This trip (again, NOT a vacation) was incredibly ambitious and maybe a little borderline insane. I thought that SO MANY TIMES while we were gone. But it was incredible and fantastic and amazing, and I am pretty sure we will remember it forever. OK, Sadie will not remember it and she definitely did NOT appreciate it at all. But you know what? She will look at these pictures forever and remember that we did something so awesome as a family, and know that she was there. That makes it all worth it.
We flew out on September 25, out of SFO to Minneapolis, and then to Newark. We got in at 11 pm but it took forever to get a rental (they lost the van we had reserved so we "had" to use a brand new Suburban - darn) and by the time we got to our hotel it was 1 a.m.
Spencer had just accepted a new job with WalMart in Arkansas (!!) so he had to go get a drug test early the next morning and we all slept in until 9. After eating breakfast we set off for upstate, where we planned to spend the majority of our trip with Nana and Grandpa.
Soon after getting on the road I could tell Sadie was not in a great mood. I figured everyone was just tired. But then she started barfing. In NJ you can't get stop wherever...so 3 minutes later Spencer finally got off, we cleaned her up, worried about a possible stomach bug, bought some Purell, and continued on our way. She slept a lot, didn't eat much, and cried a lot. That was a long drive. But MAN it was beautiful.
We had to stop a few times but finally made it to our first stop - COOPERSTOWN - where we were meeting Joe and Kathy. Everyone but me, Kathy, and Sadie went into the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and we window shopped and walked around the cute town. Sadie was thrilled to be out of the car finally, and seemed to be feeling better.
After, we drove around Cooperstown, then went to Fly Creek Cider Mill, before heading back to Joe and Kathy's house in Whitesboro (Utica). That place is an amazing mission home. We loved every second we got to be there. That night I was awoken at 2 a.m. by puke sounds. Luckily it was Emma (she can make it to the toilet). Luckily she threw up that once and then was fine. But I was even more worried and couldn't sleep.
The next morning Sadie was lethargic again and we opted that instead of our ambitious trip we would stay close and go on the Erie Canal.
Sadie finally perked up, Emma felt better, and we got to ride on a boat and go through the locks. That was fun, and it was the most beautiful day. There was even a revolutionary war re-enactment going on along the banks, in front of the 2nd oldest church in NY.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around at the mission home, and the kids painted pumpkins for Joe and Kathy's front porch.
We explored in their incredible backyard and fed the chipmunks and squirrels. We had the most delectable dinner - chicken riggies - a central NY dish that is super spicy and yummy chicken pasta concoction. Unlike anything I have had!
On Sunday we went to their ward. I didn't even bother trying to get Sadie to go to nursery.
After church we drove up toward Lake Placid. That was a LONG drive and gave us a huge appreciation for the geographical size of their mission. They drive so far, so often! This drive was beautiful - the leaves peaked early this year, while we were there! I have about 50 pictures just like these.
We stayed in Lake Placid and the next morning went on a gondola ride up Whiteface mountain. It was just gorgeous! I can't say that enough times.
We parted with Joe and Kathy for a day and headed back to their house while they headed further north for a zone conference. We were going to Palmyra the next day, out of their mission.
Palmyra. Wow. This was incredible, and so so special for me to do with my kids. Spencer and I went 11 years ago on our way to Boston for his internship, but this time was so much more important to me and to my testimony, especially because I got to see my children experience it.
Hill Cumorah was cool - we were the ONLY ones there, which I know is rare. It was gorgeous and warm. The Smith farm and Sacred Grove were quite sparse of people as well, and our tour guide, Sister Veatch (senior missionary) was so incredible. I will remember her forever for the time she took and for the truths she taught my children. My favorite was how she spent time asking them how all of these things would have felt to them if they were in Joseph Smith's place. She was very thoughtful and sweet.
(Here she was explaining how when the church purchased this home years ago, it had been updated a few times and they spent a lot of time and energy restoring it to how it used to be. And, Tyler was standing on the hearth bricks where Joseph had to hide the plates a few times.)
Sadie had to throw a big fit outside the Smith home and Spencer waited patiently. She was so out of it. But again, she will love someday that she is in all these pictures with us.
We were lucky to go through the Sacred Grove almost entirely alone. There was a great couple there who offered both times we saw them to take a family picture. This couple is walking a mile in all 50 states, and in NY she wanted that mile to be in the Sacred Grove. How awesome is that.
We each tried to decide where Joseph Smith would have chosen to pray. The Grove is massive so it isn't easy to guess at all.
We had some outtakes from our timer family pictures before we got one that was ok.
We were grateful when the couple again was able to take our picture.
Next we headed to downtown Palmyra where EB Grandin's print shop is. We took a quick tour and that was more interesting than I had remembered. We also met some fascinating people and had really really weird slurpee-type drinks. Downtown Palmyra is cool but is a food-FAIL.
Our last church history stop was the Peter Whitmer farm. It was just supposed to be a 45 minute drive but for some reason it took us MUCH longer. But the drive was gorgeous once again. And once again we were the only people at the site. Sister Olsen took us around and showed us inside the home. My kids couldn't believe 50-60 people had been there when the church was organized - it was so small!
We headed to Syracuse to stay the night in the hotel where Joe and Kathy would be meeting us. Spencer decided it was time to give his official notice to EY that he would be leaving after 7 1/2 years of working there. I took the kids into Pizza Hut while he called Tony, and the ball started rolling there. This trip was good in so many ways, but especially because we got to talk so much more about all of our life changes than we would have otherwise.
Spencer's dad gave him a blessing that night, and it was a good assurance that we were doing the right thing, the best thing for our family. Spencer takes every chance he can to get a Father's blessing, as it is incredibly rare these days.
The next morning Spencer took the kids swimming in the hotel pool for a little bit, and then we headed off to the zone conference. The zone leaders were teaching a live facebook lesson to someone, and that was interesting. Wow, missionary work sure is evolving. We had lunch there with everyone, and then headed off for NYC!
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures!
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