The Lamoreaux Family: Boston!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Boston!

I can't believe that I've taken so long to post these pictures. In March, Bob and I got to go to Boston! We stayed with Christian and Tara. Tara had arranged everything to make sure we were pampered, had the royal tour of the city, and had a wonderful time.

I rode on the subway for the first time. It was fun!

Daniel is a veteran of all things "big-city". The subway was just an everyday thing for him. He had his scooter and still didn't lose his balance. I was trying not to lose mine the whole time.

We went along the "Freedom Trail", starting with a ferry ride.

I wanted a picture of these three Amish men, but I wasn't sure they would want me taking pictures, so I just held my camera in my hand (without looking in it) and nonchalantly snapped a few pictures.

The U.S.S. Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides". It is still considered an active ship in our Navy.

The most narrow home in Boston. The brick buildings next to it are not part of the home. Crazy!

Bob found a new hero at the Bunker Hill Monument. We'd never learned about Dr. Joseph Warren before.

Here's the start of the stairs up the Bunker Hill Monument - we hiked all the way up and down - 294 steps! My legs were sore for a few days.

Old North Church - "One if by land, two if by sea"

A must - a stop at Mike's Pastry in the Italian District

Anna started getting fussy, and would only be happy with Christian carrying her upside down. She stayed this way for a long time.

Union Oyster House, the oldest continually open restaurant - many of the founders probably gathered here. (Click on the link - it is quite interesting!)

We heard that there was going to be a re-enactment of the Boston Massacre that evening, and were trying to figure out how to change our plans to be there that evening at that time (we had planned to come later, and Tara had arranged for a babysitter). We walked up to the Old State House, and were happy to find out that they were practicing the reenactment at that very moment. We were standing right there, and didn't have to brave the crowds later in the evening.

Visited a neat cemetery where Sam Adams, John Hancock, and many other famous men are buried. Amazing!

John Hancock's gravesite

That evening, we dined on delicious Italian cuisine at Giacomo's. We waited in line for about an hour, but it was worth it. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli. Yum! It was fun to have a date night with Christian and Tara.

The next day we visited Walden Pond. I had been reading Walden on the plane ride - it is one of Bob's favorite books. It was such a beautiful place.

Thoreau meets iPhone. Now we know how he lived at Walden for so long.

We had a picnic at the North Bridge. This was my favorite site of the whole trip. It was so neat to be in the spot where the Colonists finally said "we've had enough". Where they finally stood up to a tyrannical government and decided that freedom was worth fighting for.

We walked along the battle road where the colonists fought the British.

You can learn about it online: http://battleroad.net/home.html

Lexington Green

The Lexington Minuteman Statue

The last day I was there, Tara took us to a charming town - Rockport. We walked out on a rocky pier, saw a lobster boat and lighthouses, and visited a candy shop where Tara bought salt water taffy and Boston baked beans for us to take home to our kids.

She had planned to have us eat lobster from an adorable lobster shack there at the beach, but it was still closed for the season! So, we ate at Five Guys Burgers instead. We looked at their bags of potatoes from Idaho and noticed that they were farmed by our neighbor! The burgers were delicious and I've craved Five Guys several times since then.

Then they took me to the airport. I made it on to my plane, and through a transfer in Chicago without getting lost. My sweet Dad picked me up in SLC and I spent the night at my parent's home before driving home with Jace and Spencer who had just spent a fun weekend with my parents.

Bob stayed and helped Christian and Tara start on finishing their basement

He got to visit the site of the Boston Tea Party,

and drive to New Hampshire to see a maple farm, and eat pancakes with real maple syrup.

Christian and Tara, thanks so much for giving us this amazing trip with wonderful memories. We can't wait until next time we can visit!

2 comments:

bh said...: Great post! Thank you for sharing your trip to Boston with us! It must have been so inspiring to see the places where it all began! We're so glad you could visit the Hahns--aren't they wonderful?
Mom; May 1, 2012 at 8:56 AM
Tara said...: This just makes me smile at all the memories, but we seriously MISS you.; May 1, 2012 at 4:05 PM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone