Palmyra

We started our day started out nice. The baby was in a great mood and the weather was overcast but hot and humid. We started at the Sacred Grove Visitors Center and then the tour takes you to the Joseph Smith Sr. Log cabin. The church has reproduced it and have done a great job!

From there you walk to the frame house but on the way you stop and can see the Palmyra Temple and take a picture.

This is the frame house and is 89% original. It was really neat. From there you walk over to the sacred grove.

Natalie loved looking up through the trees.

These were some of my favorite pics. The moment that you walked into the grove there was an immediate reverence. To think that I walked where Joseph saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ was very humbling.

After the Sacred Grove we went to lunch at a place called "Brad and Dad", it was a burger joint that Lewis' Aunt and Uncle recommended to us. From there we went to the printing place of the Book of Mormon.

There were 5000 originally ordered, and it took 18 months to make those; today it would take only 2 days to do that. Of the original 5000 only about 200 have survived to today.

Then we went to the temple and took some pictures.

Next we went to the Hill Cumorah and went through the visitors center and then to the Moroni Monument.

Us at the Moroni Monument.

Our last stop was at Lock 29 just outside of Palmyra. It was another cool piece of American history to stop at the Erie Canal. There was this cool water fall that Lewis caught on film. After Lock 29 we went to "Nima's Pizza" (another recommendation) and then back to the hotel. It was a really quick trip but I am so glad that we took the time to go. I loved visiting all the sites and hope that the kids will remember it.

Gettysburg

On the way to Palmyra we stopped for breakfast at Gettysburg. I know it is not what you think of as a great food stop but the Mickey D's was clean and we were able to see a great piece of American history.

The state of PA put up this great memorial and you can climb up to the top and take pictures of all the fields.

Here we all are on the steps.

Here are the three big kids on top, with some of the battlefields in the background.

Picnic and Cuddles

When Natalie was born Papa took a trip to Trader Joe's and came home with a LARGE assortment of treats and the kiddos and Nana and Papa watched a movie and had a picnic. So keeping in tradition we repeated this with Me and Lewis too.

I went looking for the kids one night so they could get into bed and this is what I found. All in the bed watching Top Chef.

Austin's Baptism

On August 15th Austin was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Grandma and Grandpa showed up and surprised us that morning (they were originally not gonna be able to make it), so it was so nice for Austin to have both sets of Grandparents there.

it was a really beautiful ordinance and the spirit was really strong there. I know that Austin will be such a great young man as he continues to learn and grow. I am so proud of him and the wonderful choice that he made to be baptized.

After all was said and done we all went to Famous Daves for some "rips" (ribs) and then we all had a fun movie night at the house. It was so great that Grandma and Grandpa made it even if it was a way short trip.

Austin is 8!!!

My sweet little man is 8. He wanted a sleep over party and we did our best but it was so sad that no one could sleep over. Lewis took the boys to see "G-Force" (which the boys all loved!), came home and helped to make pizza and then had some cool summer peach desert. Austin had a blast and that is all that counts.