Palmyra, New York

We went to Palmyra, NY for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The Pageant was good, but what we really loved was all of the church history sites. We got to go to the printing press where copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. We toured the John Whitmer Farm and saw the building where Joseph Smith translated portions of the Book of Mormon. We visited the sacred grove which was beautiful and amazing despite the pouring rain. From there we toured a replica of the house where Joseph lived when he was 14 and saw the Palmyra temple through the trees. It was very cool to be in this wonderful historical and spiritual place. We had a great trip.

The Smith house

On of the very small rooms

The Peter Whitmer Farmhouse

This picture is blurry, but this is the room and desk where they believe Joseph translated some of the Book of Mormon

The Kitchen

You can see the Palmyra temple from the sacred grove

The Sacred Grove

Gettysburg

We took a trip to Gettysburg with the Rollins family- Nicole, Ben, Luke and Caleb. It was a beautiful place with monuments and statues from the war everywhere. It was really neat to be in a place where so much happened that changed the course of history.

New Jersey Shore

No more year round Florida beaches. We didn't make it to the shore until September, but it was PERFECT. The beaches are free after Labor Day and the weather couldn't have been better. We went to a Spring Lake, NJ which is the cutest little town. We hung out all afternoon at the beach and then went to main street and found a pizza shop and ate dinner. Then we walked down a block and got ice cream and ate it in the town center on a bench under the clock tower. It was the perfect day.

Amish Country with the Pryors

We went to Lancaster County--Amish Country. We all crammed in an Amish buggy and rode around some of the local farms. We did a house tour where where we learned a lot about the Amish way of life, and then we went and had pretzels and homemade lemonade. The girls that worked at the pretzel shop were really cute and friendly and we sat and chatted with them and asked them questions. Fascinating.

Downtown and Historic Philadelphia

Independence Hall. Here the Declaration of Independence was signed and the U.S. Constitution was drafted.

Outside Independence hall.

The Liberty Bell.


Ivy bought postcards and sent them from the first post office in the U.S.


I guess this place is famous for Philly Cheese Steaks so we had to check it out. Lane looks like he's had a few too many.



We took a break from history and walked up the street to a playground.

4th of July

The parade

Waiting for the train

The Baughs and the Crowthers came to Philly for the 4th of July. We took the train downtown to see the parade and fireworks. It was not the perfect day--we missed our train into the city and had to wait at the train station for 30 or 40 minutes for the next one, they closed the Liberty Bell 2 people in front of us after we had already been waiting for 30 minutes, we wanted to see the Rocky statue at the art museum where they were setting off and fireworks and so trudged up in the pouring rain and it was roped off for the concert. Because of the rain the fireworks were delayed--they finally started just as we were about to hop onto the train back home. So...like I said, not the perfect day, but we still had fun.

Living in Philly

We've seen and done some fun things since we got here in June. Here are some of them, probably not in order.

Moving On

There's nothing special about our new place, but we love living here. We seriously lucked out finding this place. Philadelphia has some pretty iffy areas (especially close to where Jude works) and so we feel so blessed to have found this place close enough to the city that Jude has a resonable commute, but far enough away to feel safe and love it. Where we live is beautiful! Everyday I am impressed and amazed at the beauty around me. Our drive to the airport, church, even the grocery store is gorgeous! We really love this place.

Leaving Florida

We spent five years of our lives in this house making it into the perfect little first home. We love this house! We went through a lot with this house and in this house. Ivy grew up here, Lane was born here, Jude finished Dental School here. We have so many great memories of this place and it was very sad to leave it behind--this house and everything and everyone that it represents.