Memorial Day Family Fun

We went to Preston for our Keller Family Reunion. Uncle Larry makes the best dutch oven patatoes and fried chicken! Trevor and Carter got along very well. Carter loves to give hugs, and he kept hugging Trevor whenever he could get close enough.


After the dinner the kids and moms came to our house while the guys played basketball at the church. THen we all gathered at the Lewiston Cemetary at Grandpa ANdersen's grave. My dad told us about how Grandpa always helped people, even people he didn't know. He would bring poeple home for dinner and a warm place to sleep.

Some of the boys didn't want to be in the picture!!

I guess I only mention this because for once it is not my boy who is not cooperating!

Red Rover, Red Rover

After the Andersens left we went home and got calves fed, and then we went to CeCille's and Anthony's to watch the Jazz game. Steph, Gardner, Emma, and Aspen were there. Even Jenn came! Jenn and Emily played Red Rover with all the kids. They had a great time.



Notice Kaitlyn's face.

THis was actually the final play of the game because Hannah was injured. She would not let go, and of course Kyle would not stop.

Trevor thought he was big enough to play too!

Trevor is ten months old.

These two pictures were taken on May 4th the day before Trevore turned 10 months old.

These two pictures were taken yesterday.

He really is a pretty good baby. I feel bad that he was so sad while I was gone to New York, but I was very grateful that I did not have him with me. Especially on my way home when there were technical problems with our plane and we were stuck on the plane for an extra 1and1/2 hours before we took off. I ended up missing my connection and having to wait at the Minniapolis/St. Paul Airport for 5 hours. Thank you mom for keeping him. I know I owe you big time, but it was worth it.

Kaitlyn's Dance Recital

Kaitlyn's Recital was May 12th. She is a great dancer. It was held at the Ellen Eccle's theater which is the same place the Utah Opera Festival is held. We sat in the balcony and had a great view. Rob and Kelsie and the twin's even came to watch! I did not get any real great pictures that night because by the time it was all over Kaitlyn was so tired she had no intrest in getting her picture taken.

We did get a few pictures of her in each of her three costumes though.

I'm in New York!

I am at Katie's. This has been such a great experience. We decided to go see the sights yesterday, because it seemed the weather would be the best that day. It turned out to be perfect. I rained on our way to Palmyra and on our way to Fayette, but other than that it was just right, not too hot or cold. I felt like we had the very best tour guides or missionaries at every sight. I learned so much. In fact I was feeling like I should have known so many of these things-so I want to study Church History when I get home.


Here we are in front of the little log home Joseph and his family lived in. The lady that was giving us the tour said that the Smith family had family Home Evening every night around the kitchen table as they read from the Bible. When we went upstairs to the rooms where the children slept I realized that Joseph was by no means alone when the Angel visited him in the night. There were six brothers in that room and the two girls in the next room. It is a great testimony to me that not one of those brothers or sisters doubted what Joseph told them. They could have questioned why none of them woke up or noticed, but they knew Joseph was honest and they knew he was telling them the truth.
Another story I liked about this house is that when they were researching where this house would have stood when Joseph lived there, they found some gold beads from a necklace of Mother Smiths that had been broken by her baby, and they never found all the beads, they had fallen down through the floor boards. Then many, many years later they helped the renovators know exactly where that special home would have stood.

This is the Grandin Press where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published. It was an amazing and meticulous process. It makes you thankful for computers. I love that Joseph wanted these books bound in hard cover and leather because he knew how special they would be to individuals and families and that they would need to last through lifetimes and generations. We had the best tour guide. She and her family had met the missionaries 30 years ago, and since that time all thee of her boys had served missions and she and her husband were now serving their 8th full time mission. She told us how even before she met the missionaries she knew that there had to be a way to continue the love and relationships she had with her family for ever. We are so lucky to know that we can be an eternal family.

This is the Whitmore farm in Fayette. This house is where the church was first organized on April 6, 1830. This is also where the Book of Mormon translation was finished. Did you know that Mary Whitmore was shown the golden plates by the angel Moroni. I had never herd that story, and it touched me deeply. She was tired from all the extra work she was doing from having extra people staying in her home, but she didn't complain. One night when she went out to milk the cows, the Angel Moroni came to her and showed her the gold plates. He said it was to give her strength and give her joy be able to get through these times. The missionary Sister said we each have the Book of Mormon to give us strength and joy to get through the hard and tiring times in our lives.

Oliver Cowdery said of the time he spent as scribe for Joseph, "These days never to be forgotten." I say of yesterday, "This is a day never to be forgotten."

Palmyra, New York

Annie on the Hill Comorah. We started our day out here at the Hill Comorah where we watched the Restoration movie to get us in the mood for the places and experiences we would be feeling. Then This is the hill where the gold plates were burried by the angel Moroni, adn where Joseph came for four years before he was allowed to retrieve them from the hill. THis hill was about 2.5 miles from where Joseph lived. What a great place- I would love to see the pageant here sometime.

We stopped to walk around the temple. Annie and Cameron both kept saying they wanted to see the temple. Well Cameron kept saying, "Temple, Temple" even when we were at other places. It is abeautiful temple in a beautiful and sacred place. I love that you can see the sacred grove from the temple, and you can see the temple from the sacred grove. There is even one clear window in the temple that you can look out of and see the sacred grove. I can't wait to go there tomorrow night.

The Sacred Grove was absolutely perfect. It was exactly how I had always pictured it, I could almost hear the song, "Oh HOw Lovely Was the Mrning" as we walked around. The feeling was so peaceful, adn I know that it is a very Sacred place. I thought about how Joseph went out into that grove with so many questions that he had been pndering for so long. When he was returning home, he had so many answers. In the movie it shows him running home to tell his mom about all that he had seen and learned.