This is the Old North Bridge outside of Concord Massachusetts where the American colonists faced down the British soldiers at the beginning of the war. Its hard to imagine something so violent taking place here. It is very beautiful and serene.

Today's pictures are from the Boston Marathon. We selected a spot in Wellesley about mid point in the race to watch the runners. These army guys were the first people we saw on the marathon route. We weren't sure how long they had been marching or how far they would go. They were carrying pretty heavy looking packs on their backs. I was just glad I wasn't part of their group.

The herald of the runners were the motorcycle cops. We knew when we saw these guys that things were going to get serious. We had been waiting for about 10 minutes before we saw them.
The wheelchair athletes are the first to go. I think we may have missed the winners of that group since she was the only person we saw in that category. She is buff.



These were the first women runners we saw.
Here's Dorothy cheering on her man. I'm afraid he may not have seen these wonderful signs though. We didn't see him until he was almost passed us and he was running on the other side of the road. I was so busy trying to get his attention that I forgot to take his picture. Sorry John. We were sure proud of him though.





These were the Kenyan runners that eventually won the race in a little over 2 hours. They were pretty much sprinting past us.


Here are the first real group of women runners. There weren't that many in the initial group.


This is the picture that describes the main part of the race. We watched a river of humanity running past us for the next hour and a half. The numbers on their jerseys went as high as 26,500+ .There were occasionally some guys dressed up in costumes that passed by. One was Minnie Mouse, another was dressed in full fairy regalia. Sponge Bob Square Pants passed by as did a shark. One masochist was in a complete Yankee baseball uniform. We didn't ever really get tired of the parade which is unusual because I generally dislike parades. We enjoyed shouting encouragement to the runners, many had their names on their shirts. Some pushed their handicapped friends/loved ones in jogging strollers.

This is what the Hill Cumorah looks like from the bottom by the visitor's center.


This is at the top on the north side. These are the great people we traveled with. As you can see we were there at a pretty good time. Not too crowded!
This is Moroni


This is Phil



This is one of my favorite people.


Have you ever wondered what the other side of the hill looks like?


We were surprised to find that there is a campground for the host missionaries on the other side.

Here are some pictures of my favorite Smithsonian exhibit. These were taken in the botanical garden. Take a deep breath and enjoy.





There is a small stream running underneath these beauties!

This shot was taken on our way out of Canada but it gives an overall view of the falls. The closer falls on the left are the American Falls. They are separated by a land mass to the right. The big misty cloud is hiding the Canadian Falls on the right.
This is at the top of the Canadian Falls The interesting thing about this is that the camera picked up the frozen chunks. We could not perceive them with our eyes at the time. I didn't realize they were there until I saw the picture today. The water is going very fast right here.This is looking down at an intermediate falls. The chunks of ice are very easy to see now.
This is looking downstream at the American Falls and the Niagara River.

There really is a lot of water here. The mist makes it hard to see the whole falls but it was spectacular nonetheless.





Here are the falls on the Canadian side just below the hotel we were staying at.

This is looking upstream of the Niagara River. You can see that the land is really quite flat until it falls at this point.
This is my favorite picture.

So this is what happens when important people like the Pope come to Washington and head for the White House. He was staying in an embassy on Massachusetts Avenue that we stumbled upon while leaving Washington the next day. But this time we were stumbling all over the Mall looking at monuments. When the police started closing down the streets and yelling at innocents who just wanted to cross the street we decided to stick around and see what was going to happen. I wanted to look closer at what was captured on my camera to see if we could see a face etc but I will have to wait until my tech savvy people come home for that to happen. A few minutes after witnessing this parade we were crossing the lawn west of the Washington monument and heard a woman singing the Lord's Prayer over a loud speaker. We looked north and there was the White House with a lot of people outside on the back lawn and a big projection screen with video on it. That night on the news we saw it from the White House side of things with the President and the Pope sitting on chairs in front of the gathering. I felt just like Forrest Gump.

Tender Mercies. I love to identify these sweet moments when I realize Heavenly Father is aware of me and my righteous desires.
Friday I had volunteered to drive marching band members from the high school to Lehi for their "band tour". I knew from past experience that this would take all afternoon and evening. I had prepared for that eventuality by bringing two books and my knitting. I was actually looking forward to having nothing to do but read and knit. I knew that there would be a big enough time slot that I could attend a session at the temple without being missed so I had put on a skirt and brought my temple gear. I had even brought a plate of my favorite chocolate chip cookies to share with my riders. But when all the students were loaded into the various cars and vans my car remained empty. Parents came who were not expected and their students and their friends filled those cars first.
I was able to go directly to the Provo temple. I ate some cookies along the way (thank goodness it was a short way :)) and Bus and I were able to go out on a long overdue date to a play at BYU. I still smile when I remember the love I felt.

This is a blog to encourage passing readers to take a moment and peruse the good self help link on my blog. I love what this guy writes about. I love his perspective on life. Tell me what you think.

Too Beautiful for Words

Here is a picture of our newest granddaughter Anna Lynne Gaines. She is just beautiful and very calm. She weighed 6 pounds and 7 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. Toni did a great job.

Great looking family!

Here is Anna in her grandpa Gillespie's arms. We are so glad to have her here with us.

This is the start of Matt and Mom and Dad's excellent adventure. The snow was perfect for walking/skiing on. We had a wonderful time and we are excited to show you our neighborhood as we discovered it today.

Side shot of Toni's favorite ski hill

Home sweet home

It may look like a sarcophagus but is really the picnic table.

Where the fire usually sits.

Such a beautiful day

Matt is standing on top of the picnic table...

For illustrative purposes

Newest kid on the block

Yeah it's pretty deep

Getting ready to head back The end of a

wonderful adventure.

Dad bought me a new car this past Monday. Subaru Outback and the maroon color isn't lame which I really like. I felt pretty sporty as I drove to the BYU family history library this morning. I parked in the MOA parking lot and felt pretty awesome. After finding some new ancestors I came out and put the key in the lock and much to my amazement and horror the car alarm sounded. I haven't ever had to deal with this annoying safety feature before. I have no remote control to deactivate the loud honking. I tried putting the key in the ignition but that didn't work. I tried to turn on the car, that didn't work. I got out and locked the door again. It went silent. I looked around. People were smiling to themselves. I took a deep breath and put the key back in the lock and immediately the honking sounded again. I went through this crazy pattern several more times. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to when it would start or stop. I started thinking that maybe I was on some bizarre reality TV show with a camera hidden somewhere. I'm sure I would have laughed had I been an onlooker. Finally a man came to my rescue. We tried disconnecting the fuses. Nope. We tried locking and unlocking, key in, key out. Nothing. Finally he disconnected the horn wires. There was still one honking after that. The one in the back of the engine was finally located and disabled. I got in the car, turned the key. Nothing. Turned on the headlights to see if it was battery related. No lights. He guessed the battery was dead. (Don't the horns use the battery???) I told him I would call my husband, not to worry. He left. I put the key in once more and the stupid thing started right up. I was befuddled but grateful.
When I got home I called the dealer. This is what I learned. When you lock all the doors at once using the handy dandy lock that is conveniently on the driver's door panel when you leave the car it will activate the alarm when you come back and put the key in the door. To disable the alarm one must put the key in the ignition and click it 3 times, not turn it on all the way, just click it 3 times to get the alarm to stop. The 4th time will turn the car on. The handy dandy lock is for use while IN the car. Otherwise just manually lock the doors when leaving the car (very convenient). Now we know.