Visiting Hometown America

Aly..As soon as I got home from the river trip, I was on a plane bound for Cleveland, Ohio. I remember as we flew into the city, I turned to the guy next to me and asked him what the big body of water was. He looked at me kind of funny and said Lake Erie! I know they call them the Great Lakes, but I really had no idea how big they really were.
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I rented a car and drove up to Erie from Cleveland and was happy to see Mom and Dad and Dave, Cicely and of course of Miles! Here is the morning after I arrived. Miles having a rare, happy moment. I think the move along with the fact that we were all busy working on the house caused him to be a bit grumpy.

This was a vacation of work and a little fun. It felt good to help Dave and Cic get settled. Their house is great, truly they live on what I like to think of Hometown America street. Tree lined streets with very cute houses. Before I got there, Mom and Dad and David had refinished the wood floors. More work than I think they realized it would be. Dad worked hard on sanding the kitchen cabinets before Cic and I painted them. I still have paint in my hair!

Here the cabinets are all painted and we are working to put the kitchen back together.
Three generations concentrating on putting the dishwasher back.
Lots of little jobs like making shelfing for a big pantry!



We did take a little break and drove up to Palmyra for a day. We visited the Grandin Press buliding where the Book of Mormon was published, the Joseph Smith farm home and the Sacred Grove. I was so happy to finally visit the Sacred Grove after studying and hearing about it for so long. Emotions just swell as you walk toward the grove and are able to walk on the many trails that are throughout the grove.

We visited the temple and later that night watched the pagent which was great. I didn't have super high expectations because all I could think of was Manti, but it was a really great production.

We visited Dave and Cic's ward on Sunday. There are a lot of LECOM students in the ward so that will be nice. This is kind of a close picture but I wanted you to see the missionary tag that you sent. By the way he is saying "cheeeeese".

Sunday night and Monday were spent and Presque Isle State Park. The shores of Lake Erie are like going to the beach. You would think it was the Ocean but it was warmer and not salty. Beautiful, and it was about 5 minutes from Dave and Cic's house.

By the time we were ready to leave I think Miles was adjusting to his new surroundings. Here he is just lounging on the front porch.

This was the morning we had to say goodbye. This little family is going to do great in Erie, Pennsylvania. We will sure miss them though. Just like we miss you Aly-boo. Loves.