lines on live microphones, and a volunteer family cast of 150 playing ensemble roles. The pageant depicts the settling of Nauvoo in the mid-1800s; commemorates the building of the original Nauvoo Temple; and celebrates the themes of faith, family, and community.
The stage was magnificent and the actors superb. They did such an amazing job with reenacting what took place in Navuoo over 150 years ago. It was a very touching and wonderful experience. I encourage everyone to go see the show.
The best part was at the very end. Over the loud speaker there was a voice recording of President Gordon B. Hinckley that tied in perfectly with the pageant finale.
"Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph’s temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley, facing east to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo, stands Brigham’s temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake." Gordon B. Hinckley, “‘O That I Were an Angel, and Could Have the Wish of Mine Heart’,” Ensign, Nov 2002
Gordon B. Hinckley picture courtesty of google images: http://www.ksl.com/emedia/slc/1/143/14399.jpg
Salt Lake Temple picture courtesy of google images: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/images/utah/salt-lake-temple/resized/salt-lake-city-salt-lake-temple-wc-gfdl.jpg
Navuoo Temple picture courtesy of google images: http://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/images/d/da/Nauvoo_Temple.jpg
There were many activities for everyone to do before the show started. There was stickball, tug-of-war, relay and sack races, handcart pull, graces and hoops, horseshoes, log saw and branding, stick pull, stilt walking, stick and hoop, dancing, and games (like checkers).
The best part of the festivities...watching these guys playing the bagpipes. They were amazing.
As the sun was setting over the Mississippi, we decided that we needed to go get in our seats for the show. According to the Nauvoo Neighbor (the program for the pageant that looks like the old Nauvoo Neighbor newspaper) the production features a cast of 20 performers who deliver their lines on live microphones, and a volunteer family cast of 150 playing ensemble roles. The pageant depicts the settling of Nauvoo in the mid-1800s; commemorates the building of the original Nauvoo Temple; and celebrates the themes of faith, family, and community.
The stage was magnificent and the actors superb. They did such an amazing job with reenacting what took place in Navuoo over 150 years ago. It was a very touching and wonderful experience. I encourage everyone to go see the show.
The best part was at the very end. Over the loud speaker there was a voice recording of President Gordon B. Hinckley that tied in perfectly with the pageant finale.
"Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph’s temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley, facing east to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo, stands Brigham’s temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake." Gordon B. Hinckley, “‘O That I Were an Angel, and Could Have the Wish of Mine Heart’,” Ensign, Nov 2002
Gordon B. Hinckley picture courtesty of google images: http://www.ksl.com/emedia/slc/1/143/14399.jpg
Salt Lake Temple picture courtesy of google images: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/images/utah/salt-lake-temple/resized/salt-lake-city-salt-lake-temple-wc-gfdl.jpg
Navuoo Temple picture courtesy of google images: http://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/images/d/da/Nauvoo_Temple.jpg
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Our Place
I was thinking the other day that there are only two members of our families that have seen our condo: a cousin and my brother's family. So I decided to post some pictures for everyone (mainly our Mom's) to see.
This is the twelve-plex we live in. Our condo is on the bottom right corner with the two bird feeders.
The entry way.
The kitchen.
The family room.
We call our spare room "the office."
The bathroom.
This is our bedroom. It gets FREEZING in the winter because two of the four walls are outside walls. Plus, our room doesn't get much sun because it faces North...which is great in the summer.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Nathan and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie last week with a couple of friends. Did I like the movie? Well I have mixed emotions about it. It was entertaining and had some funny moments, but they left out SO MUCH. I was curious to see what others felt about the movie. So if you get a chance...please comment.Picture courtesy of: http://www.cectheatres.com/assets/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince_potter-_poster2.jpg
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Some of My Favorite Things
Rachel here (as usual). I don't know why, but I LOVE animals. I often wonder why I didn't pursue Zoology for a degree. I think my dream career would be to work with wild animals on a daily basis (preferably big cats). Who knows, maybe I'll go back to school and pursue that dream.
Anyways, I was feeling a little down this morning and was watching the birds outside my sliding window and couldn't help but enjoy their beauty and grace. I also got some good laughs out of my cat, Kronk, who no doubt, was not admiring the birds the same way I was.
As I sat there watching these yellow finches feed, I kept having this little voice saying "Rachel, go for a walk...and take your camera." After a couple of nudges I finally decided to follow the promptings. So I grabbed the camera, snuck out of the house trying not to wake Nathan who was still sleeping, and went on a nature walk. I decided to walk down to these two ponds that our association has and go do some more bird watching. Not only are there tons of chirping birds hanging around the ponds, but there are usually a couple dozen ducks that linger around. And sure enough, there were the ducks just waiting for me.
My favorite part of my walk was when I noticed a female duck with her seven little ducklings. It was so touching to see how they moved and how protective the mother duck was of her little ones. I sat there for about ten minutes watching nature at it's best and felt a warm, calming feeling. No doubt it was the spirit confirming to me that Heavenly Father did indeed create this earth, and that he has a plan for everyone living here...including me.
Ironically enough, when the mother duck and her ducklings were far enough away, my camera battery died. The Lord works in mysterious ways don't you think? So the moral of the story: Follow the promptings of the spirit.
Anyways, I was feeling a little down this morning and was watching the birds outside my sliding window and couldn't help but enjoy their beauty and grace. I also got some good laughs out of my cat, Kronk, who no doubt, was not admiring the birds the same way I was.
As I sat there watching these yellow finches feed, I kept having this little voice saying "Rachel, go for a walk...and take your camera." After a couple of nudges I finally decided to follow the promptings. So I grabbed the camera, snuck out of the house trying not to wake Nathan who was still sleeping, and went on a nature walk. I decided to walk down to these two ponds that our association has and go do some more bird watching. Not only are there tons of chirping birds hanging around the ponds, but there are usually a couple dozen ducks that linger around. And sure enough, there were the ducks just waiting for me.
My favorite part of my walk was when I noticed a female duck with her seven little ducklings. It was so touching to see how they moved and how protective the mother duck was of her little ones. I sat there for about ten minutes watching nature at it's best and felt a warm, calming feeling. No doubt it was the spirit confirming to me that Heavenly Father did indeed create this earth, and that he has a plan for everyone living here...including me.
Ironically enough, when the mother duck and her ducklings were far enough away, my camera battery died. The Lord works in mysterious ways don't you think? So the moral of the story: Follow the promptings of the spirit.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
4th of July
Independence Day!
For 4th of July we went up to Cedar Rapids (actually...Robbins, IA) to my brother's sister in-law's house, the Stricklands. My brother and his wife were in town visiting and the Stricklands were kind enough to invite and include us in their festivities.
We had TONS of food and played The Amazing Race. Angela (my brother's wife) and her sister Jeanna made up an amazing race game for us to all play that was pretty challenging. I couldn't take pictures of all the tasks because I was doing a lot of them, but here are some pictures of how it went.Drawing of the teams.
The first task was to carve a replica of the Statue of Liberty out of spam, or drink 8 oz. of water from a baby bottle. Well...the spam smelled awful, and drinking out of a bottle is a lot harder than it looks.
Just one question though: do these spam carvings resemble the Statue of Liberty picture below? I don't think so...but the judges apparently did.
One of the tasks was to name the original 13 colonies. That one took all the teams a while. We kept forgetting the colony of New Jersey. The final task was to identify about 20 of the flags from various states in the U.S. This also was a challenge. It's amazing how much we don't know about our country.
So...who won the Amazing Race? My team! Thanks to the help of Eric my brother, and his little girl Olivia.
After the game we played a little frisbee with the kids and the dog, ate dinner, and got ready for the fireworks.
Here is a picture of Anna, Ian, Cameron, and Olivia getting ready for the fireworks. They were really excited about their hats and head bands. FYI: Olivia and Ian are my niece and nephew. 
On Monday July 6th, Eric, Angela, Olivia, and Ian wanted to come see where Nathan and I live. We ate pizza at our place, showed them what Iowa City has to offer, and then we went to Heyn's ice cream for our dessert. Ian was really excited about his Bubble gum flavored ice cream.
It was really nice to see Eric and Angela and the kids, and to have family over at our place. Thanks guys for taking the time to come see us.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Adam-ondi-Ahman
Our second stop on our way back up to Iowa was Adam-ondi-Ahman. Adam-ondi-Ahman is another church history site in which Joseph Smith spent time exploring and surveying for an intended city. It is particularly interesting because the Prophet Joseph received revelations that this was a place where Adam once dwelt (for more info, see D&C 107:53-57 or D&C 116:1). It is a beautiful place that has been kept so by a dedicated band of couple missionaries whose responsibility is to keep it beautiful. We enjoyed a nice visit with one or two of these individuals and learned a lot about the area. 
The valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. The farmers have planted corn and soybeans for this year. Next year it will be wheat (at least that's what we were told).
One of the missionaries we talked to recommended that we should try and come back in the fall. I bet the valley and trees are just gorgeous with the color changes in the leaves.
Here is Nathan sitting a very large rock. 
My dad loves church history. So while I was walking around I pulled out my cell phone and called him. Here is how the conversation went:
Nile: "Hey Rachel." Rachel: "Hey Dad."
Nile: "So...are you on your lunch hour?"
Rachel: "Uh...no. I'm actually not working today. You'll never guess where I am."
Nile: "Well...where are you?" Rachel: "Adam-ondi-Ahman."
Nile: "Oh (with a little chuckle). What are you doing there?"
Rachel: "We took a quick get-a-way trip to see some church history sites." Nile: "Well...make sure you pick up a good sized rock. Who knows...it might be a rock that Adam once used when he made an altar."
Well...I picked up 2 rocks. One for me, and one to mail my dad. I thought it was funny.
That finishes our Missouri trip. I guess I should start blogging the 4th of July now.
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