What A Trip!

We just returned last week from a fun filled trip back East. Our niece was being baptized which we wanted to be a part of. So we decided while we were back there we would make the most of it and see some sites. We covered a lot of ground really quick. We ended up in states I don't think we were supposed to be traveling through but we did and yet we still made it to all our destinations safely! There are so many more pictures but this post would be extremely long, it's already long enough. Enjoy!

Day 1: A LOT of air travel!

With the weather not super good we ended up having a lot of turbulence which made for some wild rides. I thought Maddy was going to budge her onions. Fortunately she didn't and the rest of the flights were fairly uneventful for her.

When we arrived in Connecticut (well actually we landed in New York) my little brother Steve was there to pick us up. My mom, sister and nephew had flown in earlier in the day so they were also waiting for us to arrive. We were welcomed with some great news . . . my brother and sister in law are expecting . . . but not just 1 we are getting 2 babies. Wow- How exciting. I think this may be the end of my parents grand kids and what a way to end. . . Twins. I am so happy for their family but I am sad they live so far away!

Day 2: New York, New York, New York

We rode the train into the city which was fun, not a way I would want to have to get to work each day but for a day it was cool. We headed straight for the Empire State building and then to the Staten Ferry for a ride out past the Statue of Liberty. We had an interesting adventure on the subway to get to the ferry! We had to ride the subway to get there, while we were on our way Brett happened to notice a guy with a tool that is used everyday on an elevator. He inquired why this man had the tool to which he replied "cuz that's what I do for a living" Brett said "me too" and they were instantly friends. They talked about different things and then asked where we were headed. When he replied we were headed to the Statue of Liberty the whole car GASPED. We were headed the wrong way, we were headed to the Bronx to which they told us we would not want to. At the next stop they quickly got us off and directed us in the right way. The whole car so kind to us, who says New Yorkers are not polite? (just kidding we did run into a few) but Thanks to those kind people for getting some tourists headed in the right direction!)While we waited for the ferry to arrive we decided to get a little snack. Cole HAD to have a piece of Mississippi pie @ $3.50 a for a slice of heaven he said.

We went to go on the NBC tour but it was sold out so we wandered through the store, checked out Rockefeller center, and seen Alec Baldwin filming out on the street. We headed to the financial district to check it out. Went and walked through the Trinity church and wandered over to ground zero. Mind you there is not much to see but construction however, there is a sense of awe and wonder in the area. How was there not more destruction? While we meandering around we were stopped and Maddy was asked answer some questions for a XM radio show (Kind of like jay walking on Leno). She even got the question correct :)

Then we headed to Madame Tussuad's wax museum. Amazing is what I have to say. I also have to say it freaked me out somewhat as well. They looked so real it felt like they should have been talking to us.
I wonder what these people's families think of the ones who have past on? See what I said about freaky.
We stopped in lots of different stores checking things out. M & M store was fun but there was no way we were going to pay what they wanted for a pound of M & M's. Heck we could have got them at the store down the street for a lot cheaper!

Wicked

I was really looking forward to this part of the trip! I am not a OZ fan but when friends of mine had mentioned how much they loved this play I thought maybe it wasn't so bad. Then I got the soundtrack and fell in love with it! I was not disappointed in the show. It was also fun to have Steve and Kirsty come into the city for the evening as well! (I was really glad when they got us on the right train to get back home and didn't have to worry about being on the wrong train)

Time Square at night. It was amazing how different it was from day time to night time. I could not believe that at midnight people were sitting in the middle of the Time Square chatting, drinking coffee and bustling about. So much activity!

Day 3: Hanging out with the family and West Point Military Academy

The boys were enthralled with Owen's bugs. He had a caterpillar the boys were playing with. The kids played games and kept each other entertained!

We headed to West point which should have been only a 45 min drive. LOL- we had a GPS to help guide us "Wanda" as in we wanda where we are. I think Brett was slightly frustrated by the time we finally arrived at our destination but we did arrive and were able to go on a tour of the grounds and spent time in the museum. Amazing! Brett could have looked at the different weapons all day long! We thought of leaving the kids behind, after listening to the structure these cadets endure we thought the kids could really have learned some discipline! May we could get a congressman's recommendation for them and start working of signing them up :) There is a chapel on the grounds that was amazing! Nothing was out of place, the hymns books were lined up exact. There was no variation. Chairs were not out of place either. Man if I could have my house that in tacked it would be great!

Day 4: The reason for the vacation - Cora's Baptism

What a great day for Cora! We are so pleased we were able to attend such a special occasion with her! Thanks Cora Jane for letting us be a part of your special day! We Love You!

Madison was asked to play the piano during the time Cora and Steve had to change and she did a wonderful job! Cora's school teacher leaned forward to tell me how impressed she was that Maddy did not look nervous. Cora and her family are such an example to us in that they are wonderful missionaries. They invited so many people not of our faith to celebrate in Cora's special day and I would think the majority of them came, which also shows how important their family is to everyone else! The spirit in that meeting was something I have never experienced before.

After the baptism we went "duck pin bowling" What a blast. It is so much harder than regular bowling. The ball is tiny (no finger holes) and the pins are short and fat.

Day 5: Checking out Connecticut, Relaxing and General Conference

We had a very relaxing day. I know I took a nap that lasted longer than it should have but I was worn out! We drove around Connecticut for a little while. The trees were beautiful and yet they had not yet finished changing. The trees are so thick on the side of the roads you kind of feel like your in the canyon constantly waiting to peak and you never do. Julie and I had a great time playing "play doh" with the kids. At one point I think we were the only 2 left at the table and we were having a great time. It was such a nice day just being with Steve's family watching the kids interact. I also found I have a greater appreciation that we are able to just turn on the T.V. or the radio and bam conference is right there. Not so much when you live in a different state. We had to listen to it on the computer and then the boys were able to attend the priesthood session at their stake house. I thought it was cool for Steve to have family to attend with!

Day 6: Palmyra , New York

This was our longest adventure of the trip and we were very much relying on "Wanda". I am pretty sure this was when we ended up in states we were not suppose to. It was to be a 5 1/2 hour drive but it took us a little longer than that. We ended up with some nice toll rode attendants who helped us on our way which was very appreciated!

Our first stop was the "Hill Cumorah". We went to the visitor center and looked around and then the missionaries told us to head on out to the monument. Before we left he told the kids (with a wink) to roll down the hill. It was amazing to think that not only the prophet and Moroni were on this very spot but to think that so were the Nephites and the Lamanites. We have never done any church history sites expect for around here so it was a neat experience for us. OK so we are getting ready to head out when the kids decide to roll down the hill. The boys had gone down the hill a couple of times and Maddy had only half way. We told them one last time they were getting tired from going down and walking all the way back up. So we are at the top laughing at the way their bodies are rolling and bouncing back up off the ground when all of a sudden you see Maddy's flip flop fly back behind her foot. She lands and yells up "uh- Mom, were in trouble" remember the flip flop the shop teacher fixed? Well it was the other foot. So our sweet little darling had no shoes the rest of the day and we had just begun. She was a trooper and had one shoe off and one shoe on the whole day. We then headed to the Smith farm and the Sacred Grove. Humbling is all I can say! It was a neat experience to have my family together at such an important part of our church history. Could I have done what they did for the church?

The missionary who took us on the tour was from Bountiful so Brett asked him where and very quickly found out that this missionary knew Brett's dad. He told him how much he looked like his dad, he was older and had hung out with Brett's dad's older brother. It is such a small world. By the time we had walked through the Sacred Grove Maddy's foot was so dirty she went into the bathroom and washed and wrapped it up in paper towels.

After that we headed to where the book of Mormon was first published. Our missionary asked an interesting question to our kids. . . "why wasn't the Book of Mormon published now when it would have been much easier to print, with computers and the simplicity of things now?" I had never thought of that but she went on to tell them it was because things on the Internet and emails are so easy to change that the truth would have been corrupt. It was much harder for them to print and such but it is correct! Thanks goodness they did not give up.

Day 7: Boston

This was our easiest driving adventure until we actually got in the city and "Wanda" was telling us to turn left when we were in a tunnel and a left would have been a wall of cement. She was having a rough day she kept checking out on us but by this time we had learned not to believe everything she said.
I love this town! This is one city I would love to go back to and spend a lot more time. There is so much history and so much to take in. There is a great shopping area there that I think we could have spent more time in. We didn't buy much except Cole bought his cool looking belt buckles but it was sure fun to look around. We went into the State House and looked out a window with a balcony that the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time. So much of our countries history started there. We needed more time to accomplish what we wanted!!

Day 8: Heading home

We were sad to leave! We spent the day just hanging around with Steve and Kirsty and little Owen (the girls were in school). I was amazing how quickly Kirsty's belly grew while we were there. She is so cute pregnant! I'm sure they were ready to have their house back to normal but it is hard to leave!!!!! I love this family so much and I miss them. Thanks for letting us invade you for a week We Love You!!!