Get Away 2012

In July, I begged Jake to get me out of Gilbert. . .It had already been a long, hot summer, and I needed OUT!  So, the week after school started, I planned that we take a long weekend and get out of Gilbert!  I made Jake my companion, used points on Southwest, and a free trip and I planned where to go.  Well, there were a couple of places that I thought sounded fun. . .Jake didn't care where we went, so one day when it was a 115 degrees, really and I was miserable I decided the coolest place that we could realistically go was. . .Northern New York!  We had a plan, it got a little hairy when the Dr that works for Jake, his father in law died.  No coverage on Saturday and there would be a relief vet working short.  . .Literally, we didn't know if we were going, until Jake came home to leave.
We left a week after the boys went back to school and flew into Buffalo. 

Niagara Falls was our first stop on Friday morning.  I Loved everything about it.  Everything.  The amount of water that came off of the falls was so amazing, the green the power of the water everything.  I really thought the clourds were amazing.  We parked in New York and walked over to Canada.  We had many people tell us to ride Maid of the Mist.  Loved that.  It was so amazing to see it all up close and really made me appreciate it all so much more.   

We laughed when we came back to America that we had to pay to get back in!!  It struck us funny when we paid our fifty cents and came back into America!

We drove to Palmyra, New York and got to see some of the church history sites.  This clouds and sunsets were so beautiful.  This one was taken from the Hill Cummorah. 

 

 

When we got to Palmyra, we went and saw the Smith family home.  It was pretty amazing to learn and actually be in the area where Joseph Smith actually grew up, and prayed and was blessed to learn the truth and start his translation of the Book of Mormon.  It was interesting to lean that the temple is built on some of the Smith family land.  I was disappointed that we didn't get to do a session, but we loved getting so see that beautiful edifice and feel the Spirit in the area. 
The Grandin Print Shop was our first stop the second day and I was pleasantly surprised to see the office and learn more about it.   It truly testifies of the Lord's hand in all things. 

We took the opportunity to spend a good amount of time in the Sacred Grove and the feeling in the Grove was so peaceful and the area was gorgeous.  I will truly count this one of the most amazing parts of our trip.   

After our visit to Palmyra, we hopped in the car and drove to Kirkland, Ohio.  It was interesting to see the historic center and learn more about the time that the Saints lived in Kirkland. 

On Sunday, we went to church in the Kirkland ward, it was their ward conference and it just gave a pleasant feel when they read the notes of the Kirkland Ward Conference.  Crazy to be there!  After church we went to the Kirkland temple.  It was truly amazing to see the temple that the early saints sacrificed so much to build.   

We also went to the John Johnson farm.  I think this was probably one of my favorite places.  I really gained a deep sense of gratitude for these early pioneers sacrifices and the amount of their faith to give so much.  Jake made the point that it made him understand the saying where are your sites, and what our sites were what we would get.  I do love these early pioneers and the example they set.   

Lake Erie.  We went and walked along Lake Erie, it was pretty amazing to see the great lake and see the size of the lake, for this Arizona girl, I have never seen anything so big! 

We enjoyed our trip. The 70 degrees, the beauty was amazing!  I am so grateful that we got to go, as we were coming home, we were trying to decide when to bring our boys!