Prairie Princesses and Pioneers

    Happy birthday to my beautiful mama! My Mom who is a member of the DAR and descendant of pilgrims, kings, queens, knights and all kinds of interesting people from history; her great…great-grandfather William Tracy was the governor of the Berkeley Colony in Virginia the year before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts. To me she’s the mom who loved me and taught me manners, style and hospitality. Here’s to you Nikki! 


Nikki Lawrence 



    With the celebration of the 4th now a pleasant memory, I’m starting to work on Pioneer Day for my daughter Heather and her littles. She will be staying with us while her brave and faithful husband finishes up his training at the Highway Patrol Academy.


    On July 24th, we will celebrate Pioneer Day here in Utah. It’s hot and crowded in Salt Lake City, so we will plan a pioneer picnic and games in our grassy yard. 




You can download and print this digital file for your own Pioneer Scavenger Hunt on Etsy: 


Pioneer games: horse races with squirt guns to put out wildfires and bag buffalo.

A prairie princess Pioneer Day party - if I had been a pioneer, I would have tied a wreath on my wagon.

    Here are a few photos of favorite Pioneer Day activities with a link to a collection of great photos on my Pinterest Pioneer board: 




Here’s a recipe for beef jerky for the trail ahead

Beef Jerky

Cut into ¼” strips with the grain and remove ALL fat

1 1/2 lbs steak; round, flank or brisket

                Stir together and marinate the meat overnight in

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 C soy sauce

1/4 C Worcestershire sauce

Remove from liquid, pat meat dry. Line two 10″ x 15″ pans with crinkled foil, leave oven door ajar, bake 8 hours at 150° or use  dehydrator and follow directions. Turn off oven, let dry for 6 hours. Store airtight.

Pioneer scavenger hunt and family reunion activities


Thank you to KSL.com for publishing 2 of my stories this week: 

A biography of the highly-talented artist L. Aerin Collett:


And a invitation to enjoy Kaysville’s Downtown Stroll on Thursday July 20th


More Pioneers and Prairie Princesses to come…