Other July Highlights

Okay, for the sake of catching up the blog, this is one big post on what else happened in July (other than the epic road trip).

4th of July was spent with my parents, sister, brother and his wife and 2 sweet girls (visiting from Japan).  We had a BBQ at my parents and then headed to watch fireworks.  I HAVE to save these funny photos my dad shot with his camera--proof that my kids are all related!

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We arrived home from our road trip to some news that Stephen's father had abruptly lost his job, this combined with his mother turning 60 and ALL of us McKneelys were out of town on her birthday prompted a last minute trip to College Station just days after being home to surprise Susan for her birthday.  (When it was Carl's 60th we went on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas after all--she needed something!)  I had the task of taking her "shopping" while the rest of the family arrived from Dallas and Houston and we all met for lunch!  Then we all returned home where her closest friends joined us for cake and ice cream and the house had been decorated with 60 things we love about Mom/Susan/Grandma!  What a treasure she is to us!

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The Summer Olympic Games took place in London and they were a thrill to watch.  Our children really enjoyed the swimming and gymnastics, they were inspiring and caused us to go to bed far to late every night for 2 weeks.

We had our own rendition.  Laura and her girls, Mom, Rachel and baby Clara also had to take a trip to Nauvoo to see Aunt Sarah be a missionary and we were the pit stop on a Monday night.  We enacted our own version of the Olympics with obstacle courses, long jump, and the swimming noodle javelin throw.  Stephen got pretty intense with his judging and determining winners.  He even found some medals so we could have a ceremony!  We love family time!

 Then on they took Sam and Kaitlyn with them.  Sam spent the week with Grandma and was purely spoiled and Kaitlyn spent the week with her cousins in Houston.  I went to pick them up later that week.

While they were gone, Lindsey and Matthew had a chance to head over to grandma and grandpa Lewis' to try out some new toys....

Kirtland and Family Photos (day 8)

Our drive back to my brother's in Ohio included a brief pit stop in Kirtland, OH.  This was another place in the history of our church. We REALLY should have spent half a day there but just didn't have time to see it all.  Good thing it's only about an hour away from my brother so we can try again next time we visit.

This is the Newel K. Whitney store.  The site of the first Bishop's storehouse, where our church instituted a welfare program to care for the needy.  People could bring their tithes and offerings here "in kind" and they were used to help those in need.

We went upstairs to the "school of the prophets" where church leaders were taught and instructed and trained.  Many of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were received there.

Matthew was tired of all the church history stuff, he insisted on covering himself to nap that day, silly boy.

 

After we arrived back at my brother's there were the obligatory "family photo shoot" that happens at all family reunions.  Clothing had been scrutinized, kids were bribed with candy for nice smiles, and we were ready.

It was an eventful photo shoot.  Our photographer had our kids run down a hill and Lindsey slipped and got grass stains on her tights.  And then there were the bees....At one point we wanted to take some photos on some stairs.  Matthew got there first and began to cry and cry while showing me his finger.  I couldn't figure out what was bothering him on his finger.  But then the rest of the family followed our path and they began to get hurt too, my mom on her ankle and my poor niece on her cheek--we'd found ourselves into a bees nest somehow and they were attacking!

But the photos turned out cute: 

The Hill Cummorah Pagaent

Almost 40 years ago (sorry Dad) my father served a mission called the "Cummorah Mission" in upstate New York.  Every summer all the missionaries would leave their areas to go and work on the Cummorah Pageant.  An outdoor play put on that tells a few of the stories found in the Book of Mormon.  This past summer the Pageant turned 75 and an anniversary celebration was underway.  It was only a few hours from my brothers house and so it became this excursion for the Lewis Family vacation.

 We were really pleased when we arrived at the visitor center there that they'd let us save seats for the pageant that evening so we did--on the front and fifth rows!  It was great because we laid out some blankets for the kids--here are some of the kids waiting for it to start:

 

The pageant was spectacular!  We were amazed that all our children remained awake for all of it. We patted ourselves on the back when our children recognized the characters in the presentation and named them.  Sam was constantly trying to figure out the stage effects and "how they did that", and quickly telling me his theories.  Lindsey who was in a fun phase of figuring out the difference between real and make believe got really wide eyed when the actor playing Jesus Christ descended from the sky on wires--she thought it was the REAL Jesus.=)

Palmyra (Day 7--part I)

 

(Palmyra Temple)

On Friday morning we woke up in Rochester and headed to nearby Palmyra to see our church historical sites there.

We started in The Sacred Grove,

Here is a special place.  Here we believe that a young American Prophet by the name of Joseph Smith prayed to know the truth about God and in response God the Father and Jesus Christ.  It's a place for us to be reverent, and here are some special photos of us and a few of our cousins from Japan!

 We went to the Grandin Building where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed,

Later we drove to the top of the Hill Cummorah where the golden plates had been buried by an ancient American prophet named Moroni that told a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of America.

We drove to the Peter Whitmer farm.  This log cabin has been recreated to show the one similar to the place where the Church of Jesus Christ was restored on April 6, 1830.

 The drive back to the hotel gave at least one of our kids time to rest.  We'd hoped to let them all nap but the day just took longer than we thought.  We went swimming for a bit before we enjoyed pizza in our hotel room.  

We had a late night ahead and were a bit concerned...

Ohio & Niagara Falls (day 5&6)

 We left Nauvoo late and drove into the night until I couldn't drive anymore.  I saw 3 semi-trucks for the Kenney Chesney tour somewhere outside of Chicago (cool!), and I listened to all 3 Michael Buble albums to keep me awake.

We stopped somewhere to sleep a few hours and then hit the road again, arriving in N. Canton late afternoon.

Here we would be meeting up with the Lewis' for a bit of a reunion.  Everyone but my sister, Pearl, was able to make it.  What a good time we had together.

Sam was super excited to be seeing his ONLY BOY COUSIN Grant, who is just a few weeks older than him.  The kids were glad to be out of the car.  They donned their swimming suits and we had a BBQ and smores.

Stephen got some rest and was doing much better.  The children played on these power wheel toys, and we got a glimpse of what Lindsey will be like when she's allowed to drive (which we've decided is probably 21 when she can insure herself.)  My SIL Laura and I went for a nice run.

 After lunch and a small birthday celebration for my DAD (pictured below with ALL his grandchildren and then with me and mine), we got in the car to head to Niagara Falls......

 NIAGARA FALLS!!

 

Some crazy guy was walking a tight rope as we were there--it was amazing!  Our family photo was funny.  Lindsey was crying (hair pulled I think) and was inconsolable.  She wouldn't smile for the photo and so we all opened our mouths to make the photo look less akward--what do you think?

And instead of a boat ride we thought the kids would enjoy the "Cave of the Winds" instead and got these dorky looking shoes, put on ponchos, and rode an elevator to the bottom of the falls where there is a series of stairs and platforms that let you get soaked and see the waterfalls from a different angle.  Our kids thought it was cool!  At first Sam was a bit nervous about the wettest platform but once he did it, he wanted to go back.  Matthew wasn't too thrilled with it and I ended up carrying him A LOT that day.

Other Nauvoo Highlights (Day 3&4)

We spent time in Nauvoo until Tuesday.  Here are some photos:

We took an oxen ride, played A LOT at a place where the children could play pioneer games and dress-up.  We took a detour to Liberty to see the jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred.

Our plan was initially to stay until lunchtime and then start on the road to my brother's in OH, but Stephen got sick and we were delayed a few hours so he could rest.  This allowed us to see a really fun evening "variety" type show called "Sunset on the Mississippi" which was so much fun.  After a memorable dinner at the Zion's Mercantile, the kids made hats and were in a children's parade.  We even made one for Aunt Sarah who didn't know of Stephen's illness and thought we'd already left.  Our being at her evening show was a VERY pleasant surprise for her!

We LOVED Nauvoo, we were sad we didn't get to see the pageant.  We figured we'd be seeing a pageant in Palmyra and that it would be too much for our family, BUT we have plans to come back soon and be participants in the Pageant--what fun would that be?!?!