::special::

As we were driving up to our campsite in Vermont we realized we drove right past Sharon, VT. This is important to us as members of our church because it's Joseph Smith's birthplace.
So we decided that on sunday when we were on our way home we would stop in and see what there was to see.
First of all the landscape there is totally amazing. Vermont may well be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and this area is definitely high on the list of beautiful Vermont. As soon as we got off the freeway we could see the rolling wooded hills and the granite rocks. The White river runs right next to the road for some of the way and it has big granite shelves sticking out from the river bed. Hard to describe, but so dang pretty!
It was rainy and chilly on sunday, but the rain just seemed to intensify the leaves that have already changed colors.

We didn't know what to expect at this site. We knew that the church had something there, but not the details.
Driving up was kind of like driving into the temple grounds. Lovely landscaping and flowers--very well maintained. It looks like the stake center for the area is on that property. It was cool because the building is made in the new england style, with white boarded sides and a straight steeple. It's fun to see chapels built in different styles.

When we got out of the car the view was beautiful! And they have a sound system throughout the area with music from the mormon tabernacle choir playing. That had the potential to be a little cheesy and over the top, but it was actually nice. It added to the peaceful feeling there.

There's a big monument to Joseph that was set up in like 1905. It's supposed to be the biggest single piece of granite in the US or something like that. The story of how they got the stone there was pretty amazing. It involved lots of teams of horses, many weeks and a lot of prayers.

The monument looks like it could've been made yesterday, the cuts all look really fresh. It's hard to believe that it's been there for over 100 years.

The landscape around is beautiful and peaceful. Behind the monument there are some dirt roads where you can go back and see the ruins of the foundation of Lucy Smith's parents' home and some of the remnants of the old roads and bridges. The main road from canada to Boston at the time ran basically right in front of the Smith's gate. It sure would be interesting to see what it would really be like to live back then.
The view from the hill is gorgeous too. The house on the left is where they have a lot of paintings and info about Joseph and where the senior missionaries give tours. We're not sure what the house on the right is for.

The tour was really nice and well given. They had recovered the hearthstone from the house where Joseph was born and installed it there. There was also a rocking chair which Joseph had made at some point.
We enjoyed it. And even Max listened for a while.
I was a little embarrassed because we were pretty yucky from camping for three days, but oh well. The senior sister missionary from Reno took our picture anyway and told us to come back for their christmas light show. So we must not have smelled that bad, right?

I'm so glad we stopped. The feeling there was so nice. So peaceful and happy. It's my favorite of all the church sites I've visited. I'd love to go back.
As we were driving out Max said, "I sure wish we could stay here." I asked him why and he said, "Well, Joseph Smith was born there, whaddaya think?"

::nature max::

I spent the last day editing videos of our camping trip. I think Max might be the next Jeff Corwin (as long as he has a really good video editor!)

This is kind of long--about seven minutes, but it's really cute. So I'd say if you're a relation and you think Max is cute, you should definitely check it out. I hope the quality is ok. I hate how bad things look on youtube!!

::found::

I found the coolest leaf ever on our camping trip.  I picked it up because of it's amazing colors and then I realized it had a hidden surprise.

Can you see it?

I've never seen a heart that's grown a leaf before, have you? It made me happy.
The fallen leaves were so amazing and colorful on our trip. I had a hard time tearing my eyes from the ground to look up. Yellow, orange, red, brown, and all of those mixed together. Just amazing. It's such a blessing to have such beauty in our lives!

::weekend::

We were busy going to graduation (congrats guys!) and camping in the rain to celebrate Kris's b-day. I'll have more to report later!

Katy Trail Camping and Biking Trip
Here's a picture of Sultan waiting in the back of the Red Grover for us to get packed for a trip to the Katy trail last weekend. The Katy is an old railroad trail that has been converted to a gravel cycling path that goes all the way across Missouri. Part of the trail travels along the Muddy MO (that's the Missouri for those of you who don't know). We took Max, Sultan and our bikes for a little trip. We went last year and had a really good time, so we had to have a repeat. Sultan loves camping, he'd wait in the car indefinitely just for the opportunity.
Max likes to camp too and so does Ginna, provided we do it "right". Here I am pumping up our air-mattress. We even have a hanging fan in the tent to cool off the hot summer nights.
The first time I automated the inflation I brought the gas leaf blower with us. Max got super scared and all the other people at the campground where looking at me like: "why did that moron bring his leaf-blower?" This little pump is quite an improvement.





Even Mama Fish got in on the action. You can see Max's little sleeping bag in the background. I was so excited when we got it. But, Max didn't sleep in it at all. All it has done is make me want to say bad words while trying to stuff it in a too tight stuff sack.


Here we are taking a little break during our ride. We decided to ride from Huntsdale to Rocheport. It's only about 7 miles each way. The trail was right along the MO. Max really wanted to practice his potty training during this break. He found that he prefers trees to toilets. I don't blame him, but you have to be careful with things like that around the house and at the local parks.

This picture was taken in front of a little bakery in Rocheport. We bought some cookies to help us recharge for the ride back to Huntsdale. Just up the street from this place is where Sultan had an altercation with a killer cat. The cat stalked us and scratched Sultan on the nose. Still, in the end the dumb cat got a little bite from the big guy's dentition.
Sultan did an amazing run. He went at least 10 miles before he started to slow. He got so tired about a mile from the end that when I slowed down for him, he just sat down. He must have been super cramped and sore, because nothing slows that dog down. He limped for 2 days afterward, but he's fine now and more excited than ever about going on rides.
We packed up the Red Grover at the end of the trip. Sultan was going to make sure he didn't get left behind. He even offered to ride home on the bumper. We upgraded him to business class and he got to ride with Max on the middle bench. Sultan and Max slept the whole way home. We even made it back in time to watch BYU lose a football game.