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 Fall in Nauvoo The lush green we've been blessed with has faded and the grass looks similar to what we have in Utah most of the time. The leaves haven't changed yet, but everything has lost its luster. Most of the corn fields have been harvested (with it a whole new level of allergies we hadn't experienced before!), and most of the soybean fields have been razed as well. The corn around here is feed corn, so they wait to harvest it until it is dry enough it doesn't rot in silage. We had some visitors last week. A couple in our ward at home, Holly and Chris Taylor, came through on a bus tour. We got to do a session with them one morning in the temple because it was a day we serve in the afternoon. Then Arline's brother Kelly and wife Deanna came for a few days and we got to do a session with them too. We enjoyed their visit. The only pictures we took with them didn't turn out because it was too dark. Songs of the Heart with half of the Young Performing Missionar...
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  OLD NAUVOO and CARTHAGE There are two groups of YPM--Young Performing Missionaries--every summer, each coming for about 3 months. Some have returned from full-time missions, some others will soon go out. The first group starts in April and leaves around pageant time, and the second group picks up and finishes out the summer. The second group will be leaving after Conference weekend. At first we didn't realize how much they did. They put on at least 4-5 shows most days, ending with "Sunset by the Mississippi" in the evening, an energetic song-and-dance show that includes tap dancing as well as involving little kids from the audience for part of it. We've seen it four times and have enjoyed it every time. Some of their shows only include part of the cast, some all of them. We see the missionaries often in the temple. It's amazing how active they are. Brad came to visit with three of his daughters. It was a whirlwind 1 1/2 days, but we're glad they made the eff...
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Keokuk to Nauvoo  (or Along River Road) The day we first drove to Nauvoo, Dave commented that we'd probably get very used to driving along River Road (that's our name for it--it sounds much more appealing than highway whatever-it-is). He was right. That path takes us into Keokuk for shopping, to Hamilton for our favorite Mexican restaurant, to church when the Fort Madison Bridge is closed, and to other towns like Carthage and Quincy. There's a dam across the river between Keokuk and Hamilton. The bridge for car traffic to cross the river isn't over the dam but several hundred yards downstream and is tall enough they don't have to shut down traffic for barges to pass under it like the one at Fort Madison. The dam generates some hydroelectricity, but not the massive amounts like they do at Glen Canyon Dam. Because they had to accommodate river traffic--mostly barges, but also the occasional river boat at certain seasons of the year--they put in a lock. Elder James Wal...
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Flora & Fauna We've enjoyed all the foliage here that is so unlike what we have at home. Along with the additional plants come more animals as well. Here are a few pictures of what we've enjoyed this summer. The flowerbed out our window that attracts butterflies and even the occasional hummingbird A street view of the same window and flowerbed. You can't really see the wonderful flowers from this angle, but they're there and gorgeous! This bush right outside our window when in full bloom was gorgeous. Although most of the blossoms are gone now, a few continue to surprise us and pop out once in a while. Close-up view of the bush across the street now. See all those funny looking streamers?  This is what the bush looked like a few months ago. It's a bottlebrush buckeye. Each apartment has a different flowerbox garden. There is so much variety around the area. There's an interesting tree across the big grassy field from us. We wondered if it had been blown down...
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