Kansas City

Last weekend we went to Kansas City for the temple open house.  It's so beautiful and decorated inside with furnishings from the time period of when the early Saints lived in Western Missouri.  One of the rooms has walls that are completely covered in canvas oil paintings of the Missouri landscape.  The wall itself is one large piece of canvas!  We had told Parker that we were going to be in Jesus's house and so we needed to be reverent while there.  When we first walked in Parker asked where Jesus was.  So we made sort of a game with him out of looking around to see if he could spot a picture of Jesus.  Probably not the most reverent activity, but we did it quietly and it's not dedicated yet, right?  :)  At any rate we figured it helped him to feel like he was seeing Jesus while there and we wanted him to remember the experience.  When we got back outside Steve asked Parker what he had thought of the temple.  Parker said he liked it, but...  "I didn't get to see Jesus!"

After the temple we headed to Liberty Jail.  Can you believe that I've never been there before and I'm from Missouri???  Crazy I know.  It was so great to be there and the spirit was really strong.  Strong enough that Parker felt the need to tell the missionary guide and the rest of the people on the tour that he knew who Hyrum Smith was.  When the missionary asked if anyone knew who Hyrum was Parker's hand shot up and he called out, "I know!"  Of course he doesn't know who Hyrum is and got all embarrassed.  But that didn't keep him from later telling the crowd (when asked by the missionary how the telling of Joseph Smith being there in that room made us feel) that he felt good.  I think he truly did feel the spiritual nature of the place.  Sure Joseph Smith being kept there was a sad thing, but we know that through those trials he had Heavenly Father close by and received important revelation that means so much to us.

We also drove through Independence just to have a look around.  The kids were tired at this point, so we just viewed a few sites out the window of the car.  It will be nice to go back one day, but Independence isn't really all that spectacular of a city.  It's quite dilapidated!  Not sure how I feel about all of us having to go there to live one day...  ;)

The trip was a quick one, but we had a fun time together in just our little family.  We look forward to more fun adventures with Parker and Ivy!  Hopefully we can visit these places with all of you when you come to visit.  :)  You are welcome at all times.  Maybe we should plan a Church History reunion???  Here are a few more pictures of our fun weekend: