The Good Life

Warning...looking at this blog entry
is gonna make y'all wanna be
senior missionaries someday...

Despite these playful photos we managed to work full days in
the office, enjoy ward temple night with members of our
temple class, and attend a weekend public affairs event.

An evening stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge.

This is getting to be the traditional good-bye walk.
Callie, thank you for being a wonderful daughter!
(Check out her blog for great photo commentary)

August weather has been mild & our "backyard park" is stunning.

Our Friday night date:
"Moonstruck" featured at the Central Park Film Festival.
The 'reserved' section opened up last minute so we left this spot
and ran for a 2nd row seat. Cheddar cheese or Oreo popcorn
was served and the entire event (with treats) was FREE.
Our enjoyment peaked as the crowd offered melodramatic
reactions. We all really got into it. Cheers for Cher's entrance,
loud boos as the film skips a scene, leading to shouts of
"REWIND! REWIND!" until the problem is resolved. Applause
at the end provided a feeling of community pride.

Manhattan offers a $2 subway ride to the beach!
-a tiny piece of paradise without the palm trees.
A Coney Island landmark...

We stretch our legs on the boardwalk and
rest them as we bask in the breeze.

Another tough week has passed and we
can't wait for the next one to begin.

We love it! We acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only name
by which we can be saved, that Heavenly Father loves us
and that he wants us to practice finding happiness here
and now so we can be eternally with our families.

Quote from Harlem Ward meetings:
"God can't pour a gallon of wisdom into a one cup mind."
---Hugh Nibley---

Happy birthday Darren Hill! - turning 15 on the 27th

Our love is extended to you always. Good-night and make
this a great week as you count your blessings and enjoy
your good life because no matter our trials, life is good.
Elder & Sister Howell
Dad & Mom

Culture Warriors

Eastern European Culture

Last Sunday we were lucky enough to be part of a group hosted
by our neighbors, the Grubers. The dishes were Hungarian, several
guests were Hungarian, and we were just plain Hungary.

Next, CALLIE arrived! Yippey. A little Western Culture.

Western BBQ chicken and corn on the cob picnic complete with
homemade chocolate chip zip-lock-bag ice cream.

Wicked Culture
If you ever venture on to Broadway,
do everything in your power to avoid "Wicked".
An evening of Cultural Arts follows at the MOMA
- Museum of Modern Art.
A van Gogh - "The Olive Trees"
"Starry Night" was away on tour :(

A Picasso..."Girl before a Mirror"

A composite of pictograms read as pixels to produce...

this portrait of architect Ludwig van der Rohe.

Partaking of African American Culture
at Harlem Days. We dug deeper into history as we assisted
the NYNY Stake attheir Harlem Days genealogy booth. Here
Callie demonstrates how to use the internet with her wireless card.

Culture Shock
Yesterday we looked at dresses for Callie's Spring '09 wedding!
It's been loads of fun having her here. Only two more days
before she heads home and we start missing her.
Frigidaire Culture
I enjoy exotic orange, Callie prefers refreshing raspberry and
Lane won't touch the stuff...smooth creamy yogurt is a lucious
treat. Any true connoisseur of culture can attest to that.

Fifties Culture
Carolyn has had a groovy birthday today. 50, 50, 50!!!
Thanks to all who phoned, emailed, texted, skyped, mailed a wish
or even thought of doing any of these things. It's been fun.
"Therefore, blessed are ye who are compelled to share
birthday greetings. Yea, even more blessed are they who have
sung a song of birthday wishes without being compelled to sing."
Carolyn 8-17-2008

Celebrations this week:
August 20th - Tyson & Meredith Kelley's 4th Anniversary
August 23rd - Jon & RayDean Hill's 18th Anniversary
WOO-WHOOO!
All we do to stay positive & focused is think of our family and friends.
We count our blessings every day.
We love you forever, but the Lord loves you perfectly.
Mom & Dad
(Elder & Sister Howell)

Random photos this week

Monday evening we joined the missionaries at a teaching
assignment near Times Square. Walking home we spotted this
little unassuming building with a very unusual capstone...

Tuesday evening found us supporting National Night Out in Harlem.
A street fair environment sponsored by the local police precinct.
Live band, free hot dogs, burgers, drinks and cake.
Elder Howell even tried his feet at line dancing.
Sorry, no photo of the dancing; not so graceful Sister Howell
was line dancing too. Delores Zecca and Jemima,
to my right, are wonderful bridge-building members.

Thursday, during our 50 yard commute to the office, we witness
the construction of 7 columns being added to the temple building.
(Also new curbing and improved drainage from the sidewalk areas.)Front desk security guard Billy is happy
about the added noise and commotion.
(Billy may disagree but we think there is never a dull day here.)

Friday, we welcomed President John Stone
unofficially to his new office.
And a surprise visitor, Dian Thomas, shares a fun story of her
worldwide travels. Elder Howell "stop pulling my leg!"

Saturday. Following a temple session, the 8 senior couples in the
NYNY North Mission bid farewell to the Carpenters (Littleton, CO)
and welcome the Evans (Layton, UT) over a potluck lunch.

Sunday (today). We stroll home from Harlem and
finally discover the "Safari Playground". It is so cool!
These hippos were harmless and very friendly.
We were surprised that they let us pet them
and sit on their heads!
(Have any of you been here on your visits?)

As you can see, our days in the office and evenings in the city
are always varied, yet equally rewarding. Working with New
Yorkers, meeting visitors and being open to new experiences
provides for a very satisfying and blessed mission.
We thank the Lord that we can be here, and be here now.

Quote from church today. "In the economy of heaven, God does not
send a floodlight when a flashlight will do." May each of us receive the
light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and keep it alive
and bright by loving and serving others.

Have a great week and know that we love and pray for you!
Mom and Dad (A.K.A.Elder and Sister Howell)

Katherine X turned 19 on 8-8-8!!!
On the one dozenth day of August Cam and Kim 
celebrate one dozen wedded years 
Callie comes visiting this week :)
Warning/reminder...Carolyn turns 50 next week ;}

Serendipityness :)

Check this out.

Meeting up with a favorite 6 year old member of my
West Jordan CTR class was a happy coincidence!
Such fantastic fate...Aidan Singleton was joined by his family :)

Good karma continued to flow as we came
across the Washington DC Thiriot's.
Shalaun's brother Darrin, and Monica with 4 adorable kids,
and Meghan (Monica's sister from Centerville)

It's a sign...we're destined to attend church whenever
we see these handsome young men.

Pure and simple serendipity. We get hungry wherever we see this sign!

We close with this bit of divine prophetic providence:

The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammand, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God's light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals...Our message therefore is one of special love and concern for the eternal welfare of all men and women, regardess of religious belief, race, or nationality, knowing that we are truly brothers and sisters because we are sons and daughters if the same Eternal Father. ---First Presidency statement, Feb, 15, 1978

Good luck, good fortune, and goodnight!
Knowing you is crazy kismet.

Pioneer Day in Manhattan

A most unusual yet perfectly appropriate pioneer day.

Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...

...your children yearning to be on vacation!

If you're happy and you know it raise your hand!
We are delighted to host RayDean and Jon Hill, who mustered
up these smiles despite missing their 6 fantastic kids!

We found the best possible souvenir!

Our first trip to Ellis Island was mesmerizing, moving,
intense, gratifying and humbling.

All true immigrants pass through Ellis island AND Times Square.
Re-enacting a metropolitan trek can be tiring
so we look for a quiet place to set a spell.

Central Park was the only spot considered for our pioneer picnic.

Do you recall that pioneers often made
butter as they walked and walked and walked?
Well, we made this easy ice cream as we trekked across the park.

This recipe turned out surprisingly good.

EASY HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

You don’t need any fancy equipment to make this ice cream,

just some zip-top bags, newspaper and tape! Kids love making this!

In a quart size zip-top bag put:

1 Tablespoon instant pudding mix

(vanilla, or your favorite kind...don't use sugar free)

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk

Stir ingredients together. Remove the extra air from the bag and seal it.
You may want to ’double bag’ the ice cream mixture.
Put the bag with the ice cream mix into a gallon size zip-top bag.
Add 4 cups ice and 1 cup rock salt (we substituted regular table salt).
Remove the extra air from the gallon size bag and seal it.
Wrap the gallon size bag in several layers of newspaper & secure paper w/ tape.
Now comes the fun part!
Toss the package, play ’catch’ with it ...whatever, just keep it moving!
Periodically check the progress of the ’freezing’ and when the ice
cream has set up, enjoy a refreshing treat!

As the week drew to an end RayDean and Jon continued
their trek west, arriving in SLC in a mere 6 hours. We
have stayed behind to provide rations for those who follow.

The live MTChoir/Osmond Concert Saturday was a fitting close to
another great week. How was your holiday?

We congratulate Tyson and Meredith Kelley as they rejoice
in the arrival of our latest grandson, July 23rd. Thank you
for this cute little bundle and for looking after him for us.

Temple Square and more

Temple Square...

...or is it square Temple?
Either way, this spot of Manhattan is pretty cool, even sacred.

The flowers on Temple Square - earlier this Spring

Temple Square flowers even spread across the street onto Broadway.
The heat of July is taking it's toll...
Our Temple Square...such a blessing to the Latter-day Saints.
Serving 15 stakes; 8 in New York State (5 of these are in New York City limits),
6 stakes in New Jersey and 1 in Connecticut.

The temple offers a place of peace and spiritual renewal just
steps away from the honking of taxi's, sirens of fire trucks
and jack-hammering of construction.

Construction is 24/7/365 in NYC. If not an area of the temple building,
it will be a street, or subway, or neighboring business. Currently it is
the 3rd floor of the temple building AND our apartment building.

Our apartment entrance should look something like this.
The whirling corner revolving door has been
ripped out and will be replaced with a side entrance.

Our elevator access has been reduced to 2. The other
is walled off for use by workers remodeling the hallways.
The remaining elevators work hard to service the 37 floors
of this building. Some residents are unhappy about the
changes but we think the upgrades are needed.
After all, we are located on Temple Square!

Our formerly grand/but dated lobby now looks like this...
(You can understand why we are using a temporary entrance
and have walled off the elevators.)

To get away from construction at work and home we meandered
up the street for a FHE treat at the ice cream truck. On the
way we pass Loews, a 15 theater complex two blocks away.
It often looks like this...

As we walked up we saw this. Take a guess...

...only in Gotham City, the Batmobile!
And the World Premiere of the latest version.
Cheers for Bruce "Christian Bale" Wayne.

The crowds were scarier than the movie. Coming through
the crowd to say hello was our friend Amy, a producer at ABC.

Following our FHE treat and "activity" we went home.
Quickly, our focus and perspective were reinforced with our lesson.

***Howell Family Marquis***
Upcoming features:
Jerry turns 27 tomorrow!
RayDean & Jon see Times Square tomorrow!
Luke turns 363 days tomorrow!
We await Meredith's baby, tomorrow????

Have a great day...TODAY,
because tomorrow never comes...but don't tell that to Meredith :)
xoxo