The End

Why didn't I ever finish posting about our vacation?

Our last day of Niagara Falls was Sydney's birthday! We checked out the falls from the Canada side and enjoyed a few views. We were planning on going to see the IMAX movie but we ended up not having enough time. Sydney wanted pancakes for her birthday breakfast and by the time we actually headed out to eat it was closer to lunch time. IHOP solved that problem for us and we had brunch instead...I enjoyed their strawberry stuffed french toast and seriously, it was delicious. I gotta go back to IHOP soon...very soon. So thanks Sydney for wanting pancakes :)

We all got in our cars and headed out for a 3 hour (?) drive to Kirtland, Ohio. My dad drove, my mom navigated, Rylan watched Cars, Kevin took some cat naps, and Asher and I played (well, I got to talk to my parents, too). We went straight to a tour of the Kirtland temple which is not owned by the LDS church but by the Community of Christ (RLDS). They do the upkeep and give tours and they do a decent job. I think most of us would agree though, there certainly is a different feeling there than at the sites owned by the LDS church.

The tour guide told us this was a very colorful temple with a green door, red roof, and blue exterior. Then she later said the exterior may not have been blue but maybe gray. I know the saints used their china to build the temple which made it a little sparkly when the sun shone on it--pretty! (And notice the cloudy skies? Most of our time out here was overcast.)

From there we went to the Visitor's Center where we saw the Newel K Whitney Store and home, including the room where they had the School of the Prophets. It was a very spiritual place and I hope I never forget the peace I felt there. Maybe it was the overcast skies or the uncrowded area but I like to think it was the spirit that was there that was so calming and pleasant.
Our group minus Kacy, Kirra, and Adam

That night we ate dinner and had birthday cake for Sydney and went to our hotel.

We were hoping to go see some of the Amish country but we really didn't know where to go or what to see. We also wanted to go to the John Johnson Farm so we went there first and really enjoyed it! The tour guide was a lady who was a former teacher and she was so good and patient with the kiddos. This farm was so unique in it's decorating because they apparently were quite wealthy and it should. The barn was a bright red but the walls on the inside of the house were painted yellow which was the most expensive paint color (why I'm not sure. I was probably distracted with a kid. I guess I could look it up!!)

We drove to where we thought we could see some Amish families and the way they live. We saw a few horse and buggies and a few little amish kids walking down the road but not really what we were hoping for. We stopped in at Mary Yoder's restaurant for lunch. Kacy and her fam got their food to go because Adam was on a different flight and he had to be to the airport earlier than the rest of us. So after our lunch we piled into our cars and took the 3 hour drive to the airport.

Our vacation was at an end and I was super sad! I had such a great time--what can be better than being with family and visiting church sites? The power the Lord has through nature was very evident on this trip...whether it was through the powerful waters of the Niagara Falls or the powerful experience of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove.