We're in the "Buff"!

In July we got to go to Buffalo, NY (the Buff) to visit Travis, Stephanie, and the boys. What a fun time we had!

What a cute little family!

Collin was sick most of the time we were there so he did a lot of clinging to his mom and dad and watching TV. We wish he would have felt better because Stephanie and the boys did a lot of staying home by themselves while we went out doing fun things. Thank you Stephanie for your graciousness. I know it wasn't easy.

Here we are on the campus of the University of Buffalo. This is where Travis has spent a big chunk of time these past three years.

Here is Dr. Evans (almost) in his operatory. This is where he sees his patients.

Here we are checking out the rest of the dental clinic.

Look who we found on our tour. It is Ryan Carter from Mesa!

It was a fun tour and here we are by the dental student buffalo. There are a lot of statues of buffaloes in the area doing different things.

Next on our list of things to do was Niagara Falls. Trevor left his passport home so we only did the American side. So we just got to look at the Bridal Veil Falls for most of the time.

However, we did take the Maid of the Mist tour so that we could see the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side up close and personal. Here we are in our lovely blue rain ponchos.

After the tour.

We took a hike along the river...

crossed over this bridge...

to get to a better angle to see the falls.

This is looking down at the Cave of the Winds. You could pay to walk up a jillion steps and then get drenched by the falls. We chose to forego that fun adventure. Marcus and Megan and their family had preceeded us in Buffalo by a little less than a week and took that tour. It was fun to see the water cascading down.

The next day we drove to Palmyra to see the church sites there and to attend the Hill Cummorah pageant. When we got to the the Smith Farm, who should we see but a couple of Trevor's friends from home. They are in Washington D.C. for the summer and drove up for the pageant. This is Trevor, Moroni, and Justin.

Trevor in the Smith log cabin, where Joseph was visited by the angel Moroni.

Walking in the Sacred Grove.

Us in the Sacred Grove.

Looking up at the Hill Cummorah and the stage. As you can see we were there plenty early to get a seat.

Sunday night we went back to Niagara Falls to see the fireworks. It was fun to see and they had some different fireworks that I had not seen before but it definately was NOT long enough. About two minutes worth or maybe five if you stretch it. It was a pretty long drive for just a few minutes. It was fun to see the Falls at night, however.

Here we are enjoying the show.

Fireworks!

Say cheese!

Monday found us on the road to Kirtland. Here we are outside the Kirtland Temple.

It was an interesting tour. We had a great tour guide that spent a lot of time telling us diferent things about the temple and showing us some things that Travis had not seen on his previous visit to there.

Family photo opp in front of the Newell K. Whitney Store.

This is the sawmill in Kirtland. It was very humid that day.

On our way home we called Stephanie and decided to go to Chee Burger Chee Burger instead of having her feed us. Here we all are waiting for our food.

On Tuesday, Collin's temperature was gone so we all loaded up, excited to go on a boat ride on the Erie canal. Here is a picture of the locks on the canal.

Instead of a boat ride on the Erie canal we got to go on a walking tour of the tunnels where the water was used to power three manufacturing places in the 1800's.

Travis and Collin by a millstone. Gives great imagery to the scripture of it being better to have a millstone around your neck.

Here we are inside the tunnel. Don't we all look thrilled to be there.

Yea! Finally our boat ride. A little five minute deal up and back a short stretch of water while being dripped on from the rocks overhead. It was an okay tour and I learned a lot. It was just not what we all were expecting so it was a little bit of a let down.

However, Travis, Stephanie, and Trevor salved their disappointment by going to the last Harry Potter movie while Wayne and I stayed home with the sleeping boys.

Wednesday, Trevor finally got to go to Canada. He had Aubrey overnight his passport so he could say that he had been in a different country. We went to Crystal Beach on the Canadian side of Lake Erie. It was a nice beach and I liked the gentle waves.

Trav and Stephanie's friend Rachel and her son Gavin came with us. Collin hadn't seen Gavin for about a month because they had been in Utah. But Collin was still a little grumpy from being sick and wasn't the best of friends that day.

We came, we waded, ...

we jumped, we ate, and left! A fun trip!

That evening we went to Tonawanda and ate at Mississippi Mud. It was a fun restaurant that overlooks the Tonawanda River. I had a very delicious crab cake sandwich and onion rings. Not quite Weight Watcher fare but very delicious!

We took a little walk along the river...

checked out the water.... found some ducks and geese...

and ate ice cream cones. Someone is a little sloppy with their cone.

All too soon we had to say good-bye to my little NY boys

Collin and

Weston.

What a good time we had. It was too short. But we appreciate the hospitality of Travis and Stephanie and the fun things they had planned for us to do. Thanks and we love you.