Palmyra adventures

I should've posted about this a week ago, but life likes to throw surprises. I've been really sick this past week and in and out of hospitals, but I'm starting to regain strength and I'm finally feeling less sick. I had a CT scan, endoscopy, and colonscopy. The doctors found that I have an ovarian cyst and some intestinal problem. They're looking at biopsies now, and by Thursday they'll have a conclusion. At this point, they're pretty sure that I have Crohn's disease. Time will tell. My dad has been home this week from work with me (since my mom has been at girl's camp) and has been amazing. I seriously have the best dad in the world.

So on to Palmyra happiness... (pictures will all be at the end)

My family took a trip July 8-10 up to Palmyra, New York. I had never been to NY before (even though I've lived in the D.C. area my whole life), so I was pretty excited. Also, I've always wanted to see the church history sites up in NY and see the Hill Cumorah pageant. My good friend Bethany was in the pageant this year, so it was motivation for us to actually go! And with less people in the family home right now, it's easier to make the trip. We drove up there on Wednesday and got there in the afternoon. It was my mom and dad, Molly, me, and our cousin Sami (Karen & Sam's--she stayed with us for a month this summer). It felt like a pretty long drive (it was only 7.5 hours), but we survived with lots of yummy snacks. When we got there, we went to straight to the Joseph Smith farm, log home, frame home, and Sacred Grove. We wanted to go first before more crowds got there (the Hill Cumorah pageant officially began on the 10th, so the closer to that date, the more tourists). My dad recently sprained his ankle, so he got to ride one of those scooter things. I was really jealous because I think they're really cool. My dad acted embarrassed that he had to ride one at first (he doesn't enjoy lots of attention), but then you could tell that he loved it and thought he was so cool. He kept doing little moves in the scooter or would put his hands up in the air when we'd go down a little hill (don't worry, not in the Sacred Grove). He's such a kid, I love it. Anyway, the tour was great. It was so neat to be able to see the places where Joseph Smith grew up (even if some of it was rebuilt). The houses are so small compared to what we live in now...they lived in such humble circumstances. But they had enough. The Sacred Grove was beautiful and everything you imagine it to be. We spent awhile in there, just looking around and thinking. When you're there, you just get the feeling that...this was the place. It looks exactly like the place you always imagine Joseph going. There's something special about that grove of trees. You feel it. It's not just any grove of trees. It's not just a bunch of woods. It's so, so much more.

I don't remember what order we visited things in, but we also went to the Martin Harris farm, the Hill Cumorah (SO cool to think that not only Joseph Smith was there, but Moroni--and not just Moroni as an angel, but as a man, burying the plates. It's almost hard to imagine.), the Book of Mormon publication site, the Palmyra temple, and the Peter Whitmer farm (where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. What a neat place to be). While we were in the area, we also saw a few other things. First, we saw a couple of the finger lakes (Canadaigua and Seneca). I even put my finger in one of the finger lakes. I know I'm cool. We stayed in a nice hotel across the street from Seneca lake. It was so cool. We also saw part of the Erie Canal (well, Molly and I did. The rest of our lame family sat in the car while Molly and I explored and thought it was awesome!).

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was awesome. We got there like 4 hours early and were sitting in the CENTER FRONT ROW. So cool. We had beautiful weather the whole time. The costumes were incredible and it was just a really neat experience. It's amazing what you can do on an outdoor stage and with only 1.5 weeks of preparation. We even went just to the dress rehearsal, but it's a full run-through and was great (and there were less people there, which is nice).

One more random thought:

On the car rides up there and back, we passed through a bunch of small towns with cute old houses. Molly is obsessed with small town life and cute old houses. She wants to live in a small town when she's grown up and live in an old house (she said that if it was old and cute, she would even give up running water to live in it. WHAT???!!). When we'd drive through the towns, she'd just sit there and stare at all the houses and oooo and awww. If she saw any modern new houses that had been built, she'd yell something like "NASTY!" Oh man. She just LOVED seeing all the old houses. At one point she said: "I'm so happy I think I'm going to cry."

Now on to the pictures from the trip:

Joseph Smith farm

Molly and I (in the Sacred Grove)

Our family

Me

Pretty pictures of the Sacred Grove

View of Palmyra temple from Joseph Smith farmJoseph Smith log home

View from top of Hill Cumorah

View of Seneca Lake

Our family in front of the Peter Whitmer home

Me and my friend Bethany before the show

Hill Cumorah PageantPalmyra TempleOur hotel as seen from the lake (this is how close we were to Seneca Lake!)Molly, Sami, and I on rocks at the lake

Playing in the foamy hot tub at the hotel

Playing in the pool (we were the only ones in there)