Camping in Kirtland

Or, camping NEAR Kirtland, at least. We decided to take advantage of Mike's 3 day weekend over Veteran's Day and drove the 4 1/2 hours to Kirtland. We found a great little campsite about 15 miles from Kirtland where we could set up our new tent (we have definitely outgrown out little tent) and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. We got there Friday evening and set up camp. We just relaxed that first night, setting up camp, cooking tin foil dinners, and roasting marshmallows.

Amy and Matthew loved the hammock!

Happy, Smiley Family!

Matthew keeping warm in our sleeping bags

Amy's new "house"

Whoever camped before us left a bunch of red and blue beads all over the ground. Amy LOVED them. From now on, whenever we go camping I'm going to take a bag of beads and dump them all over the campsite. She spent the whole weekend picking them up, dropping them, carrying them around, and picking them up again This is the tent set up in our house. We wanted to make sure we knew how to set it up before we went!

We didn't take an ax with us to chop wood, so Mike had to get creative.

Amy wants to be just like her daddy!

The next day we got up, had sausage gravy and biscuits, and headed towards Kirtland. There is SO much I could say about Kirtland! Luckily for me, I don't really have to. Mike is in the process of putting together all of the great info we learned and the interesting stories we heard, so when he's done I will post that file.

We were able to visit Historic Kirtland, which included the Newel K. Whitney store and home, as well as other historic homes and buildings.

This is the school of the prophets, one of the 4 places the Savior appeared in and around Kirtland

We were able to meet up with Elder and Sister Crosby from Mike's parent's home ward who are serving a mission there. Amy basically adopted them as her grandparents for the day. After spending most of the day at Historic Kirtland, including a nice picnic lunch and visiting with the Crosby's, we headed over to the Kirtland Temple. It was a magnificent building! What a special thing that was accomplished by those early saints!After another nice evening around the campfire, we went to church in Kirtland and then headed to the Morley and Johnson farms. We really loved learning about these great families, especially the Whitney's, and the sacrifices they made for the growth and development of the church. We enjoyed a great, relaxing day, complete with Amy's favorite: WATERMELON! On Monday, we headed out to Amish country. We didn't really find much to visit and enjoy, but we did pass a horse and carriage and see several Amish families, which was kind of cool. We headed up to the beach at Lake Erie after that. We wish we had gone there earlier! It was really great. Amy loved feeling the sand between her toes. Unfortunately, it started to POUR about a half hour after we got there, but it was fun while it lasted. Matthew loved the water too! He thought it was hilarious. He just kept giggling. Ultimately, it was a very enriching, fun trip. It is definitely a challenge to do with little kids who are restless and want to touch things, but it was fun to experience these things together as a family. If anyone is interested in going, we provide a great place to stay over on your way to Kirtland! Again, more details from Mike coming later.