Success after a rugged hand cark trek in Nauvoo The Frey family on the trek

The crowning glory. Nauvoo temple after having Kelly sealed to us. What a great day.

Hand cart trek

The family at the Abe Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL

President & Sisters Connie, Glenna and MOM Our good friends the Gustafsons came out to Nauvoo.

Some of Presidents family, L-R Travis, Paul, Connie, Wade, Glenna, MOM, Sister and President E and Konner. It was a great time with them with the highlight of the week being having Presidents brother Kelly sealed to the family in the Nauvoo temple.

US


President greeting his greatest inspiration after 2 years. Love ya mom more than you will ever know.

Visitors this summer: Dallas, Natalie, Blaine and Kris Carlson in Nauvoo

At the Haas farm in Nauvoo

Elder Charles, Schlurf and President.

President and Sister Erickson with Joseph Smith.......In the pagent

Our returned missionary in Nauvoo

Covered wagons on the Nauvoo Exodus.

What our entry way looks like on the day of Leadership Meeting

Spanish Elder singing our opening Hymn.

Winter in Nauvoo. This was taken on Feb 4, 2009. 163 years to the day when the Saints were forced to leave their homes.

Elder and Sister Burgy and us on the day of the re-enactment of the Exodus from Nauvoo. A balmy 1 degree this day.

President and Sister Erickson sitting on the large ice chunks

The Nauvoo zone was able to join on the walk. It was zone conference day in Nauvoo. What a tender mercy to feel but a small part of what those faithful Saints felt as they left. Difference? We went back to the warm chapel after this and they(early Saints) crossed the river on the way to the west. Many hardships and trials awaited them. How blessed we are to have such valiant friends who gave so much for us to experience what we do today in the church.

Sister Erickson, President Erickson, Sister Baker(CO) Sister Olson(SLC) on the Trial of Hope

Findlay Erickson is home. 8 lb 3 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Check out the golf shoes on him.

Tennison and little brother Findlay.

Big brother holding little brother while watching T.V. Tennison is the most loving, kind, patient little boy.

Beautiful little boy

Cute family.

January 13th 2009 was our 31st wedding anniversary. What a great companion. I love her so much and thank my Heavenly Father every day for her influence in my life. Our Anniversary present this year was the birth of our 3rd grandchild. Trents wife Chantel brought Findlay Gil Erickson into the world on our anniversary. 8lb 3 oz and 20 and 1/2 inches long. Mom and son are doing great. Granpa and Grandma are not. We wish we could be there to hug and kiss him but.......we are loving our mission. No pictures yet.

Trent, Chantel and Tennison were not able to come out over the Holidays because they are expecting their second child and son and our third grandchild/sons. Chantel is due Jan 9, 2008 and is ready any day. Trent has graduated from U of U with a BA in Accounting and a Masters in Accountancy. He is now studying for his CPA exam. Chantel graduated from the "U" a few years ago and is now a wonderful mom and housewife. Tennison is now 20 months old and running around keeping them busy. He has a nice golf swing and he and dad now have matching Superman capes that they wear. (Only around the house for Trent) We love them and missed having them with us over Christmas.

Trent and Tennison with big hugs Tennison picking out his personal pumpkin

Our cute little grandson. He is always the happiest boy. He smiles all the time.

Chantel and Tennison

Trent, Chantel and Tennison. What a cute family. They are awaiting Tennisons little brother to come down to them.

CHRISTMAS IN ILLINOIS WITH FAMILY - 2008

Sister Erickson and I left Nauvoo zone conference on Saturday, December 20th and drove to Chicago in a blizzard and a ice storm for a Sunday arrival of Trevor, Tish, Nikki, Travis and Kohen for Christmas. A three hour trip took us 6 hours. What a great reunion to see them. Trent and Chantel are expecting their second child and son anytime now and they couldn't be with us. We stayed the night and went to the Monday night Bears vs Packers game in Chicago. Chicago won in overtime. I have never witnessed anything so cold in my life. The big scoreboard kept us updated as to the coldest game ever in Chicago history at 12 degrees BELOW O. We were bundled up from head to toe. As we entered the game, the softdrink dispenser were all frozen. The bottled water we bought froze as we tried to drink it. I found myself sitting in the warm bathroom at halftime putting toe warmers in my boot along with everyone else in the stands. It was the first time I have been able to see my favorite team in person. Nikki, Trevor, Travis and I went as Sister Erickson and Tish stayed at the Hotel with Kohen. We drove to Peoria the next day in a bad snow storm that got better the closer we got to Peoria. We enjoyed being with family. We had 10 missionaries over Christmas eve with us and had dinner and played some games with us. We had them stay the night in the Mission Home with us and then opened presents the next day. We had a great breakfast and then we were blessed to have our son Dallas call us from "DALLAS". He was able to use the web cam so we got to see him as well as hear his voice. He is loving his mission and working hard. He is somewhat nervous about going home to "NO PARENTS". We would love him to stay with us and go to Bradley University or University of Illinois but I think his heart is set for SLC. The day after Christmas we did a session in the Nauvoo temple and went to Carthage. What a blessing it is to serve in such a historic place. The spirit is so strong and the love and appreciation we have for the early Saints and the commitment of Joseph Smith is remarkable. We love this great work. We are honored and blessed to be called missionaries and to teach and testify every day we step foot out of the house. We had a wonderful holiday and said good-bye to family.

Grampa and Kohen going upstairs to the Martydom room in Carthage.

Mama Shep (R.S. Pres) adorned Sister Erickson and I with matching U of U pillow cases and chair covers. What a RED Christmas. Note: She is a BYU fan and we gave her the nice apron she is wearing.

The family at Carthage jail. We had a very nice time here. I had Sisters Nilsson and Baker(our missionaries living in Carthage) go through with us and we had a testimony meeting after the tour.

The whole family got Chicago Bears pants. Even Dallas, Trent, Chantel, Tennison and our new grandson who should be here by the 9th of Jan got a pair.


Santa and his absolutely gorgeous reindeer. I love kissing his cheeks.

Trevor and Tish in Carthage. It was great to see them after 18 months Tiny, Travis and Kohen. I took this picture through the bullet hole that is still in the door. The same bullet that killed Hyrum.

In Carthage

Lunch at zone conference in Champaign. Those "Y" fans are everywhere I go. This is the Stake R. S. President who even made BYU chair covers for Sister E and I to sit in.


Very humbling! But I was really hungry.