Merry Christmas!

In front of our house (by the way, a huge

benefit of living in church housing is that

they do all the outside Christmas decorating!)

President and Sister Ludwig passing by our

house on their Christmas Eve carriage ride.

Christmas Eve! Everybody in their new PJ's

leaving out cookies for Santa and an apple for

the reindeer.

A classic Abbie sleeping position. Her hands

are actually up in the air. She always sleeps

with her arms spread out or above her head.

Abbie in her Christmas dress. 2 months old.

Our family at the ward Christmas pageant. Angie

was an angel, Casey and Barb played Mary and

Joseph and Abbie was baby Jesus (but not a very

good one - she screamed at the top of her lungs

and flailed around for a solid 20 minutes under

the spotlights while the narration and singing

was going on! Guess she didn't want to play a

boy role...)

Abbie Mae 2 months old.

1-3-12

Happy New Year!!!

I was out on the horses again today. I really enjoy driving the draft horses. We took a small group of tourists from China around the Historic Sites. I try to fill in whenever there is a need. Lately, as the weather has turned a bit colder, and many of the missionaries have gone home for the winter, it seems that there is a need to for me to fill in at least once a week. Today was a case study in the parable of the "two willing horses" - One was "willing" to pull and the other was "willing" to let him. I think this is how we approach life sometimes. If we are not careful, we can become complacent by just going through the motions without making real progress. We have to constantly be on guard that we do not become the one horse that allows the other to do all the work. We should always be willing to pull our own weight plus that of our partner.

On another thought... Last Friday, the 30th of December was President Ludwig's birthday. He is the mission president here in Nauvoo. For his birthday, his adult daughter put a slide show together of his life. The title was "President Ludwig - 62 years in 10 minutes". She did a great job. As I sat there and watched the presentation, I was struck with the idea that life continually moves on. We are born, are children, teenagers, young adults, young mothers and fathers, middle age, grand parents, great grand parents and then we move on to the next life. It is a cycle that is constant and does not change. The thought that came to me most directly is that little Abbie Mae, born to Barb and I later in life, in a way breaks that cycle. She allows us to live a small portion of our lives over again. It is almost as if we go back in time and re-live our early parenting years. Is a sense, we become young again. She is a magnificent blessing in our lives. Both Barb and I and the girls love her very much and we can't wait to see what she will do next.

12-22-11

Just a quick post...

Last Sunday night we attended a concert in the Visitor's Center West Theater featuring a bell choir from Wisconsin. The concert was great. They are a very talented group. As I sat there, I looked around at who was attending and the theater was filled with missionaries, local people from the community and others who had come to visit. I also noticed some friends from other faiths. In particular, I noticed those from the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS). These folks have become good friends of mine over the past few months. I was overcome with the thought that the prophet Joseph was pleased that we were all sitting in that room together. Our history and the Community of Christ history is the same history up to and including Nauvoo. They revere the prophet Joseph just as we do. The closing number of the concert was a song that was written to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith in 2005. It was sung as if Emma Smith were singing. It was beautiful. Both Emma and Joseph play a significant part in the lives of the members of both faiths. It was always the intent of Joesph that people be allowed to worship according to their conscience. In fact, if you come to Nauvoo or have been here, you know that there is a Catholic church just down the street from the temple whose spire is almost as tall as the temple. Although Nauvoo holds the significance that it does for the LDS people, I think it is fitting that diversity and ironically, unity, can be found in this sacred place.

12-11-2011

If you really want to have a great Christmas, have a baby!!! Abbie is the cutest thing ever and we love her way too much!!

I don't think there is anything quite like the Christmas season in Nauvoo. For me, some years it feels as if the Christmas season is pushed or forced upon me when I am not quite ready. Well, here in Nauvoo, it does come in like a bang, but you can't wait for it to begin. On December 3rd, there were a host of activities: There was the Christmas breakfast in town, the 5K Christmas run, the Christmas lunch/dinner for the missionaries, the lighting of the tree at the Visitor's Center (which by the way had already been lit right after Thanksgiving), the lighting of the Christmas tree on Mullholland St, Soup at the fire station, appetizers at the Family Living Center, the Creche display at the church, the "Christmas Walk" and the live Nativity performed in the historic Cultural Hall. We were fortunate to attend all of these activities on the same day. In fact, Sarah took second place in the candy making contest for her candy snowmen and Emily took second place in the Christmas coloring contest. It was a day to remember. There is always something happening here.

After the lighting of the tree, horse drawn wagons took anyone who wanted to go on rides down to historic main street where senior couple missionaries were dressed up as pioneers in the various historic site homes. In these homes, Christmas stories were told and then all were invited over to the Family Living Center for refreshments. This activity is what is referred to as the Christmas Walk. Every 20 minutes during this time there was a live nativity running where the story of Christ's birth was told and Christmas carols were sung. This year, for me, at the live nativity is where I truly felt that Christmas was upon us. As I sat there and listened to the Angel Choir sing around the manger scene, I was truly touched by the spirit of Christ. This time of year when we celebrate His birth is magical.

Snow has fallen here and continues to blanket everything in white. At times as I look down Main St. Nauvoo, or see the snow falling through the street lights around the Willard Richards Inn., I marvel that my family and I are in the very place where Joseph, Emma, Hyrum, Brigham, Wilford, Heber and others lived. It is a blessing in my life. They celebrated Christmas here long ago and the same spirit they felt is being felt by us here today.

Merry Christmas

11-29-2011

As the weather begins to cool down a bit, a recap of events over the past month or so seems due...

For Thanksgiving we had 24 people at our table. Barb's mom and dad moved here on the 29th of October. They only live 2 miles away from us and it is a huge blessing to have them here. Our kids have never lived by grandparents before. Besides Barb's parents, we had Barb's sister Brenda and her family, my brother Ty and his family, and Ty's friends the Bunderson's here for the weekend. We were able to enjoy Thanksgiving here in our 101 year old historic farm house. There was plenty of food and all was right with the world. We put together a scavenger hunt in and around all the historic sites with clues from Church History. It is debatable whether it was more fun to put the scavenger hunt together or actually participate in it. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we took eight of the youth staying here to the Nauvoo temple to perform baptisms. It was a sweet experience. The temple baptismal font is actually the biggest one in the world. As the saints were preparing to leave Nauvoo at the end of 1845 and the early in 1846 they were trying to perform as many baptisms and endowments as possible. The size of the font would accommodate multiple baptisms at the same time. In my estimation you could probably have up to 3 or 4 going at the same time.

I always look forward to Thanksgiving. It is a time for family and food - two of my favorite things. We are grateful for the bounteous blessings that the Lord pours out upon us.

On October 30, 2011 I blessed our little Abbie Mae at the LDS church here in Nauvoo, IL. Those in the circle were the following: Casey Cluff, Ben Cluff, Jim Hansen, Tyler Cluff, David Cluff, Bishop Glen Anderson (Bishop), Robert Ludwig (Nauvoo Illinois Mission President) Durrell Nelson (NRI Employee), Bob Northup (Home Teacher), Nick Camberlango. Those of the family in the congregation were the follwing: Barb Cluff, Grandma Cluff, Grandma Hansen, Bev Rosenbalm, (Kendra Peterson came for the weekend, but did not make it to the blessing) Angie Cluff, Sarah Cluff, Emily Cluff, Floris Cluff, Colton Cluff, Sam Cluff, Sadie Cluff.

As we were blessing Abbie, I felt an overwhelming feeling of love for our brand new little daughter. She is such a blessing to our family and I can't help but feel how empty our lives would be without her. She was born in Carthage, IL - the very town where Joseph and Hyrum were taken home to the Father. The Lord knew she would come to us while we lived here and that the beginning of her life would be in and around the history of the church. She is never wont for attention. Many of the senior missionary couples have made her quilts, hats, socks, etc. She really does have many grandmothers and grandfathers here in Nauvoo as do Angie, Sarah and Emily. Abbie may never know what it was like to live in Sammamish, but she is experiencing life in a very unique way. We love her very much. In fact, I keep teasing her sisters that I may have to make her a "coat of many colors". I ask them if this will upset them and they just laugh at me.

As of late I have also had the opportunity to drive some of the wagons pulled by the big draft horses. Since I was a little boy working with horses with my dad and Grandpa Cluff in Idaho, I have wanted to do it again. I have had many opportunities to work around horses in my life, but these big horses fascinate me with their seemingly boundless strength, yet gentle manner. As we prepare for the reenactment of the exodus of the Saints on Feb 4th, there are many opportunities to work with the horses. For the reenactment we will hitch up all the horses and put the covers on the wagons. It may be a very cold day, but that is how it would have been for the saints. Anyway, posted below are a few pictures of the me with the horses, Nauvoo in the fall and baby Abbie.

10-20-2011

Many things have happened since I last posted. The best of which is that our little Abbie Mae is here. She is the cutest baby ever. We all love her so much. She has three little mothers who constantly give her all the care and attention she needs. Barb and I have commented on how different it is to have a new baby after eleven years. In most ways it is easier. We are much more laid back and relaxed. We know that things will work out and that the baby will "grow up to be a person". We have the help of Angie, Sarah and Emily who are all phenomenal with Abbie and love her more than we could have imagined. When we were raising the other three girls we always had toddlers around to manage at the same time. Now it is as if we are having our first baby again. This little baby is an absolute joy to me. I can't wait to see her each day to see if she has changed and what she is up to. She is definitely a blessing in our lives at this time.

The labor and delivery went very well for me, and for Barb, well... she said it went well for her also - one of her best. Abbie was due on 10/10/2011. They induced Barb on Sunday, 10/16/2011 at about 11:30 AM. Lila, the midwife (one of only 3 people who deliver at the hospital in Carthage. By the way, we were the only ones at the hospital that day so we had the 4 nurses all to ourselves) broke her water and then not much happened for about 4 hours. At about 4 pm the contractions began to intensify. At about 6:30 pm Barb was dilated to a "5". Abbie was born at 7:08 pm just as the midwife arrived. As I witnessed the birth of Abbie, I was overcome with emotion. I am a big crier anyway and have cried at one time or another at the hospital with each of the girls, but with this one, it was right as she was coming into this world. Having just been on the other side of the veil moments before, I was overcome with love for her, for her mother, and for the goodness and generosity of our Heavenly Father in allowing me to care for yet another of his choice daughters.

Abbie weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and was 22 inches long. She has a good amount of light colored hair. She is very alert and very strong. Barb did amazing and didn't have any pain medication whatsoever - not even ibuprofen afterwards. She calls it her "completely needle-free" delivery and recovery. We all feel blessed that everything went so well and that Barb and the baby are doing great. We all feel so close to the spirit right now.

9-18-2011

A few weeks ago, I received a call from Ben Pykles. He works for the church history department. He informed me that he was coming to Nauvoo along with some professors from BYU to identify suitable sites for GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) surveys. These surveys send electronic signals into the ground and depending upon the density of the ground, the signals received back generate data that is converted to electronic images. These images can then be viewed from a computer. Pykles and his team are using this technology to discover and document old home foundations of the early saints here in Nauvoo. Many times they have a rough idea through journals and other sources where the homes were originally located within a plat of land, but the exact location is unknown. With this technology the exact location and structure can be pinpointed. It is actually very fascinating.

Anyway, Ben called me and informed me that he was coming to identify potential sites. He asked if there were any sites that I knew of that would be interesting to document. Seizing the opportunity, I told him that I knew of the original homestead site of David Cluff (my third great grandfather). He told me that when he arrived, he would take a look. So last Thursday we walked the site.

When we arrived at the site, there was a sister missionary and her husband there. They were living in a house close by. When I told her what we were doing, she began to tear up and told me that she was a direct descendant of David Cluff as well, and that she descends through David's son Joseph. She could not believe that she was living so close to where the home of David was located. It was a touching moment. Of David's eleven sons and one daughter, so far I have come in contact with descendants of Lavina, Moses, William and Joseph here in Nauvoo. It seems that they, like me, are drawn to Father David Cluff and the life he lived here in this place.

As I walked north on what was once Wells St. in front of the David Cluff homestead, I felt strongly that he and his family did indeed live there and that they are all concerned with our lives and what we are doing. It was a unique experience that I will treasure. Further work is required to identify the exact foundation of the home, but the team is coming back in October to do further investigation.

Changing gears...

Yesterday we went to the Mule Festival in Kahoka, MO. I have never seen so many mules. They do all sorts of activity with the mules including music chairs, baseball bat-in-a-bucket, panty hose stretch and more. The girls had a good time.

The girls wanted me to mention that two of our oxen (Don and Duke) were just shipped back to Tennessee for the winter. Only Jesse and Owen are here for the winter activities

There were also three girls here over the weekend for a YSA conference from my bother Ty's ward. Here is a picture of two of them. Erin and Stephanie. Olivia was also here, but she left before we could take the picture.


Pics of bending the new ox yokes out of white oak after cooking them for three hours.



More pics with the cousins from two weeks ago..


Girls with the work horses in Nauvoo...