We finished up our trip to New York last week! On Monday we went to Battery Park to get a view of the Statue of Liberty. From there we went up to the 9/11 Memorial. After some PB&J, we went to Times Square and visited some shops, then took the subway to the Manhattan temple and marvelled at the Walter Rane paintings (who was a bishop in the YSA ward while Mariah was on her mission, FYI) and then spent several hours in Central Park. We went to the big Angel Fountain and rambled through The Ramble and saw the castle and Bow Bridge. Megan and Ammon rented bikes. McKay sang with a busker. It was all pretty fun! On the way back, we stopped at Grand Central Station (it was Grand!) and the Harry Potter store. What a day!!

On Tuesday, Kevin picked up our 15-seater van and got a parking spot right outside our apartment. We loaded up and drove out of the city. Guess what? When you are out of the city, you are out. of. the city. Trees stretch as far as you can see in every direction. Crazy. We made it 5.5 hours to Palmyra that day and stopped first at the Sacred Grove with the Smith home. Amazing. Beautiful. Spirit-filling. We also made it to Hill Cumorah before the visitor center closed and hiked up to the monument.

On Wednesday, we drove back into Palmyra from our hotel nearby, and took the tour of the Grandin Printing offices where the Book of Mormon was first published. That Joseph! He knew the bigness of this endeavor before anyone else. Then we drove out to the Whitmer Farm. This was one of our favorite stops. There was a great video showing a reenactment of the six people who started the church and spanning through the ages to conferences now. So powerful! There's no other explanation for growth like that except that God is behind it all.

We drove to Niagra after that and it was raining! We went to see it anyway and got very wet. Still beautiful even in the rain! We drove a couple more hours toward Kirtland and stopped for the night at an Airbnb on Findley Lake. It was so pretty! And there were kayaks and a paddleboat we could use even. We all wanted to stay longer!

The next morning saw us on our way to Kirtland. Kevin had to leave us to do a video seminar for a couple hours, but the rest of us really enjoyed the tour of several buildings in Kirtland. The best was probably the Whitney Store where Joseph and Emma stayed part of the time and where the school of the prophets was held (tiny room, big happenings!) So many revelations and visions in this little town. It was amazing to be in the actual places. Kevin joined us for a tour of the Kirtland Temple which is now owned by a different church. Still pretty amazing.

We stayed in a hotel close to the airport that night and got on airplanes very early in the morning. What an amazing experience! We saw so many different things and felt amazing things and got to share it all with each other! It was a big undertaking and I wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew, but wow, it sure turned out great! I just feel so grateful for all of it. <3