Joseph and Hyrum got home today from their cross country trip. Their adventure started on Tuesday, they first went to the Priesthood Restoration site. Here is the Susquehanna river behind them.
They took the long way up to Palmyra next, allowing them to stop by Fayette to visit the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized in 1830.
Then they visited Palmyra next to see the Smith Farm, the Sacred Grove... Hyrum said there were tons of mosquitos that attacked him in the Sacred Grove. They also went to the top of the Hill Cumorah. We visited Palmyra in 2007, and we saw the Hill Cumorah pageant, but we didn't walk up to the top of the hill. I think we were a bit late arriving and the show was about to start, or maybe because we had 5 kiddos and it might have felt like a bit too much to handle to make them hike up the hill. Joseph learning how to fold a signature at the EB Grandin Print Shop.
Joseph and Hyrum didn't come with us to the
Crandall Print Shop here in Utah, but it is a real treasure to have something like that
here locally. But good to know you can also go to Palmyra to see it. The Palmyra Temple.
That was all Tuesday. Wednesday they started with a sunrise view of Niagra Falls (...but the sun was behind them and the falls were in front, so next time they are going to go to the Canada side.)
Touring the Newel K. Whitney store -
and the upper room where the school of the prophets was. We all just studied that this month, with the school of the prophets and the word of wisdom, very cool! I think it's great that they both got to go see these sites. It helps things make more sense when you actually visit and know the places and understand things from that personal level.
They ended Wednesday's drive with a drive by Nauvoo and their arrival in Carthage. They spent the night there, and then toured Carthage Jail on Thursday morning - The room where Hyrum died, with the same door that was there that day in 1844. You can see the hole from the bullet that shot him -
Joseph and Hyrum said that lots of their tour guides were so excited to have "Joseph and his brother Hyrum" visiting them! haha
And then toured Nauvoo for more of Thursday. The Nauvoo temple -
The statue of Joseph and Hyrum
and Joseph and Hyrum taking one last opportunity to enjoy being Joseph and Hyrum, as they imitate
Joseph and Hyrum's bronze statues called "Calm as a Summer's Morning"
"I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; But I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me — he was murdered in cold blood." - Joseph Smith uttered these prophetic words June 24, 1844, in the final moments of what would be his final horse ride from his beloved Nauvoo. He was dead three days later.
In Nauvoo, they went by the Scovil Bakery. Corey's parent's called Joseph and Hyrum to tell them to be sure to go by the bakery, because Lucius Scovil who owned that bakery was their 4th great grandfather. (Lucius Scovil b. 1806, daughter Alodia Scoville b. 1864, daughter Lula Loveless b. 1887, son Reid Franklin Curtis b. 1910 is Corey's maternal grandpa.) The missionaries who gave them the tour were excited to have Lucius' real live descendants in front of them!
I really liked this quote by Lucius -
"It seems a painful duty for me to perform, to leave my family to go into the wilderness and I to turn and go the other way. But inasmuch as I had been appointed to go, I was determined to fill my mission if it cost me all that I had on this earth...I thought it was best to round up my shoulders like a bold soldier of the corps... and assist in rolling forth the kingdom of God." - Lucius Scovil
Lucius commissioned this plate to be made that had a picture of the Nauvoo Temple and the names of the 12 apostles around it. Joseph and Hyrum bought one and brought it home as a very thoughtful gift for us.
So they left Tuesday morning and arrived home today at 2. They drove all night last night, and I guess I'm glad that they didn't tell me they were going to do that or I might have stayed up all night with worry. I went to my phone around 11:30 today to check their status today and saw on Life360 that they were in Evanston! So yeah, they drove all night. Not a great idea, but I guess not as bad of an idea if there are two of you. They took turns driving and stayed awake by singing songs. That works for me too. I need to sing along to John Denver or Brandon Flowers, cause they are in my voice range. Or listening to Brian Regan is great too. They were driving through Des Moines Iowa last night at 11 pm and after saying a prayer, they decided they didn't want to stop, pay for a room, and face a 15 hour drive in the morning, they felt ok to do it now. So yeah, it's great to have them home for the weekend! Joseph was crashed out on the couch most of the day. Abi is on the right.
Hyrum stayed awake. Maybe Joseph did more driving and H got his sleep on the road. Hyrum had a little package waiting for him - his mission name tags!
Corey made crepes for breakfast this morning, (cause I took Lily to jazz band) and there were some left over for Hyrum and Joseph to have for lunch. And Daniel ate some too -
Silly Daniel, wearing Sophi's sweater on his head to be his hair -
Feeling pretty fancy and striking a pose for me. Daniel is so cute.
So it's great to have them home. Corey and I went on our date tonight up at Swen's restaurant up at Alta, which was nice. The Wasatch mountains are beautiful. We live in a beautiful country and a beautiful state, we're looking forward to a nice weekend with most of our kids at home for two days before Joseph goes to Provo and starts school on Monday.
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