My extended family had planned a reunion in Palmyra, NY for 2020 to attend the church's final Hill Cumorah Pageant. Of course everything got cancelled in 2020 so we decided to make a plan to meet up in Palmyra for 2021. Originally the church said it would do a final pageant in 2021 but then it got cancelled and this was really sad because my kids had never seen the Hill Cumorah Pageant and it was such a big part of my childhood I really wanted them to experience it. Maybe the church will bring it back in the future but as of right now there will be no more pageant in Palmyra 😞
Despite the cancelled pageant we had a wonderful time in New York starting in Buffalo where I spent a large chunk of my childhood. I lived there from 3rd grade until graduating from High School. My kids had never seen where I grew up so I had a lot of fun showing them around my old neighborhood and where I went to school. Not all the Johnson family met up in Buffalo but my parents were able to come, Tanya, Riann, DeNae (plus family) and Paige (plus family). It was a great time!
First stop, our old stomping grounds in South Buffalo!!
In front of our old house in South Buffalo. The house was painted green when we grew up there and there was a garage that has since been torn down. Still fun to show my kids my old house: 355 Woodside Avenue!
Walked from our old house about a mile to Cazenovia Park. I spent so many summers making this trek to the park each day with my sisters to grab a free lunch in the park, play at the playground and splash around in the fountain. So many good memories at this park.
We had to stop at Abbott Pizza for lunch. My older siblings, Del and Eryn both had jobs at this pizza parlor in high school so this was our families "go to" place for pizza and wings. It was as delicious as I remember!
My high school! Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (also known as BAVPA) I was a theater major in high school and had so much fun performing with my theater class. Sadly this building is no longer a school, not sure what will happen to it in the future but glad I could show my boys where I spent many happy years.
Riann and Paige outside Bennett Park Montessori where I went to school from 4th through 8th grades.
My high school was just about 1 mile from downtown Buffalo. I walked downtown with my friends many times after school to just go shopping or grab a bite to eat. This is our amazing City Hall. Unfortunately the observation deck on the top floor was closed due to Covid, it's such a great view of the city from the top. We did walk inside the main lobby to enjoy the beautiful art deco decorations. Buffalo was the place to be in the early 1900's and many of the downtown buildings are just gorgeous!
Fantastic mural inside City Hall
I had the wonderful opportunity to get together with my dear friend Pam Snapp and her extended family. Growing up Pam was my best friend. I was either at her house all weekend or she was at my house from about 4th grade until we finished high school. She was at my house so often my mom added her to our weekly chore chart 😆 She was more of a sister than a friend. Growing up it was just her and her mom (Gloria) so she would come to my house to get a feel for living in a big family and I would go to her house to escape the chaos of a large family. All her Aunts lived just within a few miles of her so I grew up hanging out with all her Aunts and cousins. I loved that we could make it work to get together during my quick trip to Buffalo. I love the Bandle family and all my memories of their kindness while I was growing up!
After our day exploring Buffalo we took a day to enjoy Niagara Falls. We could only see the Falls from the New York side because the border to Canada is still closed due to Covid but we enjoyed what we could see and experience. I'm sure we can always go back to the Falls and see the view from Canada one of these days!
On the Maid of the Mist boat tour. These little blue ponchos really didn't help much, I got completely soaked as we viewed the horseshoe falls!
Totally soaked after the boat ride! Still super fun and I'm so glad my boys will have this great memory of Niagara Falls:)
A little staircase leads you to an unclose and personal encounter with the waterfall. So much power cascading over the falls!
Had to make a yummy stop at Ted's hot dogs for lunch.
After lunch we hiked all around Goat Island which is right in the middle of the Niagara River. Had to get a photo near the "no water entry" sign. If you accidentally fell in the river it would be a very quick trip down river and then over the falls!!
There are some gorgeous little falls in the Niagara river before it flows over the brink of Niagara Falls.
We went to dinner at the Anchor Bar, the original home of the Buffalo chicken wing. Their wings were "ok" but not fabulous. There are definitely better places in Buffalo to get chicken wings. Still a super fun evening reliving memories of Buffalo with my family (including Pam that came to dinner too)
The Johnson crew stayed so long at Anchor Bar they closed the bar before we left. It's hard to leave when you are having such a great time:)
We went back to the Falls in the evening so we could see them lit up at night! The colors changed from greens to reds to blues. It was really pretty.
On our way from Buffalo to Palmyra we stopped at the houses we had lived in prior to our families move to Buffalo. First stop was "Burgers Hollow" in Groveland Station, NY. I lived in this house from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. I have so many memories of playing in the forest and streams around this house. I remember our cat having kittens in the basement. I remember weeding the enormous garden my mom had. I remember we had 3 rabbits. I remember climbing trees and swimming in the "swimming hole" I remember cold mornings gathered around our wood stove for warmth. I love my early childhood growing up miles from any neighbor and memories of making up games and fun for ourselves in the woods.
We also visited "Buds House" on Marrowback Hill, NY. I lived in this house from about age 2-5 years old. I remember ice skating on the pond in our yard. I remember sleeping in the attic with my sisters all snuggled on a few mattresses. There was only a ladder to access the attic. I remember making an igloo one winter. I don't have many memories of this place but I do remember being outside a lot and exploring the forests. Again, this was a very remote location with no close neighbors so mostly I have memories of being with my siblings. We were really poor when I was little and I'm sure this caused a lot of stress for my parents and even my older siblings, but as a young child I have no memory of feeling poor. We always had beans for dinner and that was enough to keep us fed. We had loving parents and siblings. I had a beautiful childhood.
3 little cuties at the Hill Cumorah visitor center
At the top of the Hill Comorah with the Angel Moroni statue
Group photo in the Sacred Grove. My mom was having trouble walking far so they had these neat wheelchairs you could borrow for the walk:)
DeNae and I had to recreate this photo taken from 1987! We couldn't find the same "Sacred Grove" sign so we had to settle for this little sign. I think we still look pretty dang cute!
We spent a day at Letchworth State Park. We spent many days here camping as a family and with church groups or friends when we were growing up.
Del was our master griller for lunch:)
Julian and Remy had fun jumping from the diving boards!
Genesee Falls at Letchworth State Park
There were 3 main waterfalls you could hike to. We got to see 2 of the 3.
3 exhausted boys and our summer vacation has really just started:)
How cute are these baby ducks all huddled together? We saw them while waiting for our boat ride down the Erie Canal.
Our whole crew. It's a big group when you get all the Johnson's together. And we were missing most of Kristen's family. Only Joanna Porter came to represent her family. This photo is also missing Mom and Dad...they almost missed the boat!
Cousins having fun playing cards on the boat. It was a rainy day but still a fun and interesting ride down the Erie Canal.
Our boat went through lock #32 on the canal. It was fun seeing how the lock system worked to get boats up and down the canal.
Tia was outside enjoying the rain with little Emmett
All the Johnson kids (minus Kristen)
There was a fish farm near our hotel so Hyrum and I took Cecil and Graham to feed the fish. They had so much fun.
The worms were crazy huge and they loved playing with their new "pets"
The last night of the reunion we all got together in the hotel lobby for a yummy dinner and games. Lots of fun times chatting with my family and laughing so hard at all the crazy things we remember:) I love my family and I'm so glad we had a chance to get together as a group. This photo has Joanna Porter sitting in for Kristen Porter who couldn't make the trip.
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