Last day in NYC

This is our last day in NYC, this is our view out of the window of the hotel. We are just a few blocks from time square. As you can see we were again blessed with gorgeous weather :)
We went down to the World Trade Center memorial. This is a view of the current construction. They have a great visitor center with tour guides from actual survivors of 9/11. Unfortunately they didn't start for a few more hours. We did the self guided tour and it is very emotional. Their are quotes and time stamps from survivors about what was happening during the attack. There was also a large wall of missing persons posters, as well as pictures of all the victims. Jenn felt so confused while we were there, since she had always been able to tell her directions by the towers. She was completely lost and stunned at the empty hole that is now there.
This is a picture of the Fire Station across the street from the towers. There are two large posters with pictures of each fireman that lost his life during the attack. All you want to do is wish this is all a dream and it never happened.
After the tour of the towers we went up to Soho, one of Jenn's favorite NY sites. Amazingly it has all changed and they no longer have the shopping areas that I used to love browsing through. So we went home for some downtime as we both were exhausted and took a nap. We had to wake up after a bit so we could get to Mamma Mia matinee. It was a lot of fun and a great show!

Here is another picture from Times square. We have had a great trip

Sunny and bright in NYC

Here is a picture of St Patricks Cathedral by Rockefeller center. I am practically laying on the ground to try to get the towers in. However they are just to big. It's an amazing cathedral complete with areas to pray to various saints, stain glass windows, and a confessional. This is a picture inside the cathedral. It is huge and gorgeous and amazing, one of my favorite places to visit in New York

We found Kayla's store, I wonder how much she makes a month!

Here is time square on a Friday afternoon. Notice the perfect weather again? I think it is becoming a theme for our trip

We did a lot of shopping and stopped in at the Today show and Fox news. Fox news had screens down so Mom didn't get on TV. However Jenn was in the crowd at the Today show. We were hoping ABC would do their concert series since our hotel is a block from Bryant Park, but no luck there. Mom has done something to her knee and is trying to soak it back to health tonight. We miss everyone and wish you were all here with us! Another update tomorrow from Ground Zero and Mamma Mia

Witch Trial

This was our tour guide that explained a lot of history about the witch trials.

This is an example of a trial for Elizabeth Proctor. The actors did very well. Luckily Elizabeth was pregnant and by the time she delivered they had abolished witch trials. Note to self, if you want to make a mockery of the justice system, don't accuse the Governor's wife of being a witch

This is a reinactment of a 70 year old man that refused to state if he was guilty or not guilty. By choosing either option he would lose all of his property and money. So they did a torture that consisted of placing him in a ditch with a board on top of him. They would then ask him how he pled. He would state "more weight!" They kept putting a heavy stone on and asking him the question every few hours. He lasted 3 days before he died from the pressure of the stones. His family was able to keep their money and property since he never stated a plea

This is a picture of a brillant tree in fall colors behind a tree that has already dropped its leaves.

Another picture of a hillside covered in various colors ... brillant orange, red, yellow and green. You can only see trees or water on the side of the freeway. Occasionally it will break open to a town but usually just trees. Gorgeous drive!

Witch Trials and Fall Colors

The fall is just beginning to change colors in New England. This morning we drove up to Salem Massachusetts to see the witch trials and museums. Here is a picture we took through the window so the colors are not truly as brilliant as they are in real life

This is the view we woke up to from our hotel in Quincy. We thought we were in for a day of rain, but we lucked out once again with gorgeous weather and blue skies!

This is a reenactment of the witch dungeon, complete with gallows and what the actual dungeon looked like. It was very depressing, the size of your jail cell depending on what you could afford. Some were just big enough for you to stand in and were called the "coffin cells" It was very dark and hard to take pictures so you will have to come out and see it for yourself someday.

Here is a close up of Grandma all locked up in public. Everyone in the town was required to show up for public hangings. If you did not show up then you must be a witch. The youngest one to watch was a 4 year old girl whose mother was being hung. Very very sad.

Boston Part 2

for anyone that has ever complained about the size of their room or bed, here is what sailors had to sleep in. Imagine 250 of these hanging in a room the size of Grandma's living and kitchen room combined. Here is a picture showing how close together the hammocks were

Another picture of a cannon, they are chained down to try to keep them from flying across the room once they are fired. Most of the boys that brought gun powder around to the cannons were being trained to be officers and start out around 12 years old.

Here is a picture from the side of the USS Constitution, there are 5 levels, and each level you go down the ceiling gets lower. Currently they only let you go down one level. Back in the 90's when you could tour you could down all the way to the bottom. By then the ceiling was around 4 feet tall. They are currently refurbishing the boat to be ready for the 200th Anniversary of the war of 1812. Although this ship was in over 40 battles, it never lost a fight.
Here is a picture of a current Navy ship, the sailors on the USS constitution are all currently enlisted in the Navy and the ship is docked in the Navy yard along with the newer ships.

Here is a reflection off the Hancock building. There were certain rules that made building a large skyscraper next to this church impossible. They got around it by creating a reflection of the church into their building. They also have a sloped roof so that sunlight can reach the stained glass windows in the morning and evening hours.

Mom and Jenn in Boston Part 1

So guess what happened when we went through security at the airport???? Mom had her small aerosol hairspray and almost empty lotion taken away. Somehow her pillow was "misplaced" during the search because we couldn't find it later. Jenn had the lovely pleasure of being "patted down" by a female security office because her jeans and hoodie were too baggy. I laughed through the whole experience while my mom was freaking out thinking they weren't going to let us on the plane.

My mom has really bad luck with always being in a seat with a baby behind her. There were two toddlers on the entire plane and guess where they sat. I told her she needs to offer up some positive thinking to get rid of her "luck". She didn't appreciate that comment. We got lost a few times but I still knew where I needed to be headed, there were were times Mom said I was going the wrong way. I just laughed and said ... You have been to Connecticut how many times??

We are in Boston! Weather could not have been better, in fact it was the best weather they have had in awhile. Here are some pics of the Boston Skyline with the clear blue sky in the background
Another picture of Boston taken from over by the USS Constitution the oldest Navy warship still in commission.

Here is a a picture from the side of the USS constitution

They have 44 cannons on the ship that is built from Live Oak from Georgia. It is so dense the cannon balls from other ships bounced off the side giving them the nickname of "Old Ironsides.

This is a picture of the officer quarters, both Mom and I had to scrunch down because the ceiling was about 5 feet high.

Merry Christmas

Our lives have been busy, just read our kids blogs and know that we were there in the background for the most part. The family continues to grow. Tracy and Mckay are expecting a baby girl in February. We are excited for them. We are happy to have Wade and Amy back on the west coast even better that they are in Richfield. Jennifer is finishing her clinicals and working full time while maintaining a beautiful home. She will become a respiratory therapist in August. Natalie and Scott are busy with their church callings and keeping up with the boys and raising a teenager. Travis and Jessica are just trying to find more time for vacations. Same old routine at our house, with a couple vacations here and there to change things up. It's nice to get together as a family and enjoy everyones company and see how the kids are growing. Our weather has turned cold and I've shopped until I've dropped. Joe has had a hacking cough for the past week. It has driven me out of the house more than normal. Hopefully for our sakes he will get better soon. Come and see us. Our home is open anytime.