Tuesday, we arrived in St. Louis at around 3pm. There were 22 of us arrived at the same time...so picture two 15 passenger vans pulling up in the bus pick up lane at the airport, wait for it.....with a big trailer attached to carry our luggage. (Corie got a pic, check her blog for an update). We went to Tyler and Floris' house to hang out and eat dinner. Wednesday, we went to the store, got ready for Thanksgiving, Floris cooked a million pies...we played games and just hung out. 10 more people came in that day. On Thursday, we set up a million tables in their oh so spacious and gorgeous living room to eat dinner. We had such a delicious dinner....it was great. So great we had leftovers until Monday. Yikes. :) Tyler also had a friend from the ward come over and bring a bar-b-qued ground hog? Nasty! Several people tasted/ chewed it...uh not me. Gross. On Friday, we planned to see some sights. We went to the St. Louis zoo, which was super fun for the kids. The zoo is very good and the animals were acutally there. (most of the time). After we left the zoo, we went to eat lunch at my favorite place in St. Louis, "The Saint Louis Bread Company." (If you remember, Nelson and I lived there for 8 months when we were first married.) So we had a delicious lunch, then headed to the arch. We were going to ride in it, but the line was way too long and we didn't have time. We had to be at my niece (Sadie's) baptism by 5pm, so we had to leave. As we start to head back to the vans, we heard Casey (the oldest, and maybe not the wisest!) had locked his keys in one van, wait for it.....with it running. Ha! So in the time we could have stood in line and rode the arch, we sat on the steps and froze. :) It was still fun. Oh and 3 more people came in on Friday. We went to Sadie's baptism, which was really fun, then we played more games and at more food. Our latest game...Hearts. Lots of fun! So we went to bed late, got up early on Saturday to drive to Navoo and go to the temple and see sights. We had a temple appointment for 11am...so we left at 6:30 am (mind you that is 5:30 am here). We drove the 3 hour drive to Navoo, left all the kids (24) with Tyler and Floris, so we could go through the temple. We enjoyed it so much, the Navoo temple is beautiful. Tyler and Floris were brave and took the kids for a horse carriage ride with our Uncle Jack (he and his wife Laura) are on a mission there. We came out of the temple to find Tyler and Floris unscathed and in one piece, at least physically..maybe not mentally..:) then we went to Carthage, ate lunch and took a tour of the Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed. It was a very solemn and sad place. We continued on and when back to look at Navoo, and looked at Historic Navoo with the Mansion House, other houses of the Pioneers and Joseph Smith, as well as His gravesite, along with his brother, wife, and parents. We visited Jack and Laura for a second, then headed back to St. Louis. It was a fun, long, spiritual, and exciting day. :) We got up early Sunday to go to church at 9am. After church we ate, visited and played more games. We played the big circle signing game (with lots of people). If you haven't played, it is super fun with a large group! Sunday, 5 people went back home...it was sad. Our weekend was coming to an end. Monday, Ben and Pam left to Texas (their new home), and Casey and Barb left too. The rest of us were staying until Tuesday, so Monday we went to the St. Louis Science Museum which was fun for the kids, then we hung out. We left David (15) and the most responsible person I have ever met...with all the kids and the adults went to...where else...The Saint Louis Bread Company for dinner. (Like Kneaders, but a tidge better maybe..)Our night ended with the usual, trip to walmart and a game of oh...not hearts this time...Scum. it was so fun. We left at 5:30 am today to come home. We had such a fun weekend. It was a great Thanksgiving. Thanks Tyler and Floris! It is one we will never forget.
