Familyversary Trip to St. Louis

This was a busy year for us. Stuart taught seminary every day, which took a lot of preparation. He also had a class to teach on campus, plus trying to start his dissertation. He was completely burned out by the end, and I wanted to do something special to help him get away and relax. At first I thought I could find an overnight babysitter and take him to Kansas City for a night, but that was too difficult, so I planned a trip to St. Louis for the whole family. We left Thursday afternoon and got home Saturday night. We had a great time.

St. Louis is a really neat city. The downtown area is really cool, with the tall buildings, the arch and the river. There are lots of free attractions, such as the zoo and the science center, and of course there is the temple. The suburbs are really nice and the roads and everything are really well kept. We stayed at a Marriott about 9 minutes from the temple. We got there Thursday evening, and I took the kids swimming. Friday morning, we woke up and went to the zoo. It was an awesome zoo, and the best part was that it was FREE!! The kids especially loved the Herpetarium and the insectarium, the latter of which had a butterfly garden that was magical. They spent the most time in those places. It was hard for me to walk around, and Seth just wanted to wander all over, but Stuart was happy to humor Seth and we all had a great time. Near the hippos there was an aquarium with tons of fish. I guess it was also a hippo pool, but I didn't see them. The kids were so fascinated with everything, and they were busy looking, so I went to the back where I could oversee everything, but it was really crowded and I must have gotten distracted. 10-15 minutes later the kids were done looking and ready to move on. Stuart needed to use the restroom and I couldn't find Esther. He left, and I realized Esther was really gone. She was nowhere to be seen. I was really upset, but felt an inner calm. After a quick prayer, I immediately thought to call the zoo and see if they could connect me with someone to help me find her. I called, dialed the operator, and said "My 5 year old is missing. I'm by the hippos."

"What is her name?" they inquired.

"Esther," I desperately replied.

"We have her right here, she is pretty upset. Stay there and we will bring her to you."

It took about 10 minutes, and in the meantime I had sent Alana and Charlotte off in the other direction to find her. In hindsight that was a bad idea. Alana came back without Charlotte, so then Stuart had to go find Charlotte, but he somehow missed the message that they had found Esther and were bringing her to me, so he kept looking for her. I got Esther back and just squeezed her and felt so grateful to have her! Finally got across to Stuart that we had Esther, but we had to walk a ways to meet up with him and Charlotte.

It was pretty stressful, but I can see how the Lord was protecting our family, especially Esther.

After that we went to McDonalds, then drove around downtown to see the arch and cross the Mississippi River.

We then went back to the hotel. I took the kids swimming again after resting, then I went to the temple, which was an excellent experience. I really felt the Spirit and was so glad to be there.

The next morning, Saturday, we checked out of the hotel and Stuart went to the temple. I took the kids to the park and then we went to Target and bought a toy for each of them and some clothes that Alana had been needing. After we picked Stuart up we went to California pizza kitchen, which was yummy. That's a restaurant we don't have in Arkansas.

After that Stuart dropped us off at the Science Center so he could park and take a little nap. The Science Center was ok. I met another Mormon family and talked with the mom, which was cool. There were some cool exhibits and the kids played a bit, but it was stressful being by myself and Seth kept running off.

After that we drove home.

I am so grateful to have been married to Stuart these past 12 years. He is my rock. He loves me despite my faults, and I love him despite how much I nag him. I still get giddy thinking about him sometimes. It is nice that he has more free time now that seminary and teaching an audit class are over. He is more relaxed, home more, and more mentally available to us, which is awesome. He is the best partner for me and I thank the Lord every day for him.