Easter in Palmyra

How cute is this bed and breakfast? Nearly 10 years ago when I went to Palmyra with my parents we stayed here and I knew I wanted to bring my littles back to this exact place. It's called Liberty House and if you are going to Palmyra you MUST stay here. The owners are the nicest people you'll ever meet, the breakfast is delicious, the rooms are comfortable and it's close to everything you want to visit. Seriously, stay here! We're sure glad we did. 

Because our priorities are totally in line, we arrived in Palmyra on Saturday night and our first stop was to Chill & Grill where we feasted on hamburgers, fries, and the best ice cream ever. Not to mention those portions, right? T and Ever both got half kiddie cones--yes, those are HALF of a kiddie cone (with rainbow sherbet on the bottom and soft serve on top) and James and I got a kiddie cone which was THREE scoops of ice cream. We kept commenting that it would have cost us a fortune to buy that much ice cream in the city! It was as good as I remembered it being.

We woke up the next morning to find that the Easter Bunny had found us all the way in Palmyra. The boys got watches, books and candy and Quinners got some books, sunglasses and a new sippy. There were eggs hidden all over the house and the kids were wildly searching for them with the biggest smiles on their faces. It was such a great morning!

And then, oh then, breakfast was served to us in the parlor and it was a million times awesomer than anything I ever could have/would have made. I mean, those bunny pancakes though? How adorable is that? And peeps in our hot cocoa? We also had fresh fruit and orange juice, warm muffins and eggs, milk and bacon. It was an Easter dream come true!

I feel like none of the next few pictures will mean much or look all that interesting to anyone reading this post because frankly it's just our family standing in front of a bunch of old houses and big groves of trees. That being said, these pictures mean the world to me and if you could go beyond seeing these pictures and feel the feelings I/we felt and the memories I hope we created for my babies you would totally understand why I'm including every single last one of them. 

The reason we went to Palmyra is because it is the birthplace of our church. Joseph Smith, a young boy living in this small, farming town was confused about what religion to join. He attended many different denominations, read the Bible and finally prayed in a grove of trees asking God to help him decide what church he should attend. During that prayer God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and told him not to join any church but instead he would restore Christ's church in it's fullness, and thus The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints was born in the early spring of 1820. 

So here we were, so very many early spring's later visiting the exact location where Joseph Smith lived, where he prayed, where he saw God, where the church was organized and where so many other remarkable things occurred. In fact, the church was officially organized on April 6th and 185 years later we were at the exact place it was organized on April 6th. How cool is that, right? Our time in Palmyra was cold and snowy and the kids were rowdy, crazy little kids but you know what? It was awesome and memorable and they came home knowing the story of Joseph Smith and our church's history backwards and forwards--even little Ever Knight. 

The log house Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith shared with their 9 children. Here's the funny thing. When I came here with my parents I remember thinking it was so, so small but when James and I walked into this place we thought, "Wow, this is super roomy!" I guess that's what having 5 people in less than 500 square feet will do to you. 

When one of their sons Alvin died, they planted a tree in his honor. This is the tree nearly 200 years later and for some reason it was so touching and beautiful to me.

They upgraded to this little beauty right up the road. That red door had me swooning for sure!

Watching my boys hold hands and run through the farmland had me imagining how special it must have been for Joseph and his siblings to have so much space to play and run and be independent little creatures. Sure they worked hard (and my city self would probably go crazy) but there's no doubt my boys would love this. How cute are these little lads?

The above pictures were all taken in the Sacred Grove. In all the videos and pictures you see of Joseph's first vision the trees are always green and lush but turns out early spring in Palmyra still parades bare trees and no greens. It was great to see the grove how it would have really looked when Joseph Smith went in to pray. Birds were still chirping, bees singing, there were even deer prancing around the gorgeous stream. It was beautiful.

This is a replica of Martin Harris' home, which James said is his dream home--every last stone. Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to pay for printing of the first 5000 copies of the BOM, which was actually printed here:

E.B. Grandin Printing Press.

On Monday morning (April 6th) we went to the David Whitmer farm. And that cute little house pictured above? That is where the church was organized (well, that house is a replica, but you know)!

Before jumping back into the car to go to NYC we hit up Chill & Grill one last time. And it was just as good as the first time.

Palmyra was a really special place to spend Easter and remember our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of Him I can be with these little rugrats forever, and for that I am ridiculously grateful.