The Bowdens visit

We had visitors for the second time this month. The Bowdens, friends from Bozeman, came to see us last Friday, and they stayed for three days. We had such a great time with them and we felt so lucky that they made the effort and the drive to come see us, especially with the way gas prices are these days. We got up bright and early (early for Jon & I) Saturday morning and we drove up to St. Paul. Jared and Lorae wanted to see the St. Paul temple and they also wanted to take advantage of being at the temple to do sealings. Jon and I stayed outside with the kids while Jared and Lorae did sealings for an hour. After the temple, we drove in to St. Paul to the Como Zoo & Conservatory, and it was a zoo trying to find a place to park. Once we finally found parking we, really enjoyed our time there. We got to see all sorts of animals, monkeys being the favorite. We also got to go in a butterfly exhibit. It was an enclosed area with many tropical plants and all different kinds of butterflies flying around. It was really neat! We also walked around the conservatory where we saw all kinds of pretty plants and gardens. The zoo was really fun, but the kids were more than ready to leave. From there we went to the Minnesota Science Museum. What a neat museum? Lorae and I really enjoyed the area where we learned about different illnesses. The kids got to do a lot of hands on stuff from discovering diseases to creating a tornado. We ended our trip to the museum with a tour of the dinosaurs, which Danny thoroughly enjoyed. Sunday was a much needed relaxing day. We also celebrated my birthday by having birthday cake and ice cream. As you can see from the pictures Ruthie really enjoyed her cake and ice cream. Monday was another fun filled day. We went to the park for a couple of hours and had lunch. When we got home, the kids got to run through the sprinklers and then we ended the day with a yummy BBQ at another park with friends from the ward. Jared and Aaron Budge (Aaron is in our ward in Mankato) grew up together, so we go together for dinner, so Jared and Aaron could catch up. I think they really enjoyed seeing one another again. We had a wonderful, busy three days. It was sad to see them leave this morning. We've sure missed them while we've been here. We keep telling them they need to get a job out here when Jared finishes school. We'll keep our eyes and ears open for any positions open in the Chemistry department. We hope you enjoy the rest of your "two week trip"!