Mormon Springs and Family History

Well, this will be my last post from Mississippi. On Wednesday we leave for New Mexico and home!
For our last adventure here in the Magnolia state we drove north of here to the Aberdeen area to do a little exploring. We had as our main objective a little place called Mormon Springs.Why Mormon Springs? Well, let me tell you!
When we first decided to move to Mississippi, my mom got really excited because she had just discovered the her great great great grandmother (who she is named after) was born in Aberdeen, MS which is just an hour from where we are. We didn't know much about that branch of the family and she was hopeful that at some point during our time here we would have a chance to get up to Aberdeen and do some research. Well, life got busy and it just never worked out that I made the trip up there. Finally, now that I am no longer babysitting full time and Ethan is out of class to help with Erik I decided it was time to start looking into my family history.
In addition to checking with a member of our church who is an expert on family history research and doing a lot of google searches we managed to uncover some good information about my fifth great grandfather, James Harmon, and also some information about the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mississippi. I won't try to summarize it all here, but here are some links to information about it all.

Information on James Harmon and family:
Summary of the life of James Harmon
A little note about one of JH's experiences on the trek west
Information about the LDS church in Mississippi:
A Deseret News article
An Ensign Article
The Mormon Battalion meets up with the MS saints
A map showing how to get to Mormon Springs

While Mormon Springs is only just a little over an hour from our house, we decided to make a day out of it. It just so happened that the Krispy Kreme shop was along our route so we made a quick pit stop for a mid-morning treat. Erik had no objections to making an unscheduled stop.

 We weren't sure if we had the correct directions to get to the spring. Everyone we asked from around here said they would have to take us there themselves (but couldn't go on the days when we were available), they didn't know how to give directions. I searched and searched online and finally found enough info to piece together a map on google and we decided to take the risk and go for it. We didn't know if our map would get us where we wanted to go, but it eventually did, in fact it was perfect! We really weren't sure exactly what we were looking for, so we really had to keep our eyes peeled. It turns out there is a little dirt track that goes off into the woods for logging purposes, and right next to it is a little clearing with a large stone monument in it. And that's about it. If you are driving too fast and blink you will miss it!

We pulled off on the little logging road and got out to walk around and explore. Down a small flight of steps behind the monument there is a cute little picnic table with benches, and beyond that is the creek. It's very pretty and quite picturesque. 

To hear me read the monument go to this link

 The monument is about 8 feet long and four feet high. The large stone tells the history of the LDS pioneers in MS and the red bricks laid in the ground in front of it list the names of those who made the monument possible.
Erik had a great time wandering around and throwing rocks in the stream. He loves to be outside, playing with rocks, and playing in water, so this place was paradise for him.

Erik thought he wanted to splash in the water, but when I tried to help him, he'd change his mind. It was really funny!

There was a small spring emptying into the creek here that was very interesting. The water coming out of it was full of rust, and turned everything it touched bright orange. The whole creek had a redish/orange hue to it. It was really interesting. I would not have wanted to be in charge of doing the laundry after the baptisms that were held in the creek here, everything would've been stained pretty badly I would imagine.

 There were also these unusual flowers littering the ground everywhere. They were a pale green with bright orange chevrons on them. It took us a long time to figure out which trees they were falling from because the flowers were scattered pretty far. We still don't know what kind they are, but they were neat looking.

 Here are a few shots of the area around Mormon Springs. You really can't see the forest for the trees in most places, though there were a few open areas, mostly farms. It was mind blowing to imagine the amount of work that James Harmon and his contemporaries must have done to clear the land for farming. It seems like it would take a year or more just to get rid of the trees before you could even start to think about farming. It gives you a whole new respect for these people.

 After we had splashed around for a while we ate a picnic lunch and then piled back into the car for some more exploring. We went up to Aberdeen and checked out the lock and dam.

 Then we did a little clothes shopping. Can you guess which outfit I bought? NOT!!

 We spent a while wandering up and down main street in Aberdeen. It was a little strange though. We were the only people in sight, walking down this quaint little street surrounded by old buildings on all sides. The city has speakers all along the sidewalks with old-timey music playing. Between the complete lack of people, the old fashioned setting, and the music wafting along on the breeze we felt like we were walking through a movie set. It felt like the next scene in the movie was going to start any second an we both felt like we were waiting for something to happen. It was a bit eerie.
It started raining while we were walking down the (covered) side walk. It didn't take too long for Erik to discover that the posts that supported the roof also doubled as rain-spouts and one of them had a hole in it. It took us ages to finally get him to keep moving, and in the end we pretty much had to drag him away.

see the video here

We finally loaded our exhausted boy back into the car and headed for home. It was a really beautiful day and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Some New Adventures

It seems like for a long time we were having new adventures all the time, but that was a while ago. Lately things have been pretty routine. I decided today that this must be because we're going to need all the adventurousness we've stockpiled over the last several months to get us through the new adventures we're facing in the next few months. And I can now hear your thoughts running through your head as you read this, they go something like this:

"Wait a minute, "new adventures", coming sometime in a few months. *mentally calculates how old Erik is* They're having a baby! Wait, she said adventures, plural. They're having twins!!! YAY!!!"

And just so you know, we are NOT having a baby. Or multiple babies. Or puppies. Or anything cute and cuddly and adorable. You can just wipe that thought right out of your brain before you get any more excited. (Don't worry, I'm not saying no babies EVER, just not right now.)

So if our new adventures aren't going to look like this...

photo taken by Kate Mower

...then what are they going to look like? Well, it's going to be something more like this...

...and this:

That's right! You got it right this time! We're headed back home. Ethan took his last final exam this morning (SO proud of him, by the way!) and he will get his thesis submitted today or tomorrow if all goes as planned which means that he will have his Masters in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and is done with school forever (did I mention how amazing he is?).
Ethan has been applying for jobs all over the country and has even had several interviews over the phone for some of them. So far nothing has been working out though and I think he might have been getting a little nervous. Then, several jobs opened up in his field (and in NEW MEXICO) that he is very qualified for and that he feels he is sure to have a great chance at getting. We've decided that we are going to go ahead and take a leap of faith and head for home, even though it's too soon to know anything about these jobs yet. Sometime in the next few weeks when all the stars have aligned perfectly  and the sun as at the most promising position in its orbit (or when we finally get everything packed, get all the little loose ends wrapped up, and get my mom and dad home from their road trip to let us in their house) we will be riding off into the sunset.
We'll stay with family for a while until we have a job and then we'll quit mooching off of them and make a new home somewhere. Maybe we'll get a job in New Mexico and be around for a while, maybe we'll be moving on somewhere new and unexpected. Either way it's going to be one grand adventure!

What We've Been Up To; January to March

New Year's Eve was spent with some of the same friends we celebrated Christmas with. We had a great time and really enjoyed our church family. What else happened in January? Ethan got to go help out with an overnight backpacking trip with the scouts. They saw one of the biggest trees on record in the state of Alabama...

 ...lots of neat waterfalls...

 ...and even got to sleep on a ledge (under the shadow of one cliff, on the edge of another). The boys thought Ethan was the bravest man to walk the earth because he slept under the stars without even a tent wall to keep him from getting wet from the dripping icicles or to prevent him from rolling off the cliff in his sleep (he did roll up in a tarp though so don't worry, he stayed warm and dry).

 In February we got to take part in the (symbolic) ground breaking for the new LDS church building being built here in town. We are so excited (even though we won't be here to see it) that there will be a building here. To not drive half an hour to church will be such a great blessing. The people in this area have been waiting for decades for this to happen, and now the time has finally come!

As you can see, the construction company has already started work, but went ahead and did our thing anyway. 

 Erik was just loving being outside hanging out with his Daddy.

The first shovels of dirt being turned over by our Stake President, our Branch President, and a former Bishop of our congregation. Plus a few little helpers. :)

 There was lots of excitement in the air, people were clapping and really celebrating this special moment. Erik thought that they were all clapping for him and was eating it up!

 The leaders did their best to make sure that everyone there got a chance to turn over a shovel of dirt, even Erik and I got a chance.

 So far March has been my favorite month this year because of what we did for Spring Break. Technically we didn't travel as far or see as many new things as last year, but we had something better. Kett and Cameron came all the way from New Mexico to visit us for most of the week. The first day or two of the week was torture, knowing they were coming ever closer, but that they wouldn't be here for a few days. At one point they called and asked our advice on whether to just push onward and get to our place sooner, or stay the night somewhere and see the historical sites along the way. It just about killed me to tell them to take the extra time to see the stuff along the road. I knew they may never pass this way again, but I wanted them to get here SO badly! We spent a lot of their time here just enjoying each other's company. We played games, watched movies, and talked and talked. Don't worry though, we also took them to see the local sights. Starting with (of course!) Dirt Cheap!

 We also HAD to take Kett and Cam out to Waverly. It's such a neat place. We've been there three times now, but we still love it. I do have to apologize before we get to the pictures though. I am sorry to admit that we're some of those people now. You know, the ones who pay to get into some really cool place and then spend the whole time ignoring the amazing stuff around them while trying to get their kid to pet the cat. Yeah, that's us now. We've got to get Erik around animals more so that it's not the event of a life time each time a dog slobbers on his face.

Erik and Ethan walking through the gardens. 

Yeah, so here you go. Notice all the great pictures of the mansion in this post? Okay now compare that number with the number of animal pictures. See what I mean?

Really though, this is just too darn cute to pass up! This dog was so good to let Erik pet it and hug it. 

"Itchy", the three legged cat. Pretty sure he only let Erik touch him because it was too much work to leave his comfy sunbeam. 

 After touring the mansion and gardens, we went over to the Waverly Ferry and had our picnic lunch. And in Erik's case a bit of a splash in the Tenn-Tom.

"Geronimo!!!!!!"

 

 We also spent some time over in Columbus seeing the various sights there. Well, the grown-ups saw the sights, Erik was a bit distracted...

 Kett and I have never seen a Krsipy Kreme shop in action. We've always heard about how you can watch them make the donuts right there in the shop. It's this great magical journey from sticky dough to heavenly doughnuts which all ends when the donuts travel through a mythical glaze waterfall like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Or so we've heard. Apparently the thing only runs a few times a day and we weren't willing to sit around and wait for an hour to see some donuts get made. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back one day. :)

 In addition to driving around town to see all the beautiful historical homes that Columbus has to offer, we also stopped by the historic Friendship Cemetery. There were lots of neat looking, and really old, head stones and the whole place had a lot of character to it.

The thing about the cemetery that was most interesting to us was the section that had been used for Civil War soldiers. We stood there and looked at the rows of headstones and suddenly the stories we've been taught all our lives actually felt real. We were all in a pretty contemplative move already and then we stumbled onto an area filled entirely with unknown soldiers. To stand there and visualize a man for each one of those stones, and then to think of all their loved ones who never knew what happened to them was very eye opening and sobering. These were someones' sons who they never got to kiss good night again. These were husbands to wives who sat at home and waited for them, not knowing if they were widows or not. The markers just went on and on, and these are just a drop in the bucket compared to all the graves around the country of others just like them. 

 Anyways, I'm done being all serious and depressing now. We made sure to take the other Mowers to our favorite play ground where we all did lots of spinning...

see this link for a video of our spinning fun!

And of course we couldn't forget a trip down to Noxubee. We were all hoping to see some alligators, but it just wasn't in the cards. Poor Cameron was pretty disappointed. Erik was okay with it all, he was able to find lots of interesting rocks to play with and that was all he cared about. 

Kett even found time to do her trademark dressing up of her nephew. He loved it!

 It was pretty depressing to have Kett and Cam leave. Our house seemed so empty without them. 

The only other thing worth mentioning that happened during the last couple months is that Ethan and I tackled a DIY project and made our own "floating" headboard, thanks to pinterest. It turned out to be a bit more costly than we anticipated, but we like the way it looks. We had some problems getting it up on the wall, turns out our wall is not flat, but slightly warped. This makes getting the boards to stay put a bit tricky, resulting in two or three nights where we've woken up to the clatter of 1x8's sliding down the wall by our heads. A little unsettling, but so far not dangerous. Honestly, I'm not sure if we love the result, but after the time, effort, and money it's going to stick around until we just can't stand the suspense of falling boards anymore. 

What We've Been Up To: Erik from 12/12 through 3/13

Here's a look at what Erik's been up to over the last couple of months. A picture is supposed to be worth 1000 words, so I'll try to let them do most of the talking. 

December was beautiful, warm and sunny a good chunk of the time. We were able to spend a lot of time playing (and snacking) outside in the sunshine.

We had an incident that necessitated the washing of everything in Erik's crib, included his favorite blanket and stuffed animal. When all his things came out of the laundry he was sure excited to see them!

I forgot to mention in my previous post what Ethan and I gave Erik for Christmas. He sure loves it! His favorite thing to do is hide in the cupboard and then try to surprise me when I'm cooking.   

Erik is really good at helping around the house. He wants to be involved in anything we're doing. 

How does anyone put away their own silverware without a helper like Erik?!

We woke up one morning in January to a sheet of white outside. We rushed Erik out there as soon as he woke up (notice the bed head and PJ pants), but we were disappointed. He was SO not
interested in the snow. Once it stopped coming down and started melting off we went back outside to play and he enjoyed that a bit more.

Erik picked up this snowball and carried it all over the place. When one hand would get too cold and go numb, he's switch to the other hand, and so on. It was pretty cute. He was sure sad when it finally disappeared. 

More helping around the house. Note the Mardi Gras beads. You know you live too close to New Orleans when restaurants give those out with their kid's meals. 

 Sometime in February Erik learned how to open the fridge. He'd been trying for a while, but I guess just never had anything good enough to really motivate him. Once he saw me put that pan of cupcakes in there though, that was it. He was in there in a flash and there wasn't anything we could do to stop him (except install a child lock *insert evil chuckle here*)

This kid never stops moving, and climbing around on things is his first pick of activities. In a case like this, do you save the child first or grab the camera first? I guess I already answered that one! 

Just got his hair cut! Not real excited about it. He's pretty particular about his hair, it messes up his whole day if his hair doesn't look right, so something this drastic made the next week a little rough. 

Just chillin'. I'm in my secret hideout, you can't see me!

Why work so hard to push the thing when you can bum a ride off of someone else? I wish I could vacuum like this! (See video here)