Independence

Jared has wanted to go see the church sights in Missouri during a Tribe visit to the Royals ever since we moved here.  The first two years it didn't work out with his work schedule, or prior commitments.  This year when the baseball schedule came out he blocked off the weekend of September 17-19th on the calendar.  We were going on the trip no matter what.  He found a Marriott suite on priceline for a great deal and we even had a full size refrigerator, dishwasher and stove.  We left Thursday after the kids came home from school and drove to our hotel.

 Friday we woke up and went to the Independence Visitor Center followed by the RLDS temple. The visitor center had a downstairs area that was very fun for the kids.

The little two were so horrendous during the tour of the RLDS temple that I was ready to drive home.  I wasn't looking forward to spending the weekend with them.  I had wanted to take the walking tour through Independence but it was hot and the kids were cranky so we drove through it instead while eating some sandwiches.  Then we headed to Liberty.  I was impressed with the way the church reconstructed the jail inside the visitors center.  The kids behaved much better and I was able to relax and enjoy it.

We stopped at a little bookstore a block down the street on our way out.  They were out of the items I wanted but it was still fun to browse through the merchandise.  I did end up getting the kids some of the books from the "Believe and You're There" series.  We started reading them in the car as we drove from point to point.  After Liberty, we headed to Far West.  Even though there is not much to see here, it was one of my favorite spots.  It was so peaceful.  Its amazing that even though the temple was never finished here (the cornerstones were laid and the site was dedicated), they spirit is still so strong.

There was a little country store owned by some local members down the street.  We stopped in and I was excited to find they had the items the other store was out of...and a few more things the kids and I picked up.  We had planned on visiting Haun's Mill but we were running short on time and all the missionaries we had met through the course of the day had advised against it.  It had rained alot earlier in the week and you can only access Haun's Mill by dirt roads.  They didn't recommend trying to get there unless we were open to getting stuck in mud.  We decided to take their advice and headed back to the hotel.  On the way back, we drove by the construction site of the Kansas City Temple. 
We changed into our Indians apparel and headed to the game.  Xandy was not happy to be wearing an Indian's shirt in the opponent's territory.  She was convinced something bad or embarrassing would happen.  She actually walked the whole way to our seats with her hands crossed in front of her to hide the shirt.  Our tickets came with $10 each worth of Royals cash so we ate dinner at the stadium.  It ended up being a great game we won 11-4 (Jared missed a grand slam when he took Jacob to the bathroom).  Xandy relaxed as we scored more and more points.  It was fireworks night and half way to St. Patty's night so we got to see a great display set to Irish music!!  We got back to the hotel too late to swim which disappointed the kids.

The Royals field is in my top two favorite Ball Parks now.  Nothing against the Indian's and Cardinal's fields.  They are nice, but I love watching the boats on the river during games in Pittsburgh.  The Royals field was really neat with the fountains and waterfalls.

Saturday we woke up and made an impulsive decision to drive to Omaha to see Winter Quarters.  We called Jared's cousin, who lives in Lincoln, on our way up.  We were excited that Kevin and Nicole were able to meet us in Winter Quarters.  We were especially excited to meet there sweet little boy Noah.  Noah is about half a year older than Jacob and the two hit it off.   I love how the Temple there looks out over the graveyard.  What a great reminder of the sacrifices others made in our behalf. It had been in the 90s in Kansas City and we were dressed for that weather.  It was quite a shock to get out of the car in Nebraska to find overcast windy skies with temps around 55.  Lets just say it helped us appreciate what the pioneers went through.  The visitor center in Winter Quarters had a really nice interactive play area for the kids with dress-ups.

We grabbed a bite to eat at Burger King to prolong our visit with the Smiths before heading back.  The adults wanted to eat somewhere nicer but we decided not to push our luck.  Between riding in the car and taking tours, I knew the kids needed to be somewhere where they didn't have to be quiet. 

On our way home we stopped at the Kanesville Tabernacle since it was only a few miles off the freeway. 

It ended up being my favorite part of the whole trip.  The tabernacle is in Council Bluffs, on the other side of the river from Omaha.  It was built by the early saints in 2 1/2 weeks during the month of December and was one of the largest log structures of its time.  It was built so the Saints would have somewhere large enough to gather to sustain Brigham Young as the second prophet.  The missionary giving the tour asked the girls if they knew how to play the piano.  When they told him they could he let them go up to the organ to play.  They were being a little timid so I went with them and played a few measures until they relaxed and started to play.  Katy played Silent Night from memory and it sounded wonderful.  After the girls were finished some other ladies on the tour asked me to play something because they thought I played beautifully.  It was pretty funny cause I'm really not that good but I played "How Great Thou Art" for them.

Inside the Visitor Center they played a film about the Mormon Battalion and followed the experience of several of the men in it.  One of them was one of Jared's ancestors, Ezra Allen.  It was neat to watch and tell the girls that was one of their grandfathers.  Unfortunately, Ezra was killed on his way home.  It touched me to hear his wife's words upon learning of his death.  She packed up her young children and belongings, bought a wagon and travelled to Salt Lake.  I am so grateful for her courage and faith to follow the Lord despite losing her husband.  We really enjoyed the impromptu part of our vacation.  We again arrived back at the hotel too late to swim.

Sunday morning, we decided to let the kids swim despite it being the Sabbath.  They had been so good most of the trip and had a whole weekend of church history.  After they were done, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  We called the Horners and they were able to meet us there.  I was again impressed with the simple beauty and peacefulness of Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  I had no idea how big it was.

We got home much later than anticipated but really enjoyed our trip.  We got to see a great game, see family and old friends, eat Kansas City BBQ, and learn a lot of neat history.