A beginning...

Ok. I have given in. Today I was sitting thinking about how I need to write in my journal about my trips and experiences this summer and about how I didn't really want to do that. Then I thought about how I really need to e-mail some of my friends that I haven't communicated with in a long time. Then I thought about how I really need to e-mail my Grandma more and how bad I am at that. I then thought (don't you like this stream of consciousness I have going) maybe a blog could work for all of these things. So I am going to try it. Hopefully there are some people out there that might be interested in what is going on in my life but even if only my Grandma looks at it it will serve its purpose :)

Anyway a very quick recap of this summer... Take a deep breath, I did a lot...

First I loved being off work and getting paid. It was Awesome! I saw several movies including Mamma Mia, The Dark Knight, The X-Files, Wanted and Kit Kittredge. In June Kim, Dave and the kids came to visit and I went with them to Blackfoot, Idaho for a week. I had a great time staying with David's family, especially camping. Then Kim and I, with the kids, went to Boise for a week. It was great to see all the family there as well. Kim, kids and I then came back to Salt Lake City for 2 weeks. My roomate put up with all of us staying in our three bedroom aparment for most of that time extremely well. We were very busy. We went to Lagoon, went camping, went to Provo, had a swimming party and a bunch of other stuff too.

After the Police concert I went back to Connecticut with Kim and the kids. Yes I made Kim get plane tickets that were after the concert, it was important :) The plane ride went amazingly smoothly and I then watched the kids for the next 2 weeks while Kim studied for the bar and took it. It was tiring and wonderful. I loved spending all that time with them. As soon as she was done we went and picked up my Grandma in Boston where she was staying with my cousins Aaron and Brandi. It was great to see Aaron, Brandi and their kids even just for a little while. (I managed to see all my Blake cousins this summer!) Kim, Dave the kids, Grandma and me then all went to Rochester, New York. We saw Niagra falls, very pretty. The next morning we went to Palmyra and saw The Smith farm, the Graden Building and of course the Sacred Grove. The Grove was a lot different than I thought it would be. It was beautiful and had a wonderful peaceful, happy feeling in it.

After New York we went back to Connecticut for the next week. Here is a brief list of what we saw and did... Mark Twain's house, Starry Night by Van Gogh, New Haven and a little of Yale, the oldest continuous ferry in the U.S. and Walgreens- I got a pretty bad cold. We had a lot of fun with Grandma, I was so glad I could experience all those things with her. Both of us especially loved seeing the art Mueseum.

After the quick week and a few airplane mishaps, Kim and I took Grandma to the aiport at 5 am and then took the train into NYC. We stayed with the sister of a friend (thanks!) in Harlam. It was great to be able to stay in someone's house and kind of see how people live. Harlem was much different and less scary than I thought it would be. We went to the Metropolitan Muesum Saturday morning and saw an Egyptian Temple, a bunch of Monet's, Van Gogh's, Picasso's, Warhol's and others. It was very educational and great. Next we stood in line for 2 hours to get half price tickets to Spamalot on Broadway. It was worth it! In between the waiting and the show we went to the Empire State building. That was over priced, a long line in which they tried to sell you something more every 2 minutes but the view was incredible.
Sunday we went to sacrement meeting in Harlem, different and the same. Then we went to china town which reminded us a lot of Tiawan. Then Kim made me walk across the Brooklyn bridge, I'm glad she did, it was a great view as well. On Monday Dave and the kids met us and we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That experience is hard to describe, it was historical, patriotic, moving and fun. I could imagine all those new immigrants comming with a dream and hope in their hearts and not much else, and seeing the Statue for the first time and all it ment for them. It made me very proud of our country that 98% of all those millions of new immigrants found their way in to make new lives as Americans.

So this is a really long post so I think I will leave the rest of the catch up for another day.