Family Vacation (part one)

UPSTATE NEW YORK

This year neither Lanny or I had a family reunion to go to and since we really couldn't afford to fly out west we decided to have a little adventure of our own. We decided to go to Palmyra, NY and Niagara Falls (the Canadian side). I will only blog about Palmyra tonight...but hopefully the rest of the vacation pics will come soon. The drive to Palmyra was amazing. It was a 6 hour drive but it went by so fast due to the amazingly beautiful scenery! (I have never seen so many trees) It was cloudy and rained everyday of our vacation but I didn't mind. We got to enjoy the sites in the cool weather and missed the hot, humid weather that is so common this time of year. The boys were so good the whole time and Asher slept really well in the pack and play (yeah!). Ethan still wakes up each morning asking if we are going on a Vacation today....I wish we could always be on vacation too!

The Sacred Grove! Or as Ethan calls it "The Joseph Smith Forest". It was so beautiful! The spirit there was amazing as you might have guessed! We enjoyed saying a family prayer in the calm quiet of the grove and enjoyed the wind rustling through the leaves! We had to stay on the path due to all the poison ivy. We told Ethan there were snakes and spiders, hoping this would help him stay on the path...no...he just said "Cool, I will get them for you!"

The Palmyra temple!

The Hill Cumorah! Ethan ran all the way down....I should have taken a picture...it is very steep!

The building where the Book of Mormon was published! The sister missionaries were sooooo cool! They totally catered to Ethan and gave our little family a private tour...Ethan loved it and listened to every word. Asher fell asleep. So, Lanny and I got to enjoy it too!

So there is a corner that has four churches on it...one on each corner. I really tried to get a picture of all of them and well...I got all of the steeples. Also...on Main St. there was a little candy shop that sold homemade fudge. Oh my goodness...it was the best fudge I have ever had...and Lanny liked it (he doesn't really like sweets). Well now I will forever crave it! Hey is anyone going to Palmyra soon?

The Joseph Smith home and farm. The house was so small. It is amazing his whole family lived here! I was very humbled and felt very thankful for my small apartment.

Asher and mommy in the Sacred Grove.

A cute couple told us to get a picture of Ethan praying in the grove...well here it is! I love it! I hope it will help him remember this special place!