We have enjoyed tasting New York through our travels. Not too long ago, we had pizza at New York Pizzeria. New York pizza is different than most pizzas. The crust is very thin and the toppings are similar to what we are used to. However, the slices are huge and you can roll them up into a wrap. That's kind of fun, but then the grease drips down your wrist and onto your arm. That is not too appetizing. So we would give a thumbs down on New York pizza. It may just be that the best pizza place we have ever been to for pizza is Perron's Pizzaria. Once you have had the opportunity to make your own pizza and cook it in a homemade pizza oven by the two best chefs, (Josh Perron and Durg Perron) you are just too spoiled. A big thumbs up for Perron's Pizzaria. We sure have missed our pizza parties. We have heard that there have been a lot of parties this summer in the "Diner."
Another New York unique food are "hots." What are hots? They are hot dogs, but not just your run of the mill hot dogs. These are special HOT dogs. And sometimes they are really HOT. We stopped at a "Hots" stand one day on our way home from Sauders, the store Elder Perron cannot get enough of. Everyone said this was the best HOT's place. The Morgan's and the Johnson's (from Portland, Oregon) were with us. We all tried a variation of the "hots." They were a little too hot for some and not hot enough for others. I liked them, but just with ketchup and mustard, not the hot sauce they put on them. You can order them plain, so we have had hots several times at the "Chill and Grill" in Palmyra. Therein, is another great place to eat. And when you order ice cream there, you better be hungry. The kid's cones are huge! I don't know how they make any money on ice cream.
When we first arrived in New York state, in a snow storm, no less, we went to Jamestown for lunch. We found a little place called Tim Horton's which is a café and bake shop. This is a Canadian franchise founded by Miles G. "Tim" Horton, who played in the National Hockey League from 1949 until his death in a car accident in 1974. This franchise spread rapidly and eventually overtook McDonalds as Canada's largest food service operator. We ate chili and had hot chocolate. It was a cold day! The best chili and hot chocolate I have ever had! Seriously! Throughout our travels in New York we see lots of Dunkin' Donuts, at least one in every town, as are the $ stores, and a few Tim Horton's. However, there are Tim Horton's in every town surrounding Palmyra, just not one in Palmyra. You can imagine my excitement when I saw advertised on their window that they had iced hot chocolate. Iced Hot Chocolate? I had to try it. It is wonderful. Elder Perron said he could make it, so we bought a can of Horton's Hot Chocolate Mix and we have tried it at home, but I have to say Tim does it better! When Elder Perron's cousins Lowell and Claudia Johnson and their friends, Diana and Greg Zemp were here, we went there for lunch one day during our sightseeing travels and discovered they have wonderful breakfast sandwiches and lunch sandwiches. Elder Perron has done the comparative test between Dunkin' Donuts and Tim Horton's Boston Cream Donuts and Tim won again! We have had the McDonalds McMuffin and Tim Horton's egg, saugsage and cheese roll and once again, Tim does it better. I tell everyone to try Tim Horton's iced hot chocolate. No complaints yet and many are hooked!
There is a little restaurant in a strip mall in Egypt called Sak's. It is a Thai restaurant in Egypt. (Just making fun of the Thai in Egypt). From the looks of the mall, you would not think this restaurant wouldn't be up to much, but the minute you walk in, you are in another world. The atmosphere there is very Thai and elegant and calming. We went with our friends, the Morgan's one day for lunch. The sister missionaries had recommended it. We weren't disappointed. It was delicious. We decided we should go again and everyone order something different and then we could ask for separate plates and try all the foods. When Lowell and Claudia and Diana and Greg were here, that's what we did. We loved the food, except for one. Elder Perron ordered a dish with squid? I would not recommend that. I always order the Thai Padi. Can't ever go wrong there. Love it!
We serve in the temple with a couple who have the exact shift schedule as we do. They are the only ones. So every Wednesday we go to dinner with them. We love the Yellow Mills Diner. It's good ole home cooked food. They always have specials which include soup and salad and main entrée. By the time we get there, we are starved so we need extra food! Not really, but that's how we justify all that food! We sit in the section where we have become friends with our waitress. She is awesome. I think she likes us too, because she is always getting the cook to do something special for us. One evening when the Henderson's and the Perron's were having dinner, a group of 6 people came into the restaurant. The Henderson's thought they might have seen them before. And as the people were leaving, they stopped to talk to the Henderson's. They were from North Carolina, where the Henderson's are from. They and the Henderson's are all in the Raleigh North Carolina Temple district and that's how the Henderson's knew them. One of the men had the strongest North Carolina accent and reminded Elder Perron and I of my uncle, Albert Nance who was born and raised, lived and died in North Carolina. We could have listened to him talk all night! I love accents! As we were waiting for our bill, our sweet waitress, Therese, said that our bill had been taken care of. She wouldn't tell us who paid, but we knew it was the "other North Carolinans." How awesome was that?
Last Wednesday, we and the Henderson's ventured out to Otto's Tomatoes in Victor. It is an Italian Restaurant and we give a thumbs up on this one. It is elegant dining and delicious food. I had the chicken, broccoli fettuccine. Elder Perron had the seafood macaroni and cheese. We both loved our meals. The problem was, we kept eating and the portion never seemed to get smaller. We took ours home with us, and had some for lunch and still haven't been able to eat it all. Reminds me of the loaves of bread and fishes in the New Testament or Elijah's promise to the widow of Zarephath that she would not run out of flour or oil. (I only know about Elijah and the widow because I teach gospel doctrine at the Lowville Branch. That is a really big stretch for me, but I am loving it.) The food never seems to never end! May be a blessing we are receiving!
We had a crazy busy week last week. Our family motto has always been, "When we work, we work hard. When we play, we play hard!" And boy did we! We were very busy in the temple all week. Thursday is our day off and so the Morgan's, Reynolds (from SLC) and Elder Perron and I drove to Sodus Point which is a picturesque little village on the shore of Lake Ontario. As you drive through, there are sailboats docked everywhere. We walked out to the end of the pier to the lighthouse. The wind was blowing like crazy and the water was jumping the pier, making it pretty exciting. It was so beautiful there. I love being near the water.
Near Sodus Point is a State Park where the Chimney Bluffs are. So we hiked to the Chimney Bluffs or part way for some of us. It was through a great little forest and the trail was really fun. The Chimney Bluffs are rock formations and they are very unusual. So glad we got to see them. As we were hiking down, there was another couple who are temple missionaries, the Nordfeldt's (from Idaho Falls, Idaho) hiking up. We decided to meet for lunch/dinner at the Skipper's Landing on the shore of Lake Ontario. We ate overlooking more of Lake Ontario. So here are 4 temple missionary couples having a meal together and laughing and having a great time. When it came time to get the bill, there was none. Brother Reynolds had paid for all of us. We told him that is not right. He said, "whenever we go anywhere, we go with the Morgan's or the Perron's and you never let us help with gas." Such a nice thing to do!
Returning to Palmyra, we stopped at a Farmer's Market in Wolcott. We bought peppers and corn and onions and lettuce. We have been eating the peppers, and onions in our omelets and we ate the fresh corn when we got home. There is nothing like fresh corn (picked in the morning) for dinner. And there are lots and lots of corn fields here. Last stop was Mr. Cooley's Ice Cream. It is some of the best homemade ice cream ever. There are ice cream shops everywhere because there are a lot of dairies in New York. We got our ice cream and sat in a screened gazebo and really enjoyed our time outside. Made me miss the "Diner" even more!
On Saturday, we went to Alexandria Bay, a town on the shores of the St. Lawrence River with the Bushman's (from Oklahoma). We boarded a tour boat and traveled down the river. This area is famous for the 1,000 islands. There are more than 1,000 islands, but it's easier to say the Thousand Islands rather than the 1,864 Islands! We sat on the top deck, got sun and wind burned and really enjoyed passing by the islands. One island was so small, it had only one house on it and the house took up most of the island. But just think, you could say, "I live on an island that I own!" Canada borders one side of the St. Lawrence and the US on the other. That's interesting in itself. We stopped at the Singer Castle on Dark Island. The original name of the Castle was Dark Island Castle and was later changed to Singer Castle, named Singer because the original owner who built it was the president of the Singer Corporation. All through the Castle are old singer sewing machines. The Castle was completed in 1905. The design of the castle came from Sir Walter Scott's book "Woodstock." The castle is complete with hidden passages, one in about every room. The main floor was for entertaining, the second floor was for the servants to keep any eye on the entertaining happening on the main floor. If a servant saw a guest was in need of any thing, the servant would buzz the kitchen or pantry through an intercom system and another servant would provide the needed refreshment. Throughout the main floor were mirrors, vents and portraits. Through these, the servants would "spy" on the guests. Mr. Bourne, who had the castle built did not want servants hovering over his guests so this was the solution. There were telephones in every room. They were not for calling to places outside the castle but for calling from room to room on extensions.
You have heard of Thousand Island Dressing. It got it's name because a woman, May Irwin, who tasted a dressing, somewhere on the St. Lawrence River, thought the chopped vegetables in it, looked like the Thousand Islands. When we returned to shore, we had lunch at Riley's Restaurant on the River and I had a Reuben sandwich which had Thousand Island Dressing on it! When in the Thousand Islands, eat Thousand Island Dressing. Right?
I must admit, the best New York bread is baked right here in our kitchen. Elder Perron has become quite the baker. He is branching out into new things, muffins for one. He makes the best pumpkin muffins, apple muffins, and poppy seed muffins. His bread is still making lots of people happy. He is getting ready to start making cookies and pies. There is no end to his baking talents.
So we leave you as Elder Perron is finding more recipes, as I stumble through typing this blog, as we prepare to serve our shift at the temple, and join the Henderson's for dinner in Canandaigua at a Mexican Restaurant to get another taste of New York. Until next time.......much love,
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
First Things First
These last few weeks have been full of FIRSTS for us. So we thought we would share them with you.
One day, we had a terrible storm. We were in the temple but we could hear the rain, hear the rolling thunder, and see the trees bending in half almost touching the outside the ground and see the sheets of rain coming down. It was kind of scary. But when it was time for us to leave, at about 10:00 p.m., you could not see any indication of any kind of storm. The roads were dry, the sidewalks were dry and there were no puddles anywhere. That was very strange. It was getting dark and as we walked to our car, we saw these little lights flickering on and off in the trees. It looked like little Christmas twinkle lights going on and off. But what we were seeing are fireflies. Never had seen them before. Have not seen them since. We enjoyed that FIRST!
Then there was the FIRST that we did not enjoy. The next day, after the storm, we went to Walmart to get some buttermilk so Durg could make some bread. Yes, more bread. We went to the dairy section. There were no dairy products. We went to the meat section. No meat. Every refrigerated and freezer case was totally empty. It gave us such an eerie feeling. It made us think about the warnings we have received about the stores being empty if the trucks couldn't bring food to them. We thought about the admonition we have been given to have food storage. It really made us realize how important food storage is. During the terrible storm the night before, lightening hit a transformer which provided electricity to the grid where Walmart was. The back up generators for the store to keep the refrigerated and freezer cases cold, in case of an emergency, did not turn on. So the store lost all of its perishables. They were up and running again within the next 24 hours and the trucks brought more food, so all was well. However, it was rather frightening and brought home the need to be prepared. By the way, we did bring some dehydrated food storage with us. Durg brought his camp stove and we have cases of water. We would survive.
We were on our way to the Post Office the next day, and there was a huge tree down in the front yard of a home. It was crazy. It looked like it had cracked and fell over. We found out that lightening had struck the tree. That's the FIRST time we had ever seen a tree which had been struck with lightening.
On Saturday, July 12 (which makes me realize how long it's been since I wrote the blog) we worked in the temple that morning and then had to drive to Lowville (150 miles one way) where we attend church, to witness a baptism of a new member of the branch. Jay Gerewleski had been coming to church each Sunday and the Elders had been teaching him. He had asked the first Elder who taught him to baptize him. This Elder had only been home from his mission for two weeks, so that made the baptism even more special. It was a wonderful baptism. Jay had asked Durg to speak and Durg gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. That was the FIRST baptism we had witnessed on our mission. Then on Saturday, July19, we worked in the temple in the morning and then drove again to Lowville for another baptism. This time Durg baptized Ian MacDonald. He and his wife had been participating in the missionary discussions, of which Durg and I also were involved with. His wife, Nikki, was baptized by a member of the branch presidency who lives across the street from them. Ian had asked Durg to baptize him. It was the FIRST baptism Durg has ever had on a mission. A wonderful, spiritual and happy FIRST. An amazing side note is that Nikki's grandmother is an ordinance worker in the Boise Temple and she was able to be here for the baptism. Nikki grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. So us Idahoans outnumbered the New Yorkers! Ian and Nikki MacDonald and their son, Landon, are going to be great members of the church. We are so blessed to know them.
We attended the missionary discussions in a town about 25 miles northwest of Lowville in a town called Copenhagen. As we were driving there, after the storm I have mentioned above, we saw the destruction a tornado could do. This tornado touched down on a barn and totally destroyed it. There was a pick up truck upside down and the path the tornado took was very obvious by the broken trees and fences. We had never seen a tornado before and we didn't see it actually happen. But we did see the aftermath and it wasn't pretty. Those tornadoes can pack a punch. There were 4 people killed because of the tornado. Another FIRST, but not one we want to see a second time.
As we were traveling home from Lowville on a Sunday, we drove through a little town. There are so many little towns, and so many different roads we take, that I can't tell you what the name of the town is, but what I want to mention is that all the traffic was completely stopped as this gaggle of geese were crossing the street. Mom in front, goslings in the middle and Dad bringing up the rear.
But the best part was that they owned the road, and they knew it! What a cute FIRST for us.
The last FIRST (that sounds weird) was our FIRST experience at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was amazing. Now you have to realize that we have been watching the transformation of the Hill with the stage being set up and the lighting towers erected and the great influx of people making the driving in Palmyra a nightmare. So to actually see the Pageant, we were blown away. The special effects were amazing, the message inspiring and the actors the greatest. Before the Pageant begins, all the actors mingle with the crowd and visit and let you take pictures with them. We talked to Mormon, King Noah and we saw the Three Kings! It has definitely been a highlight of our mission. Because the local ordinance workers are so involved with the pageant, the temple missionaries keep the temple running. President Cahoon, counselor to the temple president told us we were here for that reason. We worked really hard and we had a totally different schedule that we weren't used to, but it was so great. One day, there were 400 youth doing proxy baptisms for their ancestors. We weren't the baptistery coordinators, but we were in and out helping and mostly doing laundry. I even managed to break one of the two washers we have. We were told to load those washers as full as we could. The problem was, the washer kept going through the same cycle over and over again. When the repairman came, he said we were trying to wash too much laundry in one washer. We learned that we cannot load the washers as full as we were told we could. But wouldn't you know it would break on my watch? Our Twin Falls Temple Shift Coordinator called me Trouble. I didn't think that name fit me, but I guess I am trouble!
I really need to start calling Durg, Elder Perron. It just seems so odd to me. We leave you as we try to get used to our old schedule again and as I try to remember to call my missionary companion, Elder Perron. Until next time..................................
One day, we had a terrible storm. We were in the temple but we could hear the rain, hear the rolling thunder, and see the trees bending in half almost touching the outside the ground and see the sheets of rain coming down. It was kind of scary. But when it was time for us to leave, at about 10:00 p.m., you could not see any indication of any kind of storm. The roads were dry, the sidewalks were dry and there were no puddles anywhere. That was very strange. It was getting dark and as we walked to our car, we saw these little lights flickering on and off in the trees. It looked like little Christmas twinkle lights going on and off. But what we were seeing are fireflies. Never had seen them before. Have not seen them since. We enjoyed that FIRST!
Then there was the FIRST that we did not enjoy. The next day, after the storm, we went to Walmart to get some buttermilk so Durg could make some bread. Yes, more bread. We went to the dairy section. There were no dairy products. We went to the meat section. No meat. Every refrigerated and freezer case was totally empty. It gave us such an eerie feeling. It made us think about the warnings we have received about the stores being empty if the trucks couldn't bring food to them. We thought about the admonition we have been given to have food storage. It really made us realize how important food storage is. During the terrible storm the night before, lightening hit a transformer which provided electricity to the grid where Walmart was. The back up generators for the store to keep the refrigerated and freezer cases cold, in case of an emergency, did not turn on. So the store lost all of its perishables. They were up and running again within the next 24 hours and the trucks brought more food, so all was well. However, it was rather frightening and brought home the need to be prepared. By the way, we did bring some dehydrated food storage with us. Durg brought his camp stove and we have cases of water. We would survive.
We were on our way to the Post Office the next day, and there was a huge tree down in the front yard of a home. It was crazy. It looked like it had cracked and fell over. We found out that lightening had struck the tree. That's the FIRST time we had ever seen a tree which had been struck with lightening.
On Saturday, July 12 (which makes me realize how long it's been since I wrote the blog) we worked in the temple that morning and then had to drive to Lowville (150 miles one way) where we attend church, to witness a baptism of a new member of the branch. Jay Gerewleski had been coming to church each Sunday and the Elders had been teaching him. He had asked the first Elder who taught him to baptize him. This Elder had only been home from his mission for two weeks, so that made the baptism even more special. It was a wonderful baptism. Jay had asked Durg to speak and Durg gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. That was the FIRST baptism we had witnessed on our mission. Then on Saturday, July19, we worked in the temple in the morning and then drove again to Lowville for another baptism. This time Durg baptized Ian MacDonald. He and his wife had been participating in the missionary discussions, of which Durg and I also were involved with. His wife, Nikki, was baptized by a member of the branch presidency who lives across the street from them. Ian had asked Durg to baptize him. It was the FIRST baptism Durg has ever had on a mission. A wonderful, spiritual and happy FIRST. An amazing side note is that Nikki's grandmother is an ordinance worker in the Boise Temple and she was able to be here for the baptism. Nikki grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. So us Idahoans outnumbered the New Yorkers! Ian and Nikki MacDonald and their son, Landon, are going to be great members of the church. We are so blessed to know them.
We attended the missionary discussions in a town about 25 miles northwest of Lowville in a town called Copenhagen. As we were driving there, after the storm I have mentioned above, we saw the destruction a tornado could do. This tornado touched down on a barn and totally destroyed it. There was a pick up truck upside down and the path the tornado took was very obvious by the broken trees and fences. We had never seen a tornado before and we didn't see it actually happen. But we did see the aftermath and it wasn't pretty. Those tornadoes can pack a punch. There were 4 people killed because of the tornado. Another FIRST, but not one we want to see a second time.
As we were traveling home from Lowville on a Sunday, we drove through a little town. There are so many little towns, and so many different roads we take, that I can't tell you what the name of the town is, but what I want to mention is that all the traffic was completely stopped as this gaggle of geese were crossing the street. Mom in front, goslings in the middle and Dad bringing up the rear.
But the best part was that they owned the road, and they knew it! What a cute FIRST for us.
The last FIRST (that sounds weird) was our FIRST experience at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was amazing. Now you have to realize that we have been watching the transformation of the Hill with the stage being set up and the lighting towers erected and the great influx of people making the driving in Palmyra a nightmare. So to actually see the Pageant, we were blown away. The special effects were amazing, the message inspiring and the actors the greatest. Before the Pageant begins, all the actors mingle with the crowd and visit and let you take pictures with them. We talked to Mormon, King Noah and we saw the Three Kings! It has definitely been a highlight of our mission. Because the local ordinance workers are so involved with the pageant, the temple missionaries keep the temple running. President Cahoon, counselor to the temple president told us we were here for that reason. We worked really hard and we had a totally different schedule that we weren't used to, but it was so great. One day, there were 400 youth doing proxy baptisms for their ancestors. We weren't the baptistery coordinators, but we were in and out helping and mostly doing laundry. I even managed to break one of the two washers we have. We were told to load those washers as full as we could. The problem was, the washer kept going through the same cycle over and over again. When the repairman came, he said we were trying to wash too much laundry in one washer. We learned that we cannot load the washers as full as we were told we could. But wouldn't you know it would break on my watch? Our Twin Falls Temple Shift Coordinator called me Trouble. I didn't think that name fit me, but I guess I am trouble!
I really need to start calling Durg, Elder Perron. It just seems so odd to me. We leave you as we try to get used to our old schedule again and as I try to remember to call my missionary companion, Elder Perron. Until next time..................................
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
"Celebrate Good Times, Come On!"
And Celebrate We Did! The Good Times started on Thursday, June 6. We drove to Rochester to pick up Kathy's sister, Kim. We were so glad to see each other. She had come especially to attend our Aunt Carmen's Surprise 100th Birthday Party. As Carmen's two sons arrived a day early to put the finishing touches on the party, Aunt Carmen asked her son, Mike, "Do you think I will get to see my two nieces from Idaho this summer?" Knowing full well that she would be seeing us the next day but her not knowing it, he said, "I think maybe you will!"
We left at 6:20 a.m. on Friday to drive to Long Island, New York. We weren't sure how long it would take us, but we didn't want to be driving through New York City on a Friday during rush hour traffic. So the sooner we got through NYC, the better. We did have a little trouble navigating through NYC and made a wrong turn. But our GPS got us back on the right road and we were sailing along. We arrived in Long Island to have lunch and then to check into the hotel. It took us 8 hours to get there.
We had dinner with Mike and Alicia, our cousin and his wife and then met Mike's daughter, Jessica and her husband, Jim and kids at the pool. Jack's daughter, Jenny and her husband, Burke and children soon arrived at the pool. We had seen Jessica and Jenny about 20 years ago at Jaialdi in Boise. The next day at the party we met Mike's son Bryce and his wife,Krista, and Jack's son John and his wife, Jenny, and two children.
We purposely arrived late for the party, so that Kim and Kathy could make an entrance. We had everyone positioned to take pictures of our get together with our aunt. She was so surprised. She kept saying, "How did you get here?" We had a wonderful day with all of the Wallace clan. Our Aunt Carmen is our dad's sister. She had us laughing all the time. She reminded us so much of our dad. We noticed many times she would say something the exact way our dad would have said it. We are so glad we were able to be with her and celebrate with her this milestone in her life. She is a delightful, fun loving, spry, beautiful 100 year old lady!
From the moment we got to Long Island and throughout the night, Durg was wondering how we could get back to Palmyra without having to go to through NYC. He said he had seen the NY skyline and that's all of NY he cared to see. He pondered and studied the maps and decided we would take the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Then we could drive through Connecticut and Massachusetts to get to New York and back to Palmyra. At the party the next day, Mike (without knowing of Durg's concern or plan) said we should take the ferry to Bridgeport and drive the beautiful back roads through Connecticut and Massachusetts. Great Minds working together and a second witness! And that's exactly what we did.
On Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to our aunt, hoping we could see her again. Our cousin, Jack, lead us to the ferry entrance and we were soon on the ferry. It was a wonderful experience. We had a great time with family, and now were looking forward to the ferry ride. We are thinking this is a great way to start our day of travel. Mike's back road was the best road we had been on yet, as we drove through woods and glens and quaint little towns and by lakes and water ways on our journey to Palmyra. Kim could not believe how beautiful it was. She was quite impressed with the little towns. That's what I like too. There are so many little towns, here and there and everywhere. Old towns with old building and houses. Picture Perfect!
We arrived back to Palmyra and calculated our driving time. It was 8 hours. Durg said we can go back to Long Island again because the most beautiful way to get there was missing NYC. And it took us the same amount of time
Our celebration continued throughout the week as we showed Kim all the sights to see. We took her to the Mormon sights and to Family Home Evening at the Hill Cumorah where the pageant President gave us a tour. We saw costumes and wigs and weapons and the stairway to the stage being built. The pageant starts on Thursday, July 10. We took Kim to Sauder's (Durg's flour store) and to another store, Weaver View Farm. Kim made friends with the little girl whose mother owns the store by helping her bring baskets which were in their horse driven cart, into the store. She became our tour guide throughout the store. She was adorable. The last day Kim was here we went to the long house at Ganondagan. I wrote about it another time. On our travels we passed by Canandaigua, Seneca, Keuka, Cayuga, Onondaga and Oneida Lakes, the Hudson River and Erie Canal. That's pretty good for three days of sightseeing. When we took her to the plane, I said, "Well now you know a little bit more about the Mormons, the Mennonites and the Iroquois Nation."
The 4th of July Celebration was right up Durg's alley. He got to spend 6 hours in the temple helping with baptisms of youth. The temple is normally closed on the 4th but by special request, it was opened for this youth group. Temple missionaries volunteered to help. Of course, Durg would! I went to a BBQ with the slacker temple missionaries who did not volunteer and after Durg was done, we drove to Rochester, NY to see the Redwings (Boston Redsox Farm Team) play the Lehigh Iron Pigs. Most all the temple missionaries went and we had seats right behind home plate. As the game was being played and during inning changes, the writing on the big lighted billboard said, "Welcome LDS Missionaries". So cool! It was a great evening, not hot or humid and the game turned out to be a winning one for the Redwings, considering they were getting slaughtered by the Pigs for the first 5 innings. The best player, who caught us up to the Pigs and helped win the game was Pedro Florimon. So we chanted, "the Morimons are here for Florimon. We had never seen him before, but he sure showed his stuff! We like to think we helped. (yeh, right)
The Celebration continued as we watched the fireworks sitting in the best seats. The fireworks were set off right on the field. The patriotic music and beauty of the fireworks made you so proud to be an American. We all had a few tears in our eyes knowing that because of America and religious freedom, we could be there as Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and even welcomed there. There are a lot of good people now who have good feelings about the Mormons, a far cry from Joseph Smith's persecution of the first vision. We are so grateful. Oh how we are enjoying the good times as we Celebrate!
Our last Celebration, coming up, is the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Things are bustling around here as everyone is getting ready for the pageant. There are over 1,000 people needed to put the pageant on and between 20,000-30,000 people will come to see it. The civic organizations of the towns around provide the food at concession stands so people can have dinner before the Pageant each night. Several years ago, the civic organizations asked if they could provide concession stands and of course, the church said yes. Now the people here call the Hill Cumorah Pageant THEIR pageant. Amazing and so wonderful. We were in Newark the other day and Durg was looking for a working flour mill where flour is milled so he could buy it fresh. (Seriously, this is getting a little out of hand. People think he owned a bakery before he retired!) He asked a man on the street who told him that there had been one here but it is closed and the closest one is in Penn Yan. (Penn Yan, here we come!) Then he said, we will be coming to Palmyra in a few days to work at the Pageant. He was with the Rotary and they provide one of the concession stands. He had noticed Durg's missionary tags. Everyone knows who we are and what we represent, so we better be on our best behavior where ever we go! Love It!
So we leave you as we prepare for the influx of people for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We will be extremely busy in the temple, as most of the local temple workers are needed at the pageant. President Broadbent told us at a preparation meeting, this is why we are here! We are gearing up and ready. Hey, Let's Celebrate! Come On! (Come if you can, anytime!) Until next time..........Much love!
We left at 6:20 a.m. on Friday to drive to Long Island, New York. We weren't sure how long it would take us, but we didn't want to be driving through New York City on a Friday during rush hour traffic. So the sooner we got through NYC, the better. We did have a little trouble navigating through NYC and made a wrong turn. But our GPS got us back on the right road and we were sailing along. We arrived in Long Island to have lunch and then to check into the hotel. It took us 8 hours to get there.
We had dinner with Mike and Alicia, our cousin and his wife and then met Mike's daughter, Jessica and her husband, Jim and kids at the pool. Jack's daughter, Jenny and her husband, Burke and children soon arrived at the pool. We had seen Jessica and Jenny about 20 years ago at Jaialdi in Boise. The next day at the party we met Mike's son Bryce and his wife,Krista, and Jack's son John and his wife, Jenny, and two children.
We purposely arrived late for the party, so that Kim and Kathy could make an entrance. We had everyone positioned to take pictures of our get together with our aunt. She was so surprised. She kept saying, "How did you get here?" We had a wonderful day with all of the Wallace clan. Our Aunt Carmen is our dad's sister. She had us laughing all the time. She reminded us so much of our dad. We noticed many times she would say something the exact way our dad would have said it. We are so glad we were able to be with her and celebrate with her this milestone in her life. She is a delightful, fun loving, spry, beautiful 100 year old lady!
From the moment we got to Long Island and throughout the night, Durg was wondering how we could get back to Palmyra without having to go to through NYC. He said he had seen the NY skyline and that's all of NY he cared to see. He pondered and studied the maps and decided we would take the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Then we could drive through Connecticut and Massachusetts to get to New York and back to Palmyra. At the party the next day, Mike (without knowing of Durg's concern or plan) said we should take the ferry to Bridgeport and drive the beautiful back roads through Connecticut and Massachusetts. Great Minds working together and a second witness! And that's exactly what we did.
On Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to our aunt, hoping we could see her again. Our cousin, Jack, lead us to the ferry entrance and we were soon on the ferry. It was a wonderful experience. We had a great time with family, and now were looking forward to the ferry ride. We are thinking this is a great way to start our day of travel. Mike's back road was the best road we had been on yet, as we drove through woods and glens and quaint little towns and by lakes and water ways on our journey to Palmyra. Kim could not believe how beautiful it was. She was quite impressed with the little towns. That's what I like too. There are so many little towns, here and there and everywhere. Old towns with old building and houses. Picture Perfect!
We arrived back to Palmyra and calculated our driving time. It was 8 hours. Durg said we can go back to Long Island again because the most beautiful way to get there was missing NYC. And it took us the same amount of time
Our celebration continued throughout the week as we showed Kim all the sights to see. We took her to the Mormon sights and to Family Home Evening at the Hill Cumorah where the pageant President gave us a tour. We saw costumes and wigs and weapons and the stairway to the stage being built. The pageant starts on Thursday, July 10. We took Kim to Sauder's (Durg's flour store) and to another store, Weaver View Farm. Kim made friends with the little girl whose mother owns the store by helping her bring baskets which were in their horse driven cart, into the store. She became our tour guide throughout the store. She was adorable. The last day Kim was here we went to the long house at Ganondagan. I wrote about it another time. On our travels we passed by Canandaigua, Seneca, Keuka, Cayuga, Onondaga and Oneida Lakes, the Hudson River and Erie Canal. That's pretty good for three days of sightseeing. When we took her to the plane, I said, "Well now you know a little bit more about the Mormons, the Mennonites and the Iroquois Nation."
The 4th of July Celebration was right up Durg's alley. He got to spend 6 hours in the temple helping with baptisms of youth. The temple is normally closed on the 4th but by special request, it was opened for this youth group. Temple missionaries volunteered to help. Of course, Durg would! I went to a BBQ with the slacker temple missionaries who did not volunteer and after Durg was done, we drove to Rochester, NY to see the Redwings (Boston Redsox Farm Team) play the Lehigh Iron Pigs. Most all the temple missionaries went and we had seats right behind home plate. As the game was being played and during inning changes, the writing on the big lighted billboard said, "Welcome LDS Missionaries". So cool! It was a great evening, not hot or humid and the game turned out to be a winning one for the Redwings, considering they were getting slaughtered by the Pigs for the first 5 innings. The best player, who caught us up to the Pigs and helped win the game was Pedro Florimon. So we chanted, "the Morimons are here for Florimon. We had never seen him before, but he sure showed his stuff! We like to think we helped. (yeh, right)
The Celebration continued as we watched the fireworks sitting in the best seats. The fireworks were set off right on the field. The patriotic music and beauty of the fireworks made you so proud to be an American. We all had a few tears in our eyes knowing that because of America and religious freedom, we could be there as Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and even welcomed there. There are a lot of good people now who have good feelings about the Mormons, a far cry from Joseph Smith's persecution of the first vision. We are so grateful. Oh how we are enjoying the good times as we Celebrate!
Our last Celebration, coming up, is the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Things are bustling around here as everyone is getting ready for the pageant. There are over 1,000 people needed to put the pageant on and between 20,000-30,000 people will come to see it. The civic organizations of the towns around provide the food at concession stands so people can have dinner before the Pageant each night. Several years ago, the civic organizations asked if they could provide concession stands and of course, the church said yes. Now the people here call the Hill Cumorah Pageant THEIR pageant. Amazing and so wonderful. We were in Newark the other day and Durg was looking for a working flour mill where flour is milled so he could buy it fresh. (Seriously, this is getting a little out of hand. People think he owned a bakery before he retired!) He asked a man on the street who told him that there had been one here but it is closed and the closest one is in Penn Yan. (Penn Yan, here we come!) Then he said, we will be coming to Palmyra in a few days to work at the Pageant. He was with the Rotary and they provide one of the concession stands. He had noticed Durg's missionary tags. Everyone knows who we are and what we represent, so we better be on our best behavior where ever we go! Love It!
So we leave you as we prepare for the influx of people for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We will be extremely busy in the temple, as most of the local temple workers are needed at the pageant. President Broadbent told us at a preparation meeting, this is why we are here! We are gearing up and ready. Hey, Let's Celebrate! Come On! (Come if you can, anytime!) Until next time..........Much love!
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