New York and Niagara Falls

About a week and a half after we got back from Nags Head, we left again to go to New York. My dad's youngest brother was getting married in Palmyra and so me, my mom, dad, sister, and cousin packed up and drove to New York! Joe was in Canada the week of the wedding and so instead of flying back to Ohio, he flew out to Manchester (got a free ticket voucher on the way!) and got a rental car and drove to Palmyra and met us there. On Friday night we all went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant with my aunt and uncle. They had been there saving seats for like 2 1/2 hours and we were in the fourth row! Crazy, huh? Luckily, they had sights to see there and tons of people to talk to (although these people were probably wearing some crazy costumes). I actually am realizing now that we didn't take a single picture at the pageant... hmmm... I think Michael had his picture taken with the actor playing Lehi, but he's the only one with a picture! It was funny to see all of the 'hecklers' that stand outside of the pageant parking and yell about this and that. Getting out of the parking lot after the pageant was over was so ridiculous and I'm glad I didn't have to go to the bathroom b/c I wouldn't have made it! We saw a set of missionaries looking around on the ground and asked them what the deal was... they had accidentally dropped the keys to their car. It was about 11 o'clock at night. I wonder if they ever found them...

Saturday was Ben and Tabitha's wedding at the Palmyra temple (which was beautiful) and then the reception followed at the church across the street. The Palmyra temple is the only temple that has a window that you can look out of and the window is placed so that you can see the Sacred Grove. The story that one of the temple workers told us was that President Hinckley wanted a couple of the trees in the distance to be uprooted so that he could see the Sacred Grove from the inside of the temple. They talked to the city council and they said that they weren't allowed to remove any trees. A couple of days later they discovered that the trees they wanted removed were dying (a very sudden death) and therefore they were allowed to cut down those trees. So if any of you ever go visit the Palmyra temple and look out that window, you can think of that awesome story! And when you are walking towards the Smith family farm, you can see the temple from there as well. It really is an amazing sight.

So onto the pictures:

Tabitha and Ben, freshly married!



The Welch clan. It was SOOOO sunny and of course, we were facing the sun in all of these pictures. Oh, and it was about a bazillion degrees outside, plus the humidity. Even though I was the only pregnant person there, I wasn't by any means the only one sweating! This group shot is the best one solely because it has the fewest people with their eyes shut.



Me, mom, and Britt. Notice the patch of trees that are missing behind my mom and sister's head? That's where all of those trees died.



We weren't even looking into the sun. That's how bright it was. Actually, I don't even remember where the sun was, but you couldn't hide from its power.



The window behind us is the one that you can see through from the inside.



We don't really have a lot of pictures of just me and Joe, especially on this blog! With that being said, be prepared for a lot more!!



Laughing at something funny, duh.



On to more important things... haha, doesn't that look like such a passionate kiss? haha it's cracking me up! I told Joe that he needs to turn his head the other way so that my nose is in front on his (since mine is smaller). He just rolls his eyes at me now. When we were taking all of those pictures on our wedding day he actually listened to me... oh how far we have fallen...



Outside of the Smith family home (their makeshift home while the other one was being built). There was a RIDICULOUS amount of rain that came down right as we were walking into the visitor's center. Luckily it was after all of the wedding pictures!



Inside... thank you for installing AC in this house (I love modern technology). I thought I was going to pass out! I wouldn't have made it back in 1820, I'll be honest.



View from the path leading towards the Smith house. I'm glad those trees died :)



Joe can't handle the sun!



In the Sacred Grove. Don't get bangs during the summer you are pregnant. This is a HORRIBLE picture, but it is proof we were there.



And now I would like you to enjoy some shots from the Grove:







After the reception Joe and I left Palmyra and headed towards Niagara Falls. We stayed in the Marriott, which is the closest hotel to Niagara. Joe got to use this thing called 'in-lieu of travel' and charge most of our mini vacation to his company, pretty sweet, huh? Therefore, we were able to stay in this amazing hotel, with the most amazing view ever. The next two pictures are the view from our window that we took as soon as we got there (we were on the 13th floor).






A night out on the town.



We ate at the Skylon Tower, which is a revolving restaurant. They light up the falls at night, the American Falls and Niagara. It was so cool to see everything from way up there!







We had a coupon for 5 free arcade tokens (the arcade was at the base of the Skylon Tower) and Joe insisted that we use them. This was by far the crappiest arcade I have ever been to and Joe and I couldn't stop laughing at the awfulness of it. We put some tokens in the skeeball (Joe wanted to challenge me to a game) and nothing came out. So we got the employee, who was all of 12 years old, reimburse us. The next game, only 3 balls came out and that clearly won't work so I made Joe go get the worker again. He was probably like, "Are these people serious?" We finally settled on a basketball shooting game b/c this game (below) was out of order... go figure!


Okay, really? Feed Big Bertha? This has the be the oldest game I've ever seen. Instead of getting points for throwing the ball into her mouth, you make her gain weight. The more weight you make her gain, the more tickets you get! I really was quite bummed it was out of order.


So this was the game that we settled on. Joe should have known better than to challenge me, right? Look at his score (on the right). He has 4 points with 24 seconds to go. He ended up with 6. Good job, Joe!



Now my turn, baby and all. Check it out, 4 seconds left and I have 12 points. I doubled his score. Go team Ashley!



Our view the next morning.



From our window again, but this is the American Falls. It has a New York zip code.



Zoom! I could have looked out this window for quite some time, but we needed to check out by 11am.



This is where we ate the night before. Pretty cool!



Joe in front of the American Falls.



Niagara Falls. For those of you that don't know, the US and Canada share 'ownership' of Niagara. They split it right down the middle.



More of us!



Quite breathtaking. The waterfall, I mean :)



Joe wanted a picture of the tour, or whatever you call it, that we went on.



The ponchos that we got. Very sexy.



We were making fun of the retarded hoods.



I'm like a chubby little red riding hood, minus the red of course.



Right beside Niagara Falls.



Actually behind it!





We went back to the side of the falls and went down the stairs to the little observatory deck that had. I wouldn't let Joe take a picture down there because it was so misty. This picture was underneath the part with the awning.



This is why they give you ponchos with hoods...



This was right next to Niagara from the sidewalk. That is a bird flying through all that mist. I wonder if they catch any fish in there...



My dad's parents stopped at my parent's house on their way home from the wedding. Boston sure had a good time with my grandpa!



Looking at bugs.



We missed this little guy while we were gone :)



Boston is saying 'cheese!"



I love little Boston and his cute little shirt!



Alright, I'm all pictured out for the time being. Hope you enjoyed the picture attacks!! We had a great time at the wedding and had an AMAZING time up in Canada. It was so nice to spend 2 days with just Joe and I just love him to death!