Palmyra

While in Palmyra for the pageant, we visited the print shop where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. Very interesting. We visited the Smith farm and the sacred grove. We also saw the temple.

Hill Cumorah Pageant

We decided to attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant this year with Grandma and Grandpa. So we stayed with Earl's very kind Uncle Roger and Aunt Diane in Rochester.
It was a tad rainy. But we found some umbrellas.

While we waited for the pageant the kids entertained themselves: The boys made airplanes, Aspen played chinese jumprope with Nate.

The cast members mingled with the audience passing out pass along cards and getting referrals for the missionaries. The woman on the right was from Austin!

The kids recognized that the hill the pageant is performed on is the Hill Cumorah. That the last Lamanite/Nephite battles were fought there.

This pageant was really good. It was exciting to watch. The spirit there was very strong. It shows many scenes from the Book of Mormon. My favorite depicted Christ visiting the Americas. Coming to Palmyra and seeing the pageant really added to my testimony of Joseph Smith and the truthfullness of the Book of Mormon. I think that it was a good experience for my children as well. I think it was well worth the trip and would recommend it to everyone. But plan ahead. There isn't a lot of lodging nearby. Thank goodness for family.

Getting there

Half of a road trip is the driving part. We saw so many beautiful parts of the United States during the 7 days we spent in the car. We drove through Fate and the Land of Make Believe. We crossed the great Mississippi, drove through many tunnels, saw the lights of city's downtowns at night. We spent the night in good (and not so good) hotels/motels. We saw temples, waterfalls, rivers and valleys, and lots of road construction. Some states have really cool rest stops and welcome centers. We listened to 4 books and watched lots of Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry.

You've got mail

Hazel wanted mail. So Grandma helped her send a postcard...to herself. Hey, getting mail is fun!

Open your eyes

The boys were playing ball in the back yard the other day and I was laughing at the funny faces Isaac makes when he is concentrating. It's either sticking out his tongue (the norm), straining every facial/neck muscle, or making faces. I loved this one though. Eyes closed. Now that's talent.

Vacation Report

I think that I have been putting this off because it is such a big project. Two weeks worth of experiences need some time to gather, not to mention the photos to sift through. But Earl posted some great pics on his blog. Note that though my children look miserable, they say they had a good time. I say this because Jacob asked if they were grumpy because they are all wearing sandals and not shoes for walking around. (They were pretty tired after multiple late nights and early mornings and sharing beds. It wasn't the shoes.) So, I'll get this posting finished soon, I hope, if I don't get side tracked, or as long as my kids don't require my attention for a few minutes. We'll see.

Kids are ingenious

Hazel: "Mommy, can I have some more ice cream?"

Me: "No, you just had some."

Hazel: "But I already got it out. You want to come see?"

Nate was making ice cream a couple weeks ago & Hazel just couldn't wait!

One of these things is not like the others

We drove through many exotic cities and countries on this last road trip. Can you guess which one we did NOT visit?

Canada
Italy
Palestine (twice)
Calcutta
Lisbon
Egypt
Paris (twice)
Liverpool
Vienna
London
Florence
Moscow
Damascus
Lebanon
Bristol

On the Road Again

We are finally home after our second road trip this summer. We have been in 20 states (9 states twice, 2 states 3 times), Washington, D.C., and visited briefly in Canada. We saw license plates from 48 of the 50 United States (we never saw a car fom Hawaii or from New Mexico). We put more than 8,000 miles on our car in less than 4 weeks. We spent about 140 hours driving in our car.

Next time -- we're flying.