Philly

Collin is working for his client in Pennsylvania for three weeks in November. Last Friday--instead of him coming home--Rachel was able to ride the train down to Philadelphia and spend the weekend. We got to stay in a nice hotel suite with an amazing buffet breakfast every morning (especially good on the weekends, apparently!) just half an hour outside the city with the use of a rental car. And Deloitte paid for it all! Rachel figures that it's only fair if they are going to take her husband for three weeks.

We were so blessed with the weather on Saturday. The forecast was "thunderous rains" for the whole day and sure enough we woke up in the morning to the sound of torrential rain outside. We drove into the city anticipating getting soaked and having a miserable day to sight-see. But the closer we got to Philly the less hard the rain beat down and by the time we found a parking place the rain was to a drizzle. As the day progressed the clouds parted and the sun came out and we shed our coats. The afternoon was glorious. Then about fifteen minutes after we arrived back at the hotel the rain and wind began again. Prayers are answered!



We saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We had a terrific tour guide in Independence Hall, but we were too shy to ask whether any of National Treasure was actually filmed in the building. We also saw the historic Masonic Temple and learned about Quakerism in the historic Meeting House. And of course, Collin ate Philly cheese steak for lunch.


Across the street from the famous LOVE statue is City Hall, where a large group of Prop 8 protesters were holding a rally.


Our last stop of the day was the Museum of Art steps where Collin did his Rocky impersonation. We didn't go into the museum, because it had already been a long day and the museum is so huge! That's definitely a reason to go back, at least in Rachel's opinion!

Sunday we attended church at the Valley Forge ward and then drove around Valley Forge. The park is beautiful and very large. The picture below is just a funny shot of us trying to get a good photo using the timer with the camera perched on the hood of the car. Our batteries ran out right after snapping this one, so we couldn't try again! The tree is really cool, though. Maybe it was there when General Washington was! Or maybe not.

Joseph Smith Birthplace and other things

We took advantage of one of the last nice Fall days of the year about two weeks ago. After our Stake Conference session (which was at a time of day that left us with enough time to venture out) we drove up to Sharon, Vermont, to visit Joseph Smith's birthplace. The mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont were beautiful and it was a pleasure to take a nice Sunday drive. There are so many trees in those states!!!


Collin has been working in Pennsylvania for the last week, and is scheduled there for the next two as well. Thankfully he gets to come home for the weekend! And next weekend Rachel will join him down in Philly for a final "baby-bash" weekend. We're excited to see some more American history sites like Valley Forge, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and, of course, the LOVE statue.

Meanwhile, Rachel has almost finished the cross stitch baby announcement she has been spending hours working on. She just needs the baby's name, weight, and birth date. Several of her friends in the ward also threw her a baby shower last night. It was so fun! She now has lots of super soft and warm clothes for the baby to face the cold New England winter with. (Not that we're planning on cross-country skiing or anything. We're kind of looking forward to just hibernating for a couple of months!)

The final bit of news is that Collin got a hair cut (wahoo!). And Rachel chopped off ten inches of her hair to donate to Locks of Love.