Trip to Rochester, NY
So on Friday the 13th of August Ricky and I decided to drive out to visit my parents on their mission. We left Saturday morning super early and headed east. It is about a 30 hour drive to get there so we had all kinds of fun. We stopped at my sister's in Kansas City for a night and then drove and drove! We stopped at Carthage Jail and Nauvoo on the way there.Carthage is a very sacred place as it is where the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed. They gave their lives as a testimony of the gospel. I love them dearly and loved taking my family there. The kids enjoyed being there. This is one of their favorite stories and it was great to take them there where it actually happened. This door is the door that bullets came through and shot Hyrum in the face and killed him. You can see the holes in the door-this is the door from the martyrdom. The upper window is the window Joseph jumped from and was shot as he fell.

Braxton and Burke were named after these two hero's of ours. Braxton's middle name is Hyrum and Burke's middle name is Joseph. We wanted a picture of them with this statue of their names sake.

This statue is right in front of the Nauvoo Temple. It represents Joseph and Hyrum as they looked over the city on their way to Carthage. It is one of Ricky's favorite statues.

This is the Nauvoo Temple. It is one of the most beautiful temple's on earth!

This is where Joseph, Emma and Hyrum are buried.

We didn't get to spend much time in Nauvoo as we were in a hurry to get to my parents as quickly as possible! We will come back though, someday!

Peter Whitmer Farm
This is the first site we went to with my parents. You can tell from this picture that the kids were a little wired. This is the day we arrived and had been driving for 3 days. They were thrilled to not be cooped up in the car.The Peter Whitmer Farm is where the church was organized on April 6,1830. This is the front door. Red is so my favorite.

We had to wait a little while to go into the home so the kids did some exploring. Burke is such a collector. Everywhere we go he collects things. This day it was acorns. He had all is pockets full of them. He cracks me up!

While we waited, Ellie gave us a few lessons and bore her testimony. She sounded just like the sister missionaries. I loved it!

The Whitmer Farm is beautiful! It is so green and lush. I loved sitting on the benches under the trees while we waited. It was perfect!

The Whitmer Farm is an opperating farm and the kids thought this corn was neat. Burke told me he was hungry and wanted to eat a piece of corn. What a nut!

My dad giving us a lesson about the Whitmer Farm. He and my mom are so in their element here in the mission field. I love listening to them teach.

This is inside the home in the room where the church was organized. It is an awesome room!

Log Home and Sacred Grove
This is just a cute shot of the kids eating popsicles on the back porch.Tuesday evening we went to the Log Home and the Sacred Grove. We went after hours so we were able to be taught by my dad. This is the main room on the bottom floor in the log home. We talked down here and then went upstairs. The upstairs is a sacred place. This log home is reconstructed, but it is the very same air space that the original log home was built. Upstairs is the room where Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith as a boy-it is the very air space that he appeared.

This is Ashton listening to grandpa tell the story of Angel Moroni coming to Joseph Smith. We all felt the Spirit and then bore our testimonies. It was a unique experience that I will never forget.

This is my mom bearing her testimony. These are moments that will not be forgotten.

By the time we finished in the log cabin it had gotten dark. We walked through the Sacred Grove anyway, even though it was dark. It was still peaceful.

Ellie couldn't get enough of grandma and loved being with her!

E.B. Grandin Building
This is where the Book of Mormon was published. This is such a neat place to visit. It is very hands on and it shows you exactly how the BOM was published. It took much sacrifice and painstaking effort to publish this great book.

The kids loved this site. The loved seeing how they printed each letter and then bound the books. They all remembered what they learned here. It is so neat to see my kids learn the truths of the restoration and have their testimonies strengthened.

This is an up close view of the Palmyra Temple. It is beautiful and the setting adds to the beauty of the temple.

Niagara Falls!!!!!
Yeah! This has been one of my favorite places for over 10 years! I was so excited to come back and bring my kids here. This is the American side of the falls. You can just see the tip of Horseshoe Falls in the distance. I forgot our passports and birth certificate's, so we couldn't go to the Canada side. It all worked out okay though and we got to do everything we wanted to do.Burke and Ellie at the overlook of the falls.

Braxton standing at the overlook.

Ashton with his usual amount of enthusiasm!

Poor Bradley was having a major meltdown at this point. He is crying in almost every picture but this one. The only way to calm him down was with food.

This is at the top of a huge tower thing way above the water. It was super windy and a little nerve racking with kids up so high. Of course they were perfectly safe, but looking down was a little creepy!

If you ever go to Niagara Falls you have to ride the Maid of the Mist. It is a boat that goes out to the falls and into the mist as close to the falls as it can get. Naturally you get wet so they give these sweet blue ponchos. The kids had so much fun playing with them. They really are a crack up!

Niagara Falls is in my parents mission-at least the American side-so they were able to drive up and ride the boat with us. It was so fun to have them there! We laughed and laughed as we got pelted with water from the falls.

I love this picture of Brad! It is so his personality-happy and cheerful! This is clearly post melt down.

Notice the path of blue ponchos up the side of the hill. When we got off the boat, Braxton, Ellie and I walked up these stairs up really close to the falls. Like I said, it was a really windy day and the water from the falls soaked us!! I mean, but shoes were full of water and my poncho didn't help much. It was like someone was dumping water over us there was so much water. It is one of my favorite memories with my children. SO FUN!

I took the rest of the pictures from the boat. I couldn't take many because there was so much water misting over us. We were all wet, before the kids and I hiked up the stairs. My dad had his suit pants and nice shoes on and they got soaked. We found it quite funny!

This is still the American Falls. There was a constant rainbow as we drove by.

This is Horseshoe Falls. I can't even describe how powerful it is to be so close to this water. It is loud and you are surrounded by the falls. It is amazing!! I don't think you could get any closer to these falls without mishap.

This is another boat going into the falls. You can see how neat it is from this view and how much water there is.

Last Day in NY
Saturday was our last day in NY and the only day my parents had off, it was the P-day in fact. We went to the Sacred Grove so we could be there in the day. It was so beautiful!! The Smith farm is absolutely beautiful!! They have made it look just like it would have been when the Smith family lived there in the early 1800's. Pictures cant' really do it justice, but I did my best.
This is Ash sitting by a tree in the Sacred Grove. We just took our time and walked through all the trails and enjoyed the peaceful feeling there.

Ellie wanted me to take pictures of her every few minutes. She is a great model don't you think?

Bradley had the luxury of being carried much of the time.

There are hand made benches all throughout the grove so you can sit and ponder. We didn't do much pondering with the kids around, but we got everyone to be still long enough for this shot.

Being here with my mom and dad has been so special. I have been here before with them, but we have been able to do special things because they preside over the mission here. It has been awesome to see them with the missionaries and to see them act in the Lord's name.

This tree is super old and is thought to have been here when Joseph Smith had the First Vision. I couldn't pass up the chance to get all the kids around it together.

The Sacred Grove really is one of the most beautiful places on earth! There is a feeling here that doesn't reside anywhere else. I am so thankful to know that God and His Son Jesus Christ appeared here to bring the truth back to the earth.

This is the upstairs of the frame home on the Smith farm. People aren't allowed up here because it is so old. This is the original floor from when the Smith's lived here and so are the windows. My dad let Ricky and I go up and walk around and see what it was like. It was cool!

This is the Palmyra Temple. You can see it as you walk from the Sacred Grove back to the log home on the Smith farm.

After being in Palmyra all afternoon, we went back to my parents house to relax. This is a picture of the front of the house. It was so great to stay at the mission home. The kids had a ball exploring and playing in the many rooms.

We had a BBQ for dinner and ate out on the breezeway. The weather was perfect while we were there, and we wanted to enjoy the beauty of the yard one last time.

We were so sad to leave my parents! We had such a blast being at their home. Ricky and I decided that this is one of the best trips we have ever had!!