Lazy days of summer...

It's hard to believe that less than a month ago Carlos and I were enjoying our last few days of a dream vacation on the east coast. Here are just a few of the many things I miss about summer....

We made it to the temple right at sunset...The multi-colored homes on our street--I LOVED the different colored homes (especially the purple and pink ones). It felt like living in a completely different time. This place seemed unreal. You'd almost expect the Redcoats to come marching up the street.
Here is another beautiful home. Several had these bright red doors. I thought they were charming.
The flowers!! Almost everywhere you went had hydrangea in full bloom. I was in heaven! Aren't they gorgeous?
And oh, to go back to the beach!! It feels like a dream now...our own deserted beach at sunset! So romantic!

Well, now that we're back in Indiana, reality has sunk in. School started almost immediately after we got back (hence the lack of blogging). Life has been as busy as ever, so it's so relaxing to sit and reminisce about a place that seems so far away now. These two states could be polar opposites, but I guess I can take comfort in the fact that whether in Massachusetts or Indiana, I'm still surrounded by people who can't say their R's!

I do love the midwest, so to be fair--here are just a few things that I am grateful to have here in IN:

--Open space!!! I love my commute to work--there's something relaxing about driving (without traffic!!!) past open fields...you just can't get that in Boston.
--Along those same lines..."right of way" actually means something here. (Traffic laws in MA are more like guidelines--that no one follows).
--Family and friends that live close by.
--A washer and dryer--I hope I will never live without these precious commodities again!
--Though I thought I'd never say this...our "retro" apartment. It's only 50-something years old (not 283 years old!)
--Less humidity (never thought it would be possible to say that either!)

And the list goes on...(but I'll spare you!)

"high-falutin"

This last week Carlos and I have been enjoying the artistic novelties that Boston has to offer. Last Saturday we drove over to Tanglewood to see John Williams conduct the Boston Pops for film night. We loved it. They played the themes from Hook, Sabrina, and my personal favorite "The Raider's March" from Indiana Jones. It was incredible to see John Williams, and Steven Spielberg came to narrate the second half of the performance. Oh yes, we have now made it big.

Carlos, next to the stage during intermission.

Alyse, and I don't know who that dude is :)

On Monday, Carlos and I went to a local "pick-up" Orchestra and Choir. They have this every Monday night here, where a guest conductor and soloists come, and anyone from the community can participate. Last week it was Mozart's Requiem. Carlos went by himself, and loved it. This week Carlos played and I attempted to sing Brahm's Requiem (yes, in German). So, this probably wasn't a good idea since neither of us had seen the music before. Honestly, I was in way over my head. :) Carlos played beautifully. We both had a blast though. Everyone was asking "what choir are you in?" "Umm, my church choir?!?" They were all so sweet (and on average at least 20-30 years older than us), but they were all insistent that we come back next week. We'll see. :)


Wednesday I went to the Museum of Fine Art (MFA) in Boston with my friend Liz. (free on Wed. after 4:00!) It was incredible. That place was so big, it was overwhelming. You can see a lot of it online: (http://www.mfa.org/index.asp), though I recommend going if you ever come to Boston. What hit us the most when we went was the small similarities between each culture--especially the ancient cultures. Most of their artwork was created for religious purposes, and they were often very similar. Each culture seemed to have small bits of truth in them that had become skewed. It was a testimony to me that we had the true gospel in the beginning, though most of it was lost. That really makes you reflect on the importance of the scriptures and modern day revelation. Where would we be without it?

Also, I felt so blessed to live in a time when the fullness of the gospel has been restored. In this history of the world very few people have had this opportunity, and we cannot take that for granted. We have everything we need to know, yet how well do we understand it? How much do we study it? And more importantly--how well do we live it?

Too much fun?

A small tribute to the wonderful adventures that I have enjoyed thus far during our summer in and around Boston...

Here is part of the beautiful coastline that we get to enjoy...(please be patient with me, as I am lacking in my photography skills) :)

This is Carlos enjoying the all you can eat ice cream extravaganza--can we just say...Alyse was in heaven! (and they do this every year--oh, I'll be back!)

A view from outside the gates of a cemetery where several very famous individuals were buried: Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin's parents, and other patriots of the American Revolution.

Alyse at the Museum of "Thienth" or Science

Our favorite exhibit there (had to drag Carlos away) was all about mathematics, of course!

After so much learning, we enjoyed the most fabulous Italian food at Giacomo's in Little Italy at the North End of the city.

There were beautiful parks all over, so much to explore!

Here at Gillette Stadium we witnessed Brazil lose to Venezuela in soccer (2-0, so embarrassing!)

Nothing like fine Indian Cuisine before attending "The Importance of Being Earnest" (I think we had enough food to feed at least 10 people)

Alyse drove over to Concord with a friend to enjoy all of the history there. Here is Orchard House, home to Louisa May Alcott and her family, and the setting for Little Women.

Here is a statue of the Concord Minuteman, dedicated to the farmers who fought in the battle at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The man who sculpted this also sculptured Abraham Lincoln at his memorial in D.C.

Minutes away, near Walden Pond, at the site where Thoreau's cabin was supposedly built.

Walden Pond--very beautiful, but not nearly as peaceful as you'd imagine. :) I was surprised by all of the swimmers.

Carlos' favorite food yet...famous for the freshest lobster you can get. (and this place, scary as it looks, is right off of the ocean)

Sneaking a picture before Act 2 of West Side Story. We loved it!

This is our chapel in Lynnfield. I'll have to get a picture of the steeple, it really is a beautiful church--hard to tell from this picture.

Speaking of sculptures...we went to visit these sand sculptures--it was amazing what these people can do. This one was "Something on my mind," I just liked his big ears. :)

This was another very well done sculpture. The star cut outs were cool. This was done at Revere Beach which is supposedly the first public beach? (so the sign said) We had a blast walking along the shore, even though it was packed, and the water was FREEZING! But, it felt good on a very hot day. Nothing like playing frisbee and collecting shells on a hot summer day at the beach!

Only a couple weeks left...what other adventures will we have??? To be continued...

trek of '08

Here are several of our pictures from our exciting journey back east! You'll have to put up with my poor photography, as several of these were taken while we were driving along.

We were excited to make it to beautiful green Ohio. We stayed in Akron, which I loved the moment I saw the Panera Bread right next to a Baja Fresh...could life get any better than this? Probably not.

The next day Carlos and I went to Hiram, OH to see the John Johnson Farm. We had our own private tour. It was a very beautiful day, and we enjoyed every minute of it. (It was here that several sections of the D&C were revealed, and where Joseph was tarred and feathered).

The next stop was Kirtland, OH where we (once again) were privileged to have our very own tour of the town!


Here is a slightly crooked picture of us in front of the Kirtland Temple. It was wonderful to think about the amazing events that occurred here where the windows of heaven were opened!

The next stop was in Niagara Falls. We got there pretty late, so none of our pictures really turned out--It was fun, but probably not our best experience on the trip. Let's just say, we have little desire to return to Canada anytime soon. :) Moving on to the beautiful Palmyra...

In Palmyra, you could really feel the Holy Ghost very strong. We were blessed to be able to attend the temple there. It was great to remember our feelings of when President Hinckley dedicated this temple. I thought it was very interesting that these sacred places had been so well preserved, and that cities weren't built over any of these places so that we could appreciate them and feel the Spirit there still today.

This is a view of the temple from just outside of the Sacred Grove. So neat to have a beautiful temple right next to where the restoration began!!! The sister missionaries took us on a tour of the log cabin, and the larger home that Alvin was building for himself and his bride-to-be up until he died. After he died, the other boys finished the house and the whole family moved into it.






Here are a few pictures we took in the Sacred Grove. It's so hard to catch with a camera how beautiful it was, and how strong your feelings are when you're there. It was actually raining when we were there, but we were protected by the trees so we didn't get wet.











After a full day in Palmyra we drove to Albany and spent the night there. The next day was also cold and rainy...so rainy we could hardly see the road. We drove up to Vermont (I've always wanted to go there) to see Sharon, VT--the birthplace of Joseph Smith Jr.
Vermont was absolutely gorgeous...you wouldn't believe how green it was!










It was really cool to see the heavens meeting the earth. We were especially excited to see the sun shine through the clouds (at least a little bit).




We finally made it...alive!!
Here we both are just outside of the beautiful visitor's center. It was amazing, right when you get there you can hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing--coming from the trees. It feels like angels are surrounding you singing in this very sacred place, and really set the tone for our entire visit here. Church historians believe that the small log home where Joseph was born was just in front of this monument, and slightly to the left.

Here is the monument that was actually dedicated by Joseph F. Smith in 1905. The prophet Joseph Smith described himself as a "rough stone," so that's just what the monument was. (Sorry this picture is so dark, you can hardly see Carlos standing at the bottom of it).

This concluded our church history tour, and from here we drove down to our "vacation home" right off of the northern shore above Boston. (alright, it's not really a vacation home, but we sure are treating it as such, as much as we can!!) We really loved the opportunity we had to go to all of these amazing places. You can't help but think of all the sacrifices that the saints had to endure, and how strong their faith had to be! We hope you can all take your families to these very sacred places and enjoy them as much as we did!!