JandA4

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Omaha, Nebraska Trip

Cade had a baseball tournament in Omaha, Nebraska and I was so excited to go!  I know many dear stories about my 4th great grandmother Pleasant Drake Cazier.  She and my grandfather William Cazier were living on a 40 acre farm in Virginia when they joined the Mormon church.  They were persecuted to the point that they had to sell the farm for little of it's worth.  They fled west the the Mormons.  She loved vegetables, especially green ones and she grew a large garden.  They had many trials along the way.  They made it as far and Omaha - Winter Quarters.  President Brigham Young came to Council Bluffs and gave them instructions to build what they could for homes for the winter and to continue onward come spring.  The cattle were weak from lack of proper diet.  They were weak as well from proper nutrition.  She and one of her sons became ill.  She died in a crude hay barn crying for the taste of fresh vegetables.  So tragic!  William and a neighbor made a make shift casket out of a hollowed out tree.  There were no flowers.  This amazing woman whom was so loved had been taken from lack of food and the elements.  In the spring, William remarried a younger woman and continued on west with the children.  After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the men threw their hats and the women twirled their bonnets in the air.  They were so happy to finally have arrived!  Not too longer after arriving, they were asked to make their way south to Salt Creek, now called Nephi, in central Utah, and settle it.  William became a patriarch and was loved by all.  He is buried in the old Nephi Cemetery with his second wife.  Pleasant's name is on the headstone but it indicates that she in buried in Council Bluffs.  I was so excited to  find where she was actually buried and get a picture and as much information as I possibly could.











When we went to tour Winter Quarters and view the cemetery, we were told that the majority of the graves were unmarked.  And that there were a dozen or more make shift cemeteries that were created by the pioneers, all unmarked.  I checked every single cemetery plot that they knew of from the pioneers, but unfortunately most were just unknown.



















The temple is adjacent to the cemetery.



We went to the world renowned Omaha Zoo.  Yes it literally is rated among the top in the world!  And now I know why!  It was awesome!  The monkey place was seriously so neat.  The aquarium was top notch, the big cats were up close and all the enclosures were cool.  They even had camel rides!  We all LOVED it!



Butterfly habitat


















Hard to see in the shadows but there are several elephants back there!


Most of us were in the same hotel but not everyone.  We got together for a fun pizza dinner.  A lady on the plane sitting next to us was going home there for her high school reunion.  She recommended the place and it was excellent!





It was SO hot and HUMID!  We would seek whatever shade we could get whenever we could get it!





The boys had fun swimming and playing together!





We all went out one night to the movies.  Best theatre ever!  They had recliners!





The boys played hard but didn't advance in the finals.  We were just not at all used to the heat and humidity.  Boys literally passed out in games from it!


CWS aka College World Series
We spent a lot of time at the CWS.  We shopped and watched a few games.








 Cade took his shirt off and swung it around and around.  He made it not only onto the jumbo screen but he made it on ESPN!!!  Then Arizona tweeted his show back out again!  It was the highlight of his whole little life!  I love this boy!  He is a gem!


One morning I googled a place for us to eat breakfast.  It was highly recommended.  We pulled up to see a line waiting to get inside!  That was a good sign.  It was worth the wait!  BEST food around!




Pancakes - banana bread french toast - cream cheese blintz stuffed crepes.....















This was a great trip (other than the extreme humidity!) and we had a great time together.

No comments: