Thursday, July 7, 2016

Our day in St. Loius, Missouri 6/18/2016

Dad, Ben and I were the last to fly into St. Louis airport because of a delay in Denver. 
We all stayed at the airport Marriott that first night.  We arrived around 2:00 a.m.

The Marriott Gang...remembered most for the Nerf gun ambush on the 2nd floor.

This is looking up the rotunda at the Old Court House.
That's where you have to go to get tickets for the Jefferson Memorial Arch.
 

Malea, Jessica, Anna, Ben, Ethan and Amy
Inside an old Arch tram on display in the Court House.

The Gateway to the West! Supposedly this is where Lewis 
and Clark set out to explore the wild frontier.
New construction, in front of the Old Court House, framed by the arch.
The Arch is 630 feet high and 630 wide at the base.

Tyler Marvin, who served his mission here
suggested that we try some of the local barbeque.

Have you ever seen so many kinds of barbecue sauce?
We  had lunch at the Sugar Fire Restaurant.
We tried some new things and I really like fried green beans. 

We had a little time before our tram ride to the top of the arch, so we 
enjoyed the St. Louis City Park while waiting for the Shirley's to 
arrive on their way to Nauvoo from Tennesee.

 
 Modern art?

How do you like the pupils of his eye?

                                              Malea and Anna                         Ethan and Malea

Grandpa and the old fire truck that sells ice cream.
Anna
Jessica and Amy take the challenge.  The goal is to straddle the line 
of fountains at the splash pad on the way down and then return 
between two rows with out getting wet. :)

                 Amy and Jessica made it easy as pie!     
                                                           Anna takes the challenge.

She came back a bit more refreshed!

Getting in touch with our inner Pinocchio!
Grandma, Jessica and Amy

Anna, Ethan and a random photo bomber.

Grandpa and Grandma inside some of several metal art sculptures.


Colton and Malea add a daring twist!

Jason and Laura will not be out done.

Ethan and Amy may have been a bit short on both ends.

 
Jason and Amy made a better fit.
Ethan and Anna (Better luck in 4 or 5 years.)
Ethan                                            Ben and Jason

The Mitchell guys!

The central relaxing point.

As we walked from the park to the arch, we passed Busch Stadium
where a Cardinal Baseball game was getting underway.

Grandpa and Grandma under the arch.                 Colton and Malea

 Jessica and Ben


This bridge across the Mississippi was designed and built by a man with no prior 
experience or training.  Some residence expressed some concerns about that.  A 
circus happened to be in town and someone said that an elephant can sense unstable
 ground and will not walk in it.  So...they took the elephant back and forth 
across the bridge a few times.  She seemed content with it, so the 
people started using the bridge and it is still used today. 

My group got door number 3!

Five of us fit inside.  Here's the selfies to document it.
Me, Bradley and Jessica
Grandpa, Ethan and Me.

 FROM THE TOP!
 Arch Shadow on the Mississippi

 Two bridges across the Mississippi River from the top.
St. Louis from the top!

The Cardinal game at Busch Stadium.

The Illinois side of the Mississippi.

Here we are mingling at the top.




Jessica's "top of the arch" smile.
We are waiting to run down the other side.

Tyler told us not to leave St. Louis with trying the Ted Drewes frozen custard.  
The area is famous for it.  We followed his advice and enjoyed every minute of it. 

Grandpa and I
 
Anna, Jessica and Amy!

Friday, July 1, 2016

Ben's graduation visit 6/14-6/17 2016

 Ben graduated from Kentlake HS on June 11, 2016.  His family hosted a 
BIG graduation party of 80+ on June 13, 2016. Then Ben flew into SLC 
airport early the next morning, rather sleep deprived.

 Grandpa and I picked him up.  Our first stop was Aunt Katie's.
This is Ben and Gabe who are twins born 17 years apart, and KT.

The 2nd stop was Provo City Center Temple where Ben did baptisms and 
confirmations. Grandpa officiated in those and I just observed and enjoyed!
 Grandpa and Ben on the South side.
 Grandpa and Ben on the North side.

 We had lunch at the India Palace which included an all you can eat buffet.
This was Ben's third plate full. We got our money's worth. :) 

That evening we hiked up to the waterfall above Bear Canyon campground.
  Baby Wil and Grandpa.

 Ben on the Ninja Rock.        The whole hiking party...minus the photographer.

 SJ and Bethany     Grandpa and Baby Wil

 Hunting for fossils
 Beth and Ben at the Indian mailbox
 Ben on the photo shoot rock.         SJ, Bethany and Wil crossing the stream.

 Ben made it look pretty easy.                   At the water fall.

 The little lone robin that came to visit us.

June 15th was the four wheeler ride.
 Ben slept in for a while that morning.
They headed out around 10:00 a.m.
(Grandpa was on a farm 4-wheeler. Ben was on Grandpa's 4-wheeler.)




 The photos witness that it was a beautiful spring ride.

 Ben at the hieroglyphics in Levan Canyon. 

The smile and the dirt tell the story of their 3.5 hour trek.

June 16, 2016 Grandpa and Ben went fishing.
Ben actually caught one!

The docked the boat while we had the lunch I took down to them.

Then the real fun began!



Grandpa dumped him on the 2nd try.  
He didn't want to give Ben time to figure out how the tube handled. 


Ben successfully navigated several more wide turns and centrifugal force that goes with it!

Grandpa moved over so Ben could take the wheel and open her up!

This was a "Hi, Grandma...how many more pictures do you need?" picture.

The three of us flew out to St. Louis. MO on June 17th later in the day.
There we met the other Mitchells, the Shirleys and the Potters.  But that is another story!
We stopped to say Hi to Grandma Anna on the way to the airport.
We stopped to say Hi to Grandpa Marvin on our way.

We stopped at Mellor's new house, too, but they weren't home.

Neldon and Brenda's new house. (front)
(back) Nice!

Our last stop on the way was Sweet Tomatoes!
Ben just starts with two plates so he doesn't have to go back for 2nds.

This was my master piece salad!

Grandpa and I enjoyed having Ben here so much.  We think his visit 
should start a precedence for all each of our graduating out-of-state 
grandchildren to come for a three day graduation visit. :)