Kansas City, MO

I had the chance to go visit some of my favorite people for 5 days.  I headed out to Kansas City, Missouri.  First time I had ever been there and I must say it is a nice little place.  I had such a fun time visiting Stacie & Tyson and their fun little kids.  I have been friends with these two for nearly 18 years, WOW huh!  Thanks for having me guys, next time I will have to bring Ray!

This is the Kansas City temple which is under construction, it is beautiful...during the day the windows look blue!  While I was there Stacie & Tyson bought a new car, so we had to get a picture with the new and the old!  I flew out of the Provo airport and it was actually really nice.  There was a little problem in which the right plane didn't show up so we got a much smaller plane, my first time walking right into the plane, but really it was a great flight! One of my favorite aspects of traveling is flying...well the whole atmosphere of flying...I love the airport, the flight, the running to catch connecting flights...I just love the whole process.

We went to the COOLEST restaurant, T-REX.  It had giant dinosaurs, fish tanks, fire roasting pits and lots of fun lighting and sounds.  Other than Kaysen being terrified the whole time it was a great lunch. We have been loving Chili's onion strings and what is better than a BBQ Chicken Pizza with onion strings on top!  It was so GOOD!

Some of the delicious places we ate...my favorites were Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill and Yogurtini...both were delicious!

While we were there Stacie, Addy and myself went to see Aladdin the musical at the Kaufman Theater.  It was way cute, Addy LOVED it.  Stacie and I also took some time to go gambling at Harrah's...we both lost...but still it was so much fun!  We looked like the drunkest girls in there because we couldn't stop laughing and it didn't help that Chipendale's were performing there so there were tons of man-crazy girls dancing around and that was definitely hilarious!

We went to the Farmer's Market which had the most delicious spice racks...if only they wouldn't be suspicious to fly with because they smelled divine.  We also went to the Hallmark Museum, Crown Center, and multiple other places that I have trouble remembering! These trees were at the Hallmark Museum and I thought they were pretty cool.

We went to the Kansas City Zoo.  That place was huge!  They had some pretty cool animals that you don't necessarily see in Utah...or at least I don't remember seeing.  The Polar Bear was my favorite, he kept swimming round the rock, doing a back-flip off the glass, twirling, and then back round the rock...again and again...he was pretty cute!

The weather was quite perfect for walking the zoo because it was slightly cool but as we walked all around it we were grateful it was cooler.  The weather in general was great the whole time I was there, warmer temperatures and only a day or so with rain.  There was however a thunderstorm and there is no thunder like Missouri thunder because it seriously woke me from a dead sleep and SHOOK the house...it was crazy!

I thought it was hilarious how serious the QT was about their hotdogs...look at how many grills they have!!  Also loved that there was a Raytown!  We got to go to Liberty Jail while we were there, it was not exactly what I imagined but it was a really neat place.  It is incredible to learn what our prophet endured through.  I had never been one to dream of going on a church history trip but after only spending 30 minutes at this building I had an overwhelming desire to visit more church history sites.  It was a very special place.  It comforts me to know that even Joseph Smith questioned why he had to endure all that he did.  I know my trials pale in comparison but I feel quite ungrateful when I question the will of the Lord and now I know that Joseph Smith himself also questioned his circumstances.  It gave me a fresh and different perspective on my current situation.

KC was great, I definitely missed Ray but it was so fun to get away from life for a moment.  I feel like I am constantly being run over by everything...and some days I wonder how exactly I am supposed to survive so time away and much needed friend-time was appreciated.  I enjoyed the time Stacie and I got to spend reminiscing as well as catching up on our current life!