Palmyra, NY

Margot and Anika

Penelope

Here we are walking in the Sacred Grove. We had a wonderful day, just enjoying the place, and each other. There's something really special about spending time with your family doing something out of the ordinary, making memories.

Someone told Toby to be quiet, because this was a sacred place. "WHY?" he asked(like always). "Because Heavenly Father and Jesus came here." So he started looking for Jesus. Jesus was not satisfactorily found inside the log.

Field in the Grove

Kimber

Makiah: "Where is Toby going?!"

Me: "To pray."

Margot and Toby

The Smith farmhouse

Makiah and Toby, walking up the hill(the mountain, as Margot insisted on calling it).

This is the monument at the top of Cumorah. It has been said that this is the spot where the plates were buried(which is really unimportant, but interesting nonetheless).

Makiah, Nephi, Anika, Margot, Toby

Toby hijacked my camera, and apparently is a bit of a photographer:

This one's Toby's, too:

There are more than 650 costumed volunteer cast members of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It is the world's largest outdoor pageant, featuring a 10-level stage, 12 tower lighting, amazing special effects, including Christ descending from Heaven in a most compelling way, and includes a live person falling off a legitimate cliff. The script was written by Orson Scott Card, an award-winning author, and performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, also award-winning, and called "America's Choir" by President Reagan.

The message of the pageant is "come unto Christ." The hill is a very special place. It is a place of peace.