Kirtland Temple

After Nigeria Falls we made our way to Ohio! Since Bryan served his mission in northern Ohio I had wanted to go with him since we met. I was so excited to see his areas and meet some of his friends. 

One thing that shocked me about this drive is how freaking huge like Erie is! We drove for a hour and were still going around the lake. It really did look like an ocean. 

I wasn't sure how Bryan was going to react to being in Ohio. He had told me before he didn't know how much of his mission stuff he wanted to try and do. But the moment we got into Ohio he pulled off the highway and started to explore around the cities. He had spent a lot of time in north eastern Ohio. He could drive right to his apartments and church houses. It was fun to see him so excited about it. 

Behind him is one of his apartments. 

Once we got into the Kirkland area to our rental we had the whole evening free. So we figured we would drive down to see the Kirkland temple. Our rental was actually on the same street as the temple just about 10 minutes north of it. 

At the time the Kirkland temple was owned but the community of Christ church - since then our church has bought it. I would love to go back now we own it! Their tours they do for it were done for the day so we walked around the grounds. I loved it all so much. Bryan especially did. 

I love this photo so much its currently hanging on our wall.

It was really special for me to be here with Bryan. He was telling us some cool stories from his mission while we were there. We ran into the lady who took care of the grounds and she took a couple of photos for us. 

I know this is a little out of order but we ended up doing a tour of the temple the next morning. The way the community of Christ did it is we went to their visitors center and had to pay for our tour. It was $10 a person! And they had us watch a movie then the curtains opened and you could see the temple out the windows. I'll be honest I didn't love the movie. The way they talked about Joseph Smith was weird even though they believe in him being a prophet as well. Bryan gave us all a huge speech about being kind to them because that was a big deal with he served in this area. He served right in Kirkland for awhile. 

Ok so I wasn't suppose to take photos inside. I didn't know our guide didn't tell us. our guide was actually a BYU professor that the Community of Christ knew from his mission to the area and came back to help do tours. Which I loved! But he forgot to tell us no photos. Now that our church owns it and they don't care if you take photos inside this temple (other dedicated temples you cannot take photos inside like the Logan Temple currently) I don't mind posting these. 

I took these of the walls that have the original rocks in them 

This is where I got in trouble for taking my camera out. she didn't know I had taken some on my phone. So I'm sorry for that wasn't trying to be rude. But isn't is beautiful inside? 

One thing I didn't know was there are actually two floors that look like this! And a third floor with a few empty rooms. While in the main room on the bottom floor our guide asked if someone could play the piano. This kind lady who was on our flight out to NY and on our tour of the scared grove was in Kirkland with us too. She can play the piano and we sang the spirit of god. The song they sang when it was dedicated and it was written for that occasion. What an amazing experience to sing that song in such a special place. I will always remember it. 

Bryan took us to a cool park close by where they got the rock for the temple. You can see the marks in the rocks and no one really knows it there. It was cool to see. 

 

Nigeria Falls

After all the fun things we did around Palmyra we went back to our house and Ty wanted to go fishing again. He absolutely loved fishing here because of all the different types of fish. We drove around the lake to let him fish different areas. 

He was a fan. honestly I think it was one of his favorite parts of the trip. 

Our house we rented by the lake. 

Next- Nigeria falls! I mean how do you get a hour away from it and not go see it??

I made a mistake by not getting our passports (I didn't have time to get it all done it takes weeks and months to get them back) so we couldn't go on the Canada side which is the best side. So I decided to pay to ride on the maid of the mist boat. We go on the tall weird T shaped building and ride an elevator down to the deck to board the boat and everyone gets a poncho. We got to be some of the first people on the boat so we could to up to the top in the front of the boat. 

Besides another family pretending to take a photo to stand in front and stole my little boys spot it was the best time ever. It was amazing how wet you got just from the mist! It didn't last a long time but long enough. It was kind of hard to see the falls in the mist but we could see it enough. And my kids can now tell everyone they have been. It's kind of one of those things ya want to do once in your life. 

Tysons be real is one of my favorite photos of all time. It's so awesome. 

 It was good to add in some non church stuff into our trip. It was just the right amount of tours and other things to keep the trip fun. 

Also the area around Nigeria falls- was really ghetto. But we found some good places to eat and buy a couple of shirts etc. 

Eastons Sacred Grove Baptism Photos

In the spring of 2023 I was with a client taking photos of her little boy for his upcoming baptism. I was telling him how my little boy was being baptized a member of our church later that summer too. I was telling them how I was going to have to take my own sons photos that summer for his baptism and it hit me like lightening.

I was about to leave for the sacred grove- and we could do his photos there.  I was almost shaking it made me so excited. How weird am I? But I loved the idea so much.

As soon as I got home I asked Easton what he thought about that. Of course he loved it! So I started making quick plans. I bought him a little suit and my mother in law got his scriptures bought. We arranged our schedule to make it work that we would be there in the evening for photos. It was all set.

I spent a lot of time online trying to find any photos taken like this around here and I couldn’t find any. Honestly I would feel weird doing a paid job in the Sacred Grove but since it was my own son I felt like it would be ok. I honestly was thinking of being at the temple that is literally just up the hill from the sacred grove. I didn’t know if they would allow is to just walk around. But they do. In fact its open to anyone during the day.

We did the whole tour of the area that morning but by the evening my older boys went to the temple and my husband, 11 year old and I went into the sacred grove with Easton. 

I was the beginning of June and pretty hot. Also the mosquitos were really, really bad. So that with a 8 year old who has a fake camera smile made it hard. But we were the only people in there. I mean how often do you have the sacred grove to yourself?

It felt like a ton of pressure for me. I had to get this right- it was too amazing. And a good memory for my son. As a photographer it was hard because everything in there is darker and green from the trees. And we are suppose to stay on the trail which I totally get. You don't want people stepping on all of the plants in there. 

I was looking for a spot with some more light and Bryan saw a spot with the light coming through the trees. It was off the path and the rule follower that I am didn't want him to leave the path! But it was just dirt to the spot so off Easton went. But the light coming through the trees was so beautiful. And I know how to get the light to look like a star coming through the trees in my camera. After I took that photo I knew it was going to be my favorite. As soon as I got back to our rental home I pulled out my computer to edit it. 

This photo is my favorite. It hangs on Easton's wall right now. 

This photo was a split second shot I took after I took the photo of Easton. It now hangs on my wall I love it so much. 

The Joseph Smith Sr. log home.