Plymouth Ancestors

Plymouth is a unique place.  It was really wonderful to see it.   I asked around about our family relatives John Alden and Priscilla Mullens (thanks to Aunt Linda's family history work) John came over on the Mayflower as a crew member and decided to stay in the colony.  He courted and married Priscilla Mullens who was still young and  came over with her own family.  The exact date of their marriage is not recorded, but it's thought to be after the first winter when so many colonists perished.  The Aldens went on to become a prominent family, had eleven children and thousands of descendants.   John and Priscilla are referred to as America's "First Couple" and have been depicted in pictures and statues since that time as a pilgrim  man and women, and made famous by Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish."

Alden Family Home

After exploring Plymouth, I asked around about our relatives and found the family home and gravesites were in the nearby village of Duxbury, so we headed over and found wonderful sites.

New England- Walden Pond

I wish we would have taken more pictures of the foliage, it was breathtaking!  I did get to see and walk by Walden Pond, which was a great highlight for me, since his book made a big impact on my as a youth.  It was a big treat and very beautiful.  We took our time driving through New England from my brother Jeff's house to Boston to meet up with Lynn's team from work.

New York Trip

I can't believe we didn't take more pictures while in NY, but we were having too much fun!  We extended our trip to Boston so we could visit Jeff, Juliane and kids first.  It was so great to see them all, and to see their beautiful home-which they have remodeled. We loved their neighborhood and the fall colors were overwhelming!!  The kids kept us entertained and Juliane kept us well fed!  Grace stole our hearts when she would climb right up onto our laps to read and Lynn loved rough housing with all the boys. Jacob was very jealous we were visiting cousin Daniel without him!  We enjoyed a beautiful primary presentation in their ward which helped since we were missing Jacob's at home in Utah.  We went along to a scout night in the Bronx (wow... we followed Jeff's car to the Bronx and ended up pulling up to a building where Jeff punched in a secret code and we entered a parking garage then headed upstairs to church facilities--that was cool) Michael was awarded several scout things...  (I just took New Leader Training at Roundtable-- I should know what it's called--sorry!! )  and Jeff as well who serves in their Stake Presidency.  Thanks Jeff and Juliane for having us, it was a great trip, can't wait to do it again!  Lynn and I spent time in the city seeing sites, eating fun things and shopping.  A trip to Serendipity was really fun, but I have to say the recipe of frozen hot chocolate I used off the internet several years ago was not too far off from the original.  That was surprising.   I will post that recipe on my food blog. 

PineWood Derby Halloween Party

Elise made a "Prada" car and added a cell phone for weight... She won for design, I think?  Jacob won for speed and used Dad's old pinewood car...  

FALL 2008 in Park City

Park City in the fall is breathtaking... we try to enjoy the season there every year.  We took the kids portraits on this trip.  Jacob's 7th year portrait (only 4 months late!) and Elise's 17th. Sidenote:  Jacob's tooth finally grew in since this picture, we though it was missing for awhile!   I could just kiss those little checks all day!

FALL 2008

First Day of Second Grade for Jacob (sniff, sniff) My baby is not a baby anymore.  Fall also brought the loss of Lynn's dad.  He is greatly missed.  It was a beautiful funeral.  All the boys spoke, Cindy sang and grandkids added musical numbers which were so nice.   It was truly a reunion seeing and visiting with old friends from our Rohnert Park Ca. wards. Everyone paid tribute to Lynn's dad, it was a great day.  The funeral was October 3rd, Elise's birthday and will always be a special reminder for her.  We took her out for a birthday dinner later that night!  At the gravesite Betty showed us burial sites from family that had come from Denmark and settled in Utah.