the good, the bad, and the ugly

It’s been an interesting week since I last blogged (yes, it really has been a week for me, since I wrote every single one of last week’s posts on Sunday night and then set them up to publish all week).

Interesting in a good way:  my parents, sister Ruth and her friend Emily, and my grandparents have all been visiting us this week.  Ruth lives in Utah and is moving to Hong Kong with her husband, so I haven’t seen her in ages and it was so nice to see her, plus her friend Emily was awesome (really and truly).  My kids loved having them here, especially since they were both willing to read endless stories aloud.  We had all kinds of fun—we went out for Indian food twice (!! Hurray!!), canned cherry jam, went swimming at my grandparents’ hotel, went to aerobics together, etc.  It was really great to just visit with everyone and consume ridiculous amounts of food.  Thank you all SO much for making the effort to visit us--we absolutely loved having you!!!!  (I just wish I'd taken more than four pictures.)

Interesting in a bad way:  my little family all has viral pneumonia.  I took Isaac to the doctor on Monday and then again on Saturday when he was worse rather than better.  We’ve been doing breathing treatments for him all week and on Saturday the pediatrician told us that he will need to continue breathing treatments twice a day for the next six weeks and then keep on once a day indefinitely.  This was really distressing to me.  Neil, Abigail, and Juliet have been sick all week, and I’m not sure whether I’m finally succumbing or whether I’m just crashing after the week of guests (when Isaac started screaming half an hour before my alarm went off this morning I started crying too).  

One not-so-awesome consequence of Isaac’s illness:  he was so cranky and so distressed by all the unfamiliar people in his space that he would scream frantically whenever he was not in my arms (this is not an exaggeration).

I probably won’t be blogging much for the next little while—I’m feeling pretty stretched. 

vacation destination four: lakeshore, NY

Our campground at Niagara was one that I remember camping at as a child—Four Mile Creek.  It’s absolutely beautiful, and it’s right on the shores of Lake Ontario. 

One evening, Rosalind (pictured) and I took the girls down to the beach and we all spent a happy half-hour throwing stones in the lake.  It was blissful and so fun (in fact, it was so fun that the girls sneaked away from camp early the next morning [while I was showering and Neil was feeding Isaac breakfast], climbed down the bluff to the lake, got some stones, climbed back up, and coolly returned to camp to proudly show off their spoils.  I don’t think our reaction was exactly the one they were anticipating).

And since it’s Friday and we're coming to the end of the week of camping-related posts, here’s a recipe:  pineapple upside-down cake, which I made in a Dutch oven for Rosalind’s birthday.  Are you ready?  Cake mix + eggs + oil + pineapple rings.   Line your oven with tin foil, grease the foil, lay the pineapple down on the foil, and pour the cake batter over the top (I laced mine with maple syrup to see if it would give it some added pizzazz—it didn’t.)  I think you’re supposed to also put in gobs of brown sugar and butter if you really gooey carmelized goodness, but I don’t eat butter and I forgot about the sugar.  So maple syrup it was.  Anyway—pop the lid onto your Dutch oven, place the whole thing over your coals and put some coals on top, and then check it to see if it’s done.  Do you like how scientific this process is?  (it was done after about 15 minutes, because Neil put on a ton of coals).  Lift the whole thing out, using the foil, and let it cool for a few minutes before you flip it over onto another piece of foil so the pineapple is up.


I should note that this is probably the best-looking cake I've ever made (except I ate a piece out of the side before I put the candles on, for which Rosalind smacked me for sampling her birthday cake before she'd even blown out the candles).  I am truly horrible at cakes.  They fall apart no matter what I do (including having a Wilton-trained friend standing next to me directing the whole process).  Although I did make a really scrumptiously decadent chocolate cake with chocolate truffle filling and strawberries for Abigail's birthday.  It was just sort of lopsided. 

Also...this cake was way too hot for candles.  They're leaning because they're melting into the cake.  A good inch was gone from the bottom of each one by the time we got the candles out...oops!  (but we still ate it all.  Mmm, leftover cake for breakfast...)

vacation destination four: Niagara Falls, NY

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  Here's the short version:  we went to Goat Island the first night we arrived in Niagara Falls and wandered all over the American side of the falls before eating our picnic dinner (French bread, Nutella, apples, grapes, cheese, and carrots.  Yum!)

The next day, we went back to the falls and took a ride on Maid of the Mist.  I've visited the falls at least a half-dozen times, and I much prefer the boat ride to any of the behind-the-falls thingies you can do.  Best part about Maid of the Mist from the American side:  you also get to go up in the observation tower and you can go on the walkways next to American Falls and get completely drenched.  So soaked, in fact, that Isaac went to sleep in Rosalind's arms purely out of self-defense.  Apparently he was not a fan of being swaddled in a poncho (but he was sooo cute). 

And commence pictures.  Keep your eyes open for the kids in their ponchos (can you spot Abigail's watch-the-falls method of completely enclosing her entire face in her poncho hood?  If you've never gone to the falls, guess what--you get totally soaked.  It's so cool.)  These pictures are kind of mixed, but mostly they're of American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, since Horseshoe Falls (the ones that most people think of as "Niagara Falls") are hard to get a good shot of unless you're on the Canadian side.  And we don't have passports for the kids, which is frustrating because the Canadian side is totally awesome). 

Later in the day (after yet another picnic), we drove to Lockport, NY, and took a tour that included the locks of the Erie Canal and then through a man-made cave running beneath three factories (burned to the ground in the 1800s) that relied on hydropower.  Which meant that they had REALLY HUGE tunnels blasted through the bedrock.  Which meant that we climbed up inside a huge drainage pipe (8 feet in diameter) to get into the hydropower caves.  And then took a boat ride underground.  Pretty cool stuff.  Then we went into town and had the best ice cream I have ever had in my entire life (go to DeDee's Dairy; get the Rocky Mountain Raspberry.  Sooooooo good.) 

vacation destination three: Palmyra, NY (church history edition)

Our second day in Palmyra was Rosalind's seventeenth birthday.  We woke up bright and early, and Neil cooked a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and bacon (this was the first time I'd had bacon in a very long time.  Bacon is one of the few things I've missed about being a vegetarian, so it was a fun little treat.  Yum!). 

Then we went to the Palmyra temple.  I really wish I'd gotten a good picture of the temple (you can see other people's photographs here, including some of the glass), but it was raining really hard when we went in, and when I came out, the kids and I found a picnic spot and sat down.  So this is the view from underneath the parking lot trees where we were sitting.  One thing that was very unique about this temple--the exterior windows are all absolutely beautiful stained glass depicting groves of trees, as a nod to the Sacred Grove just down the hill.  (Brief history lesson: As a fourteen-year-old living in New York's "burned-over" district [so called because of all the religious fervor and controversy], Joseph Smith was unsure of which church was true and which he should join.  While reading James 1:5, which reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him," Joseph decided that he would go to the woods [this particular area of woodland is now known as the Sacred Grove] and pray for direction as to which church he should join.  As he was praying, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that he should join none of the existing churches, as they had all become corrupt.  You can read this account in Joseph's own words here.) 

As a sidenote, one of the things that is most special to me about this trip is reading scriptures to the girls each night in the tent while they were falling asleep--that link will take you to the selection known as the "Joseph Smith History," included in our scriptures, which the girls and I read together during the nights we were in Palmyra.  Abigail and I had some really deep (for a five-year-old) doctrinal discussions during these late-night scripture sessions, and these times were really meaningful for me. 

Neil and I went in together for an endowment session while Rosalind watched our children, then I went out with them while Rosalind and Neil did baptisms.  One thing that really was special about our temple visit is the response from the ordinance workers--the temple president greeted us at the front door and escorted the children into a waiting room--he brought them snacks, offered crayons and coloring pages, and made sure they had everything they needed.  He came back to check on  them several times while we were in the session, and many other ordinance workers stopped by to chat with Rosalind and play with our girls.  I was really impressed by the time they all took to make our temple visit not only a special experience for those of us actually performing ordinances, but our children as well (especially the temple president, since he has so many demands on his time!!)  Another sister in the temple also took Rosalind aside and explained to her some of the symbology in the stained glass on the doors, which was really neat.  

A few shots from our picnic--he isn't anywhere near being able to eat an apple (it was Juliet's), but it was sure fun to watch him try.

After lunch, we went over to the Joseph Smith farm.  The farmhouse in this picture is a reconstruction; the frame house which stands on the property (which they built later) is 85% original--which is really impressive for a house that is nearly 200 years old!!

The farmhouse (which housed the eleven members of Joseph's family) is the place where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph (three years after his vision in the Sacred Grove) and disclosed the location of the golden plates, which he then translated in later years and published the translation as the Book of Mormon.  (Sidenote:  Joseph was instructed by Moroni not to remove the plates initially; they continued to meet yearly for the next four years for further instruction, at the end of which time Joseph removed the plates in 1827). 

These pictures are from the frame house.  One really interesting thing on this tour was learning about the various places within the home where Joseph concealed the plates from mobs that were searching for them:  under the floorboards, under the bricks of the hearth, inside a barrel of beans, and tossed up in the loft of the cooper's shop on the property, after he received a prompting to remove them from their hiding place under the floor.  The mob came, ripped up the floor, and smashed the box where the plates had been just moments before, but never looked up in the loft above their heads where the plates were sitting, wrapped in a bundle of old clothing. 

These pictures are all from the interior of the frame house (check out those walls!!)  For some reason, I was totally in love with all of these kitchens--especially those gorgeous farmhouse tables.  I have a lot of kitchen pictures. 

The Sacred Grove stands directly behind the farm.  It was absolutely pouring rain at this point, so we didn't spend as long there as I would have liked, but it was beautiful and peaceful even with the rain bucketing down.  (We also saw a mother racoon and her three kits inside a hollow tree, which was pretty neat). 

We then went to the visitor's center and watched the film about the life of the Prophet Joseph, which we had seen just a few months ago at Nauvoo.  It really is an amazing film, and very touching, if you have the chance to see it--I'd highly recommend it.  Afterwards, we drove into Palmyra and toured the Grandin building, where the Book of Mormon was published.  It was so fascinating to learn about the whole process, from setting the type to cutting and folding the pages, to stitching the "signatures" (sets of 16 pages) together, putting on the cover, etc.  Very cool. 

Then we went out to dinner for Rosalind's birthday (which I think was probably far more exciting because we were all thrilled at the idea of a) not having to cook on a propane stove and b) no dish-washing in a bowl of soapy water balanced on a picnic table!).  Calzones and fried zucchini.  Yes, please. 

vacation destination three: Palmyra, NY (Chimney Bluffs edition)

Our third stop was in Palmyra, NY.  Our campsite here was idyllic--right on the shores of Lake Ontario, beautiful and breezy.  (It got extremely breezy later on and extremely wet--to the point where we had to move our tent because we got back to our campsite after a day of rain and there were DUCKS running around in the huge lake that used to be our tent site...but we won't focus on that).

One of the reasons I picked our campsite was for its proximity to Chimney Bluffs state park.  We headed over there after dinner our first night and hiked along the bluff trail as the sun was beginning to descend.  It was beautiful.  The bluffs are formed by the erosion of glacial till (did you know I was a geology TA?  so this hike was really exciting to me...). 

 

And when I say "erosion," boy howdy, do I mean erosion.  All along the hike we could see where the trail used to be--but wasn't any more.  It was kind of exciting and not a little scary with three small children.  At one point Rosalind, who was carrying Abigail, slipped in the mud near the edge of the bluff and I had a huge jolt of adrenaline.

 

some pictures of the "awesome" trail...

In any case, it was beautiful--the waves lapping against the rocky beach and mounds of driftwood, the wind blowing through the aspens (aspens!!! here!!!  in New York!!), and the reddish-orange bluffs silhouetted against the water.  And the trail itself, was, as Rosalind put it, "not at all boring."  In addition to the erosion that made it literally skirt the edge of the bluff, there were huge mud pits, standing water, enormous tree roots, and fallen trees all over the place.  We hiked for just under two hours and it went very quickly--because that trail required constant attention, both eyes, and a keen awareness of the proximity of poison ivy!

vacation destination two: Kirtland, OH

Our next stop was in Kirtland, OH.  This was one of the early gathering places of the members of the Latter-day Saint movement.  The temple there (pictured above) was completed in 1836 and was used primarily as a place of instruction (unlike all the other temple constructed by the church, which are used for ordinance work).  The temple is owned today by a splinter group (Community of Christ), not affiliated with the LDS church.  The Community of Christ members give daily tours through the temple, although picture-taking is not permitted inside. 

I've always enjoyed taking these tours (I've visited the Kirtland temple at least half a dozen times), but my favorite was visiting with a group for youth conference, since we were able to have a portion of our conference inside and sing one of my favorite hymns, The Spirit of God.  Otherwise, the temple has always felt a little empty to me of the peace and sacred feelings that I have when I visit the temples which are consecrated and used for ordinance work.  It feels like a very beautiful building, but that's about it.

After we visited the temple, we went over to the historic sites that are operated by the LDS church (pictured, the Newell K. Whitney store, the sawmill, and the ashery.  Cool fact about the ashery--the Whitneys paid 25 cents for each wheelbarrow-load of hardwood ashes, then took the ashes through a process that turned them into pearlash, which was worth $400 a load.  And then Newell Whitney dedicated all the profits of the ashery to the church.  I thought that was really neat).

Touring the sites was, for me, was one of the highlights of the trip.  Let me explain. 

Our kids were being kids.  They were grumpy.  It was hot, and they were tired and cranky, and they were bored.  At one point, all three of them were screaming and throwing simultaneous tantrums (very very loudly).  I felt like I'd been blindsided--here we were in this beautiful peaceful place and the kids were being small iron-lunged maniacs. I was trying to get Isaac to fall asleep in the stroller, but he was resisting.  Juliet was in another stroller crying because she was hot, and Abigail was sitting on the ground shrieking that she would never move again, never ever ever in her whole entire life, and she wanted a stroller too if Juliet got one!

The missionaries who were our tour guides were an older couple (most Mormon missionaries are young men between the ages of 19 and 21, or young women who are 21 or older, but many older couples also go on missions after they retire--my in-laws just got back a few years ago from a mission in Mongolia).   I was distressed by the children's behavior, worrying that they were ruining the tour for the other people who were with us, and wondering if we should just take them back to the campsite.  Sister Allemann (one of the missionaries) took me aside and gently said, "This is where you should be.  Don't worry--they can't break anything; we're parents and we've seen it all before.  They're acting just as children should act.  The important thing is that you're bringing them here.  Relax and enjoy it."

We continued with the tour (the sites in Kirtland are much more limited than in Nauvoo; you can tour the Newell K. Whitney store and home, the ashery, and the sawmill).  My favorite site in Kirtland has always been the small room above the Whitney store known as the School of the Prophets, a room where the Prophet Joseph taught gospel principles to many of the brethren who later became leaders of the church.  Typically, while in this room the missionaries leading the tour will give a short devotional and bear their testimonies.  This was the part of the tour I was looking forward to most, but I was also distracted by the fact that Isaac was trying to yank the curtains off the window and Juliet was using my camera to take approximately 100 pictures of my shoes (Abigail was writing her name over and over on one of the comment cards). 

The scripture that Sister Alleman shared with us was D&C 64: 33-34, which reads, "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.  And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind..." 

She then went on to bear her testimony about the challenges of parenting, but its vital importance both in mortality and in the eternities.  She talked about the importance of teaching our children the gospel, and how imperative it is to begin this instruction while they are young.  She looked directly at me, sitting in my tiny circle of chaos, and said, "You are in the right place.  This is a great work that you are doing, and you are doing an amazing job." 

Tears welled up in my eyes and ran down my cheeks as I listened to her.  I felt such a strong spiritual confirmation of the importance of my role as a mother.  A feeling of empowerment, that Neil and I are not in this alone, because the Lord is on our side and wants us to succeed in raising a righteous posterity--because that is my goal.  Not just having children who are quiet and well-mannered and intelligent, but children who actively desire to make righteous choices and to serve in the Lord's kingdom. And I was so, so, so grateful that this woman--who had never met me before--was able to provide this reassurance and create a moment for me to re-dedicate myself to mothering with faith and patience.  It would have been so easy for her to quietly take me aside and ask me to play with my children outside where they would not disturb everyone else on the tour--but she didn't.  And it made all the difference to me.

Complete change of topic:  We accidentally left one of the sliding doors of the van open all night.  A raccoon got in (of course!).  Which is pretty much a recipe for disaster—I remember a raccoon that chewed off all the weatherstripping of one of our cars just trying to get in the trunk.  So when Neil told me a raccoon had gotten into the car, I fully expected to see the interior in absolute shreds.  Guess what.  We’d left a loaf of bread, a bag of marshmallows, and two bags of homemade pancake mix right in front of the door—the raccoon ate all of those and left.  Didn’t do anything to the car.  Talk about a tender mercy.  In essence, our stay in Kirtland was a great experience all around.  (Plus it didn't rain for one entire night, which meant we had a chance to dry everything out before the next storm hit.  Dry sleeping bags!  Hurrah!!)