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!
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