In and Around . . .

Cleveland!

This may not seem super exciting to most people,

it certainly didn't to me . . . at least not at first.

But

This is where Ryan served his mission

and he has been wanting to take us for a walk down memory lane show us around for as long as I can remember.

So now that we live so close (about 3 1/2 hours).

We couldn't pass up the opportunity.

We started off the weekend by going to a Cleveland Indians baseball game.

Ryan found us a great deal on tickets right next to the third baseman and about 6 rows back.

The seats where so awesome and we had a blast!

It was so fun to finally get out as a family and just enjoy a night out.

Hayden loved watching the big screen and the birds.

Carter was just happy to be held and not in the car anymore.

He got startled every time the crowd cheered, and it was so cute/funny/sad,

but he was a trooper and was of course a good boy the whole time.

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Throughout the next few days,

We spent most of our time visiting church history sites.

Ryan spent a large portion of his time serving in the Kirtland area,

and actually lived IN one of the houses in the historical part of Kirtland.

So he is familiar with all the places, names and wondrous events that took place there.

But I had no idea what I was in for.

I am not very familiar with all the details of the history of the church.

So I would walk into a building, not knowing what it was or the part it played.

And as I would listen to the accounts of the various events that took place there I found myself again and again being overcome with the spirit.

It testified to me of the of the divine revelations and visions received in these beautiful, holy places.

Here we are at the John Johnson home in Hirum, OH,

in an upstairs room that Joseph Smith used as his office.

In this room Joseph Smith completed his translation of the Bible.

He received at least 17 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants.

And among his visions, he along with Sidney Rigdon,

"saw and conversed with the Savior and beheld God the Father"

The revelation actually consisted of 6 visions, as they received the plan of salvation.

"I, Joseph, the Prophet, in spirit beheld . . . Eternity sketch'd in a vision from God, Of what was, and now is, and yet is to be."

As the sweet missionary told this story, I could feel the spirit testifying to me that these things were true, and sat staring into the room, wondering what it would have been like to be there as a witness.

Here we are on the front steps of the John Johnson home.

Just inside this front door is the Parlor where Joseph and Emma lived for a time.

On March 24, 1832

Joseph and Emma had been up most the night with their two sick twins, and had finally fallen asleep each with a child in their arms.

Joseph was awakened by Emma's screams and felt himself being dragged out his home and down these very stairs.

He was taken, beaten, tarred, and feathered.

Joseph recounted,

"My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body; so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. This being the Sabbath morning, the people assembled for meeting at the usual hour of worship, and among them came the mobbers . . . with my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals."

He stood and preached from these very steps; the same steps that just hours earlier he had been dragged across and taken to be tortured. He had so much strength and courage, which I can only imagine came through much heartbreak, prayer and many tears.

A few days later, one of the twins, who caught a chill the night the mob broke into their home, past away just shy of 11 months old. Our sweet prophet truly sacrificed all he had to the building up of Christ's church on the earth.

Being in this home gave me a new sense of reverence for the unimaginable sacrifices he made the restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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We also got to spend a day in historical Kirtland.

Here we are at the Newl K. Whitney store.

It was freezing cold, snowing and windy, but we still had a great day seeing all the sights and even had a picnic in our car for lunch.

Here we are in the upper room of the N.K. Whitney store.

In what became the School of the Prophets.

I had heard of the School of the Prophets before, but didn't realize ALL that took place in this very room.

In this room, Joseph revealed the Word of Wisdom to a room full of tobacco smoking men.

All the men in the room immediately stood up and threw their pipes right into the fire.

The saints were filled with such wonderful faith. To just give up something so quickly with no reasoning or questioning is amazing to me.

We sat in the School of the Prophets hearing accounts of all the marvelous events that took place in this room. The Spirit was so present and beautiful that the room went silent (even our babies) and as I looked around I realized everyone else felt it too as their eyes filled with tears.

One of my favorite moments was when the missionary leading our tour told the account of a special experience that John Murdock had is this room.

John Murdock recorded:

"During the winter of 1833 . . . we had a number of Prayer meetings, in the Prophet's chamber. In one of those Meetings the Prophet told us. if we could humble ourselves before God, and exercise strong faith, we should see the face of the Lord. And about mid-day, the visions of my mind were opened, and the eyes of my understanding were enlightened, and I saw the form of a man, most lovely! . . . His hair, a bright sliver grey, curled in a most majestic form, his eyes, a keen penetrating blue, and the skin of his neck a most beautiful white, and He was covered from the neck to the feet with a loose garment, pure white, whiter than any garment I have ever before seen. His countenance was most penetrating, and most lovely! And while I was endeavoring to comprehend the whole personage from head to feet, it slipped from me . . . But it left on my mind the impression of love, for months, that I never before felt to that degree!"

Such a wonderful feeling of peace and love overwhelmed me and I felt so blessed to be able to stand is such a Holy place and share it with my family. It was an amazing feeling.

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We ventured up the hill to visit the beautiful Kirtland Temple.

The girls

The boys

Me and my two favorite little ones!

We had to let Hayden run around the grounds for a bit before we headed home.

She and Carter were such troopers being trapped in the car so much every day.

Here are some Kirtland Temple Fun Facts:

* The Kirtland Temple was the first temple erected in this dispensation.

* The School of the Prophets, a forerunner to temple worship, was established three years before the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. The school met in a room above the Newel K. Whitney Store.

* The early Saints referred to the Kirtland Temple as simply the "Lord's House," as the term temple was not in general use at the time.

* The design for the Kirtland Temple was received by detailed revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others. The temple included a lower hall for worship and an upper hall for education.

* During construction, the Kirtland Temple was guarded at night to protect the building from threatening mobs and vandals.

* The Saints crushed glass and chinaware into the stucco applied to the exterior walls of the Kirtland Temple, which glittered in the sun.

(What a sacrifice made by saints who had hardly any possessions)

* During the weeks surrounding the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the Saints experienced an outpouring of heavenly manifestations, which included the appearance of angels and the Saints seeing visions, uttering prophecies, and speaking in tongues.

(You HAVE to read the full accounts of the things that took place during and around the dedication - they are truly amazing!!!)

* On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836, during the Jewish Passover, the Lord appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, accepting His house. Priesthood keys were then restored through three ancient prophets: Moses, the keys to the gathering of Israel; Elias, the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham; and Elijah, the sealing keys.

Such beautiful place to visit.

I am so lucky to have a husband that has so much knowledge and such a testimony to share with me and our kids about all these historic places!

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The next day we went to the Great Lakes Science Center.

It is a big children's museum.

Hayden had so much fun running from one thing to the next

Here she is learning about sound waves.

Carter just chillin' like the cute happy guy that he is.

Hayden and I under the big arch that we built.

Hayden and Daddy making it all fall down.

She LOVED this peg board and gears.

Ryan and I spelled out her name and let her turn them to make the whole thing spin.

We spent the whole morning experimenting and playing.

When we went downstairs to have lunch,

Ryan and I were just cracking up because Hayden was on a complete high.

She was just so giddy and giggly.

It was clearly the best day of her life.

I don't think we have ever seen her have so much fun!

After lunch we headed to Malley's.

I am really sad that we didn't take any pictures because no words can to justice to how cute this little place was.

It is THE cutest little chocolate shop/ice cream parlor I have ever seen.

Everything was pink, lace and chandeliers

and it all made me feel like I was in the 40's or 50's attending a tea party.

(complete with a full wall mural of the Mad Hatter's tea party)

And that is nothing compared to how AMAZING the chocolate was!

Mmmmm . . . I had to bring some of the ice cream fudge home with me it was just too good!

The next day we took the little ones to the Zoo.

Hayden LOVES animals more than anything,

so the Zoo was a perfect outing for her.

Here we are with the Pink Flamingos.

She wouldn't even look away long enough for a picture.

The Red Koalas.

Hayden and Ryan with the Cheetahs.

Big beautiful Bald Eagle.

Probably Hayden's favorite of the day.

This BIG Grizzly Bear.

Here she is with a big old orangutang.

We were lucky enough to be able to stay with a wonderful family that Ryan met while he was serving his mission.

They opened their home to us and made us feel like it was our own.

Thanks Pam for all your hospitality!

Here Pam is reading stories with my littles.

We had such a wonderful little vacation.

Cleveland was not what I was expecting at all.

It was actually a really great place and we will definitely be going back again.