Guess where this is? Niagara Falls, NY! Mark & I spent a few days with my parents, siblings & their spouses on a vacation to New York and Ohio to visit the church sites in Palmyra and Kirtland. We flew into Buffalo, so our first stop was Niagara Falls. The falls are amazing. Here's our group:
Here we are in our rain gear riding on the Maid of the Mist.
This is my mom & dad with a nice view of the "American Falls" in the background.
Yours truly.
The squirrels were very busy collecting their winter stash of nuts. I'm always impressed with their big bushy tails. Squirrels in the west don't have tails that glamorous.
After Niagara Falls, we headed to Palmyra. First stop was the Hill Cumorah. This is looking out over the valley from the top of the hill.
At the top of the Hill Cumorah is this monument with Moroni standing atop.
Our next stop was the Palmyra LDS temple. My sister, Kathleen, had made arrangements for us to do a sealing session there. She was able to find a few ancestors from my mothers side of the family that needed to be sealed. It was really awesome to be a proxy for people that I'm related to -- much more meaningful. And many thanks to Kathleen's good friend who provided a bunch more of her family names for us to seal while we were there. One thing I love about the grounds of this temple is that there are no fences around it. The grass just gives way to the forest and trees that are so abundant. It is so peaceful there.
This was our first visit to the inside of the temple. This temple is unique in the fact that it has a huge picture window just past the recommend desk that looks out over the sacred grove. What a beautiful site. All the other windows in the temple are stained glass that also feature the trees of the sacred grove.
Our group: In the back row is David, Karen, John, Kathleen, Michael, & Mark. In the front is GayLynn, Mom, Dad, & me.
The next day we visited the Book of Mormon printing shop. I didn't take many photos this time, but I did like this one of the book being stitched together.
Our next stop was the Joseph Smith farm. From the farm you can look across the road and up into the trees to find this beautiful view of the Palmyra temple.
I just love how it is nestled into the trees.
It's probably hard to tell from my pictures, but the scenery around the farm was just gorgeous!
Love this picture of my parents!
This is GayLynn and David standing near the "Alvin" tree. This is the tree that was planted by the Smith family following Alvin's (Joseph's oldest brother) death. It is huge and thick!
This is a view of the inside of the cooper's shed. At one time Joseph hid the gold plates up in the loft here to keep them safe from the mob.
John & Karen on the path that leads into the sacred grove. Love those autumn leaf colors!
Mark, me, Kathleen & Michael.
Inside the sacred grove.
The path in the grove was so covered by leaves that sometimes it was hard to tell where it lead. We loved hearing the crunch of the leaves under our feet.
Here we are at the Peter Whitmer home. This is where the church was officially organized on April 6, 1830. This was our last site in New York.
Our first stop in Ohio was at the John Johnson home in Hiram.
This is the room where Joseph received many revelations. One of particular importance is D&C section 76.
Elsa Johnson must have loved color. The Johnson home is very colorful -- here's an example of the orange painted woodwork. There was also green woodwork, feather painted woodwork & doors, and a red and black tile floor.
Our group again, at the Johnson home.
Our tour of the main Kirtland area was absolutely fabulous! Here we are at the Whitney store. The Whitney's were amazing people who gave literally everything for the forwarding of the gospel.
This table in one of the rooms above the store is a table original to Joseph Smith.
This is kind of an odd picture, but as I was listening to the sisters talk while we visited the Whitney home, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the tree was just outside the window.
Here's me taking my own picture at the Ashery -- looking into one of the ovens.
We had a WONDERFUL tour of the Kirtland temple! We were able to see all three floors this time! No pictures are allowed to be taken inside the temple.
I love this picture of the temple surrounded by the trees and bushes.
Our last stop was the Isaac Morley farm. Here's my parents:
I like this shot of our backsides, because it shows us leaving. It's our parting picture of the wonderful vacation we had together.
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to spend some time with my parents and siblings. It was a rare and memorable treat. I'm also grateful for G&G Vawdrey who took care of our boys while we were away. They had such a good time with their grandparents and cousins that they didn't even miss us!
Guess where this is? Niagara Falls, NY! Mark & I spent a few days with my parents, siblings & their spouses on a vacation to New York and Ohio to visit the church sites in Palmyra and Kirtland. We flew into Buffalo, so our first stop was Niagara Falls. The falls are amazing. Here's our group:
Here we are in our rain gear riding on the Maid of the Mist.
This is my mom & dad with a nice view of the "American Falls" in the background.
Yours truly.
The squirrels were very busy collecting their winter stash of nuts. I'm always impressed with their big bushy tails. Squirrels in the west don't have tails that glamorous.
After Niagara Falls, we headed to Palmyra. First stop was the Hill Cumorah. This is looking out over the valley from the top of the hill.
At the top of the Hill Cumorah is this monument with Moroni standing atop.
Our next stop was the Palmyra LDS temple. My sister, Kathleen, had made arrangements for us to do a sealing session there. She was able to find a few ancestors from my mothers side of the family that needed to be sealed. It was really awesome to be a proxy for people that I'm related to -- much more meaningful. And many thanks to Kathleen's good friend who provided a bunch more of her family names for us to seal while we were there. One thing I love about the grounds of this temple is that there are no fences around it. The grass just gives way to the forest and trees that are so abundant. It is so peaceful there.
This was our first visit to the inside of the temple. This temple is unique in the fact that it has a huge picture window just past the recommend desk that looks out over the sacred grove. What a beautiful site. All the other windows in the temple are stained glass that also feature the trees of the sacred grove.
Our group: In the back row is David, Karen, John, Kathleen, Michael, & Mark. In the front is GayLynn, Mom, Dad, & me. 
The next day we visited the Book of Mormon printing shop. I didn't take many photos this time, but I did like this one of the book being stitched together.
Our next stop was the Joseph Smith farm. From the farm you can look across the road and up into the trees to find this beautiful view of the Palmyra temple.
I just love how it is nestled into the trees.
It's probably hard to tell from my pictures, but the scenery around the farm was just gorgeous!
Love this picture of my parents!
This is GayLynn and David standing near the "Alvin" tree. This is the tree that was planted by the Smith family following Alvin's (Joseph's oldest brother) death. It is huge and thick!
This is a view of the inside of the cooper's shed. At one time Joseph hid the gold plates up in the loft here to keep them safe from the mob. 
John & Karen on the path that leads into the sacred grove. Love those autumn leaf colors!
Mark, me, Kathleen & Michael.
Inside the sacred grove.
The path in the grove was so covered by leaves that sometimes it was hard to tell where it lead. We loved hearing the crunch of the leaves under our feet.
Here we are at the Peter Whitmer home. This is where the church was officially organized on April 6, 1830. This was our last site in New York.
Our first stop in Ohio was at the John Johnson home in Hiram.
This is the room where Joseph received many revelations. One of particular importance is D&C section 76.
Elsa Johnson must have loved color. The Johnson home is very colorful -- here's an example of the orange painted woodwork. There was also green woodwork, feather painted woodwork & doors, and a red and black tile floor.
Our group again, at the Johnson home.
Our tour of the main Kirtland area was absolutely fabulous! Here we are at the Whitney store. The Whitney's were amazing people who gave literally everything for the forwarding of the gospel.
This table in one of the rooms above the store is a table original to Joseph Smith.
This is kind of an odd picture, but as I was listening to the sisters talk while we visited the Whitney home, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the tree was just outside the window.
Here's me taking my own picture at the Ashery -- looking into one of the ovens.
We had a WONDERFUL tour of the Kirtland temple! We were able to see all three floors this time! No pictures are allowed to be taken inside the temple.
I love this picture of the temple surrounded by the trees and bushes.
Our last stop was the Isaac Morley farm. Here's my parents:
I like this shot of our backsides, because it shows us leaving. It's our parting picture of the wonderful vacation we had together.
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to spend some time with my parents and siblings. It was a rare and memorable treat. I'm also grateful for G&G Vawdrey who took care of our boys while we were away. They had such a good time with their grandparents and cousins that they didn't even miss us!
3 comments:
What a wonderful trip. YOu were in my neck of the woods. Would have been great to see you. I am glad you post often on your blog. It is nice to keep up with your growing family.
What a fun idea! The pictures were really fun to look at. Cute Family.
Looks like an AWESOME trip! I think it's great that you were able to take a trip with all the "grown ups". We've been tossing around the idea of doing that with my family for some time, and I think we need to get on it sooner rather than later.
Post a Comment