new york, new york--the end!

Alright, last post on New York, I promise! 

On our last day, we were able to go to the Manhattan New York LDS Temple. I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the city was always so busy. It never quieted down, it was just constantly going. It was fun, but it was so peaceful to step inside the temple (which is just on a busy New York street) and feel the calm, quiet peace which temples offer. I didn't get a picture of the outside of the temple, so this is one from the church's website.

It was such a different experience than the temples back in Utah, yet it was exactly the same. It is hard to explain, so I'll leave it at that. It was such a great way to end our trip. In order to make it to the airport in time, we didn't have time to do a session, so we did sealings instead. As always, it was wonderful! Temples truly are a "refuge from the storm."

So thankful we could have this trip! Until next time, New York, peace out.

new york, new york--wall street

 While on Wall Street, we had to stop and see The Bull. I had never heard of it before, but I guess it is a big-time symbol of Wall Street and what it is all about. We didn't want to wait in line to get a picture, so this is as close as we could get. That's okay, the guy posing by the bull got a good one for us. :)

While there, we also went to the Museum of American Finance. They had a running total of our national debt. Kind of depressing, to say the least.

 This is a monopoly game that was made out of real gold and real diamonds...not so depressing!

 Jake reading up on finance stuff...

 Great statue of George Washington on the street. Can I just say I am a total fan of our founding fathers?

 Here we are with Wall Street behind us.

It was nice to go and see Wall Street in person. You always hear about it in the news and in movies, so it is nice to have an idea of what it is really like.

new york, new york--9/11 Memorial

Things I don't want to forget about the memorial:

* As can be expected, the security on the memorial was unbelievable. We went through check, after check, after check to ensure the memorial and the visitors were kept safe.

* It felt like a sacred place. There was an unbelievable spirit there of sadness and reverence.

* The story of the Survivor Tree. The tree was found in the rubble, after the attacks, in the plaza of the World Trade Center. It was taken to another spot and nourished back to health, and then replanted in its original spot. Such a poignant symbol for the survivors of that day.

*It was unreal to see all of the names of those who lost their lives in the attacks. I knew it was a big number, but something about seeing all of the names in person--it seemed to make it clearer as to how many lives were actually lost.

*Seeing all of the names also made it harder to comprehend how humans could do this to so many other human beings. I cannot understand how many lives were lost simply because of hate. 

* The waterfall memorials, which are placed in the same spots as were the Twin Towers, were stunning. Simply put, they were beautiful.

So few words for all of the things I felt. God bless the USA.

new york, new york--the sights

Well, I suppose it has been a little while. Things have just been so busy around here that I can't seem to find make time to blog. Life is being lived, though, so all is well! 

Speaking of being busy, now that it almost October, I'm going to write about our trip we took back in July. Jake was able to go to New York on a work trip for a little over a week. We decided to have me fly out and meet  him after his trip. I had never been to New York, and it was a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I must say, though, I was happy to get back home. The noise and busyness of the city were unreal; I missed the calmness of back home. However, it was awesome to go and visit for a few days!

One thing before I continue...I left my memory stick at home. I could not believe it when I got my camera out and realized what I had done. I was physically sick. We tried to find one to buy in the city, but to no avail. So, this once in a lifetime trip was recorded by Jake's i-pod and the few pictures on my camera that I could take without the memory stick. Ah, such a sad thing...

Anyways, life went on. Jake had been there for ten days before I got there, so he knew the city pretty well. And we left M back home with my parents, so we were able to jam-pack our days with seeing the city and what it had to offer. This post is just on some of the fun things we were able to do. 

 The LEGO Store at Rockefeller Center. It was incredible to see what can be made out of those plastic bricks. The only thing I could think of while in the store was, "My brother has got to see this!" He was kind of obsessed with the things as a kid! 

 This is one of the cathederals we were able to see. This is terrible, but I can't even remember the name of this one. It was beautiful. It was under construction, but it was still open to the public. I find it intriguing to learn more about how other people worship and try to find peace in this troubled world. It was a nice contrast from the busyness that was outside, to the calm that could be felt inside the chapel.

 Grand Central Station. If there is one thing I learned about New Yorkers, it is that they go non-stop. Always somewhere to be; always a train to catch... 

I mentioned this back here, but Jake and I were able to go to Wicked, the musical. It.was.INCREDIBLE! I want to do it again! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip! During the show, we sat next to a couple from Canada who are members of our same church. We were able to visit with them during and after the show.

 Want to know another highlight of our trip? The Shake Shack. I cannot even put into words how wonderful this place was other than my mouth is watering looking at this picture! We may have gone there more than once in our four-day stay...

Here I am in front of the American Museum of Natural History. We had like 15 minutes to walk through before the museum closed. It was fast, but still neat to see.

 

 Central Park. Um, wow. This park is beyond huge! We only walked through a portion of it, and I was still tired! It was nice to see people out and about doing things in the park.

Here we are at the Apple Store. Jake is standing in front of the store, and me in front of the elevator. The actual store is underground.

 

The stores, the stores, the stores! So cool! Jake let me pick out a few things from Tiffany's...okay, maybe not...

                                                          Cake Boss Shop, New York.

                                     In New York, with New Jersey behind us across the water.

So many fun things we were able to do and places we were able to see!

Labor Day in the Uintas

This year for Labor Day we decided to drive up to the Uintas. We walked around Mirror Lake. It was beautiful! After that, we drove to Heber and ate at Dairy Keen. It is this little fast food joint that is amazingly delicious! We had a nice time getting away for the day. 

farewell birthday month

My siblings and I have this unique thing in common where we were all born in August. Yes, all of us.

"What?!" you say. Yes, all of us. And it wasn't planned that way; we just all decided to make our big debuts in the same month.

Growing up, my parents were good to try and celebrate each of us individually on our big day. This was not an easy feat, seeing how both of them are teachers and August was, and still is, back-to-school time. Just as a sidenote, I am the last birthday of the month, and I never wanted cake on my big day. I was so sick of it by then, as I'm sure we all were (that happens with so many birthdays in one month), so we usually did pizza or something else. Anyways, now that we have gotten older and live further apart, we try and get together for a big birthday dinner sometime during the month.

Here we are at the 2013 birthday dinner. My brother is living out-of-state going to dental school, so he joined us by Skype. Thank goodness for technology--not nearly as fun as seeing him and his cute wife in person, but not bad for being so far away.

Happy birthday to the best siblings in the world! Seriously, they are the best.

Until next year, farewell birthday month.