Some History in New York City

 New York City was founded by the Dutch as "New Amsterdam" in 1625 as a fur trading post.When they lost the colony to the British in 1665, it was re-christened "New York."  Curt is standing on Wall Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange.  The street was named for the defensive wall the Dutch built along its course.

 Nearby is Federal Hall built on the site of the original building where George Washington took the oath of office to become the first president of the United States.  On display inside is the Bible he placed his hand on for that oath.  It was also the site of the first meetings of the US Congress and where the Bill of Rights was adopted.

 Just a block away is Trinity Church with its beautiful and peaceful Colonial grave yard, right in the middle of the jarring clamor of the modern city.

 Fraunces Tavern, also in the Lower Manhattan historic district, sits in the only remaining block of 18th century commercial buildings left in the city.  It has been restored as an exact replica of the 1719 tavern where George Washington said farewell to his officers in 1783 at the close of the Revolutionary War.

 The Flatiron Building, so named for its unusual triangular shape, is a favorite New York landmark which now gives its name to the whole district.  When it was built in 1902 it was the tallest building in the world, and one of the first to use a steel frame.  Some predicted that the winds created by the building's unusual shape would knock it down.

A pleasant summer excursion is taking a ferry out to Governor's Island which sits in the middle of New York Harbor.   It is a great place to ride bikes and get a spectacular view of the lower Manhattan skyline.

  Its strategic location made it valuable for the military defense of the city and later as a place to house prisoners.

 The Frick Mansion on Fifth Avenue now serves as a museum housing the fabulous art collected by its owner, steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919).  It provides a rare glimpse of how the extremely wealthy lived in New York's gilded age.

The fabulous Old Westbury Gardens are on the Long Island estate of John Shaffer Pipps, an heir to a US Steel fortune.  The home, built in 1906 and designed after an English country house, is surrounded by 200 acres of gardens:  formal gardens, landscaped grounds, woodlands, ponds and lakes.

 "Grant's Tomb" is resting place of  Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia, located in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side. Grant emerged after four years of fighting in the Civil War as one of the great military leaders in US history.  He granted humane and generous terms when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to him on April 9, 1865.  His fundamental desire for peace gained him universal respect by Northerners and Southerners alike.  Over the entrance to his tomb is carved, "Let us have peace."

The Hamilton Grange, in New York's Hamilton Heights Historic District, was Alexander Hamilton's summer home. It was the only home he ever owned, but he lived there for only two years, from 1802 to 1804, when he was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr.

Now a National Monument, the home has several beautifully restored rooms and fascinating displays about Hamilton's life as a political writer, Revolutionary soldier, and statesman.  One of the architects of our federal system of government, he was the first secretary of the treasury; his face is on our ten-dollar bill.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Intrepid Sea-Air-and-Space Museum. All the exhibits are housed on a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier anchored in the Hudson River on the west shore of Manhattan Island.

Here we walked through the Growler, a guided-missile submarine.

The Space Shuttle Pavilion houses the historic space shuttle, Enterprise.

Dozens of planes, including fighter planes from the 1940s and the world's fastest spy plane, are displayed on the flight deck.

Sisters in New York City

 We have felt so lucky to have had visits from both of Curt's sisters and both of Mary's sisters this fall.

Curt's younger sister Shayla and her husband Jeff came from Shelley, Idaho to spend several days over Labor Day weekend especially so they could attend the Broadway production of Les Miserables starring Alfie Boe.  We enjoyed sharing with them some of Central Park and also some of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Connie, another of Curt's sisters, from San Antonio, came by for a short visit along with her daughter Melanie and darling grandson Kimball.

Mary's sisters, Liz from San Diego and Jeanette from Dallas, came to stay a few days with us as part of a tradition to get together every October to celebrate our mother's birthday.  This year she would have been 100 years old!

Here we are visiting the Cloisters, an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which sits in a beautiful park overlooking the Hudson River.

Jeanette and Liz tried to squeeze in as many New York activities as they could--from grand opera to the Statue of Liberty.  Here we are visiting Zabar's to choose bagels and cheeses for breakfast.

Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation: "I Know that My Savior Lives"

Sunday we presented the annual Primary Sacrament Meeting Program for the Flushing New York First Branch:  "I KNOW THAT MY SAVIOR LIVES."  We were thrilled that most of our Primary children came and were prepared to do a great job.  We had helped each prepare a little talk about something we had learned in Primary this year.   We had coached, and they had practiced; they rose to the occasion in standing tall at the podium, speaking clearly and expressing sincerely their sweet testimonies of Jesus Christ.  Gustavo, sitting on the front right, was baptized just a month ago.  Joel, with gray vest/suit and red tie, spoke about Christ forgiving and healing  Malcus, one of the soldiers who arrested Him.  In between talks the children sang the songs we had learned this year.  The solid piano accompaniment by Elder Hawkins made all this possible.

The youngest little guy on the first row, being held by his older brother, won our hears by singing a precious little unaccompanied  solo in Spanish about a "Happy Family." (All of these children speak Spanish at home but are perfectly fluent in English, as well.)  Faith, at the far left on the second row, a darling and mature 12-year-old, spoke touchingly about her gratitude for the Savior and of a difficult time in her life when she felt very strongly His love and peace.  Even our two  especially challenging boys rose to the occasion, behaved themselves, and participated beautifully.  I 'll bet you can guess which ones they are on the front row.
We sang lots of  Primary songs; the children's favorite was "I Know that My Savior Loves Me."  What a thrill to hear the children sing the words with genuine feeling:
"I know He lives; I will follow faithfully.  My heart I give to Him.  I know that my Savior loves me!"

Kate and Jacob in "The Big Apple"

 It was such a JOY to share some of the sights, sounds, and tastes of NEW YORK CITY with Nathan, Kate, and Jacob for a few days in September.  They came ready to see all they could, and experienced a lot!  Kate loved using the subway trains.  She enjoyed each ride as if she were in an amusement park.  She was not at all intimidated by all the crowds and diversity, jumble and noise.

Here Kate poses with some mosaic revelers which adorn the walls of the Times' Square Station.

One night Jacob and Nathan attended a baseball game at Yankee Stadium where they especially enjoyed the revered tradition of the venue and the congeniality of the crowd.

That night, Kate and Grammy had such fun at a lively production of "Matilda" based on the Raold Dahl book of that title.  Amazing!

Jacob was impressed by SHAKE SHACK hamburgers and fries. The food tasted so good to all of us, maybe because we were famished after all our sightseeing.

 At dusk we walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.  The stunning views of the city were enhanced as the lights in the buildings began to glitter.  The bridge, built in the 1880s, is an engineering marvel.  Many New Yorkers of the day were afraid the steel cable system would not be able to hold the weight of all the traffic.  Today the bridge is a much-loved icon of the city.

A favorite spot for Kate was the giant Toys-R-Us store at Times' Square.  She was amazed at the indoor Ferris wheel, and the fantastic selection of games and candy!

We visited the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and also the Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island.  Both filled us with pride for our nation and with gratitude that we are blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth.

 Of course we had to try lots of New York food.  Jacob, who works at Little Caesar's Pizza in Salt Lake City, was especially excited to try New York pizza.  Both he and Kate were quite impressed.

Besides Italian pizza, Jacob and Kate enjoyed French crepes, Chinese dishes, German pretzels, Dutch cookies, Jewish bagels, and Middle Eastern falafel.






We were so happy to have this visit from "home."
It enhanced our awareness of the treasures around us in this great city. It also reminded us of the blessings of our treasured forever family!