Eastern Church History Vacation

We recently went to up-state New York to visit Amy's parents who were serving as missionaries there. They have been acting mainly as docents, giving tours to visitors at the Sacred Grove, Smith Farm, Grandin Building (original Book of Mormon publication site), Hill Cumorah, Peter Whitmer Farm (church organization site), etc. We also visited some other attractions in the area including the Strong Museum of Play and Niagra Falls. Toward the end we travelled to 'the Ohio' and visited the Kirtland area sites.

This is in the visitor's center at the Hill Cumorah. It's modeled after the well-known Christus on Temple Square, but notice the forest painting behind the statue. In some ways it is suggestive of the First Vision.
This is in what they call the "Welcome Center." It's just a little place to get oriented when you visit the Smith Farm. The statue in the background blew my socks off when I first saw it. It's an incredibly intimate interpretation of the First Vision, showing The Father and Jesus in a partial embrace, and both of them within easy arms reach of Joseph. The love and concern that God has for each of us comes accross powerfully.
On the Smith Farm they've constructed a replica of the log cabin that the Smiths lived in. This picture is in the upstairs room where Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith.
A few paces further down is the frame home that Alvin started to build, and that was finished by the rest of the family after he died. The plates were kept here for a time after Joseph recieved them. That's a replica of one of the younger Smith boys sitting there on the steps. Oh... never mind. I guess its Jacob.
Adjoining both of the previous buildings is a large chunk of forest known as the Sacred Grove. It was in this part of land that the Smiths owned but had not cleared that Joseph prayed and saw God the Father and Jesus. It's beautiful, and makes for a great place to go walking right before attending...
... the temple. We were able to do a session there while the Tanners watched Jacob and Allison. One interesting tid-bit about this temple is that it is the only one with a clear transparent window, which it has so that one can look out onto the Sacred Grove. This temple sits on the 100 acres owned by the Smiths, as does the little house where the Tanners have been living.
Right in the heart of Palmyra is where the Book of Mormon was published by Grandin, a local printer and businessman. It was printed here, despite the fact that none of the translation occured in Palmyra.
In Fayette the final translation took place and the church was organized at the Peter Whitmer Farm. This is a little room upstairs where Joseph stayed for a time and finished the translation.
This is the main downstairs room where 50 or so people gathered for the organization of the church.
This is the Newel K. Whitney store where Joseph and Emma stayed for 18 months. It was the first bishop's storehouse, and also housed the school of the prophets. Seventeen (if memory serves) revelations were given here, including the Word of Wisdom.
This is the Kirtland Temple! It was much larger than I thought it would be, and frankly reminded me of a stake center. An incredible building, especially considering the circumstances under which it was built.

Jacob the Photographer

Jacob loves to use the camera, and we thought we'd take a moment to share some of his works. These are all original compositions with adult supervision limited to preventing damage to the camera. Some of them reveal a different perspective, others a surprisingly artistic nature.

Who would think to take a picture of a little post-church relaxation? Who would think to capture the essence of generic Sunday relaxation by leaving out the head? Jacob would!


These two are surprisingly artistic shots revealing the beauty of common blinds.

An introspective shot. Or is it pediospective?

Jacob very carefully composed this one. He asked for the bowl to be placed on Allison's head, and asked mom to sit in the bathroom. Then he kept saying "move back... back... back" before he would take the shot.

Jacob Cooks

Jacob loves to be a helper when mom or dad is making something in the kitchen. Yesterday we had the missionaries and a new member over for dinner. Amy made some fantastic enchiladas as well as an ice cream pie for dessert. Here Jacob is helping to smash the graham crackers for the pie crust.

Related to Jacob's development, he has recently been noted for energetic singing in sacrament meeting. He has just a few songs that he really knows the words to, and most of them are more commonly sung in Nursary. So in sacrament meeting he's lately been singing the ABC song (he knows parts of it very well) during the hymns. He always gets compliments from those sitting around us on his singing.

Sunset

We took a quick trip out to the beach in Ventura on Thursday after Tom got off work. It was pretty cold and late, so no one did any swimming. However, the sunset was pretty, and Jacob got at least a few minutes to play in the sand. This shot was taken during a romantic daddy-daughter walk in the sand.
We were in Ventura to meet with an organization that administers government and other aid for first-time home buyers. We're not sure how or when we'll be able to own property here, but we're exploring our options.

Exersaucer

Allison's Tanner grandparents kindly donated the means for purchasing an Exersaucer, and Allison loves it! Here she is enjoying herself in the midst of her suspended toys. She routinely plays in her new toy for up to an hour at a time, freeing mom and dad to clean up, take showers, work on projects, etc. Allison can sit up unassisted, at least for a couple minutes, anyway. She is also experimenting with crawling-like motions, combined with lots of rolling, to move herself around on the floor. She's quite an active little girl!

Temple Trip

We finally made it to the Los Angeles Temple on Saturday! Tom had been once before with a new member who went to do baptisms, but this was the first endowment session for both Tom and Amy in the L.A. Temple. What a beautiful temple, and what a great Spirit we felt there! So, who was watching the kids? We teamed up with our friends, the Murrays, to try out a new strategy they proposed. We all met up at the temple in the morning (with their three kids, we were a total of nine people at the temple). We took care of their kids while they did a session, and then they did the same for us. This way both couples got to do a session on a single Saturday, rather than taking two Saturdays to go and then to babysit. It makes for a long day at the temple, but it was fun and refreshing. In the meantime, the kids get to play with each other, have fun on the temple grounds, and visit the visitor's center. By the way, the Murray's two oldest are 4-year-old twins, and Jacob loves to play with them. The age difference is obvious; however, they love to teach Jacob, and Jacob loves to be challenged.

Solids for Allison

Allison started eating solid foods just a couple of days ago, and Amy managed to get this great shot. Allison is extremely cute and alert! She's becoming very interested in mobility, and is now skilled in rolling over to get closer to things she wants to chew on.

Reagan Library

We're having a great time in California! Today we visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for the first time. We had a good time and enjoyed learning about Reagan's life and presidency. Tom and Jacob were especially excited to see Air Force One and Marine One. This picture is of Jacob and Tom telling each other about how the helicopter works. Jacob got pretty animated!

All of us learned a lot and gained a deeper appreciation for President Reagan and for the great country we live in.