Thursday, August 11, 2016 – Horlachers, The Promise, Vocal Point, Pioneer Pastimes, Brick Yard, “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo,” Annie’s Frozen Custard.

This morning our old friends, Elder & Sis. Horlacher, brought their family to the Carthage Jail Visitor’s Center for a tour. They lived here in for several months earlier in the year. They have a daughter that married a man from Mexico and they have a grandson that returned from a mission to Mexico last week. I had a good time talking to both of them and refreshing my Spanish language skills. 

This afternoon Sis. Johnson & I along with Jacob & Wendy and their 6 kids all went to Nauvoo to watch “The Promise.”It is a show put on by the YPM’s (Young Performing Missionaries) about a love story between two fictional characters in old Nauvoo. The show is full of great songs and high energy dance routines. We had tickets for all ten of us for the 2:30 show in the visitor center’s west theater. Sis. Johnson & I saw “The Promise” last month (see Saturday, July 16, 2016) with Ruth & Adam Gurr and kids. Again today the show was great. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

A great thing happened when we got in line to enter the theater to watch “The Promise.” All of the singers in the “Vocal Point” BYU's premiere a cappella ensemble got in line behind us. They were eager to accommodate me as I asked them for a picture. They are a great group of young people. Their music is the best.

Next we were off to the Old Nauvoo Site called “Pioneer Pastimes.” Our grandkids had a lot of fun playing with the pioneer toys and games that children in old Nauvoo would have had and used.  Almost all of the games and toys are ingenious yet simple and easy to make. This historic site is the kind of place a family with young children could spend hours at and never get tired or bored, it’s that good. Our problem was the heat and humidity at 4:30pm.  The temperature was 92 degrees and the humidity was 75% which made the “Heat Index” (what it feels like) 105 degrees. All of us were soaked in sweat. The kids had a great time but grandma & grandpa, not so much!

Next we were off to the air conditioned comfort of the historic old Nauvoo “Brick Yard.”  And once again, we had a surprise for our grandkids. Like the Gurr kids in July, Sis. Johnson and I handmade personalized bricks with the name of our grandchild stamped into the brick before it was fired. The children were delighted to receive their own personal brick. Our tour guide was Elder Hutchinson and he read the name on the brick and handed it to each of the kids. After the tour was over 9 year old Catherine asked me, “How did he know our names?”  All of the kids love their souvenir brick from historic Nauvoo. 

Later in the evening Jacob, Wendy and children came to the Cultural Hall to watch Grandma & Grandpa perform in “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo.” And, even though we don’t have large and important parts in the show, we do have speaking parts. After the show our son and his wife said we did a very good job in our parts. We really enjoy singing and dancing in our two shows we participate in. 

Our last stop for the day was on our way home. We stopped at “Annie’s Frozen Custard Shop” in Nauvoo.  There’s nothing better on a hot humid night than a big bowl of ice cream with a variety of delicious toppings to choose from. Well, it was actually frozen custard that was even better than ice cream.  Mmmm Goood!