New York

Mike and I went on a trip to New York - just the two of us! On Monday morning, July 16th, we drove to Las Vegas, NV then flew to Rochester, NY stopping in Cleavland, Ohio for our connecting flight and a bite to eat (Subway).  We watched a movie on the plane and Mike followed a map closely as he looked out the window for much of the flight.  His sense of direction amazes me and at any given time he could point out on the map the exact spot we were flying over.

We arrived at the Rochester Plaza Hotel and I called home to let the kids know we arrived safely to our destination. Tuesday was our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. We picked up a rental car (Chevy Malibu) and drove north about an hour to Niagara Falls. It was muggy and warm but we thoroughly enjoyed the day. We hiked on the US side of the falls and enjoyed the spectacular view together.

 

We ate lunch at "Top Of The Falls" restaurant which overlooks the falls. I ordered a Caesar Wrap and Mike had Fish & Chips. After shopping at a gift shop we headed back toward Rochester. 

 

We ended up in Charlotte, where the city of Rochester dips its toes into Lake Ontario. We walked along the beach and the boardwalk. It was beautiful.

At Ontario Beach Park we found a carousel and like a couple of youngsters we took a ride on it. When we bought our ticket, the woman at the ticket booth didn't want to make change of our $20 bill, and so she took $1.50 (instead of $2) and considered it full payment. Sweet!

We drove out to Farmington and dropped off some of our belongings at the Comfort Inn and Suites there, where we would be staying on Thursday night. They were good to hold our things so that we didn't have to haul them around NYC with us on Wednesday.

For our anniversary dinner we ate at P.F. Chang's China Bistro. I ordered the Orange Chicken with brown rice and Mike ordered Mongolian Beef with white rice. It was GOOD!

Wednesday morning we were at the airport by 5:00a.m. We flew from Rochester to JFK International Airport and took the Airtrain to the Subway into downtown New York City. Our first stop was the Empire State Building. I couldn't believe how many people were employed there, just to welcome us and direct us to where to go. It seems that at every corner there was someone saying, "Welcome to the Empire State Building!" 

 

What a terrific view of the city from the 86th floor observatory!  We went on the NY Sky Ride (a flight simulator ride) on the second floor of the Empire State Building and got to "fly" over, in, under and around the top New York City attractions. 

From there, we walked to Times Square and then into the Rockefeller Center. We got onto a sky shuttle (elevator) with a glass ceiling and sped to the Top of the Rock for more views of NYC. It took a matter of seconds to get to the 70th floor outdoor deck. Wow!

A view of Central Park:

I enjoyed the view here. There were all kinds of shops and stores on the basement floor and it was a beautiful building in itself. We walked over to the NBC Studio which was next door and saw Hoda Kotb who co-hosts the Today Show as she was leaving work. We saw where Radio City Music Hall is and then walked about a mile to the Hudson River.

We went to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum next. We walked the hanger and the deck and moved pretty quickly through this attraction. Cameron would have loved this one!

Our feet were ready to rest and we were able to rest them as we got on the "Beast" for a speedboat ride that took us past the skyscrapers and out to the Statue of Liberty.  It was great having the wind blow through our hair and water splash over us. Very refreshing and so much fun! 

 We ate at a vendor on the pier (a chicken wrap for me and a Philly cheese steak sandwich for Mike).  After eating we took a 45 min. Water Taxi  ride to South Seaport and our guide shared with us information about the city and places on the waterfront. This photo is of one of the new Twin Towers that is being built.

 I liked South Seaport (it reminded me of San Diego). Here, we ran into the famous Spider Man!

 Our next stop was one I had looked forward to the most: BODIES...The Exhibition. At this exhibit we were able to see the organs and muscular structure of real human bodies. It was fascinating and strengthened my resolve to care for mine. Mike moved through the exhibit fairly quickly, and was patient to let me take my time. After about an hour and a half, we headed across the street back to Seaport.

We saw the famous Brooklyn Bridge and did a little shopping. It started to rain and Mike enjoyed the thunder and watching lightning strike some of the tall buildings. 

It was nearing 5p.m. when we got on the Water Taxi heading back to Midtown. 

We were pretty soaked as we walked back to Times Square to see it all lit up. We bought an umbrella and walked to Penn Station where we got on a train (the Long Island Rail Road) heading out of town to Garden City. On the train we met a nice man and visited with him about his life and New York until it was time for us to get off. 

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Garden City, and this was by far my favorite hotel on our trip. We had a great, busy day and now we were ready to relax. Mike wanted a New York Pizza so we ordered one to be delivered to our room.

At 7:00 a.m.Thursday, we took a taxi to where we caught our train, then transferred to the Subway, then caught the Airtrain to JFK International Airport where we got on a plane and flew back to Rochester.  We rented a Chrysler 200 to drive and spent the day touring Church Historical Sites. We toured the Grandin Building in Palmyra where the Book of Mormon was first published. 

Technology sure has come a long way! It took nearly two years and $5,000 for the first 3,000 copies of the Book of Mormon to be completed from start to finish. Here we also learned that capitol letters for the printing press were kept in the "upper" cases, and the other letters were in the "lower" cases of the print shop. Thus, we get the terms uppercase and lowercase letters!

We went to the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center. 

We hiked the hill and found this monument that acknowledges the place where the angel Moroni delivered the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith, Jr.  We found some similarities in this statue of Moroni and the Lady of Liberty we viewed on the previous day!

  

After seeing the Palmyra, New York Temple, we toured the Smith Home and walked through the Sacred Grove. We had a wonderful day.

In this photo we are in the room Joseph Smith shared with his brothers.

In the Sacred Grove:

On Thursday night we watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was wonderful. I loved it. It was a summary of Book of Mormon stories and brought the scriptures to life. It was a testimony of Jesus Christ.

This marked the 75th anniversary of the pageant and we were able to see a special film (at the Visitors' Center) about the makings and work that goes into putting on this production. What an amazing and inspired process; I loved learning about it. People from all over come to audition for the pageant. Then, they stay for about 3 weeks to rehearse and perform. The entire, amazing show is prepared and presented in that short amount of time. AMAZING!

It rained before the Pageant started. Mike and I ate under a big community tent, buying a BBQ dinner from the local Lion's Club. I met this young "actor" who lives in Salt Lake City. He was very personable and I enjoyed talking with him about his Cumorah Pageant experiences.

We were glad the rain stopped before the pageant began. 

 This scene depicts the "Tree of Life."  The special effects were pretty incredible.

 On Friday morning we drove to Waterloo to the Peter Whitmer Log Home.

I loved this place because of the spirit I felt here. We were able to tour this home where Joseph Smith worked on translating the plates and lived for a short time. The missionaries and volunteers shared some touching stories about early Church History. We also visited a visitor's center and chapel on the site.

Heading back toward the airport, we stopped at an Outlet Mall and did some clothes shopping. I think Mike enjoyed dressing me. He had no problems finding things for me to try on. I ended up with an outfit and he bought a new shirt.

We ate lunch in Rochester at Chipotle Mexican Grill, returned our rental car and got to the airport to find our return flight had been cancelled. It had been a direct flight to Las Vegas. We ended up flying to Cleavland, Ohio (on a delayed flight) and staying the night there. Luckily we found a room at Howard Johnson's (about 10p.m.). In the morning, our flight from Cleavland was delayed about 3 hours. When we got on the plane, a red light went on and we had to wait an hour for diagnostics to be performed. We then had to get off the plane until repairs were made. We spent a few more hours waiting in the airport before our plane was ready to go. Mike was able to get some rest...

 We had lunch at the airport..yes, its another "wrap" for me!

 We were so thankful that our flight delays happened as we were on our way home, and not on our way to New York. We finally got home at about 6p.m. on Saturday. It was a FABULOUS WEEK for us and I didn't mind having Mike to myself for an extra day either, even if it was in the middle of a Cleavland Airport!

Note:  Check out The New York Pass if you are planning a trip to NYC. It will save you $$$ on entry fees and give you great ideas of what you can see and do.

Pioneer Trek

On Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Cari, Trevon, and Sadie said their good-byes and left for a Pioneer Trek in Wyoming. They went with the youth of our stake and spent many hours sewing bonnets and skirts, walking (exercise), and shopping in preparation for it. This picture is the "Before the Trek" picture we took:

For the Trek, the youth met at the Stake Center on Tuesday night. They were divided into "companies," which consisted of two or three "families" each. The families included a "Ma" and "Pa" and about a dozen kids. They listened to a speaker share some pioneer stories and then signed their names to a family flag. They boarded some chartered buses about 10p.m. and spent the night driving (about 10 hours) to Wyoming. After eating breakfast in Rock Springs, Wyoming, they went to Independence Rock. Sadie's Trek family is pictured below:

They sang the National Anthem on top of Independence Rock and looked at the many names carved into the stone. Then they drove to Martin's Cove where they ate lunch and went to the visitor's center there. They split into two groups for an orientation that included a tour of a museum and a pioneer town. With handcarts, they walked four miles to where they would make camp.

After setting up camp, they ate chili and had a fireside. They were told many stories about a protective dog named Oscar. Oscar lives about 12 miles away, but every summer when the Trekkers come, Oscar appears. He watches over everything and makes sure everyone is safe. Some of the stories were pretty neat. Once, Oscar stood in front of a car, not allowing it to drive away. The occupants of the car were a little annoyed until their daughter appeared after having gone to the bathroom. Oscar was making sure she wasn't left behind! 

Martin's Cove was a peaceful, nice, pretty place. They had pancakes & sausage for breakfast. They pushed their handcarts and lived the life of a pioneer for three days, walking about 37 miles total. On Thursday, at Devil's Gate, a boy in Trevon's family (Jeremiah) was playing in the Sweet Water River and sliced his leg open on some rocks. He ended up with 21 stitches! Dr. Last went on the Trek for this very purpose, and all were glad he was there to help. Jeremiah was given a Priesthood Blessing and it ended up being a special experience for Trevon and his Trek family. They traveled four miles in the wind and dust before getting back to camp. They had chicken and potatoes for dinner and then did some square dancing. The "Pony Express" came and delivered letters to each of the kids from their parents back home. My kids said that the devotionals given by their Ma's and Pa's (every evening) were the most spiritual moments they had on the Trek. Sadie was so happy that her best friend Emily was in her family.

On Friday, they ate Mountain Man Mash (left over potatoes mixed with bell pepper, sausage and egg) for breakfast. They got on the buses and moved up the road about 45 min. to the site of where the Willie Handcart Company was. They walked, pushing the handcarts along the trail, stopping every half hour for devotionals along the way. They also witnessed re-inactments of the early pioneers too.  Cari had a bloody nose and ended up riding in the medical cart, pushed by Dr. Last. They took a couple of hours to silently cross the Sweet Water (they called it a "silent crossing"), and the boys carried the girls across the river. Sadie played her violin for two hours and a sweet spirit was felt, for in this very place in 1856, three eighteen-year-old boys belonging to a rescue party carried nearly every member of the Martin Company across the icy stream in the severe cold weather, sacrificing their own lives to save the pioneers.

After setting up camp, they ate "Cafe' Rio" (or something resembling it) and fruit bowls.Then, they broke into their companies (comprising about 33 kids each), for testimony meetings. On Saturday morning they packed up, ate cereal and headed back home. Cari, Trevon and Sadie each had an uplifting experience on the Trek and we were glad that they could walk in the footsteps of the pioneers for a few days. I know their journals share more of their feelings and personal experience. At about 9 p.m. on Saturday we picked them up from the Stake Center, glad to have them back home, safe and well, and ready for a shower!

This photo was the "After Trek" picture we took:

Fourth of July

On the Fourth of July we started our day with a parade.

Cameron was in it with some of his Cub Scout friends, holding a banner at the front of the parade.

Corban still doesn't care much for the LOUD noises that are part of the celebration.

Elise and Corban were able to gather some candy - which they thought was fun.

Corban used his hat to collect his goodies.

Cari, Trevon and Sadie were in Wyoming on a Pioneer Trek. They held out a big flag on top of Independence Rock and sang The Star Spangled Banner. Then, they looked at the names of pioneers and others, carved into the rock. It was a meaningful experience for them.

Back at home, we cleaned out the garage, repaired bicycles and washed windows. It was good to get some "home" work done! For fun, we played with smoke bombs.

 Our city cancelled its fireworks display due to the dry weather conditions and so we hung out at home in the evening too. The kids said it was "the WORST FOURTH OF JULY EVER!" This was due to the fact that we skipped the fun at the park earlier in the day to get some much needed work done. We had a simple BBQ, played the game Disney's Scene-It, and watched an interesting movie about WWII. I admit it would have been a MUCH better day had our whole family been together, but even being the "worst day," I felt it was a good one. I LOVE AMERICA and was glad to place my hand on my heart and reflect on the wonderful freedoms I enjoy - each and EVERY DAY of my life. May those freedoms continue!

River Trip

On Wednesday, June 20th, Mike and Trevon went on a river rafting trip with the Teachers and Priests Quorums and their dads. They went to California, to raft the Middle Fork of the American River, near Sacramento. They spent the night near Lake Tahoe at a friend's home. They woke early the next morning and drove two hours to the put in point.

They had a total of five rafts, each with a guide, as well as two gear boats. All food and clean-up was provided by the guides from All Outdoors. It was great to just ride and have fun. The rapids ranged from Class II to Class IV in difficulty (Class V being the highest). Mike's boat was the only one to lose people in a rapid (but he stayed in)! They saw many historical sights from the 49'ers mining in the area too.

It was a two day rafting trip, camping one night on the river. Trevon is in the photo above (fourth from the left), going through Tunnel Chute Rapid (Click here for a sample of the fun.) They drove along Lake Tahoe on the way home, returning on Saturday evening.