New York - New York!

We flew from Jamaica on April 21 to Newark, New Jersey, and caught a shuttle to Grand Central Station in New York City. The last time I had been in New York I was 5 years old when our family had taken a train from Ogden UT to New York to travel by ship, the "Queen Elizabeth" to England for my Dad to do a Sabbatical leave there for a year. My only memories were Grand Central Station, and seeing the Statue of Liberty. So, going to New York was filled with much awe and excitement for me. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. I couldn't take it all in fast enough.

Our bus ride into the busy night life of New York.

Grand Central Station is beautiful, busy, packed and simply amazing! This picture was taken about 9 p.m., so not nearly as busy as mid-day. Actually, the correct name is Grand Central Terminal, located at 42nd St. and Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan. It is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms, 44 with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower, though the total number of tracks along platforms and in rail yards exceeds 100. The terminal covers an area of 48 acres.

It turns 100 years old this year! It has been described as "the world's loveliest station." Grand Central is the world's number six most visited tourist attraction," bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.

This was late Sunday evening, so it was pretty quiet conpared to the middle of the day.

We took a train to Irving, NY, to stay with our friends, Mark & JoAnn Skousen. Her father had just passed away, so they weren't there when we arrived that evening. They told us what train stop to get off at and the code to getting into their home.

By the time we finally arrived at the station in Irving, it was after 11 p.m. Crismon called for a taxi, but they said they weren't running anymore that night. We didn't know what were we going to do. It was very dark, desolate, and we were weary travelers after our long day of travel, plus it took 4 hours from the time we landed to get to our destination for the night. Fortunately, we were blessed with a tender mercy. Crismon could hear two young women talking. He carefully approached them and explained our situation. Gratefully, they looked like good college-age girls and they were willing to give us a ride. Turns out they were from other countries, here in the states to be nannies and go to school. We found the Skousen's house about 3 miles away and we finally made it there close to midnight. How grateful we were that we didn't have to walk all that way late at night without anyone we knew to come to our rescue. It was such a blessing those girls talked for a little outside of their car instead of immediately getting in to their car, so we could hear them and ask for a ride.

The Train Station where we caught the train to NY.

Monday Crismon was pretty sick with the bug he picked up in Jamaica. I was feeling it coming on, too, but I was greatly blessed and got better. Consequently, we stayed at the Skousen's home on Monday, worked on our business and tried to rest. They arrived back that evening.

Tues. we went back into New York to attended the Manhattan temple in the heart of the city. It's pretty amazing that you can walk out of the world and into the quiet, holy surroundings of the temple. We ate our lunch on the 3rd floor right next to the temple. It was the "church house" for several Manhattan Wards. Before and after our session we heard young people practicing their singing in the chapel. It was incredible! The talent of the young people in New York is fantastic.

We loved the small, but beautiful temple and the opportunity to be the witness couple. As Crismon was still not well, we didn't stay into the evening but headed back to Irving.

In front of the Manhattan Temple.

These were other prominent places around the same area as the temple.

Juilliard School of Music

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

You can see the Angel Moroni above one of the buildings.

The temple is the white building behind Crismon's head.

Manhattan Temple 

We walked for blocks trying to see as much as we could in the short time we had. The weather was cool and cloudy that day, but dry.

Central Park was not far from the temple and the center of Manhattan. The park initially opened in 1857 on 778 acres of city-owned land (it is 843 acres today). As you can imagine, the park is the most visited urban park in the United States, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

Crismon at Central Park.

Statutes at Central Park

Central Park

Horse drawn carriages were everywhere. Beautiful flowers right down the middle of the streets, everything is quite magical like you see in the movies.

There were tall buildings everywhere, of course. It was fascinating, and quite unbelieveable.

Tues. evening Mark took us to a lovely restaurant right on the Hudson River. We had great fun visiting. JoAnne had a class to teach that night.

The view from our table of the Hudson River.

Wed. we were both feeling better and it was a beautiful day for site-seeing. Times Square was quite a buzz of excitement. It is the junction of Broadway and Seventh Ave, which has now been converted into a pedestrian plaza. It is one of the world's busiest pedestrian interections, and a major center of the world's entertainment inducstry. Amazingly, Times Square is the worlds most visited tourist attraction, with over 39 million visitors annually, approximately 300,000 people pass through Times Square daily!

Next to Battery Park to catch a Ferry to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Battery Park is located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island facking New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them.

 Crismon about to board the ferry.

Lower Manhattan, construction of the new World Trade Buildings

New Jersey

Ellis Island, in upper New York Bay, was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. Because of Hurricane Sandy, Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty were closed which was disappointing.

Ellis Island

The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a unversal symbol of freedom and democracy. It was dedicated in 1886. 

Forts along the Bay

Financial district in Lower Manhattan. We didn't have time to visit Wall St.

Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Our business goes (nearly) everywhere we go. I had to take this picture of Crismon doing a Reliv call during our ferry ride. Amazingly, although we were gone in April for General Conf, Jamaica, and then New York, more than half of the month, we still ended up being 1st in the Nation in volume of sales and receiving a generous bonus check. We were greatly blessed!

Battery Park, monuments honoring servicemen.

Battery Park

You can see above my head is the One World Trade Center, or Freedom Tower in the background. The 1 WTC is the primary building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It looms above everything with it's 104-stories. The supertall skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the World Trade Center site. Less than two weeks after we were there, the final component of the antenna was installed atop the skyscraper, making One World Trade Center tentatively the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height, with it's antenna reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet honoring the year of America's Independence.

One World Trade Center

Visiting ground zero and the National September 11 Memorial was the highlight of our trip. There is a reverent spirit that is felt at the beautiful memorial of those who lost their lives on that tragic day, the terrorist attack on 9/11/01. The water cascades downward, and downward, symbolizing the towers coming down, in to nothingness.

One remaining, beautiful Magnolia tree that still lives in the center of the World Trade Center Complex.

One World Trade Center

We loved this fun trip we had together in this busy, amazing city. It's a great place to visit, but we missed seeing children, older people (besides ourselves!), and the slower pace that is a little more comfortable for us.

We took one last brisk walk around New York before heading back to our hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria in the background. What a delightful experience!

American Mothers Convention in New York!

I feel very grateful for the opportunity to attend the American Mothers Convention in New York on April 25-27th, representing Oregon as the 2013 Oregon Mother of the Year. It was held at the incredible hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria, filled with much history, and granduear. From the minute we arrived, until the final evening we were treated so well. They did so much to make it a choice experience for all of us.

Best of all it was wonderful to get acquainted with outstanding women across the country that are God fearing, righteous women who are raising wonderful families and making a difference in their community. It was an overwhelming experience to be there.

In just a short period of time we became good friends among the Mothers , and the Young Mothers. Many tears were shed as the speeches were given. There were many heartaches that were shared, and you marveled to see the strength of these women go forward and change a tragic or sad experience into a cause to help others.

The lobby at the Waldfor=Astoria

Thursday afternoon we had an orientation, get acquainted games and we were video taped for a short interview that they played the last night when we were introduced at the big Gala Event.

Welcoming reception the first evening.

Each mother had a card with their picture and name. Then the last night we signed each others cards.

We really enjoyed getting better acquainted with Helen Bean (center). She was a National Mother of the Year in 2005, I believe. Her husband is very involved in scouting and they know Brad and Dantzelle very well. Also, he was on the planning committee of the Portland temple and they knew Myreel & Larry well. Her daughter, Charlotte Laughlin and family use to live in our stake. Francine Cowie from Vancouver was the WA Mother of the Year. Her daughter-in-law is a friend of Ondalynn's.

Francine Cowie, Helen Bean, Vivienne Lewis

The most stressful part of the whole experience was giving the three minute speech. You had to keep it within the time limit and when I memorized my speech and practiced it ahead of time I was keeping it to three minutes. But when I gave it I had no idea I was going much slower. It was such a massive room, and speaking in that setting was so new to me, and I ended up going over, but many others did, too. As I prepared for the speech, I felt prompted that I was to speak about my journey from polio as a young child, to the miracle of nine children, and the struggles of Post Polio Syndrome. Many were kind to share that it had touched their hearts. I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's help to get me through it! 

It really was a tender mercy that I was well and had a voice to speak. While in Jamaica Crismon picked up a bug and he was pretty miserable the first few days in New York. I started getting it, too. Gratefully thanks to many prayers on our behalf, I was able to pull out of it and I had energy and was strong through the entire Convention even though we had done a lot of walking site-seeing in New York. The demand of the trip caught up to me by the time I got home and put me down for a week or so. But when I needed my strength, it was there. 

Giving my speech at the Convention

Fortunately, I didn't have to pay for the Convention, but we paid the half registration so Crismon could attend the speeches, and the big Gala Event on Sat. evening. While I was busy those few days, he worked our business from the hotel room. When I got a break, then we took a much needed break to get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather. New York looked spectacular in the sunny spring weather.

This is the room we gave our speeches. I was relieved it was over.

A treat to meet LDS Dorothy DeVore, the State Pres. from CA.

On Friday evening after niece, Laura & Wilfried Eyi, were finished with their hospital tour in preparation for their first baby to arrive shorty, they were good to take the subway and come to our hotel where we could visit for a short time. Sorry this picture didn't turn out better. Such a smart, wonderful couple! It was so fun to see them and visit for a short time.

The biggest highlight was getting acquainted with wonderful women who inspired me to be a better person, Mom, and Grandma. 

Top row, left to right: Judith Jepsen-Popel (IL), Renee Starr (CA)
Jan Schiferl (NE), Zan Hyer (NV), Vivienne Lewis (OR). Renee and Zan are also LDS.

Before the Gala Event started, we had a reception and visiting in the room behind me.

The hotel was elegant wherever you looked.

Elizabeth Caswell, OR Young Mother of the Year with her children.

Breakfast on Friday morning

The Featured Presenters were Kathie Lee Gifford, a famous television host, actress, singer, playwright, songwriter and author. She is a strong woman with a spiritual nature and devotion to God. She shared how important it is to have her daily devotion of scripture study, prayer and meditation. To meet the demands of co-host on the fourth hour of the Today Show, and not wanting to miss her devotional, she gets up an hour earlier each day so she doesn't miss the most important part of her day.

Sherrie Rollins Westin, CEO of Sesame Workshop gave an outstanding talk on the importance of mothers especially in the early years of a child's development. Again, I was impressed by her being grounded in the importance of family, and her love for her children.

Sherrie Rollins Westin and her daughter, Lily. Sesame St. CEO gave a great speech.

The few days flew by and before you knew it, the final evening arrived. Again, it was like a dream, filled with many choice and memorable experiences.

The formal Gala Event was a very special evening.

Final preparations for the big event were being made.

After the event, some of the mothers gathered for a picture. Others had already slipped out.

Judy Cook from Vineyard, UT was chosen as National Mother of the Year. She is a lovely LDS woman that will represent the Church and the American Mothers Association very well.

Reliv Trip to Jamaica

On April 17, 2013 we flew from Portland to Jamaica with a few stops along the way. There is always so much work to do before leaving town with work and church responsibilities, so we managed to get less than two hours sleep before catching our early morning flight. We were ready for some relaxation in Jamaica! During November and December of 2012, Reliv had a promotion that the top 30 distributorships in volume of sales, would earn a trip to Jamaica. 

Those two months were very busy ones for us as I was preparing for Julia's wedding the end of December, in the midst of putting my portfolio together for the American Mothers nomination, and helping Emily to begin preparing for her mission. In the middle of December we drove to BYU-I for Julia's graduation, and of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas were in there, too. 

Crismon had his hands full with many church responsibilities, too, but amazingly we were richly blessed and we happened to be #30 to earn the trip! One of the tender mercies connected with this trip was it was just before our trip to New York for the American Mothers Convention. I contacted Reliv Travel and asked if there was any way we could fly to New York, and then a week later fly home to Portland. It turned out it was all within the budget. This was wonderful that we didn't have to pay for the flight to New York and back.

There was an opening dinner together as distributors, and then a closing dinner and entertainment, but other than that we were on our own to do what ever we would like. The Montego Bay Rose Hall was so beautiful, we just enjoyed relaxing and taking advantage of the fun things they had to do there.

The "Lazy River" where the currents would just move you along and you'd end up under some of the waterfalls.

The pool and all areas where breathtaking.

Our opening night with other Reliv Distributors

Breakfast one morning with Ryan Montgomery (Pres. of Reliv) and his wife Tracee. They are wonderful, down to earth people.

Relaxing before dressing for the final dinner with LDS friends, Annette and David Wells (MN), Karen & Ron Turner (Orem, UT)

This lady was incredible putting fire in her mouth, on her legs, etc. Really amazing!

We had a very expensive ride to church Sunday morning, a 35 minutes drive, but we didn't want to miss attending our meetings as we were flying out in the early afternoon. Of course, the Jamaican members are very warm and welcoming. We filled the room with this other company of LDS tourist there that day. One sweet sister wrote her name down on a piece of paper and asked if I would put her name in the temple when I go. She didn't have any special needs, but she just wanted the blessings of the temple. Their closest temple is the Panama temple. We thought about Bryan while we were there as he served his mission in Jamaica.

 The town was quite run down. There are beautiful mansions along the countryside, but mostly poverty.

Returning to our hotel before leaving for New York.

 We quickly had some lunch before catching our shuttle to the airport. This was the view from our table. Magnificent!