Kirtland/Palmyra--the trip on the way home from the trip

On our way home, we decided to take a different route. I had fears of the state of Pennsylvania and those horrid "Be Prepared to Stop" signs that made our drive out take forever. Plus we bought a car while in MO and were driving 2 back so we thought it would be fun to break up the drive a bit. We took I-90 instead of I-80 which added about 60 miles but let us see Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY. Both sites full of a lot of LDS church history. Matt had never been to either and the last time I had been, I was a teenager.

First stop--Kirtland, OH

Here are Whit and Annie outside of the Newel K. Whitney store. Our tour group actually included a few other families and these girls weren't too big on listening to the guide tell about history. They preferred being loud and not being still, so I played outside with them while Matt, Mary and Andrew got the tour (and even those guys only made it through this first building).
I did manage to get to see the movie at the visitor's center, so I got a small portion of the tour.

One day Whit will think it's cool that this store has her name in it. She kind of thought it was cool already. She might wonder if she was named after Newel K Whitney (no) and we'll assure her that if that was the case, we would have just named Andrew 'Newel.'

From that part of Kirtland, we drove up the road to see the Kirtland Temple. It's no longer owned by our church but we walked around the grounds and got some pictures. Decided against a tour, given how well the other tour had gone a few minutes earlier.



From Kirtland we got back driving and headed on I-90 to Palmyra, NY. We stopped at the Hill Cumorah and treked our way to the top. The kids kept wondering/guessing where the plates might have been buried and it was pretty cute. The view was great.

Another typically 'awesome' shot of the kids.

There is a nice monument at the top of the hill. The kids enjoyed marching around it and being oh so reverent. :)

From the Hill Cumorah, we drove to the Smith Family Farm and got to tour where Joseph Smith's family lived while he was growing up. Just outside the farm is the Sacred Grove. It was really great taking the kids there because they have heard of it so often and suddenly it was a real place. Whit and Annie were just cute and silly and while Mary and Andrew were too, I know it meant something more to them. I'm really glad we got the chance to take them there and talk to them about important things that really impact who they are and the things we believe.

The drive back overall went really great. The 2 car thing ended up not being so horrible and it felt so good getting home. I'm excited for future "trips on the way home from the trip" to do this again (in a few years) and to hit Niagra Falls.

**Any song titles out there for this post...my brain is getting infinitely less creative with each post.