Reminiscing

This time of year always brings my mind to the City of Joseph Pageant that was performed in Nauvoo for many, many years. I made so many friends there, gained a testimony of Christ there, and met my husband there. Guess I have good reason to love the place. :) We would go down to Nauvoo, IL and learn the dances and everything in less than a week, then perform for the next week. Let me also reminise over the weather in August in Nauvoo, hot, muggy, hot, hot and humid. I always stayed at what is now the Joseph Smith Academy. No air conditioning either. Cold showers and industrial fans were my friends.

Just before "rolling down" for the second half of the pose. This one always caused bruises.

like these...

1995Blast off! Somehow, I loved being thrown. Of course, I was lucky enough to always be caught on the other end. I loved the dramatic "oooh!" from the audience. :)

1996 The pyramids were always spectacular! Don't bother looking for Benson, he is surely in the back ready to catch the girls at the top, he had a reputation for never dropping a girl.

1996 My partner that year was awesome...

1996 But I sort of had a crush on this other guy. :) (can you find us?) We always had to sqeeze a large number of us into a small place to get our makeup done. It was a great time to bond.

1997 Sealed the deal for us. We got married a year later.

In 1999, we went back to perform in the pageant.

Even though there is a 1 foot height difference, we got to dance as partners.

We always thought we would go back someday to perform in the pageant with our own family, but 2004 was announced to be the last year of the City of Joseph Pageant. I understand there is a new "Nauvoo" pageant, but I will always remember the City of Joseph, and miss it this time of the year when we performed.