~Adventures of a Family of 6~

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Butterfly Exhibit

We had a fun afternoon visiting the Butterflies of Morocco at the conservatory in Eden Park. The flowers and butterflies were amazing!

It's hard to see it, but Alex is looking down at a little black, fuzzy caterpillar that he befriended. :)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

New York Road Trip

We had a great time last week traveling to upstate New York to visit our friends the Daytons.

Starting out on the 9-hour drive

Kayaking on the lake near Merril Dayton's home, where we stayed

Carrie and Sarah at Lake Erie

Sarah, Abby, Katie, and Alex at Lake Erie

Luke and Sarah at Lake Erie

Sarah at Niagara Falls (she kept patting the spot next her and saying "sit" so I would sit by her)

Abby catching a large-mouth bass at Spaulding Lake

Luke teaching Taylor Dayton to fish

The fam at Niagara Falls

My friend Dipti (from Toronto) and me at Niagara Falls

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Park Day

We had a pretty warm day a week and a half ago, so we spent the morning at the park! (Daddy was at work and we were tired of being cooped up inside.)

Alex driving the train

Katie and Abby conquered the boulder!

Sarah liked swinging . . . but only for a minute!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

At the beginning of November, my mom and dad came out for a fun visit that included a trip to Kirtland, Ohio. We drove about five hours each way to visit this place of great historical significance to our church's history and had a wonderful weekend there.

Alex trying to keep warm

Katie and Abby

The whole bunch at the Newel K. Whitney Store, where the prophet Joseph Smith lived with his family for a time and held the School of the Prophets.

Inside the Whitney Store. (It was an exhausting weekend for Sarah! She was grateful to catch a nap on Pops's back.)

An upstairs bedroom in the Whitney store. Abby was especially interested in touring these restored buildings, being an avid reader of historical fiction.

The Kirtland Temple, built through immense sacrifice by early church members and heartbreakingly left behind amid persecution. (It is owned today by the Community of Christ, which split off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1840s. Our guide from the Community of Christ was gracious and informative, assuring us that in their eyes, this temple belongs to all branches of the "LDS tradition.")

A beautiful depiction of the crowning historical event in Kirtland, when the Savior, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple and accepted it as His house.

At the John Johnson Farm in Hiram, Ohio, where Joseph Smith and his family also spent some time living. This is the site of a cruel mob attack on the prophet, which, tragically, led to the death of his infant son. It is also a place where many meaningful revelations were received for the church, and where many missionaries came to receive counsel from the prophet before setting off to preach the gospel.

It was wonderful to be together and to immerse ourselves in the spirit of this special place. I am in awe of the early church members and their unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, even when their trials were almost insurmountable. I hope that I can face my own trials and tribulations with the same fortitude and grace.