HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

Well, I promised a new blog entry dedicated to Grandma for her birthday. So here it is! I hope she enjoys! Thanks for the gift of our gas on our wonderful road trip! WE LOVE YOU!!!
Well, this was our first stop. The Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center. We really enjoyed this spot and definitely felt the weight of the sacred event that took place here. Our kids were very impressed and we had to take many pictures at this site. We even came back the next day for another visit. Same with the Sacred Grove. VERY special places to us.



A picture from the top of Hill Cumorah. The metal structures on the sides are for lighting during the pageant in July.



Here we are at the Palmyra temple.


This is us in front of the rebuilt log cabin home of the Smith family.






This is what we really came for. We were able to spend some time in the Sacred Grove as a family and feel the sweet spirit present in that holy place. It was really good for us and our children.





At Aunt Amaya's recommendation, we ate lunch at Mark's Pizzeria on Main Street of Palmyra and took these pictures.




We had a pool at one of our hotels and decided to take a few pictures in one of our swim times.


These pictures are of us at the Peter Whitmer farm, where the church was restored on April 6, 1830.


We also visited a friend of mine from my middle school days. Elena fell in love with their dog and followed her all around the house, so we took a picture.
We also got to visit Niagara Falls on our way home from the historical sites. Here are some pictures we took on our visit. Many of them are from the "Maid of the Mist" boat ride we enjoyed.














This is us in front of the Newell K. Whitney store in Kirtland. We got a chance to visit this site after eight years. The church has done major improvements in the historic sites in Kirtland since the last time we were there. The school of the prophets in the top floor was a special place. Kevin really enjoyed the video that told how Newell K. Whitney prayed to meet the prophet and one day he showed up.
This is the missionary inside the store showing Elena some of the things that were sold in those days.
And this is us in front of the Whitney home. We really enjoyed this original building. We also got to visit the rebuilt sawmill and ashery.
These pictures are of our family at the Kirtland Temple. What a different feeling here than at the other historic sites. It's a shame our church doesn't own this temple anymore.

Friend's wedding

We went to the wedding of a friend, which I performed the ceremony. Afterwards, at the reception, our children got really cute in the dancing portion and we decided to upload videos of them. Enjoy.

This first picture is just a cool picture of our Kevin outside the reception hall.

Here is Elizabeth dancing.

This one is of Dad and Elena having a dance together. See if you can catch Elisa making a funny face to the camera!

This one is of Andrea dancing and trying her imitation of "break dancing." It was so hilarious. Elena can also be seen in the shot.

Before you watch this video of Elena dancing, get a tissue handy and something soft to roll on the ground because you'll be laughing till the tears flow and rolling on the floor. See if you can catch Andrea slinging across the floor in the middle of the video. Don't say I didn't warn you!

This last one is of Kevin (who wouldn't get NEAR the dance floor) having some fun with Isabella, the daughter of some friends of ours.

We were invited to the house of a friend from church. This is her house and it is on the lake. I got to golf a REALLY super nice course with her husband. Later we swam in their pool and took a boat ride on the lake in their boat. It was loads of fun and we took these pictures to post.

Sumertime action

Just a few pictures of our family during various activities this last week. Kevin got his Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class awards and the First Aid Merit Badge at the court of honor this week. Elena and Daddy went to girls camp one day as a daddy-daughter date. We were in a skit in which I was the king and she was my princess. We also flew kites on one windy day and had a blast. And Elena and Andrea got matching shirts sent from their tia Amaya and we had to take a picture of them with the shirts on and twin skirts.

Temple Trip

Well we took a trip to the temple and of course had a few pictures to take of the family. We hope you all enjoy them.

Feliz Cumpleaños Abuelo

Queriamos poner un monton mas de fotos y un video para celebrar el Cumpleaños del Abuelo. Te echamos mucho de menos y estamos esperando la boda de Miguel para verte.

Jared, Elisa y familia







Elena y Andrea intentando jugar con una cometa.



Kevin y Elena han hecho estos dibujos. Los han hecho en el colegio como parte de un contesto. Kevin ha dibujado "abuela house" completo con los parques y un autobus "acordeon" estilo de Espana.


Y por fin, un video de Elizabeth cantando "Yo se que vive mi senor." Nos encanta como lo hace.