Celebrating the Ordinary: Boston (Day 1)

And Yes... I said yes... I will Yes!
James Joyce

This I know and I don't know a lot...
after 21 years of marriage
4 children
7 moves in
3 different states
and all the billions of crazy, stressful, mad,wonderful, worried, sad, ecstatic, the tears, the belly laughs and all the upside down and right side up moments that have made up the last 2 decades together

I would jump up and down and scream yes all over again!!

Twenty four years ago the planets aligned and the heavens smiled down on me (OK don't worry I know what really happened Ang and Sue Ellen thought Tom needed a friend and I was new to Provo so they lined us up...but the heavens smiling down on me is how I picture it) and gave me the man that was to become my everything.

Fall was the season that I first met the love of my life. Fall was when I married the love of my life.

Where else could we celebrate the last 21 years of our life together then New England? I have been dreaming of going to Boston and seeing the foliage as long as I can remember. It just seemed to me that New England was my fall Mecca. I needed to be right there, with my Tom, celebrating fall in all of its wonderful glory.

My dream came true and we took the red eye flight to Boston on Friday October 14.
There are too many pictures and it takes about 5 min. to load 1 picture because my stinking computer is on its way out the door. Therefore I am just going to blog each day separately. So without further adieu:

Day 1
Boston
We walked the Boston trail.

Now as you may or may not know I consider myself quite a scholar when it comes to English history. I am kidding only just a little bit. You see after all of our trips to England with the reading and the quizzing from my Dad, I call them miniature study a broads. But it has seriously been a spell since I reviewed my American History. So I actually found myself emotional thinking of my American heritage. I loved, loved the refresher course and being in the spot where so much happened took my emotions by surprise.
I love this country and so many of the remarkable men that founded this great nation stood where I stood.

Walking the trail...

Boston Latin School

Granary Burying Ground
I have always been fascinated with old cemeteries....who knows there is just something about them. The history, the stories, the people--a tad morbid I realize. I am used to seeing old tombstones in England but my America...now that was a first.

Benjamin Franklin Statue

Old South Meeting House
(Where the Boston massacre took place)

My love

Park Street Church

Bunker Hill
Talking on the phone with Julie...she had my kiddos. :)
As a typical Call side note: Benjamin had a sleepover with the scouts on Alcatraz. An amazing opportunity so I dropped him off at the church before I left for the airport. I thought all was well until he called me from Alcatraz and informed me that he had lost his bag holding everything. He was on the rock not only without a sleeping bag but a jacket of any kind. I knew he would freeze...I mean it's cold on Alcatraz all. the. time. He was going to be spending the night in a damp, cold cell with nothing. So I had to leave for Boston wondering what he was going to do. This phone call I talked to Benjamin and true to himself told me that it was the best time ever and he just slept on the cement and he wasn't cold at all. I mean seriously how much do I love that kid....

K one more story about Bunker Hill. There was a sign outside the monument stating you should be in good physical condition to climb the stairs blah blah blah. I don't mean to sound arrogant but I thought to myself, " I run every day how hard can it be?" So I start off running up the stairs. I start self talking because things are getting a little hard. Tom thinks I am talking to him and challenging him to a race. Now we both start to get competitive with each other and we are hauling it up the dang monument. Seriously I don't know if 350 stairs sounds like a lot but I am telling you that is a.l.o.t. By the time we got back down off of Bunker hill things were hairy. Our legs were cramped and I felt like mine might just give out beneath me. If we weren't laughing so hard we might have been crying. Needless to say Tom was as stiff the next day as he was when he just ran his marathon. I have nothing to compare it to except to say getting out of bed the next day was a major challenge. :)

USS Constitution

Apparently they play basketball here

King's Chapel Burying Ground

I realize that we have only been home from Italy for a month and I swore I would never have pizza that good again.
Regina Pizza however was pretty darn close. We met people in the never ending line that come here from New York. Now that is quite a commute for a good pie!

I have to put in another side note here.

October 15th is Nicholas 18th birthday.
When this opportunity came up we made our reservations after his Friday night high school football game but we knew we would be gone on his birthday the next day.. We talked to Nicholas about it and he insisted we go as long as we celebrated when we got back. Still you worry that you did the right thing....OK worry no more. When his Uncle John asked him if he felt at all bad that we weren't there he burst out laughing and replied," Are you kidding? This is the best present they could of given me." Alarming but true. Now whether this should hurt my feelings or not I am not sure but this is just Nicholas and I adore this side to him. My always independent and now 18 year old boy.
So here is how we celebrated 3,000 miles away from him. (Tom's idea and it was a hit) We made him a sign and took it all over Boston. All along the trail we would have people hold it or we would stick it on the monument and take a picture. It caused quite a ruckus and of course Tom found 200 strangers to talk to and become close friends with. Good times....then we sent the pictures home to Nicholas. For his birthday party we blew them all up and put them around the kitchen.
This is just a sampling.....