Archive for 'Family Trips'
Kirtland, Ohio Travel
Posted on July 14, 2009 by Jamie Larsen, under Family Trips.
Those that are familiar with the Church that I belong to may know that Kirtland, Ohio is a historic city for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). It is in Kirtland where the saints gathered for a few years after leaving New York. It is also where the first Temple was built by the Saints.
My family had the opportunity to travel to Kirtland this past weekend and spend a couple of days there. We first went to the Kirtland Temple which is owned by the Community of Christ church (formerly known as the Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). This church follows similar beliefs of the Mormons, but believed after Joseph Smith was martyred that the next prophet should be a descendant of Joseph. They still believe in the Book of Mormon and most of the Doctrine & Covenants. The Temple tour was really neat to take, but not very spiritual. It left me and my wife thinking a bit about it and we went back to the hotel to do a bit of research regarding the history of it. However, it was really neat to be able to go inside the temple and see the beautiful workmanship that they did all by hand over 180 years ago. It did cost $2.00 per person to take the tour and the last tour that they did was at 4:30. The tour lasted approximately 1 hour.
The next day we went to “Historic Kirtland” where the church has a visitor center and tours of some of the old buildings (including the Newel K. Whitney store). This tour seemed to follow the spirit of the saints much better. We watched a movie of some of the early saints that lived there and then got to tour through some of their houses. It was a great experience to be able to see this site. For example, we got to sit in a room where the Prophet sat with many others and received revelations about the church. We sat in the room where the missionaries were taught how to be missionaries (the old MTC – Missionary Training Center). It was a great experience. This tour was free of charge and we also caught the last tour here at around 5:30. The tour lasted close to two hours.
Now one thing that I did before we left for Kirtland, was research where to stay while we were there. This seemed much more difficult than I imagined. However, we found a great little place in Mentor, OH at the Best Western. We had a king size bed with a pull out couch bed. It also had a refrigerator & microwave in the room, free continental breakfast, and a small outdoor pool. This place was only 6 minutes away from Kirtland.
Overall, we loved Kirtland… It was a wonderful experience to have with our family. I enjoyed the spirit there and would recommend to anyone.
Going to Utah
Posted on November 8, 2008 by Jamie Larsen, under Family Trips.
So I got a call from my mom the other day letting me know that my brother Dusty is getting married in December. Kaylene was sweet enough to buy Owen and I tickets to fly out out to be a part of it. So, we are flying out for a quick weekend. We will be there on Thursday December 11th and flyout on Sunday December 14th. We would love to see those that are out there.
I would love to take Owen snowboarding while we are there. I will probably bring my snowboard with me. If you know of anyone that has a small snowboard that might fit a 4 year old, please let me know.
We are really excited to come out and hope to spend some time with all of you. See you soon!
Our family in Washington DC
Posted on June 8, 2008 by Jamie Larsen, under Family Trips.
We took a trip to Washington DC to visit Kaylene’s brother and his family. We took two days to get there. Driving through Pennsylvania was absolutely beautiful. Driving up and down all of the hills reminded me a lot of the mountains in Utah. However, it was so green with trees everywhere. I loved it.
We had the chance to go downtown in DC for the day. What an amazing experience. While there, I thought a lot about what this country was built upon. Even though we are going through rough times in this country, we are very blessed to live where we live. The freedoms that we have and the foundation that this country was built upon. I am grateful to have add the opportunity to see our nations capital and the memorials of the people that have fought for this country.
We also had to opportunity to go see the Washington DC Temple for the Church. It was amazing. Owen and Tyce both loved it as well. (more…)