Road Trip!

This past weekend we took an awesome road trip. Since moving to Indiana, we thought we should take advantage of visiting the church history sites that are fairly close by as well as Niagara Falls.  We weren't sure about taking the young kids, but they did awesome and we had a great time.

Cheese!

Cleveland, Ohio

We went to the Great Lakes Science Center. There were all kinds of fun activities to do there...and the view of Lake Erie was amazing.

Buffalo, New York

If you didn't know, I have a love for Buffalo Wings. Since we were staying in Buffalo, New York, we thought we'd better stop by their founding place Anchor Bar...turns out the pasta was better than the wings. Best place to get wings...still Ruth's Diner in Immigration Canyon  :)

Niagara Falls, New York

American Falls with the Horseshoe Falls and Canada in the background...the amount of water that falls over the edge is incredible! The Niagara River is huge and quite rapid.

We took the Maid of the Mist boat ride up into Horseshoe Falls. Elisabeth didn't want to wear her poncho, so she got quite wet. Her and Kurtis had a ball!

Grant went along for the ride...and slept through it all  :)

Niagara Falls, Canada

We crossed the border and went into Canada. The Canadian side was even more beautiful...the Horseshoe Falls put so much mist up into the air that we got wet just looking over the edge at them. The night before a man did a tightrope walk across the falls. Just standing near the falls we couldn't believe that he walked through all of that breeze and mist.

Palmyra, New York

 

 We went to church at the Fayette, New York Ward. The chapel sits on the Peter Whitmer Farm. The interior has semi-like pew boxes and red carpet, to match the time period.

This is a replica of the log cabin that once stood there (it's on the same foundation). It was here that the church was organized on April 6, 1830.

Looking like a father on Father's Day.

Kurtis pushed the "aircraft carrier" up the Hill Cumorah... it was quite steep.

The E.B. Grandin print shop. It was here that the first 5,000 copies of The Book of Mormon were printed. The process was incredible. The visitors center is built around the original building. You can see the brick walls that were once on the outside.

The bookstore inside the print shop where the Book of Mormon was first sold for $1.50 a copy. Seems crazy that the BOM was at one time sold instead of given away. Well, I guess it's still sold...those original copies. Glenn Beck had been there the day before us to have his picture taken at the print shop with his newly purchased original copy of the BOM.

Miss Elisabeth exploring the Sacred Grove 

The Sacred Grove...it is so beautiful with all the lush greenery and the sun shining through the trees. Elder Marlin K. Jensen recently gave a CES talk on the Sacred Grove and related it to life... you should read it  :)

Kirtland, Ohio

 

The Kirtland Temple is so beautiful. It's amazing to sit in those wooden pews and think of all that happened there, especially when it was dedicated...oh to have been there for those meetings...

 Historic Kirtland and the Newell K. Whitney Store.

Grant has learned how to smile...here's a little glimpse...