Tiffany and Abigail arrived in Kansas City on the afternoon of Steve's 70th birthday. What a wonderful birthday treat for him. We picked them up at the airport and headed home for a dinner I had prepared including some of Tiffany's favorite foods including corn beef and cabbage and all the trimmings! I had planned that dinner for whenever they were able to come so I pulled the roast from the freezer. It was nice that Abigail loves corned beef too. It made for good eating the next few days.
One of the kids sent Steve this terrific T-shirt. It's still a mystery but it was a fun surprise.
The next day, Steve went to work with our boss and I went into Kansas City with the girls.
Our first stop was the Hallmark Kaleidescope where kids can use their materials to create. It's a fun place for kids and we love that it is FREE.
Then we went next door to the Hallmark Museum. Where Abigail had fun giving her award's acceptance speech!
Then we stopped by Fritz's for lunch where the model train delivers your food on the track near the ceiling and drops it by your table where it descends on a little elevator.
A quick pose near the lego characters in the Crown Center Mall owned by Hallmark.
Our next stop was the model train display in the huge old depot around the corner.
Then we took a ride on the local tram through the city to the City Market on the north edge of the city.
Here's the dump trailer Steve loaded while we were touring around Kansas City having fun!
Steve finished up early enough that we were able to pick him up at the shop and go to the Frontier Trails Museum which tells about the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails which were the three main trails to settle the West. They originated in Independence. The California trail includes the Mormon Trail.
Then we went to the Independence Train Depot Museum just behind the Frontier Trails. The docent was there and took us on a delightful journey through the museum, explaining the various displays and showing us the living quarters of the station master and his family. Many of the items were original. It was excellent and the price was right. Free!
This old pump organ was in the parler of the station master's home. It actually worked and I was able to play it. It took a fair amount of work and concentration to keep it going. Fun!
The next day, we left for St. Louis pretty early as it is about a 3 1/2 drive. We were about half way there when I inadvertently spotted a sign for a Russell Stover's outlet. That was a temptation we couldn't resist. We needed a bathroom stop anyway.
It was dangerous but delicious. Tiffany was delighted to have so many sugar free options at great prices. Abigail loved the ice cream. It was a "sweet" stop.
We drove directly to the arch since that was our only goal in St. Louis--just to have our pictures taken near the arch. We took quite a few and then traveled across the Mississippi to the Cahokia Indian mounds.
It was only a few miles on the east side of the river in Illinois. This native American culture had been the home of an estimated 20,000 Indians. It was the largest colony north of Mexico City. Some of the mounds were used as burial mounds. Others like the Monk Mound had a ruler's residence and a temple built on top of it. The museum was fascinating and very informative. It was intriguing to us as the civilization was at it's peak during the time frame of the Book of Mormon.
You can easily see St. Louis and the arch from the top of Monk's mound.
It took thousands of workers about 300 years to build the pyramid type mound. They carried baskets of dirt on their backs to build the mound.
Our next stop was Hannibal, Missouri, made famous by it's author resident, Mark Twain. We didn't have time to visit his museum but we drove past and then enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner at this Big Muddy BBQ. We stayed overnight at a hotel near there.
We appreciated the breakfast furnished by the hotel so that we could quickly begin our drive to Carthage.
We LOVED the Carthage Jail historical site. Our GPS had taken us on a funny goose chase to a farm on the outskirts of town. The town was so small that we laughed about that as the jail was literally a block away from where we made a wrong turn that took us back out of town. Ha Ha GPS!
The grounds were kept immaculate by an FM couple serving there and the flower beds were absolutely gorgeous. It added so much to the enjoyment of our visit.
There is a very special feeling inside the room where the Prophet Joseph and his brother, Hyrum were killed. The floors and door are original and you could see the bullet hole in the door.
The sister missionaries did a great job and those waiting their turn for guests were busy crocheting blankets.
We headed out to Nauvoo next. Our friend had recommended a bakery/lunch spot in Nauvoo and by the time we arrived we were hungry so we stopped for lunch. We had been told about a burger type sandwich made of loosely cooked hamburger on a bun. I tried it but felt that a regular hamburger was easier and less messy to eat. The ice cream and shakes were a hit, however.
After lunch, we headed for old Nauvoo and began our visit with a wagon ride pulled by horses.
Then we went to ride the wagon pulled by the oxen and then a wagon tour of the area. Because many schools have started, we didn't have the summer crowds and we were able to ride each time without much waiting. That was very nice. We saw various homes, displays, etc. and spent some time in the area exploring children's pastimes. Abigail loved walking on these stilts.
By evening the whole town was pretty much closed up. There was an expensive buffet restaurant or this place called Pete's which sold burgers. We went for Pete's rather than drive half an hour just for dinner.
Then we drove down to the river to see the pioneer memorial and view the sunset over the Mississippi River. Abigail had time to swim in the pool after that. She's a regular fish and loves swimming.
Early the next morning, Tiffany and I went to the Nauvoo Temple while Steve stayed with Abigail. The temple was beautiful and one of my favorites. We saw amazing artwork including an original by Frank Magleby, an artist friend, of Jeff and Libbie's who oversaw the artwork and painted in the Nauvoo temple.
Abigail took this selfie in front of Joseph Smith's home which is owned by the Community of Christ church.
When we went to the blacksmith's shop to learn how the wagons and wheels were made for the trek west, our guide was a senior missionary, the father of Jann Humphreys, in our Providence Ward.
Here our group poses with Elder Lowe. He made nail rings and mini horseshoes for each of us.
Our trip back to Independence included a stop at another "greasy" spoon, local dive and a drive through Chilicothe to see the murals on the buidings.
Sunday at the Riverview Branch was eclectic and interesting as usual. Tiffany got to meet our amazing friend Gloria Rhodes who was recently baptized and is raising her great grandchildren righteously in the midst of a wicked world.
Sunday evening we managed to pull off a little surprise birthday celebration for Steve's 70th. We had hot fudge banana, strawberry sundae's at our friend's, the Briggs, apartment. I furnished the hot fudge and everyone else brought bananas, strawberries, nuts, ice cream, etc. It was a fun surprised. I haven't done that since he turned 40.
Our good friends, the Larsens and Johnsons.
After the sundaes, we went to the Visitor's Center where Tiffany and Abigail watched movies and Abigail played in the children's area while we attended a fireside. We had this photo in front of the printing press at the end of the tour.
The next morning Tiffany and Abigail dressed in their work clothes to help us on our rounds. They did a lot to speed up our work. Here they are in the Liberty Jail display before the site opened for tourists that day!
Our boss told us it was time to remove the spent sunflowers so we did. Abigail put together a bouquet of the best flowers and presented it to the missionaries working in the jail site. They loved that.
They helped us pick up sticks and weeds at the Richmond cemetery where Oliver Cowdery is buried and this monument to the Three Witnesses is placed over his grave.
There wasn't any garbage at Hauns Mill so we just took time for photos.
We also made a stop at pathetic little Brekenridge to see the monument and millstone for Hauns Mill.
At Far West we needed to do some work so they pitched in to help us. Then we made a quick stop at the book store.
We were eager to reach Adam Ondi Ahman. The valley can be seen behind Steve, Abigail and Tiffany.
Abigail stands on Preacher's Rock while Tiffany goes down into the grove of trees and they perform the acoustic test.
It seemed like our visit was over all too quickly. We dropped them off at the airport the next morning with an extra bag full of quilting fabric and supplies. We will pick it up when we visit them probably in February.
Thanks for coming, girls. It was a wonderful visit and a sad goodbye!
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