Friday, April 5, 2013
Our last day in Missouri just happened to be Steve's Birthday. I woke up wondering what he would want to do on such a day. It didn't take me long to decided that he would want to eat some St. Louis BBQ. I was not opposed to this either. I asked Steve H. and Heather if there were any local places we could go to. They told us about 2 BBQ establishments in their town, one in an old car wash, the other in a shack in a parking lot. Growing up in TX as I did, I am fully aware that the best BBQ does not come in fancy corporate packaging. The best BBQ is made in car washes and shacks. Heather looked up some info on both places so we could decided which one to go to. On the Big Sticky's Facebook page it said something about the Health Department wanting to shut them down because they want them to move out of their shack and into a building. That pretty much solidified in my mind where we were going! BIG STICKY'S! I took a picture while we were in line and I think that kinda freaked them out with everything they have going on. Everyone in our group explained to them that that is just what it do. I take pictures of everything all the time.
So. Dang. Good. Like for real. Some of the best brisket I've ever had. And the cheesy potatoes? Ohhh yeah...that was some good stuff right there. Oh, and the baked beans with apples! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their lunch and amazingly none of us died from eating food from a shack. We did all walk away stuffed and incredibly satisfied.
We went back to Steve H. and Heather's house. The weather outside was absolutely perfect. We all sat around in the backyard and had Grandpa tell us some stories. He told us about his life growing up. He told the kids some stories about their great and great-great grandparents. Like this one - his grandmother gave birth to one of her children by herself in her home. She cut the umbilical cord with a butcher knife and was up and in the kitchen making dinner when her husband got home that evening. He told us about 3 near death experiences he had in a few weeks time, right before he went into the army. These caused him to do some deep thinking about his life (he was preparing to be a Lutheran Minister). While he was in the army, he met a Mormon and became friends with him and they spent a lot of time talking doctrine. Roy was having some doubts about the Lutheran doctrine. His friend said something to him one time about how Mormons believe families can be together forever. A close family that loved each other was something he always wanted to have, and family relationships after the grave in the Lutheran church were pretty much nonexistent. That led him to want to speak with the Mormon missionaries. They were able to answer all of his questions about doctrine and he was baptized.
He told us many other stories. Like how much he enjoyed dating a lot of different women, looking for the right one to marry. The kids loved hearing this. They made comments like, "Oh, Grandpa was a playah!" He told us about how he met Myrle, Steve's mother. I loved hearing that story and thinking about how history repeats itself as their story is very similar to how Steve and I met. It was a really nice way to spend our last afternoon together.
Zac and Tyler started building a shelter to sleep in for the night
Aubrey, who has been begging me to get bunny's ever since we got home.
Checking out the progress on the shelter.
Earlier in the week, Addy discovered the piano in Steve and Heather's living room. The only song she knows how to play is Jolly Old St. Nicholas. She must have played that song 5 hundred thousand times while we were there. She learned that song from her sister Aubrey who also played it for us a few hundred times herself. Here is Mandi blessedly teaching them another song.
Samantha came over with Josh and Meg after she got off work. In this picture she is saying, "Hey, I just got off of work. I'm hungry. Don't judge me!"
Heather making dinner. Unbeknownst to me, Emily said something to her Uncle Steve about her desire for deer meat while we were there. So Heather made two crock-pots full of deer meat for dinner. We all enjoyed an evening together hanging out and eating more good food.
The finished shelter
And then it was time for dinner
Heather made a HUGE batch of fried okra, one of my favorites. I am being totally serious when I say this. This is only about 1/2 of the okra she made. The other 1/2, I ate before dinner was ready. So by the time we sat down to eat, I had already eaten a whole meal consisting of fried okra. Then I sat down and ate a whole other meal of deer roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, brussel sprouts, and about 1/2 of the okra you see below. These are true events. I was so stuffed! Especially because I was still stuffed from my lunch in a shack.
I have heard people talk about food comas before, but I had never really experienced one myself. As I sat there at the table after my Big Sticky shack lunch and my fried okra dinner and my second dinner of deliciousness, I could feel myself slipping into an actual food coma. I had to get up and move! I was not alone. So I went on a lovely walk with these fine people:
While we were on our walk Heather said something to be about how she had been looking through her scrapbook magazine a while back and she saw a picture in there that she swore was my backyard. So when we got back to her house she pulled out all her magazines and we all sat around the table looking for the picture. We never found it. But I did gather plenty of lovely ideas for scrapbook pages.
Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday to the old man.
Steve is more of a pie person than a cake person. He requested banana cream pie on this day.
We finished off the evening right by watching a little Duck Dynasty. That's a fact, Jack!
Zac and Em went back for seconds of the deer roast.
Watching movies in the basement.
And then the sad moment came when it was time to say good-bye.
And, late as it was and as early as we had to get up in just a few hours, we may or may not have watched a few more episodes of Duck Dynasty before actually going to bed.
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