Play Time

I found this little set-up after Addi had finished playing one day.
I thought it was so cute and just like her social self to set up a well attended picnic in the park (as I was told) where everyone arrived by bus (you can barely see the headlight on the right side).

The Votes are In!

Meet Wilbur

By a 22% margin you have chosen Wilbur as the name for our friendly neighbor.
He actually lives in the tree just outside but when it rains he comes to find more shelter on the porch.
This is the closest shot I could get (I do not have a telephoto) with out frightening the poor creature away.

P.S. I still think it should have been Hickory.

Life at No. 9

We are finally getting settled in our new house (No. 9) we are the first floor with our friends and neighbors Taylor, Stacy and Theo upstairs.

After 2 weeks of un-packing and organizing and I thought I'd share some pictures.

Addi on the front porch...which I am absolutely thrilled to have after being in apartments for so long.

Living room view from entry (not pictured because it isn't organized yet)

The floors are to die for!

Dining/Play Room...

Mostly Play Room

Awesome built-in hutch

Bright Kitchen with a bar big enough to serve meals on!

Bathroom (that's our cleaning lady)

Addi and Theo's room with her new favorite game, memory, spread out and ready to play.

Backyard smallish though it may be is heaven! We haven't had a yard for years!!

Top 10 things I LOVE about our new place:

10. water pressure (like air, it's no big deal unless you don't have it)

9. only 5 stairs to the front door! (unlike the 3 flights we've been used to)

8. quiet street (no construction or tow trucks!)

7. the hutch...I love it, even though I don't have much to display

6. YARD! totally fenced in. I'm including the 2 huge porches and the large paved bike-riding area (also fenced)

5. Basement...you have no idea unless you've done without one.

4. working fireplace, so cute and cozy I almost can't wait for winter...I said almost.

3. The gorgeous hard wood floors

2. sweet neighbors

1. feels like home

*conspicuously absent from the photos is our room, it has become the place for things thus far without a place but it has a huge closet and plenty of room for the bed...we were worried for a minute there.

Palmyra or Bust!

We set out on Friday evening for Palmyra, NY. We are trying to take advantage of our proximity to Church and other Historical sights when we can, and Palmyra is a mere 6 hour drive...that's like going to Vegas back home. We arrived late on Friday night and were up early on Saturday ready to "see something."

The hike up the Hill Cummorah is steep but not too strenuous to stop for a pose.


The monument at the top is quite spectacular with Moroni on the Top.
(the "smoke" you see is a cloud but I thought it was a cool effect)

Addi could not get enough of the side-by-side water fountains.

We then went to the Grandin Printing Press where the Book of Mormon was originally printed. It was very interesting to see the whole process...no wonder books were such a prized possesion in those days!

At this point it was getting pretty hot and we decided a refreshing dip in the pool and a nap was just what we needed before the pageant that night.

Saturday night we went to the pageant, it was very good of course but the highlight was just being "on vacation" with Randall and Addi.

Showing off her sticker in front of the Pageant Set

The lights in the bathroom were red...I couldn't figure out why.

Getting a little bored waiting for the show to begin.

I have now shots of the actual pageant -they asked us not to use flash photography, but that didn't stop the rest of the audience-We were pretty far back anyway.

On Sunday after church we patronized the Visitor's Centers at the Hill Cummorah and the Smith Farm. We also walked through the Sacred Grove. It rained in the morning so by the time we got to the Grove everything had been freshly washed...it was amazingly beautiful.

*for another "news worthy" story about the visitor's center check out our news reel.

Replica of the Smith cabin

Addi on the Smith farm
(Palmyra Temple)

Doorstep of the Smith "frame house"

Sacred Grove

Miscelaneous Photos from Palmyra

Flower in the Sacred Grove

Stone sink in the Smith Home


Hill Cummorah

Pageant Actors

4th of July...a big day

On the blustery morning of the 4th we went with our friends the Harris' to St. Georges, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. This island has a cool old fort for the kids to play around in and for the adults to brush up on their long forgotten history lessons.

For Randall and Addi the ferry rides were the highlight of the trip.

BOSTON

This fort was used during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, WWI and WWII.
It was used primarily as a prisoner of war camp, and it also defended the harbor.

Probably the door to the dungeon...MOO HA HA HA HA!

Gunnery Sergent Addi

The kids' favorite part of the fort was exploring all of the dark and "secret" passages.

Exploring

The day was not without injuries however, poor little Ben tripped and scraped his knee.

Toby, getting a closer look.

Bringing in a specialist.

The kids loved to watch the splashing wake the boat made...
I believe they were also watching for sharks.

Land Ho!!

We ended the day with our second trip in as many days to the Esplanade to see the fireworks. We got spots on the other side of the Charles, where they piped in the music from the concert. Besides the fireworks getting home was the most eventful part...so eventful that we're pretending it didn't happen. We didn't get home until almost 2am and we got up the next morning at 7 to move into our new apartment.

Who would guess that this innocent face would soon cruelly trick the overtly Mormon Mormons.
See below for the whole story.

FINALLY!!!
The fireworks were pretty sweet.
Too bad I found the "perfect spot" right behind the trees.

*I really did feel terrible about the whole thing for a while but then I got over it...here's how it went. As we were merrily talking with our friends on the blanket waiting for the fireworks to begin someone noticed a large group of people near us that seemed "peculiar" if you get my drift. First we noticed the chorus line of arm-in-arm swaying to the music, then there was the swing dancing in the middle of the road, the staggering number of children (comparative to typical East Coast families), and then finally someone noticed a little girl proudly wearing her BYU t-shirt. You could tell that they were trying to attract attention while pretending that this is just their everyday "joyful" behavior. So we started joking about how funny it would be if someone went up to them and told them that there was something different about them...a light in their eyes, etc. We joked about it the entire night and then finally after the fireworks were over Todd (yes I'm using your name) said this is the last chance to talk to these people. SO being the apparent idiot that I am, I went over to them with my friend Ashley for support and we started up a conversation. I dropped in all of the shining eyes, and "how many kids do you have!!" stuff without being too overt while playing dumb about Mormons, it started to go south when I told them I didn't know what a stake was (that was my big lie) so my friend and I high-tailed it out of there quickly and when we re-told the story T told me I had sealed my damnation by denying the stake...which may be true, but in the end I feel like I gave those people a gift!! Testimony meetings from here to Utah are going to be full of those mothers saying how proud they were of their children who shone brighter than the fireworks that 4th of July.