Palmyra, New York

The Heits came for a week while Lois and Jeff had a little getaway to Washington state. Eric came down for a couple of days as well which was really fun for Cal, Reed and Elden.  The pictures are out of order throughout, but they are grouped in the right time frame. 

We had fun doing a fire one night.

Cal's latest thing is to go shooting, which of course happened. It's an expensive hobby, for sure. They have been going to our friend Greg's house to shoot. 

Silly portraits.

We hiked to the Stoney Man overlook with the Fitts one morning. 

My friend Jes Fitt.

Jack had a bite on his belly that looked like a tick bite, so I took him in to get medicine to treat Lyme's Disease. Blake had a similar looking bite a few years ago and it was Lyme's. 

You'll see random photos throughout....getting new flooring and tile done in the basement!  So exciting!

Reed and Elden did a couple of bike rides and Cal joined them once. 

Love this quote.

Cal and Christopher Wylie.  They had a great track season with lots of wins. 

Cal and Shanna with Coach Zach Mathias.  He's an awesome coach!

Elden's concert!

One afternoon Reed and Cal purposely made gross food that they each had to eat.  They didn't feel too well after. 

Getting some finishing touches done upstairs. 

A crazy bug.

I started working at the temple!  Not sure if this was my first day working or not, but I've loved working there. 

I didn't realize when I took this photo that the arrows are pointing towards the temple. Lee pointed it out to me.  Pretty awesome!

We went to Liam and Annabella's concert for a youth activity and then stopped by Tots afterwards for ice cream. 

New carpet on the stairs!

Cal had way too many tardy slips, so he used them for the top of his graduation cap. Sadly the modge podge took off the thermal printed wording. We should have tried normal glue. 

Lee started tiling the walk-in shower. Thankfully Preston did the other shower first because it gave Lee some great ideas for doing the tile work and the arrangement of the tiles. 

The tub/shower is looking great!

Sunday evening before Memorial Day we went to the Fitt's for dinner. Here's Haley with Abby Karren. 

Memorial Day I had the bright idea to do a day trip to Palmyra.  For some reason I thought Palmyra was about 10 hours away, and when I looked it up it was actually only 7.  It was pretty funny when I told my kids "it's only 7 hours away!" They did not agree. The deal was sealed when the weather in Virginia was going to be cold and rainy.  80 degrees in Palmyra--yes! These pictures are out of order as well.  We went to the visitors' center, walked up Hill Cumorah, visited the Sacred Grove and the Smith cabin and home, strolled the temple grounds, and hit up the Grandin Print Shop. I was surprised how quiet it was-not very many people out. 

Grandin Print Shop. So neat to hear stories and see original copies of The Book of Mormon. 

We got to try our hand at making our own little booklet...they showed us how the pages were printed then cut. 

The corner with four churches!

At the temple. 

The Sacred Grove is in the background. 

Some items they found at the Smith Family Home. 

The hearth where they hid the plates.  Many people tried multiple times to steal the plates from Joseph Smith after he received them from Moroni. 

Fake plates to replicate the size and weight of the original ones.  They are pretty heavy!

Tim Fitt served his mission up here and told us some neat things to be on the lookout for while visiting Palmyra. The red door on the right, is a door to a stairwell that leads upstairs.  In the stairwell are handprints or hand depressions in plaster of some members of the Smith family.  The door is locked so you can't see them, but still cool to know.  This is the house Alvin started building but died. The other family moved into the house.

The original doorknob that Joseph Smith and his family touched!

We also walked around the Sacred Grove.  It was kind of buggy, but still nice to be there.  I brought the kids' patriarchal blessings so they could read them there. 

The top of the Hill Cumorah. 

Japanese Book of Mormon!

The senior missionary at the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center gifted Cal a Cebuano Book of Mormon. Cal also met someone from the Tacloban area!  Very cool.

Had to stop at the Chill & Grill! We did eat first, but hey, we can show dessert first.  They are famous for their HUGE ice cream cones. 

It was a long day with all the driving, but so worth it.  I think the kids ended up enjoying the day as well. Hoping to go back to Palmyra next summer with the youth from our ward!