Family Trip- Final part...FINALLY!

It's been a month since this trip, but here is the last part of it. One of the nights my family was here we went to see the monuments at night and they are certainly spectacular!

This picture is taken looking from the Lincoln Memorial. Right behind the Washington monument you can see the Capitol building.

The family in front of the reflection pond.

The Lincoln Memorial! One of my favorite buildings!

I love the flags at the base of the Washington Memorial! We are so lucky to be living here and be able to see these beautiful monuments in memory of our fore-fathers who built and guided this wonderful country! One of my favorite quotes in the Jefferson Monument is "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?" On this celebration of our independence I am grateful for this wonderful country and the liberties we enjoy...indeed it is a gift from God!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!!

Family Trip- Part 2: Niagra Falls

During our trip up north, we also went to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. I had been here before, but Morgan had never seen the falls and so it was fun to go again and see how beautiful they are!
We went on Maid of the Mist which goes really close to the falls. We got SOAKED! Its like being in a really big rain storm but its awesome to be so close to the falls. I would suggest going when you visit Niagara.
It gets much closer to the falls than this picture.
Over 6 million cubic feet of water go over the falls every minute! They are approximately 180 feet tall, however the bottom of the river right under the falls is 180 feet deep so technically the falls from top to the bottom of the river bed is 360 feet! Pretty cool!
There was a beautiful rainbow because there is so much mist. It was so great!
We stopped at a beach on Lake Erie and I tested out my camera and the classic ocean sunset picture. I think it turned out pretty good!
This is my family doing crazy poses and I thought it was a really fun picture!
This is a lighthouse on Lake Erie that served the port where most of the early missionaries going to England caught a ship. The lighthouse of course sat on a hill overlooking Lake Erie and it was a beautiful sight.
Captain Morgan ;) hehe

This part of the trip was of course fantastic! Niagara Falls is just so spectacular and it was fun to see one of the Great Lakes! It really just looks like the ocean cause you can't see anything in the distance. Stay tuned once again for the final part of the trip! Its going to be good!!

Family Trip - part 1:Church History

My family recently came out to the East coast for a 2 week vacation. We met them up in Ohio and did the church history sites up there. This post is the first part of the vacation...beware its a little long :)

First we went to Hirum, OH where the Johnson home is located. For some church history facts, Joseph and Emma went to live with the Johnson's during the Kirtland area when there was alot of pursecution going on. This is where Joseph was dragged from his bed and tarred and feathered. This is also where on of the Murdock twins died from exposure. D&C 76 was also revealed to Joseph in this home about the three kingdoms of glory.

Next we went to Kirtland, OH and I loved it! Nearly half of the D&C record was revealed in Kirtland. The church has made it beautiful. The temple was also beautiful and it was fun to go inside and see the beautiful wood working and be in such a sacred place.

Kirtland Temple- Here Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared in the temple.

This is the original steeple that was on top of the temple. I took a picture of this and got chewed out by the Church of Christ lady, so those who go here, don't take pictures :) I thought it was really cool to see that though!







The Newel K. Whitney store is also very significant in the revelations of the church. Here Joseph received the plan of salvation and also saw in vision the Father and the Son. This was also where the school of the prophets was started.



We also went to Palmyra which is probably my favorite of the church history site. It is so beautiful and peaceful there!



This is a family picture on top of the Hill Cumorah.







The Palmyra temple overlooks the sacred grove and is so beautiful! The temple's windows are all stained glass with pictures of the First Vision and Sacred Grove. I love it!

We also went to the Book of Mormon publication site where we got to see original copies of the Book of Mormon and also the printing press room. They showed us how a book was made and its incredible the amount of work and time that went into it. Ink can still be seen splashed on the walls! I love that the church has been able to preserve church history so well.

Stay tuned for part 2 of the trip!