Missouri Veterans Home Hero Tour

December 7, 2013 ~ Today we would drive to St. James, MO for a Hero Tour at the Missouri Veterans Home for Pearl Harbor Day. I loaded up and headed to pick up Sarah Hill and Olivia Clatto in Columbia and then we picked up Barbara Brueggeman in Jeff City and made our way to snowy St. James!

It was cold but not snowy until we arrived in St. James! 

The inside of the building was so warm and inviting!

As Sarah, Olivia and Barbara got busy getting things set up I took a few pictures! 

Sarah was going over the details of the Hero Tour....

Olivia was checking the internet connections and talking to Dani Wexelman who was in Hawaii (lucky girl) and Chad LaFarge who was behind the scenes...

and Barbara kept the smiles coming! 

After we got the table all set up of the things we would be giving to the veterans (a t-shirt, Jewel of the Mall book and letters written by school children) I decided to check this place out while everyone else was getting ready to go live!

I loved the decorations on the mantel... just a fun shot I liked!

Perfect ornament on the Christmas Tree... a simple reminder that time is precious!

Another great ornament to remind us to have a heart towards our veterans... if it wasn't for them we might not be here today!

Another neat piece was this wall...

 I loved how the TV inside the display showed each and every veteran that lives here from when they were in the military.... really cool idea! This veteran is shown in the TV when he was in the military.

We were ready to go live and watching as the various dignitaries entered the ceremony in Hawaii.

 Sarah does an amazing job at explaining what is going on so our veterans would understand. 

All of this would take place over lunch so that the veterans could watch.

It was great to see these guys smile!

While I stepped out of the room to take a few pictures I found this young man...

He is 102 years young and was such a pleasure to talk to!

 This young man took me on a tour of the facility and then showed me some of his creations. He makes things out of things he finds on the ground as well as chicken bones! Pretty creative if you ask me! (Super sweet guy)

He even gave me a cute little snowman he made!

 Love seeing our veterans watching this awesome technology!
When he left we had to make sure he received his copy of "Jewel of the Mall"

Such a wonderful group of veterans with smiles that would warm any cold day!
I truly love going on these wild and crazy adventures because I get a chance to meet many wonderful veterans serving in different conflicts that forever hold a special place in my heart. They are so sweet to talk to and very appreciative of what we are doing by bringing their memorials to them. Thank you to Sarah, Dani, Olivia, Barbara, Chad and everyone else involved in these Hero Tours... what an amazing experience!