First Snow fall

These pictures were taken shortly after the snow started to stick to the porch. Taken about 8am. Kyle, Ryan and Tylor were excited to see the snow falling. Ryan want to have a snowball fight. We will see how much snow will come down....

First day of school in PA

Here are the boys ready for the first day of school. I can't believe that Tylor is in the 9th grade. I did ask him if he would like to repeat the 8th grade. He didn't like that idea. Kyle is in the 4th grade and Ryan is 2nd. Ryan rode the bus to school for the first time. This was the first year that I didn't walk the younger two into their classroom.

Nauvoo, IL

We could have spent a lot more time in Nauvoo. We heard the Nauvoo Pageant band playing and stop to listen. Then we were able to get our picture with them. The boys loved it. There are some many different activities that we could have done.

St Louis Arch

We stopped in St. Louis to see the arch. Tylor would have liked to take the elevator ride to the top but there were three people that didn't want to go. So we will have to go back to St Louis again so Tylor can ride to the top of the arch. We did spend over an hour in the museum that is under the arch.



Tylor thought that the arch spanned the river... tying the West to the East... evidently he was wrong...

Liberty Jail

Our next stop was Liberty Jail. We were able to learn more about the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and the time that he spent in Liberty Jail. I didn't know that the walls of the jail were 4 feet thick.







I do have to say that I like that the building the jail was in was air-conditioned -it's kind of hot in the midwest in July... oh and MUGGY really, really MUGGY.

Independent, MO

We were able to stop by and see the Independent, MO visitor center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The boys were just glad to be getting out of the car. They also had a play area for the kids to play in.

The Castle

While visiting with Grandpa Hill, we were able to see the castle that Bob and Bonnie are building. It was really neat to see inside the castle. The boys and I were also able to sleep in the castle. Although the castle was designed and built to be a reception hall /party venue it does have a one bedroom "bridal" suite. The boys loved sleeping in the castle. And it's not something everyone can boast they've done.

This is the main room in the castle. There already has been three weddings here, it's really pretty and a photo doesn't do the grandeur of it justice.



This is the view from the balance above the front door.



Here are the boys just before they went into the castle...