For Thanksgiving we drove up to Palmyra New York where my Aunt Beth and Grandma Wesel live. We drove through beautiful Pennsylvania on our way and found out that Hecktown PA is right between Bethlehem and Nazareth PA.
It was lots of fun getting to visit with family that I haven’t seen in years and many of whom have not even met my children! On our way home we stopped to see my Aunt Susie and Uncle Mark and many of their kids in Syracuse. We had a great time! Here are some picture highlights.

We went to visit the church sights too!

Joseph Smith Home

The Sacred Grove

The Sacred Grove is one of my favorite places on earth. I have wonderful memories of this place. One of my first memories in fact, is of walking out of the grove being carried on my dad’s shoulders as he sang “Oh How Lovely Was the Morning”. My testimony of the gospel was really solidified when I was 14 and heard my grandparents share their testimonies there. That was the first time I shared my testimony with true conviction. I’ve always looked forward to the day when I could take my own children there.

I will say however, that the Grove is a totally different experience in the fall and with small children! We’ll definitely have to go back in the spring and see if we can’t get Rock a walk through without the kiddos in tow.
And as a funny note to the trip-before we left for NY, we had a little family night about Joseph Smith’s experience in the sacred grove. We told the boys about how there were many different churches at the time and Joseph Smith wanted to know which one was the right one to join, so he prayed to God and got his answer that he should join none of them. So when on our trip as we drove past a street in Palmyra with really old churches on each corner, Go Go shouted out, “There’s all the churches who didn’t know!”

It’s always wonderful to be in Palmyra. Thanks for the good time Aunt B!