Our Weekend Trip to Kirtland

(with Grandpa and Grandma Heiner)

When we heard that John and Arlene were going on a trip to visit some of the church history sites, we packed up the car and headed out to meet them! We were so excited not only to see the church sites but to spend some long awaited time with Grandpa and Grandma!! After a five and a half hour drive Hailey ran screaming to Grandpa and Grandma, jumped in their arms and gave them a big hug and a kiss. She was so happy to see them!

Grandpa and Grandma Heiner with Hailey

This was my favorite tour on the whole trip! This is the place where Joseph stopped after a 250 mile journey from New York (Emma was 6 months pregnant with twins!!!!). Joseph walked straight in the store, found N.K. Whitney (a man whom he had never met before) and said the famous statement, "Newel K. Whitney! Thou art the man! I am Joseph the prophet, You've prayed me here, now what do you want of me?"

The N.K. Whitney store was also the place that held the first Bishop's storehouse shown in this picture.

John and Kate inside the N.K. Whitney store.

The N.K. Whitney store

This is the second floor of the N.K. Whitney store. This table is where Joseph Smith finished the Joseph Smith Translation and received section 84, 88 and 90. The room where the school of the prophets was held is through a door to the left of this table. It was my favorite part of the whole trip. We learned that before the apostles could enter this room they had to be showered, clean and wearing their Sunday best. They learned many things in this specific room, one of which included the Word of Wisdom. We sang the Spirit of God and it was hard not to get emotional because the spirit was so strong. I will never forget sitting in that room, the same room the prophet and apostles sat many years before.

At the end of this river is where N.K. Whitney, his wife Ann Whitney and Willard Richards were baptized just to name a few.

This is the Ashery where they used ashes to make different things. Newel K. Whitney owned this and the sawmill. He gave so much to help the church and help build the temple.

This is the sawmill the saints used to cut wood to build the temple. It was neat to learn how it worked.

Hailey loves Grandma!! This is the Johnson Inn. Another family who gave everything they owned to the church to help members and build the temple.

I was talking to the sister missionary before we went on this tour to see inside the Kirtland temple. I told her I thought it was sad that we didn't own the temple. She said something that made an impression on me. She said that it wasn't our temple or the Church of Christ's temple but it is God's temple and if or when He wants it, the church will own it. This picture is in front of the Kirtland temple. The RLDS which is now called the Church of Christ owns it. Even though the tour was not very informative it was neat to be inside and remember what happened inside this temple.

Just an update on the whole potty experience. Hailey was doing great (seriously not one accident, not even in the car on the way to Kirtland) until the Church of Christ's visitor's center. She was going number 2 on the toilet and the automatic flusher went off. She stopped midstream and has been scared to go on any public toilet ever since because of the stupid sucking noise!! Every time she sees a toilet that is not her own she says "ssssk... ssssk" like something in the toilet is going to get her. I would be scared too after such a traumatic experience!!! I didn't expect her to even go on a public toilet and wasn't pushing her to do anything. The poor little thing held it for so long after that experience. What in the world do I do?!!

Our last night together we decided to eat at an Amish restaurant. Ohio has the largest population of Amish communities followed by Pennsylvania and then Indiana. The most fascinating thing I learned about them is that the Amish don't go to school past the eighth grade. They believe that the basic knowledge offered to that point is sufficient to prepare for an Amish lifestyle. Crazy!!

Anyway, the food was very good. I had the fish and it was excellent. My favorite thing is their peanut butter spread. I know it sounds gross but it was soooo good. We actually bought a jar of it. It tastes like honey mixed with peanut butter but actually has some kind of marshmallow ingredient. The carrot cake was yummy too! We had fun watching the horse drawn buggies pass by from our window. Hailey loves horses more than any other animal so she about went crazy. I don't know if any of you have seen For Richer or Poorer with Kirstie Alley and Tim Allen, but I kept thinking of that movie while we were on our little Amish outing. Funny Movie.

Hailey loved snuggling with Grandma.

It was fun to have Grandma take a family picture. It seems like there is never anyone around to take one for us when we are at home.


Having fun at the Hotel

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for letting us crash your trip!! We had so much fun. We love you!