The Philadelphia Experience

 We were so very excited for Jen, Dana, Mike and Scott to come to Philadelphia last Sunday night!  We got to see the Philadelphia Temple.  The temple is almost all covered with the material that will allow the granite to be hung from it.  The stained glass windows have arrived and are up on the floors where they will go.  The construction foreman for the Church is in our ward and he explained to us that in the East, they install windows right away, where in the West the windows come later.  He is definitely nervous about the windows going in so early as he says that so much of the inside work involves hammering, etc.  He just does not want to break any of those gorgeous windows.

 Philadelphia is known as the City of Brotherly Love.  That is due to the original influence of the Society of Friends who founded it.  Hence the "LOVE" statue.  It is not all perfectly even, as love is not perfect.  The statue will soon be moved to City Hall and the fountain too.  This area will then become shopping or a high rise.  The water in the fountain that day was blue to honor the police department.

 Jen and kids standing with City Hall in the background.  This is a very old building with a giant statue of Ben Franklin atop.  I love the contrast of the old and the new in downtown Philly!

Later that day we attended the Phillies vs the Nationals.  Shockingly enough, the Phillies pulled off a win.  The stadium is really nice, it was about 77 degrees and no humidity and we had a lovely night at the ballpark.  Thanks, Jen, for treating us to the game!

 The stadium was not terribly full that night, although this is about 1 hour before the game.  Below, Mike got a ball pregame during the Nationals practice as the outfielder tossed it to him.

 Tuesday we picked up Jen and the kids and headed to Independence Square and saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

 We finished it off by letting Jen take a nap before driving home and we went to Rita's for "water ice".  It is a really good summer treat as we usually get it with custard ice cream atop the water ice.  By the way, in Pennsylvania water is pronounced "wooder".

The rest of the week flew by.  We were busy at the office doing our various responsibilities.   We were able to go to a good movie last night "When the Game Stands Tall".  It was full of good messages and we really did enjoy it.  It was rated PG.   Today is a 5th Sunday, and every 5th Sunday this year our ward supplies dinner for the homeless.  This will be our 3rd time to go.  We head down to inner city Philadelphia to a homeless shelter and feed over 300 men, women, and children dinner.  We take the same dinner each time:  Sloppy Joes, salad, corn, green beans, cookies.  We really do enjoy going there.  The recipients are very appreciative and it is a reminder to us just how very blessed we are to have always had food.  As I finish this blog today I realize that my Mother would be 90 years old today.  I am thinking about her and missing her...