Southern Lights

A pilot friend of Ryan's invited us to join his family to Southern Lights in Lexington at the Horse Park. It was a little drive but it was worth it. Southern lights is a drive thru Christmas light display. If you tuned to a certain radio station Christmas music accompanied the whole adventure. The lights were so fun. They had some lights that went off in sequence so it looked like the figures were moving. They had Churchill downs, horses racing, marching toy soldiers, the 12 days of Christmas and a lot more.

After the lights we went to the main building to see a bunch more fun things. We rode on a cute little train that was all lit up.

That is Ryan's friend and not just some strange guy with our kids. He opted to ride in the caboose with all the kids while Ryan and I snuggled in our own car. Sounds cool but I really felt silly riding the train with no kids in our car.

Next they had a whole display of electric trains of all sizes. The kids loved watching them go through such intricate villages.

And the part the kids were most excited for was the HUGE bag of kettle corn to end the night. Must admit I make it better. The kids loved it though! Anything seems cool when it comes in bulk!

We had such a fun night. All the kids were demanded we go next year. So I think we found a new Kentucky Christmas tradition!

Hill Cumorah

We experienced the Hill Cumorah in two parts.   Once we arrived in Palmyra we stopped first at the Hill Cumorah and hiked to the monument they have there of Moroni.  It was late in the afternoon and we were expecting it to rain soon so we seized the opportunity. 

The views from the top of the hill were gorgeous. 

 I truly couldn't believe I was on top of the Hill Cumorah. My whole life I had been taught the story of Moroni delivering the plates to Joseph Smith on a hillside and here I stood.  The reality never sunk in. 

 My kids of course took full advantage of rolling down the big hill. 

On our way down we went a different way than we had gone up.  The way up was paved and a large path.  The way down was not paved and was literally through the woods.  It gave such a better depiction of what it would have been like for Joseph Smith.  You could feel the reverence of the area.  I was telling Cassidy why a statue of Moroni was at the top of this hill.  After I finished the story, she said, "This is a special, special, special place."  We really tried to emphasize to the kids being calm in these places and thinking about how they were feeling there so they could recognize the sacredness of the places they were.

We went through the Visitor Center the next morning.  It was so pretty.  We watched a great video about Joseph Smith receiving the plates.  The videos really helped the kids to visually understand what happened there.  They also had many interactive displays for the kids that helped them as well.

Lunch with the Missionaries

Next on our list was lunch in Rochester with two sets of missionaries.  Strangely enough I am related to two missionaries serving in the Rochester Mission.  Sister Stone is my cousin's daughter and Elder Gremmert is Ryan's cousin.  We made arrangements to have lunch at Dibellas (so good by the way).  My parents sat with Sister Stone and her companion, who was ironically Sister Carter, no relation.  Ryan and I and the kids sat with Elder Gremmert and his companion.  Elder Gremmert is a ASL missionary.  It was really cool to see him signing as we talked to keep his companion, who is deaf, in the loop.  It was great to see them.  They seemed like good hard working missionaries.

First site: John Johnson Home

In Hiram, OH is the John Johnson farm where Joseph Smith lived from 1831 to 1832.  The Johnson home served as headquarters of the Church.

When we first walked into the home we entered the summer kitchen.  These are some of the things in the kitchen. 

The sister missionary asked the kids if they noticed anything different than what they had in their kitchen at home.  Lacey immediately said, "The exit sign".  Out of all the different utensils and pots and bowls, she picked the exit sign.  Too funny.

In March 1832, Joseph was attacked by a mob in the middle of the night and was tarred and feathered near the home. The next day, despite his injuries, Joseph preached as he often did to a large congregation gathered in front of the home and baptized three persons. This is the room he was pulled from in the middle of the night.

 

 The kids were so saddened by this story.  Joseph's little baby boy had been sick and ended up dying from exposure to the cold. 

 Joseph received an outpouring of revelation within these walls, including a magnificent vision of the Father and the Son and the three degrees of glory. This was the room the revelation was received in.  This was Aidan's favorite place out of the whole trip.  He said it was such a "spiritual place"  He said he felt like he could review the past and that he could image Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon in this room. 

Here are just some pretty shots of the area.

 Our goal for the trip was to stop at as many roadside apple cider places as we could.  We found one as we were leaving the Johnson home area.  The apple cider was awesome and gone in minutes.  Mom bought some good cashew brittle as well. It was a good stop.   

1830 edition

Just after we left Niagara Falls we hurried over to the Buffalo Public Library.  Yes, a big attraction on our list. Why?  Well, we found out through Ryan's cousin that you could go to the rare books section and actually handle a 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon.  Most of these first edition books are under glass and not to be handled.  So it was a rare find to actually hold one.  The first printing of the Book of Mormon was in 1830 and 5000 copies were made.

There was no separation of verses in the first edition of the book.  It appeared more how a novel would with just chapters.  It would have been cool to read the book that way.  I understand the need for verses as points of reference but the book is a series of stories and it would have been cool to read it that way.

It was so amazing to see and hold the book.  I wondered whose it was and who read it.  You hear stories of the Book of Mormon's being passed from one person to the next to read.  I wish I could have known who read the book and how it impacted their life.  Were they converted?  Did Joseph Smith himself touch this copy?  I could just feel the history in the book.

They only let two of us in at a time and they wouldn't let the kids in.  However, they did let them in at the end to just look at it and not touch.  The librarian there said this was the most requested rare book to see and he shows it at least once a week.  I was shocked!

This was such a highlight and a rare treat!

Niagara Falls

We arrived in Niagara Falls about 9:00 p.m.  We decided to stay on the Canada side of the Falls.  We checked in at the hotel and then ventured down to see the falls at night. 

They have a bunch of colored lights on the horse shoe part of the falls and then red white and blue on the American side of the falls.  It was so amazing.  You couldn't get a real feel for the falls at night though so the next morning when we saw it, it was still jaw-dropping.

You can walk right by the drop off of the falls.  Just standing there and hearing the roaring of the falls and then looking practically over the fall is overwhelming.

This is the American Falls.  It is really pretty too but not as grand.  The bridge is Rainbow bridge that connects the US and Canada.

So we all scratched Niagara Falls off our bucket lists!  We chose not to do any of the boat tours just so we wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of screaming girls freaking out.  Plus we could see and feel the majesty of the beautiful falls from where we were.