MEMORIES MADE IN OHIO

We just spent Memorial Day weekend in Ohio.  It was a fabulous trip!  Our good friend, Chris Thornton, grew up in OH and we stayed with his family.  The Thorntons are the greatest family!  We definitely want to adopt them.  (Chris and Hammond have already been "adopted" as Uncles by my daughters!)

The first day we were there, we saw lots of Amish.  Apparently, Chris grew up in an area with a large Amish population.  We had heard of Amish, but never really seen them.  It was awesome!  We loved their buggies.  And the Amish people we spoke to were very friendly.

We also enjoyed tasting many different cheeses at Heini's Place.  My personal favorite cheese was Lacy's Baby Swiss.  We had a tour and learned how they made the cheeses.  Their most famous cheeses were the yogurt cheeses.

We also got to go to the temple Friday night.  Chris was taking out his endowment and were were blessed to get to share that special experience with him and his parents.  (Chris rocks!)  The Columbus, OH temple was just like the Louisville, KY temple.  But no matter where you go to the house of the Lord is AMAZING!

Saturday the entire crew went to Cleveland.  None of us had ever seen any of the great lakes, so it was fun to see Lake Eerie.  It's huge.  It almost reminded me of the ocean since you couldn't see the other side....  

We also went to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  It was pretty cool... but we all agreed that it wasn't worth the money.  It was OK to go once.  The painted guitars were neat.

Scott

Sundy

Key Lime Pie

Kotten Kandy

Sunday we went to church and then to Kirtland, OH.  

The first place we got to visit was the John Johnson Home.  It was located in a beautiful area amid rich farmland, rolling hills and wooded areas.  Joseph Smith lived there with his family from 1831 to 1832.  It was here where Joseph Smith received many revelations and was also tarred and feathered.  The Spirit of the Lord was so strong as we walked where Joseph walked and heard the inspiring stories about our beloved prophet.

 with Chris

K2 in the kitchen

Me

 Joseph Smith translated here....

After going to the Johnson Ranch, we went to the Kirtland Temple.  This temple was the first temple built in this dispensation.  So many wonderful things happened at this sacred sight.  Unfortunately, it is now owned by the Community of Christ instead of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The spiritual feelings we felt at the Johnson Ranch were missing at the temple, but it was still an amazing sight.

Next we went to the Church owned, Historic Kirtland.  Between 1831 and 1838, Joseph Smith and early members of the Church established Church headquarters in Kirtland.  Joseph Smith lived upstairs in the N.K. Whitney store.  It was inspiring.  I can't describe how awe inspiring the experience of visiting this place was.

I can't wait to go back to Ohio.  The entire family loved visiting Ohio.  This trip gets a five out of five stars.