Liberty Enlightining the World
On my trip to New York City in the winter of 2010, One of the many fun things I did was go to the statue of liberty. I learned about many things at the Statue of Liberty. The island that it is on is called liberty island. I learned that it was very hard to mold the copper and make all the details. I learned that the sculptor's name was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. I learned that the man who did the skeleton, well his last name was Eiffel. It was so much fun!!!!!

I told you it was cold!

Which one is Hannah and which one is Lauren! This was BEFORE we purchased our fleece scarves and tourist hats lined with fleece.

Back story on the hats? When we disembarked at Liberty Island, of course they feed you through the gift shop. There, stratigically displayed, was a large quantity of the softest, warmest looking hats. We couldn't resist! Good thing we made our purchase when we arrived. They were gone when we left! So what if we looked like tourists with "New York" emblazoned on our heads.

Definitely good marketing!

Lauren will not eat candy in 2010!

We believe her! Do you think she bought candy at M&M world? Of course not! But it certainly is a place where you can easily be separated from your money. The girls were able to limit themselves to $10 each. Nice job!

We went to Church in a Temple

How many people have attended Primary and Sacrament Meeting in a Temple? Well, not actually THE temple, but in the same building. The Manhattan First Ward meeting in one of only two multi-use buildings the church owns. The other is in Hong Kong. Floors one through three include the entry, classrooms, chapel, offices, etc. Starting on the fourth floor is the Manhattan New York Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Across the street from the Temple? Julliard and Lincoln Center. Not a bad neighborhood.

Of course we had our one degree of separation of experience with people we met at Church. There was a new missionary couple attending for the first time who just happened to live in the Anaheim East Stake. Annette had the opportunity to visit with Steve Nelson's uncle (Steve Nelson--Cedar City friend). Also had a conversation with the head of HR for Citigroup. I'm sure he's had a fund year!

Observe, Record, Study, Imagine--Four words to live by

Susan Hilferty, the Tony Award winning costume designer for Wicked, was the keynote speaker at the Girl Scout Workshop. She shared her thoughts about four words to live by in working towards achieving your dreams. Those words: Observe, Record, Study and Imagine. Something to think about.

You've got to see it again, and again, and again . . . . .

If you've seen Wicked once, the second time is even better! If you've never seen Wicked, when the the opportunity arises, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT OPPORTUNITY!

For those Wicked fans, let's test your Wicked vocabulary. Do these words remind you of characters, songs or scenes?

Rejoicify
Confusifying
Linguification
Degreenify
Popsicle
Disturbrance
Scandalacious
Hideodeous
Gratitution
Galindified
Thrillifying
Moodified
Ozmopolitan
Decipherate
Manifestorium
Congratulotions
Braverism
Discoverate
Dispectation
Dodo (instead of Toto)
Despondrary
Festivating
Differentations

Did you also catch the Glinda/Eva Peron comparison?

And, last but not least, because "For Good" is our favorite song, did you notice that at the beginning of Wicked, Elphaba sings about how she sees unlimited opportunities, then in the middle of the the show it's Glinda and Elphaba who have unlimited opportunities by working together, and then at the end they sing "I'm limited".

Can you tell we like this show! It's been showing to sold out crowds since 2o03!

I would have picked a different winner!

Why did we go to New York City in January? Well, lots of reasons, but most of all, we were able to participate in a special showing for Wicked for Girl Scouts. There was also a workshop on Saturday morning that included cast members and a special presentation by Girl Scouts who had submitted “For Good” service projects. This mom’s opinion? I disagreed with the final choice.

So, here were the projects in a nutshell:
1. Girl Scout troop helps with Habitat for Humanity.
2. Girl Scout adopted from China gathers and sends items to Iraq.
3. Girl Scout travels to Nicaragua to help at Blanca’s House, an organization that provides medical procedures to those in need, especially cleft palate repairs.
4. Girl Scout troop teaches computer literacy to seniors living in assisted living center.
5. Girl Scout (who looked like she suffers with a form of cerebal palsy but made no mention of it in her presentation) works to spread knowledge in Russia.

Project number three was chosen as the winner (and received a back stage tour). Me, I would have chosen project number four because it not only included leadership by a young woman guiding her troop in a project, but it was also devoted to her local community. Plus, it was obvious that a few of the service project submissions were NOT written by the Girl Scout including the winner. It they were, there is no need for them to go on and take high school English.

Oh well, I’m not going to change the world—we can only do what we can in our own lives, homes and local communities. That will help change the world.

Do you know your Saints?

Yes, I know the Saints are playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday and in honor of Drew Brees and his evident faith in Jesus Christ, it might be helpful to know that Saints who have shrines in St. Patricks's Cathedral. Here's the list. Do you know why they are Saints?

St. Anthony
St. John the Evangelist
Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. Rose of Lima
St. Andrew
St. Therese' of Lisieux
St. Elizabeth
St. Michael the Archangel
St. Joseph
St. Patrick
Our Lady of Caestochowa
St. John Baptist De La Salle
St. Bernard
St. Jude

Are Mary and Our Lady of Guadalupe one and the same?

After Church yesterday (and after changing back into our cold weather gear, man I'm glad I brought my big down-filled snowmobiling coat!) we walked from our hotel in Times Square (conveniently located across the street from M&M World and Olive Garden) to the New York Public Library and then up Fifth Avenue to St. Patrick's Cathedral. One of the flower adorned shrines located in St. Patricks is Our Lady of Guadalupe. From the description, we were not clear on whether Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe are one and the same. Do you know?

Well the answer is, kind of. Our Lady of Guadalupe is an icon of the Virgin Mary which appeared on the cloak of Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant, in 1531. The icon is on display in a basilica in the area where the event occurred.

Now you know!

They were yelling at us to get out, but my mom will talk to just about ANYBODY!

So, I realize that one of my jobs as Hannah's mother is to embarrass/annoy her so here was an event/experience that caused her some grief.

At the conclusion of Wicked, I told Hannah and Lauren that we would wait until the crowd left and then make our way up to the the orchestra pit. It is definitely a sight to behold with computers, instruments, keyboards . . . . I guess we waited a bit too long because they kept asking us to leave the theatre. We quickly went to the edge of the pit and one of the musicians was still sitting in his seat and we were able to ask him a few questions (yes, the ushers continued to ask us to leave causing Hannah some consternation). Couldn't let the moment pass without sharing one of our calling cards with a thank you! Asked the muscian to put it on the Music Director's stand. Do you think he got it?

By the way, if you want a copy of our calling card (used in Victorian Times to introduce oneself when calling on a friend) Hannah, Lauren or myself are happy to share one with you. We even passed some cards out at Church to the Primary President, people who engaged us in conversation and asked where we were from . . . . to which we proudly proudly replied that we live in the center of the Golden Hexagon--within two hours of six National Parks/Monuments.

We met many wonderful people from our taxi driver, doorman, sales clerks and even the head of HR for Citigroup! I'm sure he's had an interesting couple of years!

Thanks to all who made our trip memorable and fun!

Following in the Immigrants' Footsteps

This trip we went to Elis Island. It was so fun. So put yourself in these shows for a while. So you are leaving your home town forever. You just pass the STATUE OF LIBERTY. You look at that and ponder about what your life yet to come is going to consist of. You walk in big glass doors. Your ears suddenly fill with one hundred voices speaking in diferent languages and dielect. people in uniforms are yelling at you and usualy when people in a uniform in your country are yelling at you that is a bad thing. You are reluctant to put your small belongings in the baggage room. but then someone suddenly rips it out of your hands so you have no choice but to go up the stairs. This is called the six second health test. docters look at you from above just to see if you are fit enough to pass. Sudenly someone calls your name . You go up to the desk and they start asking you questions. Like if you are married. Who are you meeting in america. And so forth. For most people this trip to the island is a two three day activity. But fr some it doesn't have that of a happy ending. I liked this visit because it was very interesting to see what they had to go through to get freedom.