More Cousin Field Trips

The Zoo opened a new exhibit so we had to go check it out .  The wild dogs were pretty cool- at least their cut outs- the real things were sleeping.

These old standbys are worn out but the kids still need a picture with them every time.

She wore her zebra shirt on purpose.

The zoo never gets old - especially when you have cousins with you.

Our summer reading earned us free tickets to the Canyon County Fair.  So we met up with the youngest three Wilfords and enjoyed the animals, craft exhibits, food and the reptile show.  Emily was one of the first to volunteer to pet the different critters.  I'm not sure what the first one was but she got to hold and high five an alligator.  Pretty cool.

Kirtland

The next morning the big kids went on a run together and it took quite a while to get all of us showered. Were sad to say goodbye to our place.  It had been so nice to all stay together and the old house had so many fun quirks- but we were off to Kirtland by way of Niagara...

Welcome to Canada guys!  Loved the falls but our phones didn't work, that with all the summer tourists and no parking spots made for a lot of confusion but we all made it back to the US safely - eventually.

We separated from the Pierce's because we were bound for a West Virginia detour - but our plans were foiled by a complete stand still on the highway.  It took so long that we figured we'd better just get dinner and go to bed - darn it.

Renting a car for 8 is always tricky.  We didn't want to spend the extra money for an extra large vehicle so we had one kid sitting on the floor quite often - don't tell.  Ironically, the Pierce's were given an 8 seater van so Kate rode with them most of the time.

That night we were in a different hotel than the Pierce's and we ended up getting to Kirtland before them.  We started with a tour of the Kirtland Temple.  Definitely a highlight.  I love the spirit of the building.  The sacrifice it took to build it and the amazing things that happened there.  We sang "The Spirit of God" and it felt amazing!  Loved sharing that with my kids.

We ate lunch with the Pierce's then they did the temple while we toured the town.  The senior missionaries led us on a great tour of the Whitney store and home, the ashery, and sawmill.  We had to get a pic of the sawmill for Grandpa.  The ashery was super interesting - I learned so much.

From there we took a bit of a drive to the Johnson Farm, another site I had never been to - so glad we made the extra trek.  The building was amazing.  Each room was painted such bright colors - colors that are original to the home from Joseph's era.  

And this crazy molding was hand painted to look like it had that grain in it - so cool.  But really the best part was learning about all the revelations received in this home- specifically section 76.  Amazing stuff.  This is also the home where Joseph was dragged from his bed, then tared and feathered.  Glad we got to be there.

Then being the crazy Easton's we are - we drove an extra 90 minutes to cross the border into West Virginia (The Pierce's had opted out for the hotel pool).  We crossed a cool bridge and Greg flipped the car around while Natali and I took pictures.  That was my 49th state (only South Carolina left).  Worst picture of me ever - but I'm leaving it for the sake of posterity.

We celebrated with ice cream and dinner at DQ then headed to the hotel.  90 minutes later we got to the hotel to find the pool was outside and it had been pouring rain all night so we didn't even miss the swimming.  Glad we went to West Virginia.  We said goodbye to the Pierce's.  Everyone was sad to say goodbye to Nora, especially Mack since they were really tight.  She even called him her "sister".  We got the kids in bed and arranged our airport shuttle for early the next morning.  We had a short layover in Minneapolis, but it was long enough for Greg to take all the kids out of the airport while I stayed with the luggage.  Another state crossed off their lists.  Call us crazy - but we really do love traveling together and seeing all the amazing things the world and nature have to show us.

Harmony and Palmyra

We stayed the night about an hour out of the city.  We slept in and got a slow start to Harmony PA to see the Priesthood restoration site.  It was one of the sites I'd never been to so I was very excited.  We went through the visitors center and then walked down to the river where Joseph baptized Oliver.  It was beautiful and incredible to think of the important things that happened here.  

Then we toured Joseph and Emma's home where much of the Book of Mormon was translated.

Then into the nicer home where Emma grew up.   I love church history sites.  I love the spirit I feel learning about how the Lord has provided a way for his work to be done.  I love learning of the sacrifices members have made to obey God.  And I love how the church does so much research to make things as historically accurate as possible.

The graveyard had Joseph and Emma's first baby who lived less than a day and Emma's parents.  Can you tell the kids were getting hot by this point and ready to move on.  They didn't share my enthusiasm for the history in the heat.  It was hot enough to even temper my enthusiasm.  So we loaded up and headed to Fayette, to the Whitmer farm, where the first meeting of the church was held.

Hard to imagine fitting 30 people in this little home.  Such a small space but they had so many guests in and out while Joseph was there translating.  Such sacrifice and generosity.

They would have translated right in that room with the other family members going about their routines.  They fed and housed Joseph, Oliver and sometimes Emma.  Gave up a bedroom in a home with very few doors.  They worked and served Joseph but couldn't see the plates, but they could read the translation and knew it was from God.  So they endured the sacrifice.  Did I mention I love this stuff?  

Then we booked it to Palmyra for the pageant.  Next year will be the last time they have the Cumorah Pageant - that was all the incentive Greg needed to plan this trip.

The pageant effects were pretty cool.  We loved the water splashing in Nephi's boat scene, the fire, and people falling off of walls.  We can check the experience off in the books- entertaining but I don't think it was the highlight of the kids trip.  It was a late night as we drove back to our AirB&B.

The next morning we caught a very full sacrament meeting and then went to see the sites.  We took in the Erie Canal and Greg explained how locks work.

Then the Grandin Press.  Loved learning about how the Book of Mormon would have been made and to see an original.  Wow.

I walked to the top of Cumorah's Hill with Andrew and we went right past the stage and got to figure out how some of the special effects worked.  But the highlight was the Sacred Grove.  Unfortunately, the mosquitoes liked the area as much as we did so the little girls and I did a lot of bench hopping to find a quiet place to think without the pests.

We also stopped at the Palmyra Temple and the Smith Farm.  

It was a great full day but everyone was happy to have some down time while we ate a simple pasta meal and just hung out.  

New York Here We Come

Greg and Tom had the brilliant idea to go to New York together for our big trip this summer.  The kids were so excited to see the city, church history sites and to play with the Pierces for a whole week.  Everyone enjoyed the hours of movies and books on the flight but we were ready for bed when we got to NYC around 11pm our time.  We had some Uber fun but eventually all got to our AirB&B.  Not a great location for sure (we later learned there were a lot of gangs in the area 😳) but it fit all of us.

The next morning the kids got to enjoy the metro while we ate our breakfast and eventually met up with the Pierces on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Man- I love love this bridge.  The historical and engineering significance of the structure is fascinating - every time I see it I am amazed.  So cool! - except that it was so hot.  The kids were dying by the time we walked across the whole thing.  We walked around downtown for a while, enjoyed some NY hot dogs,  and headed to our ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty.

We loved seeing the statue and we learned so much in the visitors center - or they learned to put their hands in her nose- what?  It poured on us as we waited to get on the ferry heading to Ellis Island.

The museum at Ellis Island was amazing.  Natali and I couldn't get enough.  The rest of the group got a little tired and were ready to move on.  They lined up to get on the boat while Natali and I explored as long as possible.  What an amazing building with so much history.

We enjoyed the windy, wet, but beautiful ride back to the city.  

The kids had to touch the bull at the stock exchange.

The rain continued on and off for the rest of the night.  We were all pretty wet by the time we got home.  We walked to the 9/11 Memorial and were humbled by all the names and the peace of the water fall.  I hadn't seen the memorial before and thought it created such a powerful peaceful feeling.  Lily's little legs were getting tired and everyone was hungry so we found a nearby pizza place to enjoy some authentic NY pizza.  Delicious.

Rachel headed back to their place to put Nora down for bed and we went out in the rain to explore Times Square.  Natali was in heaven.  She wanted to stay there all night but the rest of us soon grew tired of all the people and noise and headed back to our place - but not before a few fun stops in the Hershey's, M&M, and Disney stores.

The next morning we explored more of the sites.  FAO Schwarz was a favorite.  The kids would have played there all day long.

We had to walk by Rockefeller Center, Saks 5th Avenue, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Then we went to Grand Central Station and found some lunch in the huge eating area underground.

Then to the MET - oh yea!  Natali and I took off exploring with Lily and Emily.  Degas anyone?

Greg, Natali and I could have stayed all day but the kiddos were ready for something new so we headed out to Central Park.  Such brilliant city planning- you can sort of escape the city in the vast green of the park.  Nora and Lily loved the playground while the rest of us talked, read, or slept.  Our feet were pretty tired from all the walking!

We wondered through the park and came out near the Temple.  It always amazes me how quiet it is inside.  The loud of the city doesn't follow you in.  We hung out in the church while Greg and Tom worked out the car plans.  Then we separated and found us some fabulous crepes for dinner.  The kids absolutely loved them leaving us on a high note as we got on the metro for the last time and headed out of the city.  Greg went with the three youngest to get the van rental and the big kids and I returned to our place to get our luggage.  The owner of the building wouldn't let us sit outside alone because he didn't think that was safe.  I took his word for it and let him stick around while we waited for Greg.  The city was such fun but I felt relief as we left it behind.  It was more stressful than I realized to manage all those kids in a big city and I am really a country girl at heart.  We breathed easier the green our drive got.