We recently went to St. Louis, Missouri for a medical conference and Donnie and Bradock joined us there. We had the opportunity to go the St. Louis Temple. It was not constructed until after we left Kirksville and the Chicago Temple was the closest to us then. The St. Louis Temple is positioned like the Washington D.C. Temple in that it very visible from the highway that runs next to it. As always, the grounds are immaculate and Braddock was so attracted to those red flowers. He was so much fun on the trip.

After the conference, Donnie and Bradock returned home and we went to Kirksville to visit the medical school. The home we lived in was still there and the young couple ( newlyweds then) that we sold the home to still own it. They have remodeled it, adding a new floor above the garage, and now have two children themselves. We visited Justin's elementary school, Greenwood, and found it completely boarded up. The elementary school and junior high schools that Donnie and Sarah went to are still around. The YMCA that Sarah spent so much time doing gymnastics is still going strong. We learned that that there are now two wards in the old chapel that we attended in Kirksville.

Leaving Kirksville, we headed for Nauvoo and Debby showed me the grave of Ute Perkins, the great grandfather of Franklin Monroe Perkins. The Nauvoo Temple has been rebuilt for about five years now and it is still beautiful and the time to visit is early October since only 50 people are there and the weather is wonderful. We had a lot fun with the missionaries there and their jobs. I could enjoy the blacksmith's duties. Finally, the last picture is the cellar of Levi Ward Hancock. Notice the stone work. Looks like this skill continued all the way to Taylor.

We also explored the cave discribed in Mark Twain's book, "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn". We had a very good and relaxing time.