Slowly Catching Up Part 2: New York Trip

So this summer, I had the AMAZING opportunity of going to New York with my grandparents for my grandpa's family reunion. We took a few days for the cross country drive, but had lots of fun along the way.


WARNING: This post is VERY long... it was a 15 day trip though, so what else could I do?

As we were driving we went UNDERNEATH this McDonald's. I had never seen anything like it. Half of the restaurant was on one side of the road, and the other half was on the other side, connected over the highway. It was AWESOME!

Also on the way, we stopped in St. Louis to see the arch. It was my 2nd time seeing it, but Grandma and Grandpa's first, so we had a lot of fun there.

We eventually made it to New York for the reunion. We stayed in the cutest little cottage just down the street from Keuka Lake.

Grandma in the kitchen

This was one of the bedrooms. Sorry it's not really showing the room... 

They only rent the cottage out for a full week at a time, so we were there for a full week and got to do lot of really fun things.


This is the lake where I spent a lot of time with my cousins while the adults did different things. We swam in the frigid water, lounged on the beach and read some great books, played some games, etc.

This view is on the way back from one of our hikes. 

We also got to go to an Amish produce auction, which was WAY cool. I got so caught up in it all that I almost bid on something! Ha ha. It was really cool to see what they do in the Amish community.

This was the "small produce isle." Most of the things for sell came in in big trucks.

Everyone stood around here to see the trucks com in

We saw LOTS of these cool Amish buggies. Good times. 

This is all of Grandpa's siblings and their spouses. It was really great to spend some time with them. 

We had a lot of fun with them and it was cool getting to know them better. One of my favorite things was sitting on the porch in rocking chairs and watching the rain fall or watching people go by. It was a REALLY small town (I actually think it was still a village) and so life was really slow going there. It was really good to relax a little bit. We went to the cute little shops, some old fashioned ice cream parlors, and to some jazz music thing in the town square. Fun, fun!

Also while we were there, we went and hiked Watkins Glen, a national park there. Let me tell you, it was quite the work out :) But it was very beautiful with all the water falls and cool rock formations.

It was a beautiful hike and had a great time doing it. We really enjoyed it!



Stop Two on the NY Trip was Palmyra NY where so much of Church History occurred. This was definitely my favorite part of the trip. We spent a full day in Palmyra and it was absolutely AMAZING! I will never forget the things that I felt there. I did not have to see where these things happened to know that they did, but there was such a special spirit there that just really confirmed everything I know.

This is the Hill Cumorah where the plates were buried. I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon and all that the early saints went through so that we can have it today. 

Grandma and Grandpa drove up to the top, but I really wanted to walk the path and experience what Joseph Smith experienced. The Church has made a very nice path, but this picture is what it looked like right next to the path. It was a pretty steep hill, and it I had actually been walking through this thick vegetation with heavy plates, I can't even imagine what it would have been like!

Memorial on the top. 

After the Hill Cumorah, the next stop was the Smith Farm.

This was the house that The Smith's lived in when Joseph had the first vision and when the angel, Moroni appeared to him. 

Inside the kitchen

Upstairs in the approximate place that Moroni appeared. 

This was the house they moved to... it's a new county but just 50 yards up from the other house. 

This is when I was walking in to the sacred grove. It was one of the most special places I have ever been. I decided to put my camera away so that I could have some time without distraction. What an amazing feeling, knowing that I was in the same place that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to the boy, Joseph Smith. It was so powerful and I had an amazing, precious experience there that I will never forget. 

Even though I decided that I would not bring my camera out, I wanted to capture the sun through the trees after I looked up. Amazing. 

Next stop was the Grandon Print Shop. It was amazing to see where The Book of Mormon was printed and feel the spirit there. Hearing how everything came together perfectly of the book to be printed in such a small town was amazing. The Lord's hand was definitely in the work. I love The Book of Mormon and I know that it is true. It is the word of God. 

How tedious it would have been to put every individual letter in place. I am so grateful!

The beautiful Palmyra Temple!

Our final major stop was Niagara Falls... AND CANADA!!!! If you know me well, you know that I have a ridiculous obsession with Canada. I don't want to move there, but I really liked the visit!

I LOVE this picture! Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for letting me tag along. I will never forget our fun times!

So Grandma and I walked over to Canada (Grandpa waited for us on the American side, and then when Grandma and I were done, we all got in the call and drove through Canada to Michigan... oh the memories of seeing speed limits that said 100... of course that's in Kilometers per hour! haha).

View from the walkway to Canada

First Canadian soil... or concrete...

View from Canada:

We obviously had a lot of fun in Canada!

hee hee. 

If you know my Grandma, you know the significance of this ;)

It was obviously an amazing trip that I will remember forever. It was so great to be with my grandparents and have this special time together. We laughed, we cried, we talked for hours (days, really), we saw things we had never seen before, and in all it was just great. Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma! I love you!!!