This was the beginning of our vacation, and the beginning of a week and a half fast food binge. Here we are a McDonalds starting our day off right with a nice healthy breakfast. I have to say, this is not the place to go for breakfast!! At least that is my opinion. There were a few people in our group that strongly disagree with me on that.
Rhyan was quite happy with the hash browns she was eating. Then again, for the most part, she doesn't care what it is as long as it is food!
We had to make a stop at the print shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed. It was really interesting to hear about how they made the books way back then, and how long it took them to do it. The kids liked to see the printing presses, and there were a couple of first edition Book of Mormons as well as some of the manuscript pages(facsimiles) for the adults to appreciate.
As you can see, Rhyan has not yet gained an appreciation of such things, and she was giving us the "are we done yet" look for a good portion of the tour. She behaved really well though so we can't complain.
Next we were off to the Sacred Grove. It was definitely a calm and peaceful feeling there, but my kids kepts askeing as we were walking down the paths through the woods, "When are we going to see the secret grove? Where is it? Are we almost there?" Mayson in particular had a hard time understanding that it was not necessarily a specific destination we were looking for. It was really neat to think that we were really where it all started. We also got to see the original Smith family log home and the Smith family plank home while there. Its just hard to beleive with all that we have heard about Joseph Smith, that we were standing there, where he grew up and did all the amazing things we believe. 
Here is the Palmyra Temple from the road driving to the Sacred Grove. It is a beautiful temple, and is made even prettier by the setting it is in.
Here is the Angel Moroni monument that stands atop the Hill Cumorah. We hiked up to the top of the hill and there are a lot of plaques to read and the beautiful monument. It is beautiful looking down the hill and realizing what took place there. It is also interesting to think about the distance it truly is from the Smith home, and though it doesn't seem so bad in a car, what Joseph really had to do to get the plates.
Here we were at the pageant, which is done on the Hill Cumorah. There is a big stage that is set up, and stage is truly an understatement, that goes a couple of stories up the hill. It was quite the production, and the kids loved the part where Nephi's family built the boat, and were quite interested/concerned when Abinadi was burnt at the stake by King Noah. It was well done and a good evening for all.
Here is Rhyan's on her birthday, eating a fitting birthday breakfast of Dunkin' Donuts while we were still in Palmyra. She is such a sweet girl, and we are so thankful she is part of our family!!
This was our last stop in Palmyra. This was the Whitmer home on the Whitmer Farm. Joseph Smith lived here with the Whitmers, and it was around this table in their front room that the church was officially organized and became a church. In the visitor center they have here, they have a series of beautiful, original paintings depicting the Smith family and the different events surrounding the beginnings of the church. I really enjoyed getting to see them. Some very important things happened in this area, and it was a lot of fun to go and see it all.
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