Tom and Barbara: 2010

After we went on the tour of the Kirtland Temple, we went to see some of the other buildings that have been restored. This is the home that Newel K. Whitney and his wife lived in. They had Emma and Joseph stay with them for quite a while.

From the home we walked to the Newel K. Whitney Store.

Upstairs in the store is where the Prophet Joseph held the School of the Prophets. This is where he received the revelation that we call the Word of Wisdom, and other revelations.

From there we drove to the John Johnston farm. Many revelations were received here, also, while Joseph and Emma were living here.

This is the bedroom where Emma and Joseph and the twins that they had adopted shortly after Emma's new-born twins had died, because the birth-mom of the twins had died. The twins, a boy and a girl, were about 8 months old when the mob broke into the room and dragged Joseph out. He had been caring for little Joseph who was sick, and who would die soon after from the exposure that night. Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were beaten and Joseph was tarred and feathered. They both almost died from the horrible experience. The next day, Joseph went to church and preached a sermon.

Our last night was at this nice Bed and Breakfast.

On the last day of our trip, we set out to find "Falling Water," a famous house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was not easy to find--about an hour drive on a small, country 2 lane road. It was against the law to take pictures in the home during the tour. But we were allowed to take pictures outside. It was quite spectacular!

Wow--what an incredible trip! We traveled over 1000 miles in 5 days--with a perfect, one-year old baby girl! It was a great experience, and we had some sweet, spiritual moments along the way.

Grandma had many tears when it came time to say good-bye, but Hazel had a sweet wave

by-by!

I'm going to try again to post this blog about our trip to Philly, May, 2010.

We're in line to get the best Philly sandwich in town!

We're off for an afternoon at the zoo while Isaac was at work!

We had a lot of fun pointing out animals to Hazel.

Of course the gorillas and monkeys are always a favorite.

This dude was walking around outside with his poncho over his shoulders!

Our favorite "monkey!"

This guy was about this close to the glass wall.

You wouldn't guess it from looking at the picture, but this guy and his companions were really scary because there was only a low fence between them and us!

Dan and Hazel are great buddies!

Our road trip began with the first stop in Palmyra. This was our B & B, and we had the whole house to ourselves!

In the morning, after a great breakfast, we started out by going to the Church's Visitor Center.

This is a replica of the house where Joseph lived as a child. It was here in the upstairs bedroom that the Angel Moroni came to visit Joseph during the night. He appeared to him three times that night, telling him many things---repeating the information each time he returned. The upstairs is quite small, and had barely enough room for 2 beds under the pitched room. There was a separate little room for the 2 sisters. The 6 brothers shared the 2 beds. The other children slept through each encounter with the angel. We had a sweet, spiritual feeling as we stood in that upstairs bedroom. As the missionary said, this isn't the exact house, but it's the same air-space where all this happened!

This is the Palmyra Temple, seen through the trees, as we walked from Joseph's house to the home that his older brother, Alvin, built for his parents before he died.

This is the shed behind Alvin's house where Joseph was inspired to hide the golden plates from the mob one night. They searched inside, but did not look up in the small loft where the plates were hidden.

This is the trail that leads in to the Sacred Grove. It was very special to be there that morning, because we were the only one in the Grove, and it was so quiet and peaceful.

I was fascinated with these mushrooms that were growing around a fallen log.

We had just gone on a tour of the Grandin building, where the Book of Mormon was printed. They even had a copy of one of the first published Book's of Mormon, and some other really neat things.

This is from the top of the Hill Cumorah. I had no idea it was so steep. On this side is where the Pageant is performed.

This is the statue on the top of the Hill Cumorah.

Next we went to Niagara Falls, on the Canada side. This is the view from our hotel room at the Marriott. It was unbelievably gorgeous!

Hazel loved swimming in the hotel pool!

This is how we got from our hotel to the observation deck at the falls.

Hazel was having a great time---Hooray for the Falls!

Dan looks like he's contemplating the meaning of life........but he was just goofing off!

We were going to go on this tour boat, but then Hazel feel asleep, and the kids decided they'd rather go on a different tour. So we were forced to sit in the shade with Hazel and do nothing!

This is the tour the kids decided they wanted to go on.

Part of the tour that goes behind the falls has them walking down a tunnel.

I couldn't believe when I saw this picture has insignificant and little that "fence" is that separates the visitors from the actual water of the falls. The kids said the noise was incredible.