The Hill Cumorah Pageant and The Sacred Grove

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was this last week in Palmyra, New York. I've always wanted to visit upstate New York and see the Pageant and visit the Sacred Grove. So a couple weeks ago when I found out the Pageant was in July I hurried and booked a room at The Palmyra Inn and we counted down the days! It was a super quick trip because Dave has such a busy schedule but we are so glad he was willing to sacrifice his time to come with us. We left Saturday at noon and drove to Palmyra. I can't believe how green it is and how many trees there are. It was a gorgeous drive through New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

Here we are waiting for the Hill Cumorah Pageant to begin on Saturday night.
The kids were excited to meet the boy who played The Young Joseph Smith. His parents (on the right) talked to us for awhile and were so super nice. They came from Washington D.C. and brought their whole family to be in the Pageant. I'm not sure who the boy on the left is? We didn't get a chance to talk to him.
This girl, Eurelia, and her family came from Illinois to be in the Pageant. She loved our kids and stayed by us for an hour playing games with them and she especially loved holding Malia. She told us she played one of Ishmael's grand-daughters so it was fun to look for her up on the gigantic stage once the pageant started.

Here are some pictures I googled of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was really neat. Brenner and Mia slept through the whole thing, but Kyler, Lexi and Porter stayed awake and were excited to see the stories they knew from the Book of Mormon.



Sunday morning before church we went to see the Palmyra Temple. It was built on the edge of the Smith property. Temple grounds are always so beautiful and peaceful. I could have stayed there for hours.


We went to church at 9am in the Palmyra ward and it was bursting at the seams from all the people visiting for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It's so nice that the church is the same wherever you go. I love that!

Then we went to the Sacred Grove. It was a beautiful day and we imagined what it would have been like for Joseph Smith as he knelt to pray among the trees. Then the boys thought about the ancient Nephites and Lamanites maybe fighting one of their last battles near here and then they spent the rest of their time looking for arrow heads along the trail that might really have belonged to the Nephites. There was no going back after that! There really is such a wonderful spirit in the Sacred Grove.

A nice lady took a family picture for us but didn't get all of Brenner in the photo.
There are other church history sights in Palmyra that we didn't have time to see as we had to start the 6 hour drive back to New York City. We plan on going back when Dave has a week break in October. One of the things that stood out to me the most this weekend was how nice it was to be back in a big group of members of the church! Everyone was so nice at the pageant and everyone we saw seemed to glow! We are so used to being around nonmembers everywhere we go (other than our ward on Sundays). The kids even picked up on that and asked why everyone was smiling and being so nice. It was a neat testimony builder on the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives and how it makes such a difference. We had a little talk about that and it's something I hope my kids remember. We are so thankful to be members of the Church! It is such a huge blessing in our lives and one that became even closer to our hearts this weekend as we visited the birthplace of the Restoration.

Bronx Zoo

We spent a day at the Bronx Zoo with some friends last week. It is the 2nd largest zoo in the nation and was quite spectacular! It's so big and doesn't really seem like a zoo, I don't know why, maybe because it didn't smell like a zoo and there were so many trees and paths, and big open spaces. My camera died after only a couple photos and I was so sad because there were lots of great photo moments of the kids looking at the animals. We were able to see the animals really well, especially the tigers and the gorillas which were our favorites. We also saw life-size Lego models of animals that were amazing, there were movies about the animals and saving their habitats, there were interactive play areas in many of the exhibits, there were camel rides that Brenner really wanted to go on (next time buddy!), a giant bug carousel that they rode on, and there was even a butterfly room where the butterflies were flying around us and drinking nectar out of cups right in front of us. The kids wanted to stay there for a long time.

The kids by the giraffes. Did you know giraffes clean their noses with their long black tongues? We learned that on "The Cat and the Hat Knows a lot About That" and the kids remembered while we were looking at the giraffes. Funny!
Loved the gorillas. One big one sat right up by the glass and copied what people did. They threw out celery for the gorillas to eat and Brenner watched one of them eat a whole celery bunch for a long time. And there were lots of cute little gorilla babies.
By the hairy baboons. I've never seen such hairy baboons. Quite funny and a little scary! I just noticed there are no baboons behind us in the picture.A fun day, after we finally got there! The GPS led me astray a few times and had us going in circles around the Bronx. But we finally made it and had a fun time. We bought a year pass that gets us into the Central Park Zoo, the New York City Aquarium, and other sights, so I'm sure we'll post more pictures of us with lots more animals in the future!

Tie-Dye Cupcakes

Lexi had some friends from our ward over and they wanted to make cupcakes. I had only a white cake mix so all the kids kicked it up a notch with food coloring. They each had a bowl of batter that they tinted. We were out of red food coloring so all they had to work with was blue, yellow and green. They came up with some great color combos. I thought the cupcakes were hilarious and tasted a bit odd, probably due to food coloring overdose. But the kids were quite proud of them.

The Church and the Manhattan Temple

This is the building where we go to Church. It's about a half hour drive through the city to get there. Sometimes we get lucky to find a parking spot on the same street, once we had to park blocks away. Can you see Kyler standing out front?The chapel is up on the 4th floor. The 3rd floor has classrooms. The 2nd floor has the Primary room, the Nursery, and the Priesthood room. The Main floor has the Bishop offices and a big lobby. The basement has the Sunday School and Relief Society Rooms. The overflow for the chapel is up on the stand! We've been late once or twice and had to sit up on the stand behind the Bishopric. It's a great incentive to be early to church!


We drive a different way home after church each week and see a different part of New York City. We see the Empire State Building each week as we drive to and from. Yesterday we stopped by the Manhattan Temple and took the kids inside. The Manhattan Ward meets inside on one half of the building. The kids were able to touch the Temple doors. It's amazing to walk inside from the busy city and feel the Spirit and the peaceful feeling inside.



We love to see the Temple!

Summer Night at the Movies

Every 2 weeks there is a movie on a big screen at the park. We went to "Goonies" on Saturday night. Totally fun to snuggle up on a blanket on a warm summer night!

Catching Crabs in the East River

We had a little get together on Saturday in honor of a family who is moving out of our ward in a few weeks. We are sad to see them go! They showed us all how to catch crabs off the pier with raw chicken legs. It was the kids' favorite thing ever! It entertained the big kiddos for hours, while the adults sat on the picnic tables in the shade and the littles played at the playground.












The crabs were too creepy crawly for me but the kids all dared touch them and carry them around. Yuck!

Fun and Games

We have watched way too much TV this summer, I'm thinking we need to get rid of it altogether because the kids have so much fun when it's off. I don't know why we let it come on in the first place! I like it so much better when I see them reading or interacting with each other, playing games and using their imaginations.

Kyler and Brenner playing Legos. Legos are definitely a favorite.


Monopoly is Porter's favorite game of all time. He played it with my Dad every time we went to my parents' house. All the kids were thrilled when their own game of Monopoly arrived in the mail. They've played it every day since! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Building forts... another great past-time. Lexi even slept in hers under the picnic table we use as our dining table. I was surprised she lasted all night! Porter opted out and slept on the couch. Kyler knew he'd sleep better in his own bed, smart boy!

Dancing on the fort rooftop.

All 5 kids playing quietly together. This moment didn't last long but was photo-worthy while it did!
Malia loves sitting in the middle of things the other kids are playing with. She gets so excited and flaps her arms around and squeals.


One night the kids were being so funny. They rolled back the rug and were slipping and sliding on our wood floors. Kyler put his pillow pet in his pajamas to make the ride a little softer. It gave us all the giggles!

Lunch with Daddy and Dunkin' Donuts

Last week we took the air tram to meet Dave for lunch in between his classes. We were able to meet his group of classmates as well. They are mostly career-oriented unmarried gals, all very nice, and they oohed and ahhed over all the kids. They all want to babysit! This might come in really handy! On our walk back home we passed a Dunkin' Donuts and had to get a 1/2 dozen. We found some shade on the stairs of this cathedral as we walked by so we took a minute to enjoy our donuts on this hot day in the city. At first I was worried about walking around by myself with the kids because I was afraid I might lose them, but Brenner and Malia ride in the stroller and the other 3 stay by me really well so it no longer scares me.




The kids love the air tram over the river back to our island. It is a fun way to travel!