Palmyra Pageant

During the middle of July our little family made a trip to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant and to visit the other church historic sites in the area.  We knew we had to make the trip to see the pageant after all the buzz and excitement we heard about how wonderful it is.  We were not disappointed...we had a great time seeing the pageant and visiting many of the sites where Joseph Smith grew up and began the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Claire did great with all the running around and being off schedule.  The only slightly bad, but mostly funny thing was that during the pageant she kept shouting things like "wow", "light", "dark", "on", and "off."  We tried so hard to get her to whisper, but I really think she just didn't get it.  She just kept talking and I hope we didn't disturb the people around us too badly.  Some turned around and smiled, hopefully they meant that she was funny instead of annoying. :)  Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Me and Claire in the Grandin Print Shop, the publication place of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.  (I'm 27.5 weeks pregnant).

Outside of the Grandin Printing Press.

We really liked the sign. :)

The Hill Cumorah and the stage for the show.  It really was a great production about many of the events that happen in the Book of Mormon and the beginning of the restoration of the gospel.

We were worried about getting a good seat, so we got there really early.  Probably too early, but it was fine.  We brought in dinner and we let Claire run around for a long time.  Here is Claire running around by the stage.

The family with Lehi and Sariah (some of the characters in the Book of Mormon and in the show of course).  Never thought we would meet them!  :)

The pageant was at night and was really amazing.  It had tons of participants with a lot of  special effects.  Of course the most special thing was the spirit that we felt there and the testimony of Jesus Christ that the pageant shared with the audience.

The next day we went to the house where Joseph Smith grew up.  This was the family's first home.

This is Jacob and Claire outside of the second home the Smith family had next to a tree where they think Joseph's older brother Alvin is buried.

The family outside of the second home of the Smith family.

The family in the Sacred Grove (just behind the Smith family homes) where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph.  We loved walking around in the Sacred Grove, it was so peaceful and quiet and I felt the spirit testifying of the sacredness of the place and the experience that happened there.  This was my favorite experience of the trip!

Claire on a stump in the Sacred Grove.

A shot of the beautiful trees in the Sacred Grove, I really like this picture.

The day after the show we walked up to the top of the Hill Cumorah where you can look down on the audience and there is a monument on the top.  We climbed all the way to the top before I remembered that there is a road to drive to the top which would have been much easier.  Darn it! :)

The family in front of the monument.

Claire near the monument on the top of the Hill Cumorah.  We talked about Jesus so she folded her arms to pray, precious!