Amish Country

The last weekend that Josh's family were here, we went down to visit an Amish community that isn't too far away from us. I don't think that I have ever seen near as many horse and buggies! It was very interesting and actually very touristy. We went to a farm where they have all these different exotic animals. They take you around in a wagon and you are able to feed the animals. They had several kinds of animals. Half way through the wagon ride, my camera died. But here are some pictures that I was able to take

After the farm, the boys headed to the Football Hall of Fame and we girls stayed about the Amish community and looked in all their shops. It was a lot of fun. While we were there, a HUGE storm hit. As we pulled into a parking lot, we saw these really black clouds to the north. As soon as we opened our doors, the wind starting blowing REALLY hard and it started to pour. As we walk open the door, everything flies everywhere. The tornado sirens start to go off and the women in the store rush us down to the basement. The turn on the radio to see what is going on (Yes, they have radios! Who knew?). After waiting a few minutes and seeing the winds die down, we decide it's safe to go back up into the shop. It was quite an interesting experience. We look around and then after we leave we see tree branches and signs everywhere. No tornado, but ALOT of wind! It was pretty crazy and probably an experience to never forget. :) We have a TON of fun with Josh's family and can't wait to see them all again. Thanks for the good time and getting Josh & I out to FINALLY see some sights :)

Palmyra

On Memorial Day, Josh and I were in Palmyra, New York with his parents and sister. We had such a great time on this weekend vacation. It was soooo nice to get away and spend time with family. We started out at the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove. It was really a great experience. Here are a few pictures:

This is in the Sacred Grove with the sun peeking throw the trees:

This is the view of the temple from the Smith Farm:

After the Sacred Grove, we headed up to the temple. It was beautiful! Here's the pictures I took while there:

All the doors and windows were the "Sacred Grove" stained glass. They were BEAUTIFUL!

Then off to the Hill Cumorah!

View from the top or the hill:

There was a really cool Visitor's Center at the Hill Cumorah that we went to and we watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was great, as always! It was really such a great experience and it was fun to see all the sights again! We drove threw Palmyra then grabbed lunch on our way home and said goodbye to the Wray as they went to explore Washington D.C. for the week. We were able to have another WONDERFUL weekend with the Wray family the following weekend as well...Another post for that one as well!

Niagara Falls

On Sunday after church, we went to Niagara Falls. It was so much fun and so much bigger than I remember. It was BEAUTIFUL too. It didn't seem like we were there for that long but it was so much fun! It's such a beautiful park even without the falls. I'm not extremely happy with the way any of these pictures turned out, but here are the best ones. (and thanks for all of your WONDERFUL comments from my last post!)

I just thought that this was a pretty cool bridge that was on the way:

These aren't the BIGGEST fall there, but still beautiful!

Josh's parents took us on the Maid of the Mist! It was completely awesome. I've never done anything like it before and LOVED every minute that we were on it. Such a fun experience! I highly recommend going on it if you go to there!

Josh in front of the smaller falls with the awesome rainbow:

Smaller Falls again (maybe I should have looked to see if they have a name):

This is actually the major falls that you go to see. This is before you turn the corner though if that makes any sense at all

Part of the major falls there:

This is us actually in the circle of the main falls. We got SOAKED even with our ponchos. I couldn't believe how much mist there was! It was sooo cool though! Sorry about the drops of water on the lens :(

Me, Momma Wray, Paige and Daddy Wray:

Water still on the lens, but this is our "after getting soaked" picture

Josh, Myself, Momma Wray and Paige:

Thanks Wray family! We had soooo much fun at Niagara Falls! It was beautiful and so much fun! After the falls, we drove to Palmyra and stayed the night there. Monday was spent visiting all the church sights...but that will all come in another post :)

Kirtland!

As mentioned before, Josh's parents and sister, Paige, came out for Memorial Day Weekend! We had so much fun having them here and being able to do all these fun things with them. They got in late Friday night, so on Saturday we headed out to Kirtland. It was the first time for me to go and see all the sights since we've been here. I went about 13 years ago with my family but didn't remember much. I did take a fair amount of pictures like I promised. I didn't think you would want to see all hundred of them, so here are a few of my favorites:

The Kirtland Temple:

A shot of the front of the BEAUTIFUL building:
Paige, Josh and I in front of the temple:

Another shot of the temple:

We were able to take a tour through the temple and walk through the grounds. What a great spirit that the temple still has. It was a great experience to be able to walk where the prophet and the early saints walked.

This is just a picture taken in Kirtland on our tour through the old city:

This next picture is of us in front of the N.K. Whitney & Co. Store. This store was located on the corner of the two main streets at the time. The doors are actually the original ones that were on the store.

Myself, Josh, Momma Jill, Paige and Daddy Vince:

Momma Jill & Josh sitting behind the temple:

This is the Saw Mill...nothing too exciting, I just LOVE how the picture turned out:

Where the Saw Mill is located:

Just a cool picture near the Saw Mill:

After visiting the site, we went to Mary Yoder's Diner, which is an Amish diner. We enjoyed GREAT food there! Then we headed home! On Sunday after church, we went to Niagra Falls and on Monday we went to Palmyra. More to come on those adventures. We had a great time in Kirtland and enjoy the nice Spirit that we were able to feel and share with family!