Our trip to NYC began slowly. I mean that traffic came to a standstill when we hit the Holland Tunnel. And this wasn't even in rush hour. Thank goodness for GPS to help us find our hotel. This was how our trip started out. Very rainy. We had to buy umbrellas from a street vendor. We walked around Chinatown that first night and met Jin Xiu and Zhung for dinner.

Every time we saw these tour busses go by, we were very grateful we didn't buy those tickets. They got a free poncho though.

We took this picture while waiting for a metro bus. The first bus wouldn't let us on without exact change. So we go to the bank and get change and get back in line. A little old chinese lady starts talking to Bruce in chinese and she and her daughter give us their transfers and we get on the bus free. We took the bus down to the ferry to the State of Liberty.

We are standing in front of the original torch, which was retired after much wear and tear.

I am standing in front of a cast of the Lady's face.

Bruce is standing by the cast of one of her feet.

There is something about her that just makes you want to take pictures.

She is so majestic and amazing to see from across the bay.

And I didn't get sick, considering the waters were pretty rough that day.

Amazing to hear all the different dialects being spoken on the ferry.

The ferry next took us to Ellis Island. Bruce headed off to the genealogy library and I wandered through the building. This made me appreciate my ancestors' struggles to come to America even more. The hardships they must have gone through.

So thankful for the personal affects they had on display and the personal stories we could read about these brave people.

These are the original benches in the hall that the immigrants would have sat and slept on. They had different rooms set up with displays. One room showed many peoples passports.

Can you find our hotel in this picture? It is smaller than I expected from the picture on the internet. It is Hotel 91, because it's address is 91 Broadway. We were very fortunate though, because we were only 3 blocks from where the wedding was to take place. I was a little nervous when we pulled up in front of this hotel. We got lucky and got one of the rooms with a window.

I felt like we had left America because there was no English spoken around us for 3 days. Totally immersed in the Chinese culture. You could smell it the minute you stepped out of the hotel.

This was a little restaurant right across the street from our hotel and we discovered they had the best dumplings ever!

When we sat down, they brought us the "American" menu. They give the Chinese a different menu.

We also caught up with A Ming, who we knew from a restaurant here in the Indy area. She works in a restaurant in New York and her husband works in a restaurant in New Jersey. She helped us find a store to buy Bruce a translator to take on his trip to China in October. She decided to take us to her favorite restaurant, which it turns out was the exact same restaurant we had just been to an hour before with Jin Xiu and Zhung. Authentic Chinese Food. Let's just say, I didn't eat too much.

I had to take a picture of this. So cool!

Chinatown Wedding

We continued our trip to NYC to attend the wedding of Jin Xiu and Zhung. We had met Jin Xiu while we were living in Arkansas. She worked at a Chinese restaurant near Bruce's office and he struck up a friendship with her from the first time they met. We would take her shopping and tried to teach her English. When she invited us to her wedding, she told us we would be like her American Mother and Father, since her family would not be at the wedding. It was a great honor to be there for her.

The ceremony was held in a restaurant/banquet hall. Decorated in red and gold. The bride and grooms' names are in the diamonds on the wall. This ceremony was done almost totally backwards from the way we Americans have it. The pictures were taken after the bride and groom came in, but before the ceremony officially started. Pictures were taken with every single person in attendance. The minister/host/emcee even pointed out that it was not normal for "foreigners' (which was us) to be present at these weddings. We got to sit in the chairs to have our picture taken with the bride and groom because we were the elders.

All of the tables were set so beautifully. Every single person got their own, personal bottle of wine. There were large bottles of soda placed on every table, but no ice. After the pictures were taken, the manager of the restaurant covered every table with another red table cloth. Bruce and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why they did this.
Once they brought out the poppers, we understood why. These things are as big as roll of wrapping paper. After pictures were done the bride and groom left the room to make a big entrance. As the bride and groom come in they are pelted with these cannons that shoot confetti and streamers at them. They were also very loud. So, no rice at the end, they do it at the beginning.

The bride and grooms first dance together. After this dance the bride and groom went and changed clothes. Then the kitchen brought out lots of food.

This is the traditional dress. Members of the families would come up on stage and sit in the two chairs and present the bride and groom with gold jewelry (around their necks) which represents good fortune. Bride and groom would bow to the family members. At this time the families would also present the bride and groom with an envelope with money in it. Money was the only gifts given.

More food again, and the bride changed clothes again. The whole ceremony was in Chinese so luckily I had Bruce to fill me in some on what was happening. The minister/host/emcee talked through the whole thing too. He never stopped talking. And the guests never stopped eating. We ate through the whole ceremony.

It was a very exciting and unique experience for us. Jin Xiu was so excited to have us there and we had a wonderful time.

Palmyra, NY

In September we were traveling to NYC to attend a wedding and decided to take a slight detour on the way so we could visit some of the church's historical sites. We got to see the restored cabin where Joseph Smith lived when he was growing up. This is where the Angel Moroni appeared to him to give him instruction from the Lord. We also saw the larger house where the family lived also. Behind the cabin is the Sacred Grove where Joseph went to pray to the Lord for direction on which church to join and was directed to join none of them at this time. Later he would be directed to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Smith Family Farm/Grove

The Erie Canal

We were driving around the city and went down a side road and discovered the Erie Canal. This was the main reason this city was in existence at the time of Joseph Smith. So much commerce and people traveling west went through this town.

The Palmyra Temple

We got to Hill Cumorah very early before anyone else was there. Beautiful, autumn weather and leaves changing color made it a memorable time with a breathtaking view from the top.

HILL CUMORAH

We also got the chance to see some of our great friends who used to live in Avon with us. Elaine, Karen and Russell Henderson. They chose to leave the twins with grandma and grandpa. It was great to catch up with them and see them.