Thursday: The Pageant!

After seeing a few more sights in old-town Nauvoo we headed to the pageant. Two hours before the pageant starts they have pre-pageant pioneer games. These are a favorite of our family and we never miss them when we come to Nauvoo. It seems like the first place the boys head to is the stick pull. Something about "I'm stronger than you" or "My Dad's bigger than your Dad"--something like that.
Brig and Korbie... Mac & Korbie. Who do you think won?
Who do you think won THIS one?
Someday he'll throw his dad...
What was it I was saying about "my dad being stronger than your dad?"

Sabrina, Kristina and I always have to stop in and square dance. The live band is really good and they teach you how to dance right there on the spot. I danced their last song, "Cotton Eyed Joe" and it was so fast and long I thought I was going to faint!I'm not sure what Niki and Sam did, but they sure looked cute walking around...

Walking on stilts is always a favorite and Sterling and Kristina wanted to be sure that I got them on film!Another favorite boy-stop is log cutting. You can't push, you have to only pull...

It takes coordination...

And teamwork. I think Korbie got the hang of it with Brina's help.

Right before the pageant starts a parade bagpipe band plays and everyone who wants to can join in and march right to their seats. The pageant was wonderful this year and I don't think there was a dry eye in the audience. When we got back to the hotel we found out that sweet Kanon had passed away. Even though we had prepared ourselves for the news we were still shocked (How can you really be prepared for something like this?) and all of us had a rough night. It was hard to be on vacation when we knew our beloved family was having such a difficult time. The plans for the next day helped to calm our souls and remind us to have an eternal perspective--we arrived at the Nauvoo Temple at 8:00AM.