Thanksgiving Break- Kirtland, Niagara, Palmyra & NY
Rylan had a whole week off for Thanksgiving so we seized the opportunity to go visit our friends the Johnsons who live at Fort Drum, New York. The Johnsons were our family when we lived in South Carolina, so naturally we wanted to visit during Thanksgiving, and they so graciously let us!
We left Sunday night after church and drove until about 9:00pm. Then woke up and drove some more.
I love these two, they are so close. While driving I turned around to check on them once and they were holding hands!
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| "Mommy, I'm a lion!" |
Because of the cold weather there was hardly anyone else there! We had those sweet senior missionary couples and sister missionaries all to ourselves. Oh and they were so sweet! We just adored them as our guides.
Our guide pointed out that this is where a lot of the saints were baptized into this little creek that runs off the Cuyahoga River. She asked if we had any ancestors who lived here and Rylan stated that Lorenzo Snow is his great-great-great-great grandfather on Scott's side, and the sister stopped and said, "well he was one of the saints we know was baptized here!" We also saw record of one of my ancestors who ironically his name is also Lorenzo! Lorenzo Dow Young. Both Lorenzo's helped to build the Kirtland temple but then moved on with the saints when they were driven out.
Newel K. Whitney's general store was restored to its 1830 condition. Joseph Smith lived here for a time and established the School of the Prophets in one of the upper rooms.
The Kirtland Temple
We drove to Niagara Falls that night, found a hotel then woke up to this, snuggle buddies!
and this, a misty snow. That mist behind the buildings are from the falls.
Had to take a panoramic with my I-phone
Next we drove to Palmyra, NY which is where Joseph Smith grew up as a young boy, this was his home, well a re-creation of his home but it is in the original foundation.
This is the scripture that Joseph Smith read that prompted him to seek guidance from Heaven and pray about which church he should join.
His bedroom that he shared with many brothers and sisters! We laughed because the night before the kids had to share a bed in the hotel and there was much complaining and fighting, but here we saw that there were often 2-3 to a bed during Joseph Smith's era!
His brother Alvin's home that the family later moved into which was just down the lane. This tree is over 190 years old! It was planted to honor Alvin after his death. It was a beautiful tree, I wish I could have captured how tall and grand it was.
After Joseph Smith read the scripture in James he went off into the near by woods to pray.
This is the trail to the woods, it was so calm and quiet with the new snow.
The woods near his home has been later called the Sacred Grove. After Joseph Smith prayed Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father visited him here. You can read more about this here: http://mormon.org/beliefs/joseph-smith We had a very special experience here. At first when we originally talked about going to visit here in the winter I thought, no it won't be the same unless we see it in the spring or summer when the trees are full of leaves and the birds are singing. But as we started walking in I immediately felt calm and peaceful. It was so beautiful and quiet, we didn't see another soul in there. Maddy was on Scott's shoulders and asked in her sweetest most inquisitive 5 year old voice: "But, did he REALLY see them, like for real?"
Scott and I as parents are always looking for times to directly teach our children, and this was a wonderful time for us to share our feelings about Joseph Smith and how we each have come to know that he really DID see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We know from study and prayer, and from asking Heavenly Father if it was true. We encouraged them to ask for themselves to know and feel it for themselves not because we are telling them it is true. Then Maddy asked when we were going to eat dinner, and the teaching time was over . . .but for about 8 minutes we had a spiritual experience teaching our kids and being in that grove while sharing our testimonies about Joseph Smith was amazing to say the least! The warm calming spirit was very strong even on that cold winter day!
After the Sacred Grove we found a hotel and ran to the store to get the kids some much needed snow boots which they needed anyway for the upcoming winter. The next morning we went to the Grandin Building which is where the Book of Mormon was first published. Besides the history of how hard it was to get the book published, it was cool to see the whole process of printing and binding a book in the 1820's.
I just finished reading the Book of Mormon, and I am always amazed at how different it seems to be every time. Of course it doesn't change, but as a person different things pop out and mean more to me than the last time I read it. It is a wonderful book about Christ's love for us. It is another book of scripture of His divinity and plan for us on the earth. The Book of Mormon is about people that lived in Jerusalem then left and crossed into what we know now as the Americas. They had many wonderful experiences with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ just like the people in the Bible. Christ visited these people and ministered to them. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. When I read it I feel peace and love, I feel like I have a purpose on earth. I love this book and feel with my soul that it is a true word of God!
Then we went back to the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center where again the sweet sisters gave us a tour and showed us a very touching movie that had me in thankful tears about eternal families. I love my family, and I am so grateful that they will be with me for forever even after death, because Christ gave his life for us and because of the ordinances that we have made with God in the temple.
We ventured up to the top of Hill Cumorah where Joseph Smith found the plates (which are now the Book of Mormon) that had been buried there hundreds of years before by an ancient prophet named Moroni. You can learn more it here: http://www.lds.org/josephsmith/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=014968f0374f1010VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD&vgnextfmt=tab3
The Palmyra Temple
Next we drove to Fort Drum, New York to visit our friends the Johnsons. They had just gotten about 6 inches of snow so Scott took the kids sledding while Ian stayed home with me and Nikki and got acquainted with this doggie Emmett, who was quite the snuggler.
It was so cute to see them cuddle up and watch Winnie the Pooh
I helped Nikki get things ready for the big meal the following day, then the big day came, we cooked, we ate, we were stuffed then the day was over! I took no pictures except for this one of Maddy who fell asleep while watching football waiting for dinner to be done.
Rylan and Courtney had a blast playing Minecraft and DS together, we all went to Frozen and thought it was cute. Then after the movie, Nikki and I did some afternoon Black Friday shopping, and Scott and Scott went to a late night showing of Thor while Nikki and I stayed up late watching Full House episodes and talking about our childhoods. The Johnsons are so laid back it was a great vacation. We are sad that we didn't get a picture with them though!
We started our drive back Saturday, couldn't have asked for better weather, it was in the single digits, but the roads were dry. Our drive was uneventful until Ian randomly started puking somewhere in northeast Ohio. We think it was a dairy aversion mixed with traveling? He was completely fine after we stopped and was jumping all over the hotel room. Silly boy. We came home Sunday and bribed the kids that if they quickly helped to unpack and put away things from our trip we could start decorating for Christmas.
I made this wreath at my craft group a couple weeks ago, and I loved how it turned out!
Rylan thought that our tree needed a train, so he put up our Thomas train set around it.
This is the kids' tree, that they can decorate however they want! It has all their ornaments from Grammy and Papa and the ornaments they have made.
All we are all ready for Christmas!
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