VISITORS ! ! !

We were so happy to get 5 visitors for conference and Easter weekend.  It was so great to give them hugs and see how much the kids have grown up. We hadn't seen most of them in a year.  Kent's family drove all day from Atlanta and arrived just in time on Saturday for dinner and for Jim, Kent, and Jackson to go to the priesthood meeting at the church.  While they were gone Shelly and the girls got settled and Courtney sat at the computer with me.  She helped me go into FamilySearch and we found 71 new names to take to the temple!!  This was a big breakthrough for me.  She has been taking Youth Family History classes in their ward and has been going full steam ahead with it.  She is now a Family History Consultant and I really needed one!

We then enjoyed Sunday conference sessions and Easter together which was great.  In the evening we took a drive around the city and got to one of the Mount Washington lookouts just in time to see the sun setting.  The timing couldn't have been better.  All of the kids seemed really impressed with Pittsburgh and were excited to discover it more the next day.

On Monday we spent the day sightseeing and had good weather to do it in!

We parked and walked to "the Point".  It was beautiful to be at the exact spot the two rivers come together to form the Ohio River.  From there we walked to the Steelers Stadium and took a tour at Jackson's request.  The tour hadn't been in the original plan, but it was really interesting.  We also went to the Heinz History museum where Kent seemed especially impressed to see the Mr. Rogers exhibit.  That was one of his favorite kid shows growing up and who knew it orginated in Pittsburgh!  We had fun sharing a few nostalgic moments over a show that I always thought was a little weird! I must confess that I used it as a wonderful babysitter and he doesn't seem too warped by it!

On Tuesday we were able to drive two and a half hours away to Kirkland, Ohio.  We had a great time there seeing the temple, the Newel K. Whitney store, and driving to the John Johnson home.  There is just something about visiting church history sites that we love.  It seems to put a reality into all that we learn and study about in church history.

We especially enjoyed having the Bowen's, long time friends from West Jordan, take us on a tour of the Johnson farm.  They left on their mission to Kirkland a few months before we did.  Who knew we would actually see them while we were both gone!  Our one disappointment was that the Kirtland Temple which

is owned by the Community of
Christ church was closed for the day.  We did get some great pictures outside and had a wonderful time at the other sites.




We ended the day with dinner at an Amish restaurant close to Kirkland.  Jackson had been looking forward to the 'all you can eat' family style meal.  He is definitely a growing teenage boy with a big appetite!

A few of the things we did on the last day was to visit the Andy Warhol museum, visit the Strip district where we found a few bargains, and go to the Carnegie Science Museum.  The Science Center was definitely a big hit with all of us.  

They have a World War II submarine docked in the river and tours are given.  Many of the exhibits are interactive including a life size space station and Anti-Gravity wall.
Natalie was the first to be brave enough to experience what space feels like.

We had tons of fun at the Science Center and wished we could have even
spent more time there.

All in all..............WE HAD A BLAST !  !  !

Natalie was the first to experience anti-gravity