Sacred Snow

Our friends Matt & Renee finally came to visit us! After what I believe has been 4 other unsuccessful attempts to visit us, they finally made it. It sure was fun to see them, and meet their son Jaeden. Of course, we did what we've done for all other visitors... go see the church historical sights.

We didn't take a ton of pictures (mostly because we've already got a bunch from other trips to the sights)... but we did get a few of a snowy Sacred Grove. Most people don't get to see it in the winter ('cause let's face it, it's cold!) But it's very peaceful and pretty. We didn't see anyone else in the grove our whole time there.

It was a quick trip for the Memmotts. But it was very nice to see them and get to spend a little time together. People always ask us if we're going to miss New York when we move... and the answer is yes, at least certain parts. How many other people get to live in the Cradle of the Restoration? We've been here for (almost) 4 years... living right where the Church was reorganized... getting to tour these sacred sights so many times that we've lost count. It's special every single time we go. We'll miss it, definitely.

One good weekend

Cory's sister Danielle and her boyfriend Trevor came to visit us last weekend. I took some time off from work and gave myself a 5-day weekend (nice!) It was so much fun having them here, and getting to show off New York.

First, we went to see all the church historical sites (that's what we do for everyone who visits). This is the frame home the Smiths built (I love fall!)


The temple, framed by fall leaves.

The original rock wall the Smiths built to mark their property line -- it's up on the temple grounds.

The next day, we drove 2.5 hours north to a place called 'The Thousand Islands.' When Cory and I moved out here, we made a list of all the places we wanted to visit while living on the east coast -- and this was the only place left on our list. So now we've seen everything :) The Thousand Islands is actually a group of more than 1800 islands, stretching from northern New York into Canada. Many of the islands are privately owned -- people buy the island then erect these gorgeous houses.


The only way to see the islands is by boat, so we took a 2 hour boat tour around the islands. This is us on the boat.

Haha, this is where Trevor is going to some day live...

This is the smallest of all the islands. All you need to be counted as one of the islands is a tree and some other form of vegetation. Wa-la!

They call this the world's shortest international bridge, cause it passes right over the American/Canadian border. Our tour guide says the guy who owns the islands used to banish his grand kids to another country when they were being bad.

This is Boldt Castle, as seen from the water.

The Boldt Castle pump house.

For a few extra dollars, you can take a tour of the castle, which is exactly what we did. The grounds were gorgeous. And the castle was so cool-looking.



Haha, I was trying so hard to keep a straight face... and failing miserably...

I love this picture of the 4 of us, on the terrace of the castle.

This is a state park called Watkins Glen. It's so pretty, carved out over centuries of time by water. Cory took Danielle & Trevor down to visit (I stayed home, by this time, I was feeling rather sick... too much playing, I'm afraid)

This is a good picture showing how narrow it is.

We'll sure miss all the cool stuff that's in or nearby New York when we move. We've seen some really cool places and it's so fun to show them off. It was nice having visitors, even though I felt crappy for lots of the time. Thanks for coming and seeing us, guys!

I love visitors

Our friends Kelley and Neil flew out from Utah to visit us over the weekend, and we had a blast! Of course, what do you do when you come to western New York?

Niagara Falls, of course!

Looking snazzy in our Maid of the Mist ponchos

Taughannocks Falls - 215 feet tall

Buttermilk Falls, down in Ithaca

Buttermilk Falls

Buttermilk Falls

Buttermilk Falls

Buttermilk Falls

Of course, you have to go to Palmyra and see the church historical sites. First, we did a session in the temple.

Looking down the Hill Cumorah, with the stage set for the pageant.

It had just started raining by the time we were touring the Joseph Smith Farm. We thought we'd walk quickly through the Sacred Grove and be ok. Boy were we wrong! The paths in the Sacred Grove had turned into rivers (I kid you not) and the water was over my ankles! I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I didn't want to ruin my camera. However, in this video you can see how hard it was raining! We had umbrellas, but they were just no match for the storm.

And the aftermath of the storm... we were soaked. I could have gone swimming in my clothes and been just as wet. If you look closely in the picture, you can see I'm wringing out my skirt.

Yes, it was quite the adventure. The sun came out in the afternoon, and it dried us off a bit, so we stayed to see a few more sites (and all the good pictures are on Kelley's camera). It was a fabulous time and so good to see Kelley and Neil! Thanks for coming to visit guys :)

Visiting Kirtland

Kirtland, Ohio is only about 5 hours from us, so ever since we moved to New York, we've been saying we were going to go... and we finally made it. I'm so glad we did, since it was so pretty and such a spiritual place! We went with some dear friends -- Andrea served her mission here in New York, as a site sister. She spent many months serving in our ward, Fayette. She went home about 1 1/2 years ago, and we've stayed good friends. She came back to visit New York, bringing with her husband (Deven) and her parents. It was our great privilege to go with them to Kirtland.

Newel K. Whitney store. He was the first bishop of the church. Opened his home and store to the Prophet Joseph. Such a neat man!

Inside the store

Upstairs in the store - this was the room that Joseph Smith used as his office.

Inside the store, in the room used for the School of the Prophets. Such an amazing feeling in here!!

Historic Kirtland - so pretty!

Johnson Inn, where missionaries would meet to begin their missions - persecution was bad enough that they had to meet in the dead of night in order to get out safely.

Loving the tour

The saw mill, owned by Bishop Whitney

Gorgeous scenery!

The ashery, also owned by Bishop Whitney. These were made here in the ashery, then sold to people who ground them up for windows, china, etc.

Cory, playing around in the ashery

More gorgeous scenery. The weather was perfect!

The Kirtland Temple (yes, now owned by the Community of Christ)

Kirtland Temple - we got to go on a tour through the inside, which was neat/weird. It was used as more of what we now call a tabernacle - for big meetings, etc. It also has classrooms on the 3rd floor, where Joseph Smith had an office, and where Hebrew classes were held.

Me and Andrea on the steps of the temple. She's one of my most favorite people. And no, we didn't purposefully coordinate outfits, but aren't we cute?

Kirtland Temple

We drove the 55 minutes out to Hiram, to see the John Johnson farm. Emma and Joseph also lived here for a while.

Joseph and Emma's bedroom - remembered particularly since it was out of this room that Joseph was dragged, to be tarred and feathered in a nearby field. The mobsters hoped to stop him from preaching the next morning, but when morning came, he was out on the front porch, preaching like normal.

In this room was where the 76th section of the D&C was received - God the Father and Christ appeared here, in vision.

The Johnson Farm

Isaac Morley farm - another place where Joseph and Emma lived.

Morley Farm - there was a cabin built up here, which is where the 4th General Conference of the church was held. It's also another known place that God the Father and Christ appeared.

The 6 of us.

Me and Cory, in the clearing of where the cabin stood.

One of the things that struck me most about Kirtland was how willing the saints were to open their homes to the prophet and his family. The spirit in Kirtland was undeniable. Given that we've lived the last 3 years where the church started, it was so neat to see where the saints went when they left New York. A trip to remember, definitely!

The rest of our weekend was relaxing. After conquering our mounds of laundry, we chilled. We ate at Five Guys (so yummy!), saw Star Trek (LOVED it!), had friends up from New Jersey for a nice Sunday afternoon visit, BBQ'd on Monday with other friends ... all-in-all, it was quite a nice mini-break! It's been so long since we had time to chill and just do whatever we wanted. I rather enjoyed it!!