Our Trip to Missouri....written by Scott

We got back last week from a great trip to visit my brother Shane and his family in Missouri for Thanksgiving. We had tons of fun visiting all sorts of different places and doing some really cool activities. Thanks Shane and Michele for hosting us for 9 days!

Here a few pics:

Abby was so excited to take her new polka-dot suitcase on an airplane...this wasn't her first time on a plane but the first one that she will be able to remember. She did such a great job and always has been a great little traveler.

It was such a Great experience to go to the church visitor's center in Independence, MO. They had a great presentation about the family...loved to be there with my family. Left to right my sister Jenny, Mom, Maria, Abby, me, and Dad.

Me, Maria and Abby!

Abby was all about riding her cousin's little 4-wheeler around on Thanksgiving Day...after it ran out of batteries, Abby moved over to the electric scooter (check out the video). I was a little nervous at first but she seemed to get the hang of it...probably a good thing that mom was in the house!

The day after Thanksgiving we got to go to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO...things that Abby, Ashby, Jaxson, and Bristol learned about eachother on that day:

Abby loves to pose for pictures

Bristol does not like pictures

Ashby does not look at the camera

Jaxson just goes with the flow

Hillbilly...billy bob...at SDC was definitely the real thing!

We went to the Dixie Stampede in Branson for dinner and a show...it was like Medieval Times but Western style.

The kids and Santa at the Christmas Market in Branson.

Abby at the Butterfly Gardens.

The day before we came home we went to Liberty Jail just north east of KC. Amazing to see the replica of the jail. It was also good to be there at the time of year when Joseph Smith was put into the jail (he was put in Dec 1). It gave us a greater appreciation of how cold it really was and some of the conditions that they had to endure.

The morning of our flight, Jenny, Maria, and I decided to drive around to all of the church history sites north of KC. Abby was sick again...grandpa was sick too so grandma stayed with them back at the hotel, thanks Mom! It was surprising how far apart the different sites were, this was at Far West...not much there but the cornerstones for a temple and this monument. We also saw Adam ohndi-ahman and a memorial of the Hahn's Mill massacre.

On our way to the airport, we stopped by the new KC temple...the temple is almost complete but was really cool to see.

Our last night in West Plains we had a family dinner at Colton's. Left to right Jenny, Michele, Shane, Abby, Maria, Scott, Mom, Dad, Ashby, Bristol, and Jaxson.

This was the first time that we were able to go visit Shane and Michele in Missouri in the 9 years we've been married...we definitely won't wait another 9 years to go again! We had such a relaxing vacation and were able to see a lot of church history sites in the Kansas City area...look forward to going back again some time!