Keepin-up with us: New York City

We had the opportunity to go on a once in a life time trip this summer to New York City. It turned out to be wonderful. Kelly came with us and was so much fun and a lot of help. I loved NYC. It was a lot cleaner and more beautiful than I imagined. At dusk, the skyline took on so many different colors. I felt safe. The subways were an adventure. It's definitely a different life style, but nice. After NYC, we drove to The Priesthood Restoration Site in Pennsylvania and then to Palmyra to visit the Sacred Grove and see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I really enjoyed those stops as well. It was neat to see where Joseph Smith lived when he received the first vision. It is a beautiful area with groves of thick trees everywhere. Here are some highlights from the trip...

Look at the colors in the skyline...they look unreal to me.

I loved Ellis Island. I love learning about history. It was neat to see this building and imagine the immigrants arriving from foreign countries...sometimes children without their parents. At times, there were a lot of people in this building!

This is the memorial to the world trade centers. Visiting the 9-11 museum was one of our favorite things. There was a definite reverence or awe in the museum. To me, it was an appreciation of all those who gave their lives to save others. There were so many stories of individuals helping co-workers find their way to safety, police officers and firefighters who didn't hesitate a second to do whatever it took to help.

This is a view from the top of the Empire State Building. Props to Becca for going to the top. Before we left for NYC, she insisted that she was NOT going to the top...too scary for her. She did it!!

Subway Pictures...We saw a few musicians playing for money down in the subway terminals and they were really, really good. I couldn't figure out why they were playing there and not doing something else with their talent.

Central Park is amazing. What a refuge...for New Yorkers to go to and escape the big city. It's huge and beautiful and peaceful. We had fun riding our bikes for a couple hours. It would probably have been a little easier without Kate. :) She couldn't decide between riding her own bike or being on a tag-a-long with Jon. She went with Jon and it's good she did cause I don't think she would have made it up some of the hills on her own.

Evan and Jon on the bus tour.

The apartment we stayed in was right by the Brooklyn Bridge. One day we walked from our apartment to the Bridge and to Brooklyn, We ate at a Pizza Place in Brooklyn. It was kinda funny cause we noticed it said "Cash Only." First of all, what kind of a restaurant is cash only. Anyway, Kelly had some cash and we would've been fine except at the end we ordered a bunch of desserts to try and that put us over the edge. Jon had to tell them that he was going to leave and go get some cash. They joked with him after he got back, that they were making bets on whether or not he was coming back.
While we were waiting for pizza, I guess Evan was playing with Becca's hair and had been putting the ends in his mouth. He does have a habit of putting everything in his mouth. So...while I agree that this is gross and girls don't want people to suck on their hair...yucky and stinky. It wasn't worth Becca getting as upset as she did. She was so mad and it looked as if she would never forgive him. Becca turned to Evan and said, "want me to spit in your hair?" In his very nonchalant, cool 6th grader voice, he said, "sure..what evs." So she did. Right there in the restaurant. Spat a big loogie right on the top of his head. This is when I knew that Kelly really did love us just the way we were, cause she didn't get up and walk out. She stuck with us through the thick and thin!