Family Reunion

The family reunion consisted of the family caravaning to a lot of church history sites. The uncles had prepared some information to share with us. It was really nice because some of the sites are really just monuments or open fields, so it was nice to get some stories to go with them.
We started at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. We all sat at the overlook and talked about the history and the future of this spot. Mike's grandpa had chauffeured President McKay when he had come to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman, so the family had some neat stories and insights that Grandpa had shared with them.

We ate lunch there (it's so green and pretty there!), and then we headed over to Far West. There's a pretty monument there where the temple lot was, so Uncle Drew shared some stories about the growth and fall of Far West. It's amazing how thriving these cities used to be, and now there's absolutely nothing there! So sad. Amy's favorite part about this spot was the watermelon snack they had there! Yum yum!

We relaxed there for a while, then headed over to Liberty Jail. The whole family was able to go on the tour, where they showed the video that highlighted journal entries people had written about Joseph, some members and some not. Then we were able to go into the room with the rebuilt prison. It was a truly special spirit there, and Amy was evidence to that. She was quite wiggly at this point, so Mike was letting her crawl up and down some stairs just so she wouldn't be in anyone's ways. There was a point in the presenation that a light shone into the side of the prison window, signifying God's revelation to Joseph. Amy happened to be near the window right then, so she paused as the voice started speaking. She then sat down and folded her arms through the rest of the revelation. Those of you who know Amy know that her sitting down these days is quite a miraculous thing, but she definitely knew that it was a time to be quiet and reverent. What a lesson to us all!

We were supposed to go on to Independence at that point, but we were so far behind schedule (it's a Laudie thing) that we all went our separate ways for dinner and fireworks. I went with my sister's family and Mike's immediate family to a park over in Lenexa, KS. Mike and Amy and Jon and Carrie were supposed to meet us there, but it was such a huge park and the police kept redirecting traffic in different directions that we didn't find each other. Too bad. It was really nice though. This is a picture of our traditional Old Navy $5 Flag Tees that we buy every year!

The next day was a play day. Mike's cousin owns a gymnastics studio and opened it up to all of us, so basically we ran around and played all day long. Amy had a blast! They had a pit of foam that she liked jumping into, not to mention all the trampolines and the giant inflatable obstacle course that we threw her down. The boys were distracted by the basketball hoop with the trampoline that they thought turned them into the Harlem Globetrotters. It's was a lot of blast!


That was the end of the family reunion. We had a chance to go see Mike's grandma twice before coming home, which was really great. She had never seen Amy, although sometimes it's hard to keep track of her grandkids, let alone great-grandkids because she has so many! She makes a mean spaghetti and meatballs though! Thanks grandma for letting us visit!