The Stoner Family: Western NY

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Western NY

We had a great trip to Western NY early in the summer. All of the Stoner family met us there to have a little fun. Our main purpose for the trip was to remember Grandpa Stoner. He passed away last January. We love him and miss him. His gift to us was a great reunion with all of the family.

We visited Old Fort Niagara on the banks of Lake Ontario. The Lake looked like the ocean to me. It was enormous. The Fort was very cool, especially for Matthew and Benjamin. What boy doesn't want to see an old drawbridge, castle, cannons, and guns?

This is the drawbridge, and entrance to the fort. The French and British owned the fort at different times during battles for territory.

You can see Mr. Stoner with the rest of our tour walking toward the castle where all of the soldiers stayed.Lots of stone, fireplaces, and huge rooms. The most shocking tid bit of information I learned is that the soldiers washed their heavy uniforms in urine! They saved urine in a big pot until it turned to ammonia, then scrubbed and soaked their clothing in it. I'm so thankful for my delicious smelling apple mango tango gain detergent!

Benjamin, with a French soldier. He showed us how to load and shoot the musket. It was very loud and exciting!

Matthew stands at the entrance to the castle.

We also drove to Niagara on the Lake. It was the cutest Canadian town! There were the most beautiful flowers everywhere. This is Lauren posing for the pic outside of a very fancy restaurant.

There were several hat shops. My girls were told to quit taking pics of the hats. Lauren felt very offended at that. I think the store owners are afraid of copy cats. They want to keep their hat creations as original as possible.

Grandpa Stoner,took us to visit the Peter Whitmer farm in Fayette, NY. It was here that his great grandfather was the caretaker of the farm. At the time, the Stoner's were not members of the LDS church. Later, their son, Harold, worked on the Joseph Smith Farm in Palmyra. This is where Harold was eventually baptized. I really loved hearing this history.