A Surprise Trip to Utah

We were so surprised when President Renouf, the Pageant president, called and asked us to fly to SLC for the core cast final auditions! We could hardly believe he was serious! We flew out Fri., the 22nd and came back to Nauvoo on Mon, the 25th. It was a wonderful trip.

We spent Friday from 5:00 pm - 12:00am at the auditions and evaluation meeting afterwards. They were held in the Bountiful Conference Center. Then on Saturday we were at the auditions from 9:00am until 8:00pm. It is quite an experience to witness the auditions and then to hear the evaluations afterwards. It is amazing to me what a spiritual experience the auditions are. We hear those who participate comment that it is one of the most spiritual eperiences they have had.

I am sure glad we don't have to make the final decisions! All but three of last year's core cast returned to audition again. There were approx. 200 people auditioning for 20 characters. Those who were at the final audition were very good actors and actresses. There were about 40 people at the final audition. It's going to be a great core cast regardless of who they select!

We were able to spend time Friday afternoon with Kristen, Brian, Tiffany and kids. On Sunday we had a nice family gathering. Rob, Janelle and family and Jeff, Maja and family came to Layton. Rob brought my dad with them. It was quite a reunion! We had a wonderful dinner prepared by Tiffany and Kristen. My how the grandkids have grown in the last 10 months. It won't be long before some of them will be as tall as I am! We have a wonderful family and appreciate how they support us.

We are so grateful for the opportunity we had to make the trip. It was nice to see that everyone is doing well. It was good to spend time with Pageant people. We were able to visit about some pageant business while there. Out here in Nauvoo there is one member of the pageant presidency. Other than that we are the only "Pageant" people here so it was nice to be surrounded by our Pageant friends and co-workers.

I have some fun pictures of the grandkids taken at our mini reunion. Hope you enjoy them!

Guess they're not all grandkids pictures!

Father & Daughter!

Brooke, Grandpa Hanks & Jocelyn

Ryan & Kaylee

Taryn & Ashlyn

Dylan, Nathan, Kyle & Garrett

Glenn & Kali

Corbin

Madi & Kaylee

Jessica & Taylor

Dylan and his guinea pig that he got for Christmas.

Nathan & Tanner

Madi, Corbin & Garrett

Great Grandfather Sylvanus Hulet

Dear Family,

I have been doing some research on my great grandfather, Sylvanus Cyrus Hulet, the father of Emma Wight Hanks. I found some interesting facts about him that I will share.

Sylvanus was born in Nelson, Portage, Ohio in 1826. In 1830, Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt came to his parent's home and taught them the gospel. After much study, Charles and Margaret Ann were baptized the following February, 1831. The family moved to Jackson County, MO where they were persecuted by the mobs. Later they moved to Far West and were again persecuted. They moved to Nauvoo where they lived until Dec. 1845. When Sylvanus was 10 years old, his father took him to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was also at the meeting when Brigham Young was chosen to take the place of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Sylvanus and his father helped to build the Nauvoo temple.

Sylvanus married Catherine Stoker in 1829 in Mt. Pisgah, IA. The went west with the James Pace Company. They settled in Sprinville, Ut. They later moved to southern Utah where Sylvanus became the first bishop if the Summit, UT ward. It was in Summit where Sylvanus married our great grandmother, Alice Elizabeth Dalley.

I found all of this very interesting and didn't know if any of my sisters had read this information.
I found it by Googling Sylvanus Cyrus Hulet and also his father, Charles Hulet. For more details you can go there yourselves and read.

Hope you find this as interesting as I did. It makes Nauvoo an even more special place for me knowing that some of my ancestors were living right here and walked the ground where I am walking myself.

An Invitation to the Nauvoo Pageant

For those of you who haven't already seen this invitation, I will post the link so you can see our invitation to the 2010 Nauvoo Pageant.

http://invite.nauvoopageant.net/2010/Invitations/links.htm

When it comes up, click on McMinn

Last Sunday we served in the Lyon Drug and Variety Store. The store is just across the street from our home. It was fun to look closely at all the items in the store. There is quite a variety of medicines and domestic goods. There is a beautiful herb garden to the side of the house. Well, beautiful in the summer!

Yesterday we went to Macomb, IL about 1 hr away, with E/S Thompson. We went specifically to see a quilt shop called Piece to Peace. We spent about an hour looking at all the quilt samples, fabrics and patterns. It was a small shop but had so much in it! We sent the men exploring in town so they wouldn't get too bored! They found The Old Dairy and had milkshakes! There was a quilt exhibit in a county museum with "antique" quilts. There was also a quilt show in another building that had contemporary quilts that were made by local quilters. There were some amazing quilts! It was a very fun day - a nice break from the office wori.

We heard the most tender story in our Preparation meeting. Sister Steadman related this: Elder Dove, a 24 year old Downs Syndrome young man, is serving a mission here in Nauvoo with his parents. Before winter came he worked with the grounds keepers watering plants, blowing leaves, etc. Sister Steadman was looking out at the Women's Garden from the second floor of the Visitors Center. She saw Elder Dove blowing leaves from around the statues. He was by the statue of Joseph and Emma. He stopped, put down the blower and put his arms around Joseph and gave him a hug. Then he went around to Emma and gave her a hug. Such a sweet expression of love and testimony. The missionaries all love Elder Dove. He is so genuine and innocent.