Palmyra Temple and the Sacred Grove

Going to the sacred grove was the most amazing experience of my life. There is no way for a picture to show how peaceful and beautiful the place was.

Here is our group that was able to perform baptisms. This group of kids are truly the best!.

Hiding places of the Golden Plates

The second home the Smiths built on their farm was a frame wood home. It was here that the golden plates were hidden and moved several times from hiding place to hiding place. Below is a picture of the bedroom where Joseph's two younger sisters slept. Once he hid the plates between the sleeping girls while the mob ransacked the house.

Here is a picture of the fireplace where Joseph had removed the bricks and hid the places underneath.

Joseph's oldest brother Alvin died in Palmyra. He was a staunch supporter of Joseph and firmly believed in his prophetic calling. Here is his burial plot.

Arwen and Will in front of a replica of the home in Harmony, PA where most of the translation was completed.

E.B. Grandin, first publisher of the Book of Mormon

First floor of the publisher's building. Here the first 5,000 copies of the BOM were published. Took 7 months to do the printing and 2 1/2 years to bind them all. Total cost was $3,000.

Will checks out another book published by E.B. Grandin near the same time as the Book of Mormon.

Enoch takes a picture with his new phone of the type set used.

Enoch and Adelynn check out all the tools used for the binding of the books. Right behind them are the tools used to put the gold lettering on the outside binding.

The staircases of the building were too narrow to trasport the pages from the top floor to the middle floor for binding. So a pully system was used to lower the pages. The difficulty of making such a large order of books again made me grateful for the many sacrifices made to bring forth the Book of Mormon.

Beach, Becca, and Grandma Birdie

Win flying a kite at the Wright Brother's Museum and Park. It was a perfect windy day and all the kids were successful in getting their kites in the air.
Henry had it made. Becca clipped his kite handle to his stroller. All he had to do was watch and enjoy.

Grandma and the boys listen to the presentation in comfort, right there on the carpet.

Enoch lets Greyson try on his cool shades.

Win and Henry got to be great buddies during the week.

Adelynn's 8th Grade Graduation

Adelynn with her friends Jackie, Liv, and Phoebe.
The whole 8th grade crew

Walking in

Giving her intro speech.

Adelynn being recognized for her work in the SGA.

Adelynn receiving the teacher's choice citizenship award. This award is only given to two students each year. Teachers look for those students who exemplify scholarship, kindness to others, friendship, and integrity. This award was a total suprise and as you can imagine, we were really proud her.

Finally, Adelynn gets her certificate of advancement to high school

snuggles

sometimes a little brother just needs some hugs from an older brother.

Circus

Jim and Bambi took Win, Greyson, and me to the Circus on May 13. We had such a great time. It was just a baby circus, with a small tent and only one ring. But it was really enjoyable. Course, the boys favorite part was feeding the goats which was totally free. (naturally)

Below is a picture of a smaller goat on top of a big goat. The man in charge of the goats said he had never seen them do this before. Must have been a show just for Win and Greyson!

Win was really nervous watching this act. He kept worrying that the man would fall. He kept saying, "that is so dangerous." Thank goodness Win has some concept of dangerous. Sometimes I wonder.