Day 2 Palmyra

Day two started out bright and early in the morning. We got in kinda late and we hadn't really adjusted to East Coast time yet so we woke up at what felt like 3 in the morning. But it was so worth it. I made us an appointment to do a session in the Palmyra temple at eight and the hotel we stayed at is right down the street from the temple and the sacred grove. So I thought it would be nice to get up extra early and walk down to the sacred grove first and then walk to the temple for our session. I was second guessing myself as we tried to drag our sleepy selves out of bed but it was so neat. I'm so glad we did it. There was absolutely no one around. It was just me and Travis walking through this path with frogs croaking and birds chirping. It was very peaceful already. It was also kind of chilly in the morning!! The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. The highs were in the 70's with lows in the 50's! We were in heaven. Anyway, on the way, we also saw some deer walking along someone's driveway and some squirrels scurrying along. We reached the grove and it was incredible. We saw maybe two other people there and it was just in passing. It was quiet and beautiful and so spiritual. The sun was just coming up through the trees and it was just breathtaking. I love the trees there. We also went later on in the day with tons of other people and my loud kids and there is no comparison. I would recommend that to anyone that goes there. Go early!! We then walked over to the temple.....by the way, I also recommend staying at the Palmyra Inn. It was walking distance to the important stuff and it had a book of Mormon in the desk drawer along with the Bible!!! I love small towns. Especially church history towns;)

Here are the deer. You can't really see it but this guys driveway is so long. We were just out at the street.

Trav in the grove.

Me in the grove.

I posted the pic of the sun coming up through the trees a week ago but this one is cool too. Pictures don't do it justice though.

After our session.

A cool looking church that was right across from the deer house. We went inside one that looked like this one and it is beautiful!

Joseph Smith home.

Upstairs where Angel Moroni appeared to him.

This is the bigger home that they moved into later and the home that he brought the Gold plates back to.

The box where he put the plates.

Here are the loose bricks that he would put the plates under to hide them as well.

One of the few times we got her smiling on camera;)

Makenna about to go into the grove.

Jordyn in the grove (without shoes). That girl did not want her shoes on for very long. She would walk barefoot even on hard gravel. She didn't care!!

We also went to the Grandin Press and they showed us how they printed the Book of Mormon. What a painstaking process and it took forever!!
This was how they had to bind the books. It was like sewing. It was neat to see how they branded the name on it as well.

Martin Harris farm

We also stopped at the Erie Canal. It was bigger than I thought it would be.

We got to have an early night that night thankfully because this is how we all felt by that point.

Day 1 Kirtland/Niagara Falls

We flew into Cleveland (nonstop flight;) and the girls were awesome on the plane. J.J. was crazy in the terminal but she was really good on the flight. The plane was full so I just sat with my parents and she moved between all of us. She especially loved sitting on Papa's lap when we were taking off and landing. Makenna just loves flying. She sat across from us with Daddy and an older lady sat next to her. She talked her ears off and the lady was so nice and talked with her. I had to thank her when we got off. It was so funny. Makenna also said her tummy tickled when we were taking off and landing. So cute. We drove to Kirtland the next morning and started off at the quarry where they got the stone for the temple. We ended up going the wrong way which was a very long hike but it was pretty.
Here are my girls getting along on our hike.

We finally got to the quarry. You can see the grooves where they cut out the stone.

The sign said that leashes were 'required'!!! LOL!

We then headed to the LDS visitors center where we got to see a few sites that we own including the Newel K. Whitney store! We had to watch a video and Jordyn was not very good while we waited. Not a good sign. And of course they wouldn't just let us go see the stuff without the video!

The school of prophets inside the store where many things occurred.

Joseph and Emma's room.

We then headed over to the temple which the Church of Christ now owns. Of course there was another video we had to watch and this one was weird because they were saying that all the early converts were from their church. I beg to differ. We couldn't take pics inside the temple but it was soooo neat!!! But you don't really feel the spirit. It's sad since so many spiritual things happened there. It's too bad that the other church owns it.

Original windows

Grave site marker for the Joseph and Emma's twins that died when they first arrived in Kirtland.

After we visited the temple, we got on the road and headed towards Niagara Falls. It truly is amazing to see in person. The power of the falls is incredible.

Boy was I a nervous mother hen when my kiddos got too close to the water. There was one spot where it is just a huge drop from the fence. Scary!! But oh so beautiful!! My mom said it was payback because I did that with her and the Grand Canyon;)

After we walked all around the Falls, we got back in the car and drove another hour and forty minutes to Palmyra. We were already so thankful that we had our GPS system with us. It was a huge lifesaver especially when we were driving at night and all the signs are so small and hidden by trees. It was great!! Day one was packed with traveling but then we got to slow down and spend the next two days in Palmyra!!

HOME

Wow!! What an amazing trip!! I can't believe how much we saw. It was so cool. The kids definitely could have been better but they could have also been worse. Makenna was actually really good. I think she is at a good age for travel. But Jordyn just doesn't know how to be quiet when we needed her to be quiet;) I have so much to blog about and I'm not sure where to start. I guess I will start with the things I liked and didn't like about our trip;-)

Liked:
-The beautiful green trees everywhere!!
-The beautiful weather most of the time! Palmyra couldn't have been any better.
-The amazing sites (both church history and American history)
-Having no problems with the car.
-Not getting rained on (especially at the pageant).
-Our GPS system!!! We could kiss it! I will never go on a trip without it again!!
-All the cops everywhere to help us feel safe.
-DVD player
-Nonstop flights!!
-Learning so much about our history!
-Travis not getting a ticket or in an accident (especially in NY!!!)

Didn't Like:
-All the rude people!!
-Kids screaming!
-Security lines!!!!!!!!! (I will scream if I have to go through another detector!)
-Blistered feet!
-Living out of a suitcase.
-Backups on the freeway.
-Getting lost in Central Park with J.J. screaming.
-Toll roads!!!
-DVD player not working half the time.

A couple more teasers/ NYC

Statue of Liberty of course!!! You will never believe the measures you have to go through to see the statue of liberty. We were in line for three hours!! Yes, three hours. And then we weren't even up there for very long because we all felt weird and scared of heights. Yes, it's that high!!! So, if you ever get a chance to go, just go and walk around!! I promise! It was still way cool!

Right outside of the statue looking out toward the city. It's not the best pic. I'm squinting in the sun but it's cool of the city!

Um....yeah, this is Kenna with a hunky firefighter!!! We were walking past ground zero and fire station #10 (which is right across the street and got hit the hardest out of men lost) and their garage thing was up. You can see this memorial right inside so a couple was taking pics and Makenna loves fire trucks so we were showing her the truck. This fireman was sitting on the edge of the truck and asked if she wanted to climb in. Of course her response was a YES!! He even turned on the lights and she was in hog heaven. So cool!!!

This is for Sarah!!!

The inside of St. Patricks cathedral!!! So beautiful!

I can't wait to post more pics!! We have like over 700 already!!

Teaser pics/ Palmyra

Just a few pics.....
Palmyra Pageant was amazing!!! This isn't a great pic but still cool! It was so cold that night but
so thankful that it didn't rain!!

Sacred Grove!!! So beautiful and serene and peaceful!!!

Palmyra temple! We did a session (very early in the morning) and was so neat!

A couple trip pics

Blogger won't let me download very many pics so I will just put a couple up and do the rest later!!
Our family at the Kirtland temple.

Niagara Falls....so cool!

Crazy, crazy day!

Well, the day started out great. I cashed in my gift certificate that Travis got me for Mother's day. He had gotten me a manicure too! I haven't had one of those since we got married since I can't have long nails while massaging. But I figured this was the perfect time to do it so they can be pretty for awhile;)

We tested out the ipod (with Einsteins) and headphones for J.J. to see if she would keep them on during the flight. It was a huge success since she didn't look up once after Travis put these on. So, it will be a convenient way to keep her occupied.

Unfortunately, this afternoon, my sister's bulldog Cash died. He had some sort of trauma earlier in the day and then my Mom was watching him while they went to the lake. All of a sudden he starts to throw up blood and my poor Mommy freaks out. She got him to the vet very quickly but they couldn't do anything for him. He had some internal bleeding that was slowly killing him. It's just awful and my mom is so upset. I just want her to know that it's not her fault and that she just happened to have him at the wrong time. I was there with her and I have never been there right when a dog has died. I gave him his last kiss and hug for my sis and my stomach has just been upset all day worrying about my mom. I love you!
And then we took our Lady bug over to Travis' moms for her to stay while we are gone. Makenna is so stinking cute! She was upset when we left and said, "I think Lady is thinking of why we are leaving her! I'm going to miss her!" I love that my babies get to grow up with a doggie. It is so special and they learn how to love animals from birth!

And it is now past nine and I'm still not packed!! Ugh! I am so drained from the craziness of the day that I just wish I could wiggle my nose and have it be done. But packing is the worst part for me. I will be just fine once we get on that plane and get on our way. Thank you Nancy for watching our house and taking care of Lady. I am also going to try and post when I can or I am going to have way too much to blog when I get home. So if anyone reads this anymore, check back and see some cool pics in the coming days.
See ya'lls later!! Off to some cooler weather. It's going to be 110 degrees this week! We are getting the heck out of dodge!
*edited to add....I reached my first goal for weight loss just in the nick of time!! Now I just hope that I don't gain it back on the trip;-)

Sisterly fun!

I found them doing this the other day. I've seen Jordyn on this before but not with Kenna and not going this high!!! But they were having so much fun!

And I don't know the purpose of this (especially with blankets and it being over 100) but they were doing it together and it's just precious!!

4th of July

We went over to Grandma and Papa's for the 4th of July! We had a barbeque and watched Tony win the race!! WooHoo! The girls played in the blow up pool and had a blast. Travis played with the Las Vegas Phil that night but he was able to eat with us before he left.

Trying to get a pic with my girls!

Makenna loves the fireworks!! She kept asking for them all afternoon. She didn't want to do the sparklers or anything but she couldn't get enough of all the illegal ones that everyone was shooting off around us.

I wondered how Jordyn would do this year. She started out ok as you can see by this pic. She kept saying 'pretty'!!!

Miss Makenna was thoroughly enjoying them.

And then Jordyn started to get this questioning look on her face. She wasn't sure if she was liking it.

And then she really started to not like them. They were really noisy!

And now she is done!!! She wanted in the house NOW!!! Poor baby! She is just like her mommy was.

But this one stayed out and enjoyed every minute. She didn't want to go home but I promised her we would go out at our house once we got Jordyn relaxed and in bed.

Ready to go!!!

Lady stayed out with us but this is where she chose to hide. Poor thing!!

We had a great 4th of July!