Nephites in the Heartland of USA - Part 1

This summer we were fortunate to take an amazing trip with Rod Meldrum to the heartland of America, meaning the middle of the United States of America - not mesoamerica!  We flew into Columbus, Ohio and started our tour there.  We flew home a week later from St. Louis, Missouri.  Here are some of the photos of what we saw and experienced. I will post photos in groups (by the day) for what we saw:

 The picture above is of an ancient indian throwing what is called Atl-atl.  The writing is a little blurry, but it is a spear or arrow about 5' long. At the end of the spear is a hole where a wooden point off the 2nd paddel he is holding is inserted. With a whip action of the wrist one can launch it about 300 yards with perfect accuracy! They added weights to it allow further force.  These are deadly.  I got to practice throwing one for about 20 minutes - I loved it.  I got better each time!

 We went to Flint Ridge. This is the area where most the of the indians got their Flint for their arrowheads. When you put heat to it they turned beautiful colors. Here is a photo of one of the arrows that a man was able to replicate. Beautiful!

 The above photo is of a survey that Squires and Davis did back in mid 1800's of all the mounds they found throughout Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, etc... and mapped each one. Today most of them are missing.  We got to see the Circle on the bottom right and the circle and square on the upper left.  This distance between the two circles is about 6 miles.  A subdivision and city sits in the middle of this now.  The circle and square (called the Great Octagon) in the upper left has a golf course through it all - so that is how it is being preserved.  These type of mounds are considered religious. In fact more like Temple grounds.  The designs were mounds of dirt 3 times taller than man and were massive!

 Here we are walking on the top of the ring of the circle. You can see the embankments on each side.

 Here we are standing on one of the shapes.  This is where they feel the Bountiful Temple could have been. You can really sense a strong spirit there.

 Here is where the University of  Cincinnati took the great octagon and mapped it with the moon. They knew astronomical alignments, etc...

Here are some religious artifacts found at the religious mounds. The stone in the middle is called the Decalogue Stone. It has block Hebrew around the outer edge on the back. It translates to the 10 Commandments. It was found in the case (on either side of it) in perfect condition.  The front left stone is a "key stone" they found. Once again writing on each side was in Hebrew and translates to :The Holy of Holies", "King of the Earth", "The Word of the Lord", and "The Laws of Jehovah".  These stones date back to 100 - 400 AD.

Naval Special Warfare - BUDS (Seals)

While in San Diego earlier this month, I had a awesome privilege of touring the Navy Seal Base!  Growing up in the military, reading "No Easy Day", and just loving all that our military does for our country and "me", it was so cool to be there.  Some of you will just have to take my word for it, it was GREAT!

 This was our itinery for the U.S. Navy SEALs visit.  SEALs stand for Sea, Air, Land.

 The bus dropped us off in front of this building. As we walked inside it had a small lobby which we walked through to inner open compound.  You can see below the frog footprint. That is where each soldier stands in formation.  The blue table you see across the compound had lots of weaponry on it. At the end of the tour we ended up at that table and because we all had undergone extensive background checks to just be on this tour, anyone who wanted to could hold up these weapons and have a picture of them taken (with their own camera).  The guys in the love all did this!!!  Macho men???

They had just completed class 300 with hell week.  That was the weeding out process of who was going to become a SEAL.  All the guys were sleeping (they had been kept up pretty much from Sunday to Friday am).

 Every graduating class presents a trophy or plaque of some kind to the school. The frogman above was from class 63 (not year 1963).  They apparently got it from Hollywood, it was used in a film! It has now become a symbol of the SEALs.

 We were taken into a big instruction room and given an overview of what the SEALs do. What kind of missions they do, where are they based, how does one get in, etc....  This is the final slide that shows the general command of what each area covers.  It didn't turn out real great, but you can see - there are lots of divisions.

 As a soldier goes through BUDs (Basic Underwater Demolition) and their SEAL program, if at any time they want to quit, the soldier goes to a bell and rings it and then takes off his green helmet and places it along the side of the compound.  This is just some of the ones that quit in class 300.  There is no shame in quitting, they just get reassigned to somewhere else within the Navy.  If an enlisted man quits, he has two years to reapply and try again (but competition is really stiff).  If an officer quits, he gets no further chance at being a SEAL.

 This is inside one of the classrooms where they receive knowledge and training on diving and other instruction.

As we were leaving, I turned around and looked up.  This amazing plaque (from class 243) was above the door.  I think this could be applied to each and every one of us.  I have applied that concept in my life (probably grilled into me by my Air Force dad) but the words made it crystal clear!

US Grant Hotel in San Diego, CA

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to go to the National School Board Conference that was held in San Diego, CA.  Curtis was able to go with me.  While I was in meetings, he went on adventures by himself.

We stayed in the US Grant Hotel for 4 days. 

 This is the front of the US Grant Hotel. It has a long history that is amazing to read. I put a link you can click on about it here:  http://www.usgrant.net/history

 This is the lobby inside. It was so beautiful.  4 years ago when I came to San Diego for another school conference, I was able to eat in their restaurant (paid by someone else!).  It is extremely expensive - small amounts of food that is like artwork on the plate!

This is what our room looked like. The beds were very comfortable.  We had a frig and microwave to make oatmeal, etc... for breakfast and keep yogurt in.  It took 3 microwaves before one actually worked!!

 At the conference they had displayed the flag that was torn when 9-11 bombing of New York Twin Towers happened.  It had been patched by people over the country. This was the last stop before going back to the Memorial to hang permanently.

2013 Little Road Trip

We work in the Mesa Arizona Temple and the last two weeks of January, it was closed for cleaning. So we decided to take a little road trip.

First stop was The Gila Valley Temple over in Pima, Arizona. We had been to the open house in May 2010.  So we were excited to go and spend several hours in this beautiful temple.

The Gila Valley Temple

We then drove on to Tucson and spent the evening with my sister, Patti, and her family. She had the missionaries there to eat dinner as well. Fun evening of talking until almost midnight!  We forgot to take a photo of us all together - so you get these.  I realize I don't have a photo of Nathan!



Kevin



Ashley



Patti





The next morning we went to visit our dear friend, Beryl Adams, in Tucson. We had a lovely visit for several hours.  I sure miss some of the special friends from Tucson and San Manuel that we don't get to visit with very much any more ... due to the distance in travel. 



Beryl Adams



After our visit in Tucson we drove up to San Manuel. We couldn't believe the traffic, it took us a long time just to get from Shannon and Ina Road to Catalina!!  The drive was nice, we got to see a lot of businesses that have been added since we left. The road through Catalina, Oracle and into San Manuel brought lots and lots of memories. We talked about those "old days"! Gee...you'd think we were getting OLD!

We went to our friends, Verne & DeLoris Fischer's home.  She had invited two other couples to come and visit and have lunch with us.  We spent about 5 hours catching up with their families, health, travels, etc...  



Jack & Lois Kelly

  Lois taught me so much when I was a newlywed. I learned how to sew on the new "knit" fabrics, make toys for kids, and sang in the choir she led! Great memories!


DeLoris and Verne Fischer

 DeLoris was always there with help when I had 4 little ones at home.  She would babysit occassionally when I needed that true RESPIT or evening with hubby.  I have learned a lot about expecting answers to your prayers and being specific!


Ken and Chaille McGrew



 I remember one day being lonely (as a young mother with one child) and decided to go visit Chaille. She was having a Primary Presidency luncheon at her home, but invited me in to join them. She had made "Chicken Enchiladas" with flour tortillas and they were delicious!!! Her recipe has now extended to all my family and extended family! 

Heidi's birthday is mid January and Haley's is a few weeks later - so we took them to the new Silver Star Playhouse in Mesa, AZ.  We loved the old Gaslight Teather in Tucson that was the good old melodrama and food!  FINALLY we have one in the Phoenix Valley.  So we went to see the spoof of "Les Mis".  We died laughing.  And come find out one of the actors was Michael Claridge (son of Roy & Marcia Claridge - friends from Tucson!). 



Heidi, Curtis, Sandi, and Haley.
Enjoying hamburgers, fries and lemonade before the show!



 Since January is now over - I am looking forward to another adventure! 

Thanksgiving this year, everyone was in town. So on that Saturday, we had a family photo shoot.  The following are some of our pictures of the entire Nielson Gang!

 L-R: Jaycie, Noelle, Hunter, Christian, Kavan on Jaren's lap, Kellan on Haley's lap, Charly on Tytan's lap, Haven, Ridge, Carter, and Paisley.  All 14 wonderful grandkids!

 Here are the adults L-R: Nick & Serina Haines, Peter & Meggan Nielson, Jace & Heidi Larkin, Jason & Carrie Nielson. Seated: Sandi & Curtis Nielson

Here is everyone! They are standing in family units. Heidi's kids are in front of Sandi and Heidi.

Puebla, Mexico

The city of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico. Being a colonial era planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main Atlantic port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two in Central Mexico.

The city was founded in 1531 in an area called Cuetlaxcoapan, which means "where serpents change their skin", in between two of the main indigenous settlements at the time, Tlaxcala and Cholula.  Due to its history and architectural styles ranging from Renaissance to Mexican Baroque, the city as named a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city is also famous for food: mole poblano, chiles en nogada and Talavera pottery (which we bought some pieces).

The city is also important because of its industry, with one of the world's largest Volkswagen factories outside of Germany located in the Municipality of Cuautlancingo. They employ over 60,000 workers. That is the size of Avondale, AZ! As a result, many supplier factories have opened in the city of Puebla.

 

So this is what we saw and experienced while in Puebla.

 

 

Street in Puebla all decorated for the Independence Day for Mexico.

We ate a restaurant called Villa Rosa that had a buffet. We found out it was the fastest place to eat when you only have 2 hours to spend there - less time eating and more time sightseeing on your own! This is what our food looked like. All the veggies were cold (I miss hot veggies!). Buffet was good - I could pick what I thought was SAFE.

 The streets were cobblestone, but they had the gutters built right next to the street and then the sidewalk on the other side. The gutters were like a trough. Curtis thought it was very clever!

Church of Santo Domingo in Puebla

Inside the church

 Open air markets of all kinds! We saw junk for sale,

artistry of all kinds, clothing, furniture, you name it!

This is Talavera Pottery (we went to actual factory).

Reminded me of going to the Blue Delft in Holland.

We drove down one street, it was all a fish market.

We saw signs for Shark, Shrimp, you name it. They are

really close to the Gulf of Mexico - so all of it was fresh.

While visiting another church we saw a limo drive up with a wedding party. These are people lined up with their noses against the fense waiting for the bride to get out of the limo!

 So I learned something interesting - read to the last line!

The 1857–62 Mexican civil war known as The Reform War had disorganized the country's finances and the new President, Benito Juárez, was forced to suspend payments of foreign debts in 1861. In late 1861 Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, under the Treaty of London (1861) sent a joint expeditionary force to Mexico, alongside Spanish and British forces, to protect their interests and collect the debts owed by the previous Mexican government. The allied troops occupied the port city of Veracruz on 8 December 1861 and advanced to Orizaba. Napoleon III wanted to seize the opportunity presented by the U.S. involvement in the American Civil War to set up a puppet Mexican regime. Napoleon's intrigues led to the withdrawal of the Spanish and British troops in April 1862 at the same time that French reinforcements arrived.

The Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May 1862 near the city of Puebla during the French invasion of Mexico. The battle ended in a victory for the Mexican Army over the occupying French forces. The Mexican victory is celebrated yearly on the fifth of May.

This holiday remains very popular in the United States where it is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo.  I didn't know why, now I do!

Great Pyramide of Cholula, Mexico & Volcano

Popocatépetl is an active volcano located in the states of Puebla, State of Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt at 17,802 ft.  it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after the Pico de Orizaba at 18,491 ft.  When it is a clear day you can see the volcano and the steam coming out of it. I saw it  in May from my hotel room very clearly.

When you are in Cholula, Mexico near the great Pyramid with the church on top -  you can see the volcano off

 in the near distance. So cool!

 

The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl (Nahuatl for "artificial mountain"), is a huge complex located in Cholula, Mexico. They felt you had to build a pyramid and on top place their temple. It is the largest archaeological site of a pyramid (temple) in the New World. The pyramid stands 180 ft above the surrounding plain, and in its final form it measured 1,300 by 1,300 ft. even larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.  The pyramid is a temple that has traditionally been viewed as having been dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. The architectural style of the building was closely linked to that of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, although influence from the Gulf Coast is also evident, especially from El Tajín. The Toltec-Chichimec History, a codex from the Cholula region, relates that an Olmec-Xicalanca lord with the title Aquiyach Amapane resided at the Great Pyramid. When the Spaniards came and conquered the people, they built this Cathedral at the top of it which stands today.

We were able to walk around the base. You can see part of the steps of the pyramid. They also had lots of vendors selling their wares.

Some the food for sale are Grasshopper legs! The front bucket with the glass upside down in it had them roasted, the other side of the bucket had chili powder on them! They were supposedly full of protein! I did NOT try them!

These guys climb the pole, tie a rope around them, while one guy sits on top and spins the wheel, these guys unwind while hanging upside down and flying through the air until they reach the ground. Very dizzing, but fun to watch!

 

While walking around shopping, seeing the pyramid, etc... we kept hearing what sounded like gun shots, cannons, or something. I had enough! Every time it went off (every few minutes) I would jump out of my skin. As we left you could see one area where the smoke was where they were shooting off ???? something!  When we asked, they said "there is always a party going on" - translation, gunshots or fireworks!

Randomness of Mexico

Our hotel lobby changes the foral arrangments every week. This past week these are the types we have seen - Green, White, Red, which are the colors of the Mexican flag. September 15th was Mexico's 202nd anniversary of independence. Hence the flowers.

 

When we go out walking around the area we find signs from every state, and most major cities of the United States.  Here is the one we took a photo of.... Street Arizona

 This morning I was working at the desk in our room on our computer when I heard this banging noise outside of the window. I pulled the curtain back and grabbed my ipad to take a photo.  This was the window washer. We are 10 stories up and it didn't look like he had a safety belt on. I watched him for a while. He would swing away from the building and then slam back into it. Why???? I don't know. but my window is now clean - ready for the next rain storm!

Surprise!

Here you can see him going down another level. This is a job I would never feel safe doing!!!