Our big trip for this year was back to New York and Eastern Canada. Suzie's parents are serving in the Palmyra Temple mission. Tom served his mission in Toronto Canada so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take the kids to see where their dad served.

Lay-over in JFK Airport

First stop, Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls in Canada is so beautiful! Everything was so green and the homes and parks were so beautifully landscaped. They had flowers and plants unlike anything I had ever seen. The kids kept asking if we could move there, and I really think they would have!

We took a jet boat ride down the Niagara River and were able to experience the rapids. It was awesome! Unfortunately, due to the amount of water we were submerged with, we were not able to have phones and cameras on the boat. Jake and Sami sat in the front row and were more that wet when we returned. It was awesome! 

Seeing Fort George was pretty neat too. In the picture below we are standing in Canada and looking at New York. We are actually standing on the fort where cannons were used to fire at the US during the War of 1812. It was neat to have a visual on many of the smaller battles at Fort George and what they may have been like.

Sami and Amee enjoying Canadian ice-cream!!!!

Originally we thought we would take the kids to a Blue Jays game, but opted to take the jet boat ride down the rapids instead. While visiting the CN tower we were able to participate in the opening festivities for the Blue Jays game.

This lady on stilts was walking around tossing a ball to kids. I am pretty sure that between my three boys, they played catch with her more than any other one person. Matthew and Zeke were in heaven!

Zeke and Matthew both did the pitching challenge. Zeke was pitching in the 11-14 age bracket. The record was 57, held by a boy who was probably 13. Zeke's fastest pitch was 55. Although the machine was having a hard time reading his pitch because of the way he was standing, as he is a lefty. Some of his other pitches seemed to be faster than the 55 that registered.

Matthew was pitching in the youngest bracket. His fastest pitch was 37, which was good enough to get his name on the record board!

Below is the view of Toronto from the CN Tower. While up there we were able to watch them open the roof of the Blue Jays stadium. That was pretty cool. I think it took a good 30 minutes and I am pretty sure Zeke stood watching the entire time. This might be the first time he has stood still for that long. He was pretty heart broke that he could not go inside the stadium, but I guess that gives him something to look forward to doing at another time.

Our trip to Toronto would not have been complete without making the drive out to Brampton to see the Temple.

We were able to find a nice beach along Lake Ontario, but were not to excited about all the teeny, tiny bathing suits, so we selected a less desirable place to play, but it was still fun!

Niagara falls was quite a sight! While getting as close as we possible could, Amee, standing up as high as she could safely get, dropped a flip flop. She reached down to get her shoe, which was just laying on the other side of the rail, and someone bumped her, causing her to push her shoe over the ledge. I had seen something fall and then saw Amee jumping and crying. My head started to race trying to figure out who or what had fallen. I was very relieved when I discovered it was just her flip-flop.

We teased Amee about the fact that this was a pretty smart way to try and get a new pair of shoes. Amee however did not like the teasing.

Our time in Canada and Niagara Falls was very fun and we will have many memorable experiences. However, it seemed a pretty unanimous consensus that Palmyra was the funnest and neatest part of our trip. Having family there was definitely a positive factor!!! Without hurting any feelings, I might have to say the Ezra was the highlight of our trip!!!

Peter Whitmore Home

It was here in the Peter Whitmore home that the church was first organized!

The Sacred Grove was so beautiful! No picture can even do it justice. While we were there I went running a couple times, both times I passed by the Sacred Grove and I could not go past without stopping and going in for just a minute. The spirit there was so strong and it has such a holy feeling!

Below is a picture of the Smith home that was being built by Alvin before he died. The Smith family finished the home during the years after Joseph's first vision. Under those bricks are where he hid the plates.

This tree is the Alvin Tree. It was planted the day Alvin died

Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Jamee, and Ezra for making our trip so wonderful!!!!!!!