Day 9 & 10- New York and a Coal Mine!

 We woke up the next morning and Kellie got a little surprise and needed to entertain Karl's bosses Wife and kids while he went and checked on how the Restoration Project was going. We figured it would be a great day to head back in New York and visit Kyle's brother Brent and his family who live near Rochester. We spent the morning with this cute girl being crazy and then headed out.

It's a good 3 hour drive to Brent and Jodies and we tried to break it up by stopping at some National Historical Sites (I do a National Stamp Passport- super fun- check it out!) but the only one that was on the way was closed :( We met them at their house and then headed to a Mexican food place. Marie can't go too long without some good Mexican food. Kyle got a chimi and said it was okay- and I really liked my fajitas. I figured you couldn't go too wrong with that. We had a lot of fun chatting it up at dinner while playing games with their daughter Emmalie on the iPad. She is such a cute girl! Nate ran upstairs before we could get a picture with him and Tyler wasn't too into taking pictures with Grandma, but we got some anyway. Then it was back to Kellie's- that was a long day in the car!

The next day (Day 10) we spent doing a little site seeing. We went to the Lackawanna Coal Mine in Scranton, PA. It is an old coal mine that is no longer in operation but they run tours through it. We got the whole experience with going down in one of that metal cars and a tour guide that used to be an actual miner. 

 We stopped by Steamtown to get a stamp in my passport and then went over to a REALLY yummy ice cream place. The ice cream place is owned by a Manning Dairy Farm and they use their own milk to make the ice cream. By far the best ice cream in the East. The photos on the wall is a timeline of how the ice cream is made from the planting of crops to the milking of the cows. It was neat!

  While we were on that side of town we stopped at the Restoration Site again so that Marie could get herself a tour. Here is Kyle and I in the visitors center. After construction is finished this room will be filled with statues, exhibits, and people :) The room with the light on behind us is part of a small theater that will show movies about how the Priesthood was restored to the Earth.

 Here is a replica of the Joseph and Emma smith home. The red part is the first section of the house and the white is a summer kitchen add on.

 The only part of the home that is original is this pot holder in the fire place. We got to touch it before anyone put a "do not touch" rope up!

 Kyle and I standing in front of a replica of the Hale Home- who is Emma Smith's parents. I just wanted to move into this house- I love the red windows and the siding. So pretty!

The first day we came to the site (day 8) the hired wall-paper people we just barely getting this gorgeous wall paper up. I was seriously in awe about how much I loved the wallpaper! It's not original, but it is all stamped- meaning it painted on the paper. Not the screen stuff they do now. It is very similar to what would have been in the home originally- and SO pretty!

 I love him :)

Since the Priesthood Restoration Site is so exciting to so many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints they have had a lot of people walk onto the construction site and trying to see the sites before they are complete. Because of liability reasons, no one is allowed on the site without site manager (Karl) approval, a hardhat, and a reflective jacket. They have two of these signs up saying no visitors, but people don't really pay much attention to those signs. Karl has mentioned that being something very hard about this project- people are trying to walk onto the construction pretty regularly throughout the day and it's really frustrating for the construction workers. Thanks for letting us bug you guys!

 Across the way from the houses is a church owned cemetery where one of Emma and Joseph's infant sons and the Hales are buried.  The original headstones were put into these larger headstones to help and preserve them. The original headstones are here in the picture.

Then we went over to where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized in the Susquehanna River. I never realized how huge the River is! It was beautiful and I'm so glad we got to visit.