Part 9 Kirtland & Part 10 Port Clinton

After Niagara Falls we headed to Kirtland, Ohio. The best part of Kirtland was meeting up with cousin Jan. Jan lives in Pittsburgh and was able to meet up with us so we could visit with her. It was a blast to spend the day with her. It happen to work that we spent more time visiting with her than seeing the sites because a group was holding a conference that day and they took over all the sites. So on to the pictures:

Kirtland Temple

I know that the Lord has preserved it for a reason but still entering the doors it very much seems like more of a museum than a temple.

Picture above is the Whitney's home and picture below is the Whitney store. Wished we would have had more time to look and ponder the things that happen there but we had that group behind us. I may go back and visit just for this place.

Mom & Dad & Jan

Back to pictures of bugs and colors

After Kirtland, Ohio we headed to Port Clinton, Ohio. We headed there mainly because it was on our way to the next stop. When we got there we found this African Safari. We had a good time but there was not many African animals there, but we enjoyed the elk, buffalo, and deer.

The first couple of pictures are the "African" animals.

HELLO!!! All the animals really liked DAD :)

My buffalo pictures did not turn out well but I wanted to include at least one.

Picture and Video of the elk. Here we had to travel thousands of miles to hear an elk bugle. So sad!!!

Next stop is Lexington, Kentucky. Horses, Horses, and more Horses!!!

Part 8 Niagara Falls

PART 8 NIAGARA FALLS STATE PARK:

This was maybe my favorite stop of the entire trip. I have always heard about how beautiful the falls are but people forgot to tell me how powerful they are. We stayed on the American side and rode the Maid of the Mist and did the Cave of the Winds. The Cave of the Winds was my favorite part because of the power. The falls are so powerful that at the bottom of them they create hurricane force winds. AWESOME POWER!! We were in the off season so the water coming down is about 1/2 of what it is in the peak of the summer and yet I couldn't even stand up straight without holding on to something. I can't imagine how much more powerful it would be in the summer time.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took. ENJOY!!!

Can you even picture 675,000 gallons yet imagine that many gallons every second?

Part of the Horseshoe falls

Canada and Horseshoe Falls
Mom and Dad on the Observation Deck. Dad and I are very proud of Mom. She is not a fan of boats or heights and yet she conquered both at the Falls!

American Falls, Bridal Falls, Horseshoe Falls

View from the Observation Deck

Horseshoe Falls from the bottom. Picture taken while we were on the Maid of the Mist.

It is very hard to capture a rainbow :)

Mom and Dad in the wonderful gear for the Maid of the Mist

Beginning of the Cave of the Winds. Making our way up to the Hurricane deck!

Half way up to the Hurricane Deck. This pathway takes you right to the bottom of the Falls. Very Cool!!!!

Mom was able to get a picture of me on the Hurricane Deck. The rain and the wind was awesome :) I completely got soaked. It is a good thing they provide everyone with sandals and yellow rain coat.

Next stop Kirtland, Ohio and Port Clinton, Ohio

Part 7 Palmyra, NY

So the trip continues.....

After a long but pretty drive across New York and paying toll road after toll road, we made it to Palmyra. We ended up in Palmyra the Saturday-Monday of General Conference. We were hoping that as we drove on Saturday that we would get Conference on the radio but we never could find it. So we missed it. Thank goodness for the Ensign!!!

Probably in the top five of trip was Sunday where we were the only ones in the Sacred Grove. We walked and pondered and for the most part were silent for about 2 hours. It was a perfect day. So on to the pictures :) Have I told you how beautiful the colors were!!!

Pathway in the Sacred Grove

More of the Sacred Grove

Mom and Dad on the Smith Farm

Smith Farm

From Sacred Grove looking towards Palmyra Temple

Both above and below is from the temple looking out towards the Sacred Grove.

Beautiful stain glass windows of the temple

Hill Cumorah

Color on Hill Cumorah

Fuzzy Caterpillar
The last couple of pictures is the amazing view from our hotel room.

Next stop is Niagara Falls!!

Part 6 plus Christmas and Thanksgiving

So I have been told that I have failed to update everyone on my life while I have posting stuff from my trip. So here it goes. I am working close to 50 hours a week but I am trying different things to try to get back to around 40 hours because I am tired of working a long week. We are back to trying to hire some people but interviews are not going well. I don't understand why people show up in jeans and expect an interview to go great. So still looking.

For Thanksgiving and part of Christmas I spent it with the Powell's. It was a lot of fun. We had a white christmas with about 10 inches on the ground Christmas night. I also played with John, Pam and the kids for Christmas. Though I have to admit that it is still weird when I don't make it to GJ for the holidays. It almost feels like they actually never happened.

I also did a webcam with Carrie and the kids. So I went outside to show Justin what snow looks like and my favorite part was when Kaylynn was telling and showing me about her presents and Carrie went to add something and Kaylynn turned around and said "SHHHH MOM I am talking to Aunt Crystal." Love it!!!

For the New Year I went over to Amy's house and she kicked her kids off the Wii so the adults could play. It was fun to hang out with her family and I learned how to play rockband. I am a good guitar player but not a drummer or singer.

So back to the trip that happened in October.

We are now in Boston. Here is the highlights.

Close up of Boston from a Harbor Cruise. The Harbor Cruise was my 2nd favorite thing in Boston. It was fun to be out on the water and learn how Boston was the placed to be back when the country was just starting.

Fun picture of the Flag with Boston in the background

Almost out of the harbor

The USS Constitution or also well known as "Old Ironsides"

Samuel Adams

Part of his statue says he was incorruptible and fearless. I think he had to be in order to play his part in the revolution.

Paul Revere and Church behind him that held the signal for the revolution

Boston Temple

So this was my favorite part of Boston. I have wanted to go there since it was dedicated and that it was also temple 100. Because of the tolls in Boston we had to pay around 6 dollars in tolls but it was worth driving around Boston to go.

This it was it looked like when we went in....

This is what it looked like when we came out!
Beautiful! Nothing more to say except we are headed to Palmyra next!!!

Happy 2009!!!