Vacation to Kirtland

This month we had the opportunity to go back to Casey's mission area in Kirtland, OH. We had such a great time and really enjoyed going to see all the church history sites.  We packed our little Ford Edge FULL from top to bottom.  There was barely any wiggle room.

We got to Mentor, OH on a Saturday night and checked into a dive motel.  The first room they gave us was so gross.  There was dried blood stained on the bathroom walls, it was a smokers room and looked like it had never been cleaned.  Casey called the front desk right when we got there and insisted on a new room.  They gave us a non-smoking clean-er room. It wasn't too bad, but it was by far the worst motel we've ever stayed in.  Luckily we were only there for two days.

Casey wanted to go to the Kirtland ward on Sunday morning, so we got up and ready to go to church.  Casey saw one of his old investigators in the hallway and right away he recognized Casey.  He shook his hand and said, "Casey Rossman, they couldn't find anyone else to be bishop, so they called me."  What a surprise to find out that he and his entire family were baptized and now he was bishop of the ward.

Here is Casey in front of the Kirtland Stake Center.  He was so glad he got to come back to the area where he served the longest (six months I think).

Sunday evening Casey really wanted to go up to Conneaut, OH and visit Gloria and Tom who he taught discussions to while serving.  They still have never joined the church, but she was his "mission mom" while he was in this area.  It was a great visit, she is a very fun lady!  The kids enjoyed playing with the dogs while we visited.

The following day we did all the church history sites in the Kirtland area. We drove by the temple Sunday night and I tried to get a few shots, but it started raining on me.  So I wasn't able to get a good night shot of the Kirtland temple, but this one will do.

I hate asking other people to take our picture, because then I get uneven cropped photos like this.  But at least we have a picture of all of us together.

Here are some other pictures of the other sites we toured with the awesome sister missionaries.  We were the only ones in the group so it was nice to be able to ask all our questions and take our time with the kids.  There was a building I didn't get any pictures of because it was raining.  It pretty much rained our entire vacation.

 Upstairs of the Whitney Store in the School of the Prophet's room.  Casey had a few scriptures study sessions here while serving on his mission. He also began and ended his mission in this room with a prayer. 

 At the Sawmill

 This big cast iron thing is where the Saints would make Potash

 

After we saw the sites in Kirtland we headed up the Lake Erie coast to Geneva State Park and set up camp (in the rain).  Our attempt at building a fire the first night was pretty pathetic, but Casey had it down to a science by morning. We ate a lot of hot dogs, hobo dinners and smores!

 Playing in the mud

 What a handsome guy!

Our campsite was just down the road from a nice beach on Lake Erie. Unfortunately it was too cold to get in the water, but the kids sure had a blast playing in the sand. 

Corbin hurt his hand earlier that day so I wrapped it up for a couple of days.  Casey was helping him over a puddle and lifted him up by the hand and then heard a few loud pops.  We were pretty sure it just popped out of place and was sore from that, sure enough he felt fine and used it without a problem later that week.

 So cute!

 I love his "cheeeeese" smiles

 Sand Monster!!

 Silly sandy kiddos!

We packed up camp after two days of camping in the on again off again rain and drove to Hiram, OH to the John Johnson Farm.  It was really neat, I'm glad we were able to go there.

 In the room that was Joseph Smith's office and where he received revelation.  People would actually just come and watch him write and receive these revelations.  It was a neat place to visit.

After the tour we drove to Pittsburgh and met Choss (Casey's older brother) for a Giants vs. Pirates baseball game.  It was great (even though the Giants lost).  Casey went the next night with Choss and a few of his friends and the Giants won.  I didn't get too many pictures of the game, but it was a fun time.  Thanks Choss for treating us to a game!!

 Buster Posey!!

 Corbin flirted with the lady sitting in front of us the entire time, such a cuttie!

After the game we drove to Morgantown, WV where Choss lives and took over his house for a few days.  The kids loved spending time with their Uncle.  Corbin actually preferred him over me, and that NEVER happens.  I guess my little guy is moving on from being mommy's little boy all the time. :(

We took a quick trip to Cooper's Rock State Forrest and went to the lookout point there.  It was a nice quick trip.  Right after that I was able to meet with my cousin Archie and his son Xander for dinner in Morgantown. He lives in Northeast Pennsylvania but was passing through Morgantown after a job he did about an hour south of there.  It was nice to meet up with them and visit for a while.  I think it had been since Grandpa Liebhart's funereal in January of 2009 since we saw eachother.
 

 Big bear made of sticks!

 Gorgeous flowers and a butterfly

The day before we had to leave we decided to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo.  Of course it was pouring rain the entire drive there, so we stopped at a store and bought umbrellas to take with us. By the time we got to the zoo the rain clouds had cleared and it was a nice dry trip.  The boys loved the zoo, Hayden even said it was his favorite part of our entire trip.

 This was one of their younger elephants (I've never seen a zoo with so many elephants there were a total of eight).  It was using the log as a teething toy since it's only two years old. Kind of cute!

 Big Elephant print

 This Gorilla was picking out all the good stuff in the hay and eating it.  It was fun to watch him for a bit.

 Penguins!

 They had a HUGE aquarium that was exciting for the boys to see.

 Yes I touched a sting ray, it was strange.  Felt like a mix of leather and sandpaper.

 The polar bear exhibit was awesome, the bear would come right up to the glass so you could get a really good look at him.

 The underground portion of the aquarium that had the large sharks in it, I can't remember what kind they were though.

 Hayden and Uncle Choss

 Hayden was not too impressed with the slides, as you can see by the expression on his face it was not very fast at all.

The kids (and the rest of us) had a great time.  The Pittsburgh Zoo is one of the better ones I have been to, very open and great exhibits so you can actually see the animals. We are glad we were able to see Choss for a few days and get to go and do lots of fun things with him. 

The next day we packed up our car and headed home.  We took a different route than the one we came (mostly I-80 and the turn-pike which was $65 worth of tolls) to avoid the toll charges. So we drove through Columbus and Indianapolis in stead.  We stopped by the Columbus, OH temple and took a few pictures and let the boys run around to play for a bit. 

Beautiful Temple

 Trying to get a family picture in front of the temple by using the self timer.....

 Not quite the one I wanted

 Drop the stick Corbin

 I got the stick, almost there....

 And got it! Not bad considering I set it on an uneven rock since I forgot my tripod:/

 Leaving Ohio, it was such a good trip.

Sunset in Indiana.  I was actually able to meet up with one of my good friends, Christy Stephensen, I met while living in Reno.  We've been friends since 2005 and she moved to Utah last summer and we don't get to see each other often.  She just so happened to be in Indianapolis staying with her parents for the summer, so I called her up and we met her and her daughter at a Stake and Shake for a late dinner.  It was so great to see her and was the cherry topping of our trip! And a great way to end our wonderful family vacation.