On Thursday October 20th we headed to Las Vegas around 1:00. We carpooled with Robyn and Adam and their girls. We dropped their car off at the parking garage and rode a little shuttle to the airport. We got there early so we took our time and ate. Our flight ended up being delayed by about an hour so we didn't make into Cleveland until around 1:30 am. We met Stacy and Ben's family at the airport, got our rental cars and headed to our hotel.
The next morning (Friday 21st) we headed out at about 9:00 am in the rain to head to Kirtland. From the second we pulled out of our hotel it was a gorgeous view. The trees were full of different colors. I couldn't get enough pictures or video. It made the traveling fun. We traveled on little country roads all through Ohio and it was fun to see all of the little farmhouses.
Our cute little rental for the weekend.
Our first stop was the Johnson Farm/Home. I think this was my favorite church site (other than the sacred grove). The home was so cute and it made it even more special to learn all the amazing things that happened in that home to help the church become restored.
The room that Joseph had several revelations including the three degrees of glory. It was interesting to learn about why he had prayed about this. That at the time people thought if they weren't' going to heaven they automatically went to hell. Also he was visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in this room.
I loved all the color and wood work through the house.
More amazing fall views.
We then headed to the End of Commons Amish store. It was a fun stop and we could of spent a lot more time if we would of had it. But we needed to get to Kirtland so we chose a view souvenirs and headed out.
Terry loved tasting all the different cheese samples.
Cute little post office!
We made it to Kirtland and after getting a little lost, we were able to find the Kirtland Temple and take that tour. Again it was neat to see where so many important things happened for the church but my favorite part of the temple was sitting in the assembly room and singing "The Spirit of God".
We made a quick stop at the Isaac Morley farm and learned more history of our church and the early believers that help it come about.
Last stop of the day was the Kirtland Visitor's center. We were able to see the homes and shops of the village and hear wonderful stories and feel the spirit in each of the places.
The house that Uncle Dean and Aunt Karen lived in while they were on their mission.
A bible from the 1800's
We promised Aunt Karen we would get a picture in front of her little red house and we made sure we did.
Saturday morning we slept in a little and got up to a very cold, windy, and a little rainy day. We ate breakfast and headed over to the Palmyra Temple to watch the grand kids do baptisms. The baptismal director was great and told us so many interesting things about this temple. While everyone else ran their kids back to the house Terry and I stayed and just enjoyed the spirit of being in the temple. Brandon and Tracy's sealing was beautiful and you could feel the spirit so strong in the sealing room. I was so glad we were able to be a part of it. This trip was hard to have to leave our kids and I knew i would miss them and wish they were there especially since everyone else had their kids with them, but i wouldn't of traded the feeling and the testimony building I felt while we witnessed their sealing. That is what real joy feels like.
I just thought the windows were so pretty but when we were doing baptisms we learned the meaning of the windows. It represents the tree of life.
After the sealing it was too cold to take a lot of pictures so we headed back to the house to get changed and ready to head out to see more sights.
The house we all rented and stayed at
When we headed into town Terry immediately noticed the four churches. It was so interesting to see how there were so many for such a little town. No wonder Joseph was so confused.
We went to see the Martin Harris farm but there was really only a plaque and this sign so it was a quick stop.
more beauty on our drives.
Everyone was starving so we made a pit stop at McDonalds to satisfy us until dinner and headed back out.
While we were gone on Saturday Jantzyn had a couple of games so Jadyn and Jorrin took great care of her and ran her around for us. Jaicelyn also had a busy weekend and was at the Soccer state champion semi final game.
On Sunday we got up bright and early and went to the only Palmyra ward at 9:00 which had a great sacrament meeting and also left us the rest of the day to visit more sights. We stopped again at the temple to get more pictures (since Saturday it was freezing) and then we spent most of our time walking through the Sacred Grove. I really enjoyed this part of our trip and probably missed my girls most during it. Gorgeous was an understatement for the Sacred Grove and you could feel the spirit so strong. I loved walking around with Terry and feeling the spirit together. We sat for a while and just enjoyed the peace and then read the first vision together.
Alvin Smiths grave
View of the temple from the Sacred Grove
It really made you feel for Joseph being chased and having to carry those heavy plates down this hill and four miles to his home.
Our last stop on Sunday was the Peter Whitmer Farm and visitor center. I really liked the movie we watched in the visitor center that showed how the Whitmer family was converted.
It was also at this home that the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished.
we saw black squirrels all over the place.
There was a platform you could walk right out to the edge of the falls. It was a litte to close for me but Terry got some great pictures of it.
close up of the Horseshoe!!!
After our fun adventure at the falls we did some more souvenir shopping and headed to the airport. One thing we learned was it was hard to find regular fast food restaurants. We looked the whole way to the airport and didn't find anything so we had our last meal in New York at a little sports bar right by the Buffalo Airport. It was an awesome couple of days being with family and seeing sights that both uplifted and awed.
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