Sacred Grove

On our way to our ward temple trip a few weeks ago we had a few moments to stop at the Sacred Grove before our session began. We weren't entirely sure if was going to be such a good idea because that is and still remains a precious memory to us. We had many wonderful memories as a family of four and a walk through the Sacred Grove is among one of my favorite. In fact, the Sacred Grove is the location for many treasured memories....

The first was when Robert purposed to me.  We were headed to the Palmyra, NY pageant and Rob wanted to go early so we could walk around Sacred Grove together. We were meeting some friends who were going to save us a good seat so we didn't feel like we had to rush. It was a beautiful day...except it rained most the time we were there. Thankfully, the trees are so dense that it doesn't really bother you when you are there. Robert purposed to me in front of a "witness tree." There are several witness trees in the Sacred Grove that were said to have been there when Joseph Smith had his first vision about the Book of Mormon. We walked for what seemed like forever and when we finally found one...there was a group of girls sitting on the bench next to it. To make a super sweet and long story a little shorter, we waited till they left and when we walked over he knelt down in the mud and asked me to marry him.  (I said "yes")

We had visited the Sacred Grove many times while we have lived in Upstate New York. Each time, Alexis learned a little more about why it was so special. We visited with Robert's family from Utah and went with our friends on several occasions. Not one memory of our visit is short of a wonderful experience. I love that when you walk through the grove you can see the temple through the trees.

The Sacred Grove is also the place that we were as a family for the last time before Drew had his first seizure and ultimately left our family. We were headed home and despite Robert's usual sense of direction, he took us a little off course and consequently we drove right though Palmyra. We loaded up the stroller and had a wonderful walk through the Sacred Grove that day as a family. We even went back to the witness tree. It was the first time we had shown Alexis where Robert had purposed.

It was a wonderful moment as a family that we were able to share together before our lives were turned upside down. 

I guess the witness tree has witnessed many miraculous things...