I had to post the following two pictures because what spring we had was so very beautiful. The tree blossoms, the azaleas, the rhododendrims have been breathtaking. Granted, there was a lot of rain, but that has made all the trees and lawns very green and pretty.

Twenty of our missionaries left to go home in the middle of May. They have been good missionaries and we have really enjoyed associating with them. When these missionaries go home, I feel like I'm sending twenty of my own children off to school or on a mission. Who knows how many of them we will see again. Some are going to BYU, and we know they will come visit us in Provo, but others will be going in various directions. We're very grateful for being able to know them.

These pictures were taken just outside of the Family History Center at the temple. They all attended a temple session before they went home.

How we love Sister Passantino. She was a great missionary and so fun to be with. We wish her the very best as she returns to school. Her parents came to pick her up, and they went through a session at the temple, in which I was a room follower. It was a very special experience.

Sister Anderson was another great sister missionary. Her parents also came to visit and they went on a temple session. However, we were not working in the temple that day, so she came to see us in the Family History Center

We were able to take Elder Garside and Elder Zwahlen to Piper's Kilt for the last time. They were our AP's for five months. They have won our hearts and we will truly miss them. Dick thought the picture below would be a fun picture, with the elders walking through a pub. Piper's Kilt was a fun place we often take the missionaries.

On May 14th, the New York Stake youth had what is called a "Tag Sale." It was a gigantic garage sale and was in front of the church down in Manhattan. They blocked off a whole block in front of the church. We had our family history sign up and information about how to do family history. We also had a table in the church with a couple of computers in case anyone wanted to try to find their ancestors. We had a few bites but not many.

Clothes and items FOR SALE.

There was entertainment all day long. Some of them were really good and others were not too great, but the people attending enjoyed listening.

Inside the cultural hall in the church was a provident living fair, with all kinds of displays. The display below was on repurposing, which is making good use of small spaces and using ordinary things to make useful things. These two sisters are in our Inwood Ward--Emily Davis (left) and Stacey Hallmark (right).

This display is on drying fruit.

Shelly Stokes and her husband, Trevor, and their children came in to look around. I can't remember Shelly's married name, but she and her husband serve in the deaf branch of our stake. Shelly is Relief Society President. Her husband is getting his PHD at Columbia University in music. (For those of you who don't know Shelly, she grew up in our ward in Provo.
Here is the family history table. Pat Nixon and I pose for the camera. Pat is our wonderful family history director. She is really a hard worker and is making good things happen in the family history center.

Here is the outside of the church.

On May 15th, Dick and I went up to Highland, New York and stayed the night with the Seamons, who are another senior couple. On Monday morning, these missionaries came over to their apartment and had yummy waffles berrie, bacon and more. The Seamons feed the missionaries breakfast every Monday morning and then they have district meeting at their apartment. Those missionaries can really eat, big time. They were great fun to be with. And, the Seamons took us around Kingston and other places of interest. It was a nice break and we enjoyed their company. Monday is our "P" day.

After breakfast, the Seamons took us to an old covered bridge. We enjoyed visiting different places even though it was raining--not too hard though.

For lunch, we ate at the oldest inn in America, The Beekman Arms Inn. George Washington even stayed there.

It was beautiful and well kept--very colonial. We enjoyed New England Clam Chowder and sandwiches.

We are really having some great experiences. We love our work in the family history center and enjoy learning about people's ancestors. Our patrons come from all over the world. Today, for example, a married couple came in. She was Hindu and from India. He was Roman Catholic and from Zimbabwe. They had a very special spirit about them and were so nice. We are praying that we can find something for them. They will be back again.