buongiorno!

can you believe it? we are going to italy next march with about 110 people from the school. we'll be going for 9 days! matt actually gets school credit for going. we can't wait! we are going to rome for the majority of the time and then we're taking a few days to go to venice.




ciao!

the one and only

last week we drove to one of the 2 red robins in ALL of massachusetts! it's about 45 minutes away, but man was it worth it! the best thing is, i got a free burger for my birthday!!

Time to add another bookmark...

Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you all know I (matt) am taking a stab at the blogger world. (relaunching old blog) Drop by and make fun of me some time. I'm calling it a new mission in Boston. Cool right? I thought so.
Hope to hear from you soon!
-Matt

please standby

i lost the cord for the camera, so i promise i'm not ignoring all of you, i just figured most people want to see pictures rather than hear us babble. so...until we find the cord...

p.s. thank you to all of you who sent hallmark e-cards or real cards for my birthday - that was very thoughtful of you. i had a great day - matt spoiled me with breakfast and dinner at the cheesecake factory (thanks mom and dad!). it was a wonderful day!

a lesson in boston history

on labor day we had the opportunity to do some more sight seeing in boston. if you come to boston to visit, the must see tour is of the freedom trail. there are 16 historical landmarks within 2.5 miles. there is a red brick path that you follow the whole way, so you don't need a tour guide, however next time we go it would be fun to get all the details and tour the museums.

the virtual tour...

the freedom trail starts at the boston common where park street church is located. the church was founded in 1809 and was where "america" (my country 'tis of Thee) was first sung on july 4th, 1831.


the next stop is at the granary burying ground where several historical people were buried including samuel adams, peter faneuil, paul revere, and john hancock.





here is the john hancock memorial


paul revere's tomb


josiah franklin was benjamin franklin's son - he and his wife are buried here


samuel adams


and the memorial for the 5 people who were killed in the boston massacre


next was the king's chapel


then we went to the site of the first ever public school that benjamin franklin helped start. ironically he was the most famous drop-out of the school.

this is a little hard to read because of the shadows, but this little mosaic was in the sidewalk and says "school street boston - site of the oldest public school in the united states. founded 1635".

mr. franklin himself



here is the old south meeting house. it was built in 1729 and was a puritan house of worship. it was from here that an outraged samuel adams gave the signal to proceed with the boston tea party.



next was the old state house. it was the headquarters of british government in boston in 1713. it was outside these doors that the boston massacre unfolded in 1770, and from this balcony that the declaration was first read to the people of boston in 1776. now, the old state house is the oldest surviving public building in boston.




across the street is the famous faneuil hall. it was built in 1742 and has served as an open forum meeting hall and marketplace for over 250 years.




a famous painting of george washington


we had lunch at the quincy (pronounced quin-zee) market. on the weekends it's almost like a farmer's market. it was packet on labor day!


next was paul revere's house which was built around 1680.



these were the houses on the same street.


and here he is...


next was the old north church. on april 18th, 1775, robert newman displayed two lanterns to warn paul revere and others of the british troop movements. paul revere's famous "midnight ride" began with that signal, and so did the american war for independence. it was built in 1723 and is the oldest church building in boston.



then we walked across the boston harbor



our last stop was the uss constitution. it is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and became known as "old ironsides" during the war of 1812.





the ship is docked in the charlestown navy yard which has a beautiful view of the boston skyline.



one of the stops is at bunker hill which we weren't able to go to because it was closed, but we could see the monument from where we walked.


the rest of our photos were some neat shots of boston.






and then of course the boston humor - people REALLY do speak like this!


well, now you all have a refresher on part of your us history - tests will be mailed randomly, so be sure to study!!

note: some facts and pictures were borrowed from www.thefreedomtrail.org

congratulations matt!

matt passed his first class at boston baptist college with flying colors!! he took exposition of general epistles and got a 96% in the class (which is an A- here)! way to kick some boston butt babe - i'm so proud of you! the semester starts on monday and he's taking 16 units!!

thank you mr & mrs ashdown!

we were treated by mr & mrs ashdown to dinner on tuesday night in downtown boston at a great place called legal sea foods. we enjoyed their fellowship and can't wait to visit with them again for thanksgiving!



the biggest one in the tank!



in case any of you were worried, matt enjoyed the filet mignon :o)