It's our last night in New York and we saved the best for last. We spent the last four days road-tripping through church history sites. It was and incredible experience in many ways. We were educated by the missionaries who led our tours, inspired by the sacrifices made by the early saints, and touched by the spirit that rests in the places we visited. The beautiful countryside was a huge breath of fresh air after three months of concrete and city.

Sunday we attended morning church then picked up a rental car and headed north-west. Our first stop was the site of the restoration of the priesthood in Harmony Pennsylvania. Currently the site includes the monument above and markers where the foundation of Joseph and Emma's first home (where much of the translation of the Book of Mormon took place) as well as Emma's parents' home. The church has just announced plans to rebuild both homes and create a visitor's center similar to what they have done in Palmyra.

The Susquehanna river, where Joseph and Oliver Cowdry were baptized and near where they would have received the Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist.

Niagara Falls...we stayed here for two of our three nights of our trip. The falls were absolutely beautiful and the water was incredibly clear...after a summer of staring at the Hudson it almost seamed surreal that water could be so clean.

The south end of the falls, reflecting the light of the rising morning sun

Monday we drove to Kirkland, Ohio. We toured the Kirkland temple, compliments of the Community of Christ.

Us with the temple in the background

While in Kirkland we learned about the incredible faith and sacrifices of the Whitney family. Newel was a wealthy man, acquiring much of his wealth from his Ashery. He gave up his upper storage for his store to house the prophet Joseph and his family for 18 months. At one point he was asked to contribute all of the earnings from the ashery to the help pay the debts from the temple. He willingly did so. He was called to serve as the first bishop of the church and continued to serve as bishop until the day he died.

Tuesday we went to Palmyra. We got in town just in time to attend the 1:30 session in the Palmyra temple. You can see the sacred grove from the temple grounds.

The Smith home at the time of the first vision; also the home where the angel Moroni visited Joseph in the night to tell him about the golden plates. The Sacred Grove is just behind the home.

The Grandine Store, where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published.

The Moroni monument atop the Hill Cumorrah

Wednesday morning we woke up early and went for a run through the wooded trails around the temple. This picture is from the far end of a field behind the Palmyra temple.

After our run we went for a walk through the trails of the Sacred Grove. We could have stayed there all day! The peace of this beautiful site is so tangible, a true testimony to the great events that occurred here.

The Peter Whitmer home, the site of the organization of the church and our final stop of the trip Wednesday morning. Once again a place filled with stories of miracles and faith in support of the church. It is at this location where the Book of Mormon translation was completed

The big news this week is that Michelle has finished her internship and was extended an offer to work full time at American Express when she graduates next spring! We have just one more week in New York and then we fly back to Utah next Thursday (August 11th). We are excited to be coming home to family and DJ is excited to begin his studies at the Y. At the same time, we have enjoyed our time in New York and will miss many of the things we have come to love here. Tomorrow we leave for Niagara Falls and the church history sites, our last east coast adventure.

We saw Spiderman this past Thursday. The set was great and the music was pretty good. Poor Peter Parker wasn't much of a singer, but we got past the flat notes and enjoyed the show. We even saw David Gregory from NBC at the show with his little boy.

Turns out Spiderman plays the sax in the subway before the show starts. Everyone is strapped for cash these days, even superheroes...

Almost show time!

Michelle and Julia (a fellow intern) were invited to lunch with the LinkedIn Hr recruiter. Their office is at the Empire State building. Ryan, the recruiter, has an express pass that cuts through every line up to the observation deck, free of charge. This picture shows Michelle with Julia atop the 80th floor of the Empire State building. People paid $20 and waited in line for 2 hours to see what we saw in 5 minutes for free!

Looking south from the 80th floor observation deck at the Empire State building

Behind all the paparazzi is Lady Gaga. This happened just a block up from our house and DJ stumbled on this frantic crowd on his way home from walking me to work. Only in New York...

Last weekend we went to the MET. We got in for free with Michelle's AmEx ID. We only had time for the Egyptian exhibit and the Arms exhibit. Who knew the art museum was really a history museum! We could have spend several hours walking through the whole place.

An Egyptian structure...

Friday we saw the Pompeii exhibit at Discovery Times Square. We saw incredible ancient Roman artifacts buried in 12 feet of ash from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 76.

DJ took his textbooks and articles to the beach on long island last week and enjoyed reading about the science of the brain to the relaxing sound of ocean waves.

Long Island Beach

This past weekend we finally made it into Boston. Boston is significantly cleaner and safer than New York, the buildings are prettier and the people are nicer. It was a fabulous weekend away. The first day we walked along the Charles River, toured the Harvard campus, visited Burdicks Chocolates (the best chocolate treats in town) and toured Fenway. The second day we walked the freedom trail and learned about Boston's role in the American Revolution and ate fantastic Italian in Boston's North End. We saw Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, the Old South Meeting House, toured the USS Constitution, and saw many other significant sites in American history. The final day we had a boat tour of the Charles river and visited Mount Auburn Cemetary, a beautiful garden cemetary with a stone tower you can climb up and see the surrounding area for miles. We have both agreed...if we move back east for an East Coast city it will be to Boston!

DJ walking in Mt Auburn
One of the 2,200 pound cannons on the USS constitution

One of the oldest street in Boston, original buildings still in use! The oyster house is the oldest tavern still in use and in it's original location.

Fenway!

Sun setting on the Charles

On the charles, Boston in the background

Burdicks Chocolates...delicious, deep chocolate brownie bottom with an inch of fudge on top. Mmmm.

Cambridge church...these buildings are all over the place.

Harvard! The famous Harvard Yard in the background

Friday night we had one of the quietest nights in the city we have yet experiences. It was pouring rain. We ventured out with our umbrellas and enjoyed the streets all to ourselves. Here DJ is singin' in the rain on the highline, an old elevated subway line

Before heading out on the streets we stopped at Sandwich Planet and enjoyed award winning food.

Last Monday we celebrated the fourth with hootenany pancakes smothered in strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and bananas: a red, white and blue culinary masterpiece made at the hands of chef DJ. Later in the day we ventured out on the town, only to find streets barricaded and blocked in an attempt at crowd control for the fireworks later in the evening. We ended up coming back home and watching the fireworks show from our widow, viewed above. Macey's sponsors the fire works. They place 5 barges extending one mile down the middle of the Hudson river and fireworks light the sky for close to 30 minutes. We could see three of the five barges from our window.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

July is here and we are half way through our time here already! Michelle's internship has been very busy. It is great to be over a project that so many people have so much interest in. the problem will be making everyone happy in the end. DJ's stat class is going well. He's aced all the tests and quizzes so far. Today was our first day teaching primary in our new calling. It is so much fun being around the kids. We teach the 8 and 9 year olds. They are a smart, well-behaved class. Primary kids are just as hit and miss as adults, but so much funnier when there answers are a little off. Today in sharing time the primary president asked why temples are so important. One of the little girls exclaimed, "we have to have temples! Where else would we have secret marriages!" New York is as fun and busy as ever. It is getting hot and muggy here. We're sad we're missing all the 4th of July BBQs and breakfasts with family so we've made up for it with an all American weekend - burgers and shakes at the Shake Shack, BBQ pork in Harlem, Sunday roast, and fireworks and burgers on the piers tomorrow. Happy 4th of July everyone!

Dino BBQ in Harlem

We took the ferry to Staton Island Friday night after dinner at the Shake Shack. The ferry is free and you get a great view of the statue of liberty and the New York skyline from the boat.

On the Ferry

War Horse received 5 Tony awards, including best play. It was incredible. The horse, the main character, is a huge puppet controlled by three men. The puppeteering was so incredible, the horse truly did seem almost real. We loved the show!

AmEx sponsored a night at Citi Field for all the interns. Too bad the Mets aren't that good...we did more talking than
watching. It is a fun stadium, though.







Two weeks ago John Huntsman declared his presidency at Liberty Park, just across the water from the Statue of liberty. DJ tried to make it to the declaration, but due to construction, only made it to Ellis Island. He saw the event only from a distance, but got these great pictures on his way...Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.