New York, New York

Mike surprised us all with a trip to New York after Thanksgiving.  The day we flew in, we rented a car and drove to Palmyra, New York to see some church history. We stayed in a hotel and then the next morning we spent the whole day seeing the sights. We went to the Smith family homestead and walked through the sacred grove.

 

 

It was fun trying to guess where the first vision might have took place in those woods. The sister missionary that took us on our tour was so in tune with the spirit. She told us some cool stories about the Smith Family. She also said things that were just for our family and touched us very deeply.

 We saw where the gold plates were hidden by Joseph Smith under the bricks of the fireplace. Here is a picture of Calvin by the fireplace. When Calvin touched the bricks on the fireplace, he said, "I can't believe I have touched where Joseph Smith has touched."

 We were in the same room where angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. It was definitely a testimony building experience and you could feel the spirit so strong.

We visited Hill Cumorah and the visitor center right below the hill. We went to the Palmyra temple and walked around the temple grounds. We drove around the town and saw the old churches. It was such a wonderful experience and I am so glad we took the time to visit this sacred place.

 

 

 

We drove back to Manhattan that night. We stayed in an apartment a couple blocks from Times Square. This is the entrance to our apartment.

 The city was so busy because of the holiday season. We saw the tree in Rockerfeller center.

 We visited the Museum of Natural History.

 

 

 My favorite time was walking through central park and exploring. The kids loved climbing on all the big rocks and we were all in awe of this beautiful city.

 

 

 

The girls and I saw Mary Poppins on Broadway one night. It was so incredible! We were on the balcony and at the end of the play Mary Poppins grabbed her umbrella and flew above the audience. She passed right by us on the balcony before she went straight up to the ceiling. She was so close,we felt like we could reach out and touch her.

 

We saw the Manhattan Temple, It was so cool to see it in the middle of a city surrounded by sky scrapers.

 The door handles inside this temple are made to look like the Statue of Liberty's torch.

We ate at several different restaurants and cafes that all cost way too much money. The pizza was the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 The girls felt so cool to be in the big city. They loved all the cool doors and details of the buildings.

 

 

 One night we went to Mcdonalds to get hot cocoa and we got harassed by a drunk guy. The kids did really well ignoring him and trying not to freak out. Someone called security and they escorted him out quickly.

On our way to the airport we stopped in Jersey City and went to a park on the bay to see the Statue of Liberty. The shore was blocked off due to damage from hurricane Sandy, so we couldn't get very close.  We walked through this memorial for the 9/11 victims from New Jersey.  The 2 pillars represent the two towers and all the names of the people who died were on the walls. Directly across the bay is Manhatten and the pillars line up exactly where the two towers used to be.

The day we left, it was 60 degrees and beautiful blue skies.

 

 

 

We had the best time! We have the coolest family in the world. My kids are so fun to be with and they always make us laugh. Mike and I loved watching them experience something new.

                                                                            - Andrea