A Fun Day in Palmyra, Snatch and Grab and Other Good Stuff!

Day 2 in New York was spent in Palmyra.  We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel.  We are staying at the Country Inn and Suites in Henrietta.  It is a little way from Palmyra.  The weather was around 88 with a little humidity, to say the least.  The GPS has been working pretty well and didn't lead us astray. 

So first, Here is a picture of the Lehigh Restaurant in Henrietta, last nite.  Boy, lots of food at a really good price.  Jamie had pierogis, Ty, spaghetti and I had Yankee pot roast, all served with soup, rolls, potatoes, or fries and mac salad and we add and couldn't eat it all.

So our first stop at Palmyra was the Hill Cumorah visitor's center.  Here we are out front. 

Tyson  was really fascinated with the original Book of Mormons from the first printed editions.

Here is a table with the Book of Mormon in all the languages it is published in including Braille.

The Hill Cumorah.  Beautiful, steep, green and spiritual...

Statue of Moroni.

Tyson climbed down a different way from the Hill then Jamie and I.  I told him to take some pictures.  He found a little ground squirrel.

A little meditation on the Hill

Viewing the Smith Log home.

Walking along the road from the Log home to the frame home we saw the Temple peeking out from through the trees.

A very special bedroom....in the Smith house.

The Frame house.  

A special box kept in the Smith Frame house.

The bricks in the fireplace were removed to hide the plates from the 'bad guys"/

This little guy was in the garden of the Smith Frame house.

The barn, and we also saw the cooper's shop.

The entrance to the Sacred Grove.  A nice pace to contemplate.

So here are more pictures of the grove.  We wondered where the event took place.  We thought this was a good place.

Now we are at downtown Palmyra.  The Grandin printshop in the background.

Here is the inside of the print office.  My dad was a printer and the stuff we saw was very familiar to me, "The Printer's Daughter."

Upper case, Lower case!

Here is Ty folding the pages of the big pages that were Book of Mormon pages.

On the way to the Whitmer Farm, Ty got a little tired.  Somewhere about this time I opened the glove box to get the money for the Toll booths....I had about 20-25 dollars in a plastic bag...It was gone.  Not lost, but stolen.  What we think must have happened was that when Ty got out of the car the last time on Main street Palmyra, Jamie locked the door before he closed his door and thus it wasn't looked.  We had stuff in the car, but it was all there, just the money was taken.  I guess we have to be thankful for small things.... but it made the mood a little grumpy for a while.

So here we are at the Whitmer farm.  It was great to see where the Church was organized.  There is a chapel here built for the 1980 Sesquicentennial of the Church organization.  Here they had a church meeting that was for the April 6th church conference in 1980.

The 1980 time capsule is here.

Here is the inside of the Whitmer house where they organized the Church and President Hinckley was seated at this table in front of the fireplace.

The last view as we left.  The missionary at the Farm suggested we go eat at the Mennonite store and deli close by and we did.
I bought some Amish books here and the workers were their Kapp and dresses and looked just as I imagined.

Here is a quilt for sale at the Mennonite store.

The last thing we did was to go to the temple.  It was Tyson's first time at the Temple and it was special to be at Palmyra for a special event like that.  The Temple president came and spoke to us about all the special events in Palmyra and it was really special.  The young man that was the one that baptized Ty was a Utah man, newly married, who was in Rochester at med school.  He and his wife were from  Salt Lake and his mom was German and born in "Frankfurt".  He went on a mission there and was able to pronounce the names very well, without hesitation.  He also had a Hofheins connection and was acquainted with Jake's cousin, Amy Hofheins.  And that was how the whole day in Palmyra was, someone we met, was from Highland, Lehi, or close by and at the Hill Cumorah visitor's center was an Elder Fuller who was the brother of Heber from Highland.  Spence knew Bishop Heber very well.

A beautiful, lovely day!

Hanging out in New York, New York!

In Atlanta, GA.  Why would anyone in their right minds go to New York via Atlanta????

Its been a long day's nite.

We finally get to Rochester after Brake problems on the plane.

Jake highly recommends the Donuts here.

Yes, donuts galore.  And now a nap...

Fever Pitch!

Yes, it's baseball, baseball and more baseball.  The team won last nite, Spencer's birthday and 2 games today.  So three in a row.  It made it really fun, of course.  Today's weather was strange.  Warm for a few minutes, then cold, then windy, and back to cloudy, then sunny.  We had to have coats and blankets one minute and take them off the next.  Back and forth for 2 games.  But regardless it was a great day for the Scorchers! 

As you see below, Logan was all bundled up, while Jake was keeping score. 

Here's Ty on base waiting to steal.  My grandson does lots of "stealing" these days!

He is quite a fast runner, too, by the way!  Reminds me of myself when I was that age, definitely not now.  Can barely walk!  But back in the day, I was quite the runner.

This is a silly picture.  I went out to the car to get warm for a few minutes between games and saw a balloon in the sky.  It moved fast and got smaller and smaller till it totally disappeared.  That reminded me of Jamie when she was about 3 or so.  She had a balloon and our neighbor Ryan got it and it floated away.  Jamie was so sad for a bit and then she smiled and said, "that's OK, mom, now Heavenly Father has a balloon!" 

Other events this week included a Friday nite cake and ice cream to celebrate the milestone birthday of grandpa himself.  I bought a cake at the German store and something happened to it.  When I got it out of the fridge the top layer had separated from the bottom and there was no way it was going back to the original position.  Oh, well, apparently it didn't make it taste any different.

Logan is our candle-blower.  No matter who's birthday he threatens to blow out your candles!  Better do it quick or your opp is quickly gone!  Grayson is excited, too!

Then on Monday Brecklyn had her dance recital and here she is after!

Aren't my blondies adorable!

And of course, last Sunday was Mom's Day.  Jamie brought me a cool present.  It was a tile with the family picture and they somehow glaze it with a blow torch, which was Jake's part of the project.  I can't quite imagine how it all worked, but I love it!

Spencer barbequed for Mom's Day and there was enough for a few friends to share when they came and brought over my pretty gift.  And the weather was sensational!

Here are my pretty Mom's Day flowers.  And guess what we didn't get "pearls" at church,  we got a geranium.  I think we were all happy about that!

So that was the last 2 weeks in a nut shell.  Soon I will be joining Ty and Jay as we head to Cooperstown.  Hopefully there will be some wins to enjoy!  Till later!

There's No Place Like Home....(Plate, That is!)

Well, I haven't blogged too much lately because of various factors. Health issues, were a major problem.  But today was a double-header baseball day with double wins.  The second game the other team never scored, so it was a good day for Ty, with one exception.  He was doing his best to catch a ball that was getting real close to the fence and he ran right into the fence and hurt himself.  Poor guy.  That is what I always hate about sports.  Here are some shots from today.

Frenchfry man.  Ty is number 7, by the way and there he is.

The team congratulates Ty and the homerun hitter that just came "Home".  And great 2 hits and runs.

Grayson had a great time (as long as his pants stayed up) and found tons of balls to occupy himself with.  It was sunny for the first game and cloudy for the second one.  In 3 weeks we will be watching Ty play in Cooperstown, NY at the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  It will be fun and hopefully they will have more fun memories to make and remember.

As for health issues, my dad had to return to the hospital and luckily this time it wasn't as bad as the first time.  None-the-less, it seems to really have taken a toll.  I hope that it won't come back again.  And my uncle is now very sick.  I still had some days that weren't so good.  But today is a good day and I am happy for that.  I will take all of those I can get!  And two days ago I won another facebook contest.  I won another book and that makes 4 this month.  I guess once in a while things go my way!

Easter Onslaught

Well, this was a beautiful Easter Day.  For being an early March Easter, it was just fantastic weather.  Could not have been better.  I am writing in the evening and it's 7:10 pm and still 69 degrees!  So the hunt was good.  No one was cold, it wasn't too hot.  It was nice.
And here come the hunters!

Look at the intensity!  By the way, I was taking this picture from my house.  My zoom is very good!

The traditional, before the hunt picture.   I guess no one was too interested in the picture.  They had things to attend to.  Looks like Grayson got a little headstart!  He did get one.  And Tyson, poor guy, had to be the last to start.  But he is pretty fast on the draw!  I think Grayson was enjoying each egg too much, to really move FAST!

While no one is watching... I will just sort of grab this one...Sssssh, don't tell.

 Don't drop your basket, TY....

 Faster!

I see one!

 The case of the cracked egg.  Or something like that....

We are still hunting...

The eggs have been found and it's time to see what's inside.

 Bubbles.  Grayson is making some big bubbles.

 Dinner on the patio.  What an unexpected surprise.

 Hope you had a nice Easter, too.  And of course, the true reason that we celebrate is the Resurrection of the Savior.  A good reminder to try harder each day...so that we can return to his presence.

A Rose by Any Other Name

So on Tuesday the 19th, we went to see the 6th grade play, "Beauty and the Beast".  Ty had gotten the part of the "handsome" prince, however, he had to drop out because of baseball.  Sad.  Anyway, Brecklyn was the enchanted rose.  And I have movies and a few pictures to share.  Logan was in the pre-show and sang with the 1st and 2nd graders.  Here some shots.

It was so fun to watch.  I'm a proud grandma!!!!

For Better or For Worse

This has been a pretty difficult few weeks, lately.  First it was me with the kidney stone business.  Yes, I passed a 7mm stone Saturday March 16th.  It was just a "fun" time for me.  It started yet again to give me misery on the day before, again while at work.  It started out a bit slower and somewhat less intense than the Friday before.  I stayed at work for a while, but by noon, I couldn't handle to much more.  So I went home.  I was miserable for a while.  Called the doctor, went in and they said I also had an infection.  Then I took some pain meds.  I stayed at home and in the morning, I had the "delivery".  I am not sure if it was a boy or a girl.  But it was over.  It left me achy and not so happy, although happy that this event had come to an end, for now, anyways.

Here is that ugly guy.  Notice the color is sort of brownish?  By the next day it had turned all white.  No I didn't scrub it....ha!  Notice the smooth edges...yeah right.

So then...

The next wonderful event started to unravel its cruel path.  That night, Saturday around 8:00 my mother called and said that my dad had a fever.  He wouldn't be going to church the next day.

By the next day, he had fallen and could hardly stand or walk.  Spence went over in the afternoon.  It appeared that he was really sick and he called our friend who is a doctor.  She said to get him to the ER in a hurry.  So Spence took him down.  He was lucky.  The doctors had to put him in the ICU and hooked him up to just about every IV thing available.  His BP was 71/39.  They said he had about 5-8 hours left.  His kidneys were shutting down and would have needed dialysis had he not come in when he did.  He had pneumonia, and a bladder infection and kidney failure.  And other stuff.  He was in the ICU several days, then in a regular room and then now in the Stonehenge Care Center in American Fork.  It has been quite a time...to say the least.

In the ICU.

At the care center.  A little visitor brought a card and her mom made some fruit pizza.  We forgot to take a picture of that....