The Jolley's in Upstate New York

 The days seem to be flying by.  How did we get to the end of May already?  We have been on our mission for 2 months now.  It's crazy and wonderful all at once.  This week has been busy with all kinds of treasures and experiences.  As we walked this week I couldn't help but get some photos of windows and doors.  These two things are some of my favorite things to pay attention to.  I love the architecture of old buildings and their doors and windows show so much of the artistry of the day. And if you look at the door with the wreath on it-that's our door to our cute little home.  Unfortunately the command strip didn't like holding the wreath on the glass and it fell off about two days later. So, we are off tomorrow to find a door hanger that will hold it in place. We finally got our window mount air conditioner  put in our dining room window-just in the nick of time I think.  It's starting to warm up and we most definitely don't want...

What an amazing last seven days. It was a whirlwind of activity and we can't wait to tell you about it. We decided to go to a place called North Star Orchards on our P-Day. We had heard that they have tulips that you can cut for a dollar a stem and that there are a ton of them.  Then I was reading on their website and we had missed it.  It was the weekend just two days before and I figured we had missed it.  Mike said, "let's go anyway and just see what they have." And so off we went. At the last minute I decided to grab my cameras.  Up until now I have just been using my phone to take pictures.  I can't tell you how much I have missed my cameras.  I could hardly contain myself.  I just clicked and clicked and it felt so good! North Star Orchards is a nursery, a store, and orchards of apple trees and lots of blueberry bushes and tulip fields.  We walked through the nursery and we asked the girls if there were anymore tulips.  We were told the...

  This week has been filled with study, much prayer, many blessings and a lot of fun. We started the week off with our P Day! Mike headed over to get our oil changed and our tires rotated.  If you wonder how much driving we do, we put over 5,000 miles on our car in about 7 weeks. That's crazy. We had a district activity with  the Sisters and Elders from our District.   It was in Hamilton. The property between Rome and Hamilton is gorgeous but Hamilton the town???   Oh my goodness, the  town!  I couldn’t believe how cute it is.   I had no idea that it is a college town but Colgate College is in Hamilton.   These photos are one of the churches and a building that sits on a diagonal street. We played sand volleyball for about 35 minutes and then climbed into our cars and headed into town for ice cream.   The Hamilton Sisters took us to a little place called Maxwell Chocolates which had delicious looking chocolates and yummy ice cream. ...

 This has been a beautiful week.  The May flowers, from all those showers, are popping up everywhere.  The trees are getting their leaves and everything here is so so green.  It really is lovely. We've seen Forget Me Nots, Bleeding Hearts, and lots of Rhododendron We had a blast on our P Day this past week.  We started out by going to Catholic Charities, to their food pantry, to see what we could do to help.  It was closed so we ran over to see Fort Stanwix which is a Revolutionary War Fort not far from our house.  We wanted to see the Visitors Center and then walk around the fort, But, it was closed!  So we decided to hop in the car and drive to Pixley Falls which is about 18 miles from our home. The drive was beautiful and the falls did not disappoint-except, I really want to see them with the leaves on the trees.  I took photos with my cellphone, but I really need to go back with my big camera and a tripod.  The water was falling on s...

 We are trying so hard to have Springtime here in New York.  It has been cool with a cold wind most of the days but today has been beautiful.  We are hoping for more days with some warm weather before the hot and humid hits for the summer.  There are beautiful little pansies growing in our front flower garden.  I am excited to see what else has been planted.  I love flowers and color. We also have some of the most beautiful color flying from our front porch.  I told Mike that if we are lucky enough to have a front porch then we better get a flag to fly from it.  I love the houses all around us because most of them have flags on the columns of their homes. It just feels so patriotic to me. We've had the opportunity to be in our car - A Lot!!  But we have met some great people and we have seen some beautiful countryside.  You know how I love barns and farms, well, bless Mike.  He pulls over every time I want to take a picture.  H...