New York New York

Here are some pictures of the trip to New York. We got to do some things in upstate New York with Joshua, Rebecca, Julia, Ethan and Christian - and we also made a short trip to New York city. First we went to Palmyra but forgot the camera so no pictures of the Sacred Grove. It was really interesting though.

The next day we went to Niagara Falls. They were tremendous. The amount of water rushing over the clifts are incredible.

It was a little cold and a lot of walking but we really enjoyed being out with the grandchildren.

I forgot my passport so I didn't go with them to the Canadian side where the views are even more awesome.

I personally think the Falls were the best thing we saw on the trip.

We took a bus over to New York City. It was delayed getting there and a long crowded bus ride but worth it in the end. This is a view from the top of the Empire State building. It's amazing the things people build.

We went to Times Square a couple of times. Lots of lights and people. We especially liked this M&M candy store that was three stories high.

We made a trip out to the Statue of Liberty. We were able to get passes into the pedestal but not up into the crown.

We did lots of walking around New York. We saw Chinatown and Little Italy and other neighborhoods. We also saw the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, some old buildings, skyscrapers, Central Park, Grant's Tomb and others. We didn't go to any restaurants, on a tight budget, but did try lots of street vendors and bakeries for food. We especially had to try the New York style pizza and street vendor hot dogs.

Jacquelyn got us tickets to the Regis and Kelly Show. Kelly was on vacation though and they had Carrie Ann Inaba from Dancing With the Stars. It was a lot of fun, lots of excitement in the audience.

One of the guests was Janet Jackson.

The second guest was Shannen Doherty

Rebecca took us to the zoo one day and the weather was great. It was actually hot. We had a lot of fun.

Here's Julia get up close and personal with a female lion. She wasn't afraid.

Caleb and Ethan checking out the lions too.

One of the best things about going to the zoo with little kids is showing them all the animals.

And of course Ethan got lots of carrying time. Face front and see the sights. We all took turns with carrying Ethan and Julia maybe even more.

That was the end of our trip out to New York to see the new grandson Christian and his family. We love them all.

Christian's Baby Blessing

We got to make a trip to Syracuse and see Christian have his baby blessing. He's not even a month old and he's already very handsome.

Here's a picture of Christian with his Dad. Joshua performed the blessing at church Sunday at the start of the Sacrament meeting.

Here's a wonderful picture of the whole family. This was a special day and we were so happy to be there and share in the experience. Christian is lucky to have such a wonderful family to grow up in.

Julia is ready to take a picture of her new baby brother. You could tell how much she really likes him.

Ethan was happy with the occasion too. He is such a cheerful boy and seemed to keep close track of what everyone was doing.

Caleb was with us too. He enjoyed being there and liked playing with Julia and Ethan but was sometimes busy with other important matters.

It was really nice of Joshua and Rebecca to have us stay with them, they made us feel real welcome and we had a wonderful time. We'll post some pictures of the things we went to see later.