Back in the Motherland

I arrived safe and sound in Moscow yesterday. I was able to see my Russian companion from my mission, Sister Gorbunova. She conveniently moved to Moscow two months ago. Miracle, right? After a quick stop at home, we went to Red Square and some of the sites around there. I will post more later, but just wanted you all to know I was safe. :)

More Beach Time

One of my favorite things about not working is being able to go to the beach during the week when it's not so crowded. I also need to take advantage of living near the ocean before I'm back in Utah. I'm so glad Mollie is a fan of the beach too. :)

Seuss Sculptures

On the way to Palmyra, James mentioned that not only was Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, but there was a sculpture garden dedicated to him there. Of course, I begged for us to stop there on the way back. So fun to see life-size characters, especially Sam from Green Eggs and Ham, my favorite book when I was little.

Palmyra Port

We camped overnight in the fairgrouds and this was the sunrise we awoke to...
We tried to go to a diner for breakfast, but apparently we are early risers and they weren't open yet. It did help us stumble onto this pond and dock on the Erie Canal.

Next, we decided to go to the Sacred Grove while it was early and there wouldn't be many people.
We ended up staying for a long time, walking all around, reading the Joseph Smith story and singing. I loved the peaceful feeling there.
At the Visitor's Center, we found a sculpture of Joseph Smith that James' uncle made. He actually has a very artistic family that has made many art pieces for the Church.


Trina met up with us at that point. She grew up in Palmyra, and was a great tour guide. We went to the top of the Hill Cumorah...

...grabbed some lunch at the cute cafe we'd try to go to earlier that morning...


...and toured the Grandin Printing Press, where the first edition of the Book of Mormon was published...

...before Trina took us to her favorite ice cream joint. I told you she was a great tour guide. ;)

Hill Cumorah

Some friends and I drove to the Hill Cumorah Pageant this weekend. When we were nearly there, we spotted this beauty of a truck. The kid was totally nice and told us he special orders these tires from the military. He even let James climb in for a picture.

At the pageant, we ran into Hugo and Trina, who both just randomly happened to be there as well. I made everyone try salt potatoes. If you are ever there, get some... they're delicious.

I attended the pageant once before, in 1998. Many things have changed, but the Spirit was the same. Amazing. Below are Lehi at the Tree of Life and Alma at the Waters of Mormon.

Houghton Pond

My cute friend Sharla and I decided to go for an adventure yesterday. While driving through the Blue Hills, we stumbled across this pond. It was a little chilly for swimming, but it looked like a fun place to have a picnic activity.
So fun to catch up with this girl!

Freedom and Fun

Thursday, we finally finished the Freedom Trail. Ethan didn't love this part of the trip, but I hope he learned something he will remember. The humidity and hot weather probably didn't help. :)

My stubborn Ethan. ;)

The interactive museum at the USS Constitution Naval Yard was a big hit.

Here you tried to balance on the mast like a sailor would. I don't know if someone would be trying to throw you off like Jess did, though.

On Friday, we finally went to Six Flags... the thing Ethan had been looking forward to all week. Probably all summer. ;) He was in roller coaster heaven.
We all got some henna tattoos. My first ever. So fun for summer.

We ended the trip, Saturday, with a little New England original, candle pin bowling. The pins are straight instead of round, and you get three little hand-sized balls each frame. Our scores were not very high... it's harder than it looks.

I'm so glad you came to visit, Ethan and Jess. Love you guys!

Red Sox Nation

We went on a tour of Fenway! It was super interesting and fun... the tour guide didn't like the Yankees for some reason. ;) We got to go allover, into the press box, the super expensive club seats and of course, the Green Monster.

The bar here is made from the lanes of the bowling alley that used to be there.

That afternoon we took a Duck Tour...

...and Ethan even got to man the boat.

We ended the afternoon by meandering through the Public Garden and starting the Freedom Trail.