The main reason for Jeanne, and Mike & his family coming to visit in July was for Josiah's Eagle Court of Honor. It was a wonderful event, and many friends came to share Josiah's special day.
However, we also planned some fun things to do as a family for the days after the Court of Honor. On the day after, we got packed up and headed north for New York. We stopped at Hershey, Pennsylvania and took the free chocolate factory tour. Mike's car still had a problem with overheating and needing coolant, but we got on our way after the tour and got to New York late that night. We were camping at a very nice campground, and we let them know we'd be arriving late. We were setting up our tents around midnight, but we finally got settled in.
The next day Jordan, Josiah, and I played with the kids at the campground, and Jon, Jeanne, Mike, and Lena went to the Nauvoo temple. That afternoon we went to see the Smith Farm, the Sacred Grove, and then went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night. Above are most of the family in front of the Smith home. Below is a photo of Jon and me sitting in the Sacred Grove.
The Sacred Grove is beautiful, but it is also a very quiet and reverent place. Even though there were many youth groups there, it was not noisy. I heard one or two people call out, but they were the exception. Most people seemed to feel immediately how sacred a place it is and spoke in quiet, hushed tones. It was very much like being in a temple.
We also went to see the Grandin building, where the Book of Mormon was published, after the Sacred Grove and before the Pageant. Many years ago as a young woman, I was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but I'd never actually gotten to see it before.
On Saturday we packed up, visited the Hill Cumorah itself, then went to the Peter Whitmer Farm. After the Whitmer Farm, we said goodbye to Mike's family, and they went to Kirtland, Ohio before returning home, while we headed south to go to our own home.
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