Fall 2008 Formal

Halloween

Lynn and I came back from our trip just in time for Halloween.  Jacob pictured as a Jedi Knight.  It was a warm night and perfect for trick or treating.  Some years we have snow!

Boston Trip

I went with Lynn to Boston on a business trip to meet up with the rest of his Novell team.  Boston was beautiful in fall and we had a nice time sight seeing all the historical sights--we'd love to take our kids back.  Highlights were walking the Freedom Trail -seeing the North Church and eating in "Little Italy" part of old historic downtown.   We had the best hot chocolate and gelato.  It was like being back in Italy.  We've been watching the HBO series John Adams and really enjoyed seeing some of these places where events took place during our country's infancy.

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.