Kirtland

The next stop on our short road trip was Kirtland. We found a great Fairfield Inn just outside of Cleveland that had an indoor pool and water slide. When we got there on Friday night, the first thing the kids wanted to do was swim. The next day we got up and headed over to historic Kirtland. It is a place that I have wanted to see since we moved here.

This picture was taken after we had done the tour. The kids were hot and hungry. Can you tell?

We went to the Newel K Whitney store. Inside was a store, the Bishops storehouse, the School of the Prophets, and an apartment (with bedrooms and kitchen) that Emma and Joseph Smith used when they first came to Kirtland.
This room is the School of the Prophets. Its not very big, so its hard to imagine that you couldn't see someone on the other side due to all of the tobacco smoke. Just outside this room is where the plans for the Kirtland temple were discussed as well as the bedrooms for the apartment.

Down the street from Historic Kirtland about 2 miles is the Kirtland temple. We were able to go inside and tour the temple. What a beautiful building. Here are the kids standing on the steps to the temple.

All in all, it was a great day. We learned a lot about church history and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Before heading back to the hotel, we took a little detour and drove through some parts of Amish country. What beautiful farms, homes and lives the Amish lead. Its interesting to think that they are so happy with their lives, and they don't have a lot of the modern technology that we think is necessary. It really made me stop to think about what is important in life. How our faith and our families are the most important things in life.

Then, it was back to the hotel for another evening of swimming with pizza and a move thrown in for good measure.