S&I Northeastern Church History Workshop

Rick and I applied to go on the Northeastern Church History Workshop offered for Seminary and Institute (S&I) teachers this summer to visit the following sites:  New Hampshire (West Lebanon, Tunbridge) Vermont (Sharon) New York (Afton, Fayette, Palmyra) Pennsylvania (Harmony [Oakland]) Ohio (Mentor, Fairport Harbor, Painesville, Kirtland, Hiram).  This was a bus tour with 24 S&I couples.  Each couple was sent preparatory reading material and each couple was assigned a historical report to research and present during the workshop.  Ours was on Mendon -- a place for which I was unfamiliar. 
Gary and Allyson Ford also came from our area (they also started out their seminary career in St. George the same time we did 15 years ago) and so that was fun to be able to travel with them. 

Church History Workshop Day One: 

We were scheduled to fly out of Las Vegas early Monday morning and so we picked up Gary and Allyson and drove to Vegas and stayed overnight in a hotel. We had to catch the 4:30 a.m. shuttle from our hotel Monday morning in order to make our early flight.  Ugh!  So we had limited hours to sleep and I was tired but couldn't sleep for almost two hours!  I hate that!  But I made up for it on the flight today by sleeping 3/4 of the way to Boston. I don't particularly like traveling, especially since I get motion sickness, but I was okay on the flight except for the last fifteen minutes which left me feeling sick for the next couple of hours.  

We met up with the rest of the tour group and drove to Topsfield, MA (the birthplace of Joseph Smith Sr., born 12 July 1771).  We visited Joseph Smith's ancestral home (see monument below).  The well on the Smith farmhouse property is original.  It was likely dug by Samuel Sr., the Prophet Joseph Smith's great-great-grandfather.   

Four generations of Smiths worshipped in the Congregational Church founded in 1663.

 The Pine Grove Cemetery is where Elder George A. Smith erected the family monument honoring the burials of Robert, Samuel Sr., Samuel Jr., and many extended Smith relatives.

Church History Workshop Day Two: 

This morning we departed Manchester, NH and rode to Tunbridge, Vermont.  We looked at what had been formally been the property of Stephen Mack (Lucy Mack's brother), stopped in the Tunbridge store to offer our patronage, and checked out the records in the City Office that note the births of Hyrum Smith and Sophrona Smith to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith.

In the bus on the long drive to Sharon, Vermont our tour directors passed around the microphone and had each couple introduce themselves and share an embarrassing moment.  That was fun, but since were on a bus we often couldn't see who was speaking.  After awhile I pulled out our participant guide book to at least look at the picture of each couple as they spoke to try and put names and experiences to faces!  The visitor's center in Vermont was really neat -- I wished we had more time to look around.  I was taking my time looking at all of the pictures before I realized that it was awfully quiet and went outside to see that everyone was already on the bus -- woops!  They were just throwing the water coolers in and shutting the doors when I came running out!

After another long drive we arrived in Afton, New York to visit Joseph and Emma Smith's Marriage site, the Josiah Stowell Home, and Joseph Knight Home and Property.

Church History Workshop: Day Three

Wednesday we ate an early breakfast at the hotel and departed Johnson City, NY for Harmony, PA.  In Harmony we visited the Joseph and Emma Smith home site, the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale Home Site, the McKune Cemetery, and the Aaronic Priesthood Memorial.   I could envision Joseph and Emma walking around and holding hands as they shared meaningful conversations.  The area is so pretty and green and there was an open area with a circle of benches where we listened to site reports on the area. 

 

 

To Be Continued...

 

I will add information later... 

Church History Workshop: Day Four

I will add the info later...

Church History Workshop: Day Five

Missing Tooth

Jaiden just lost her third tooth -- the first one on top.  I just can't get used to seeing that big gaping hole in her mouth!  She needed some money for something and so she wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy asking if she could get $2.00 instead of just $1.00 this time and the tooth fairy did it!  Man, what a push over!  I'll bet the rest of the kids were wishing that they had written the tooth fairy asking for raises!

 She still looks adorable though, especially with this darling hairstyle -- compliments of Aunt Gerilyn who arrived in town in order to watch our kids for a week while Rick and I went on a Church History Workshop.

Fourth of July!!

We went to the city park for the annual Fourth of July festivities.  We have been doing this for years and it wasn't until today that I learned there is also a Fourth of July parade first thing in the morning every year as well.   Apparently we have slept through it...every year.  Well, now that I know about it maybe I will wake everyone up early for next year!  The prize for one of the games was the bright orange T-shirts shown in some of the pictures below.  One of the kids said, "Hey, these shirts say 2011!"  (Why do you think they were free?)   But they were just excited about a free shirt and at least three of the kids immediately put them on.  So now instead of red, white, and blue, our kids were red, white, blue, and bright orange.  How patriotic! 

Watermelon Seed spitting contest

 

 Redeeming the "free ice-cream" coupons the kids won at the games.  Thanks, Dairy Queen!  

 (They probably hate cheap people like us who come in for ten free ice-cream cones and ten free cups of water and don't spend a cent!)

 Janika invited Emily Theobald to join us...

We also invited the Theobalds over tonight for a BBQ.   The adults got to visit while all of the kids played.  Some of the kids went swimming and we lit a few sparklers.  Fires throughout Utah have been really intense this year and so all aerial fireworks were banned except for the big ones the city puts on.  The Theobalds left to go see the fireworks but we opted to stay home and get the little ones in bed.  The kids were disappointed that none of the neighbors were doing their regular big show of fireworks and so the evening was a little anti-climatic for them with no fireworks but a few sparklers. 

 Jenna's nightgown kept falling down -- thus the rubber band in back!

 Happy Fourth!! 

Abs!

Rick was teaching at EFY in Provo on July 3rd, and he brought Janika, Jase, Jared, and Jase's friend Ky Phillips up North with him while he went.  He dropped Janika off in Lindon at my brother's house since she had a date with a friend she met at EFY (Cole Craft).  She had a fun time and slept over at my brother's house.  The next day while Rick taught at EFY Jase, Ky, and Jared hung out on BYU campus and went bowling.  Unfortunately the car Rick drove up started having problems (again) as they neared their destination (sigh!)  After teaching at EFY all day, he brought it into a shop there and they said that it was some belt (I forget what) but they didn't have the part and said that he would be able to drive the car home but without the power steering or Air Conditioning since he had to remove the belt.  Ugh!  So I imagine that they roasted on the way home.  Janika took this picture of the boys in the back seat with her cell phone -- all without their shirts off because they were so hot.  Nice Abs, Jase!  Jared covered up for the picture!