4th of July in Saint Louis, MO

For the 4th of July this year we went back to Saint Louis. We had a great time driving down memory lane and visiting with old friends. It was wonderful to see Manuela Anderson and her family again in Troy, Missouri.

It was fun seeing our old house in Troy, MO. It still looked just the same, as did all the homes in Southgate Estates, our old neighborhood. We sure miss that house, nestled in the trees, on three acres, in the country. It was such a peaceful place to live.

That same day we drove to St. Louis to show the kids our first little 900 square-foot-house in the city. The house itself looked the same, but the yard and neighborhood seemed to have fallen into disrepair. I sure miss St. Louis, but I don't miss the traffic.

While in Missouri we stayed with our good friends the Massey's. They too used to live in St. Louis and Troy, but have since moved south of St. Louis to Eureka, MO.

The morning of the 4th, the Massey's ward put on a pancake breakfast at the church. Feeling patriotic we all wore our red-white-and-blue attire except for Breck who wore his favorite shirt from Brazil. It was funny to see another young man wearing almost the exact same shirt (and he wasn't from Brazil either).

I enjoyed catching up with some other good friends of mine that I knew from Jr. High and High School, Florice and Tyler Cluff. My brother is also married to Tyler's sister (who is expecting twins in a couple of months).

While staying in Eureka, we drove through Lone Elk Park, a nature reserve right in the middle of the town.

I had never been so close to a buffalo before,

not even in Yellow Stone Park!

We had a great time eating (BBQ's and authentic Japanese food), visiting,

and lighting off our little store-bought fire works (that made us all plenty nervous).

The boys thought it was all fun and games ...

until Breck's favorite shirt caught on fire.

He thought it was all ok 

until at closer glance he saw a hole.

It was also fun to see Rick and Alisa dote over their first grandchild!

When it was finally dark, we all walked to the city park to watch the fireworks, 

and bask in the ambiance. 

We were so lucky to have such nice weather our entire stay, as appose to the weather in KY, which had rain the entire week.

And the night of the 4th was no different, the weather was picture perfect!

Last but not least, no visit to St. Louis would be official without a trip to Ted Drew's frozen custard. With no seating, and limited places to park, it's amazing how packed that place is every single night!

Here, Merinda is modeling the millions of ways you can get your frozen custard.

But in the end, we all went with our "usual". 
We want to thank the Massey's for a wonderful weekend, and for being the best friends ever!