"... their faith in their prayers was that this gospel should be made known also, if it were possible that other nations should possess this land; And thus they did leave a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that whosoever should believe in this gospel in this land might have eternal life;
Yea, that it might be free unto all of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or people they may be." (D & C 10:49-51)

Michael's birthday weekend

The weekend's excitement began on Friday when Michael and I trekked over to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for a free (although we had to "donate" $3) concert. Matt Pond PA, one of my favourite bands, was playing on the bill. We plunked ourselves down on the muddy grass with no view other than of people's behinds. I entertained myself between sets with taking pictures of the soon to be birthday boy.
Our enjoyment of the music was slightly tempered by the rapid approach of dark, ominous clouds from all directions. Huge gusts of wind blew leaves and little branches down from the trees and everyone sat there just waiting for the clouds to burst and drench us all in seconds. Thankfully, the rain didn't start until the moment we headed down the steps into the subway on our way home. It was close!

Safely back in Manhattan, I left Michael at Rector Street to join Jill, Kim and Crystal to go see The Devil Wears Prada at Battery Park. We all enjoyed the movie, especially Meryl Streep as the formidable Miranda Priestly, but left the cinema feeling hopelessly underdressed and in desparate need of new shoes and handbags.

Saturday was one of the busiest and one of the most enjoyable days I've had in the city. Here's a rundown of the days events:

11.00 Kelly and I go to brunch at Spanish restaurant Pipa to celebrate my new job (more on that to come).
12.00 We stop by Banana Republic. Kelly comes away with some extremely flattering denim shorts.
13.00 We return home so I can commence work on Michael's birthday cake (white cake with double cream frosting and raspberries) and we watch the sad, but inevitable defeat of England on penalties.
15.30 Kelly and I join Michael and his brothers Stephen and Jeff at 42nd street to see Superman Returns. We all enjoy it so much we're about to burst with joy! I think it was everything we all hoped it would be. There is action and excitement, actors enjoying every moment of their roles, and to my surprise, powerful messages about the relationship between humankind and our real Father and Saviour respectively.
19.00 We temporarily part company, with Kelly heading to the temple, me to the apartment to collect the various parts of Michael's cake and the lads head down to Lombardi's pizza on Spring Street, where they join our friend Gretchen from 2 Gold. I show up with a bag full of cake pieces and we enjoy pizza at the first restaurant I dined at in New York. It was in January 1998, and Cathy Brown and I were straight off the train from Washington DC.
20.30 We all head downtown to the Mulcock brothers' apartment on Gold St for cake and the opening of presents. Michael's brothers are very excited about his first birthday with them in NY and they shower him with gifts. He is also delighted to receive an iPod nano from his Mum. It is the size of a mere speck of dust! Then, we gorge ourselves on cake.
22.30 It's off to The Culture Club for a night of eighties music and unbridled eighties dancing. Michael has been dreaming of going to Culture Club since the day he arrived in New York. Sadly, age has barred him from enjoying this, one of his most beloved past times, but today he is 21 and he presents his ID with pride. We all go mad with delight, dancing and singing, playing air guitar and posing for photos of ridiculous amounts of enjoyment.

Mormon money

Dad found the niftiest thing on eBay yesterday. It's a $3 bill printed by The Kirtland Safety Society and signed by a Mr J. Smith Jr and a Mr S. Rigdon. Now why do those names sound familiar?! Oh, and it was selling for a bit over $8,000.

Joanne has been trying over the last year or so to persuade me of the importance of commencing an engagement with a weighty piece of high grade carbon, ie a diamond. I don't particularly care for the look of diamond engagement rings. Mum never had one and I thought them clunky and frankly rather unsightly when I first noticed them on womens' fingers. Joanne promised that when I got a look at the REAL thing my feelings on the matter would change and we decided we would do a field trip to Tiffany's one lunchtime to see what it really means to sparkle. We almost didn't make it as Joanne is leaving EMI at the end of this week, but we managed to squeeze it in a little adventure yesterday.

I will freely admit to being dazzled. Engagement rings and wedding bands have their own floor and we toured around all the display cabinets, Joanne describing to me all the different cuts and settings. They all danced with light and colour, and even despite some shapes and settings that weren't all that appealing, the diamonds themselves were beautiful. My favourite cut was definitely the emerald cut:

Now, I haven't been completely seduced. As much as I fell in love with these gorgeous little rectangles, I still don't particularly want to one. Not as an engagement ring anyway. If for no other reason, I wouldn't want to feel obligated to have to wear the thing. And the cost is so frightening. I think I would still be more than happy with a pretty little ring from the antique jewelry stalls at the Portobello Road. But if my future husband ever did happen to find himself with a spare $7,000 sloshing around in his bank account, then an emerald diamond for his stunning wife might be just the ticket.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I forgot to ring my Dad on his birthday yesterday (I have no excuse) so to make amends I'm going to gush about him.
This is Dad in his younger days. It's sort of how I remember him as a child, with a bit less hair perhaps. The advent of the eighties brought his hair above his ears, but thankfully, the moustache remained pretty much intact! It did disappear for a few years when I was a teen, but it's back for good now!

Dad is definitely the grooviest guy I know, in fact, he's the complete package. He really does know EVERYTHING. He used to tell us that when we were little and we didn't believe it for a second, but now I'm convinced it's true. He's smarter than me even, so that ought to tell you something. He's curious about everything and will never tire of learning new things. I know that doesn't jive with what I just said in the previous sentences, but if you knew my Dad, you'd get it.

He's loving and kind. He's very generous, and a shopaholic, and I've done very nicely out of that. He's very open and friendly and likes to get to know new people. No one moves into our ward in Saudi Arabia without being be-friended by my Dad. He can get along with just about anyone. He sees potential in people and helps them to develop it. He thinks he's really funny. And he is.

He's a bit of a chatterbox (and he likes to call himself that) so thank goodness for internet phone service. He's never jealous of us kids or my Mum and will gladly send us off on a whirlwind trip to some city he himself would love to visit while he sits at home in Saudi Arabia. He's just happy that we've been able to do something he knows we'll enjoy. And best of all, he was clever enough to pick the grooviest girl in the world to be his misses.

Did I mention he's devilishly handsome?!

World Refugee Day + 3

In honour of World Refugee Day this past Tuesday I wanted to tell you about something really cool I heard about in a podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio.

They're called Lifeline Radios. The radios have been developped specifically for use by children in developping nations; they are easy to use and virtually indestructible. In Africa, the radios are primarily distributed to communities of children, most of them Aids orphans. The programming gives them vital information on health care and Aids prevention, as well as instruction on farming techniques and animal husbandry. So many of these children are the head of their household with no parent or guardian to instruct them in how to care for themselves and their siblings. For many of these children the radio serves as a comforting, parental voice that reassures them and even helps them get to sleep at night. The radios are shared among a community so it brings people together to listen and work together as a community.

As I was listening to this programme, I was reminded yet again how much Heavenly Father loves and wants to care for ALL his children, not just those of us lucky enough to live in relative luxury in the developped world. He has found ways to help them by inspiring people to develop technologies and set up programmes that help people to support and care for themselves. With all the turmoil and suffering in the world, it is comforting to know that He isn't ever giving up.

If you want to know more about the Lifeline Radios, go to the Freeplay Foundation website. It costs $55 to sponsor a radio. This includes the purchase of the radio and it's delivery to the community with training and instruction on how to use it.

My first broadway show

Michael and I went to the theatre last night, along with his brother Stephen and a friend. It might have been a double date. I'm not sure. It would be cool though, as that would be another first for me. The show wasn't outstanding, but it was entertaining enough and the seats were pretty comfortable. We had a laugh and for $5 you can't really top it.

I haven't thought much about going to the theatre since I've been here. Strange, as theatre is such a part of the city. I've had a couple offers to join Stephen and company (he gets heavily discounted tickets through some sort of theatre organisation he's a member of) but have always had to decline for one reason or another - he always seems to call when I'm in Jersey with Joanne. Anyway, now I've been once, it's peaked my interest. I'd really like to see Alan Bennett's play The History Boys but that just won a Tony so no doubt the tickets will be hard to come by.

Continuing our occassional series on Bovees holding other people's babies, here I am with Joanne's friend Neil's little son Jonas. Jonas is nine months old and we have been following his adventures via his own blog since the very day he was born. I have been pestering Joanne for months to fix up a lunch date so we could meet the little fella in person and yesterday we were finally granted an audience. As we walked into the restaurant and caught our first glance of Jonas, live and in person, we gasped in delight. It was like meeting Mick Jagger or the Queen, only like way better.

Jonas has just started walking, and was desperate to get down on the floor and show off his new trick. Just one problem, he's hidden all his shoes. He likes to play with them and has stashed them somewhere in his apartment where his Mum can't find them,, so he came into town from Brooklyn shoeless. No worries, I took him for a little walk around our table with him walking on my feet. It didn't work so well, but he did find the activity mildly amusing and it produced a photo-worthy grin.

Stephen had asked me to send him any pictures I had of Mum as a baby, but I think everyone needs to see these.

She really hasn't changed much.

Somebody is broody

Jonathan is desperate to be a big brother. He'd even settle for becoming a cousin. There's no immediate hope on either front, unfortunately, so he's having to make do with fussing over other people's babies. Here he is on Saturday holding our Luton friend Aleysha Freeman's son Jayden, born just that morning. Jonathan has always been good with babies, holding them very carefully and dispensing gentle kisses. He's a natural.

I've finally come face to face with the real life gangs of New York...

Yeah ok, not really. This is just my gang of friends playing a game called "Family Business". It's a mobster card game where you put out contracts on people and have mob wars and try to rub out everyone else. It could get rather vicious, but we're all just too nice for that.

This is Kristian and Jill politely murdering each other's mobsters. Now, don't get me wrong, we definitely play to win and there is plenty of rivalry. There's also lots of good-humoured ganging up on people and obliterating them.

The World Cup 2006 starts in just ten days! I know most footballers are spoiled peacocks, but playing for your country is a bit more inspiring than playing for your accountant, so I always enjoy following international competition. I've decided to support England this year. It's Sven's swansong, David Beckham's hair is weirder than ever, how could I resist.

Just in case England crash out early on, I need a backup team to follow - hopefully - to the finals. It all depends on how the tournament goes, but I am considereding Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands as alternatives, but I favour Italy because they have the best outfits!

Finally a post with pictures!

Saturday, my friend Michael and I ventured up to the north end of Central Park. I've never been up there before so it was a genuine adventure. First, we had to make our way through five blocks of Spanish Harlem (the gentrification hasn't made it quite that far up yet!). We entered the park through the Conservatory Garden (unimpressive) and then wandered round the Harlem Meer. We were in search of ducks, as Michael is a fan of fowl. These are New York birds, aggressive, lots of attitude. You can't tell from the picture, but I promise, they were being pushy.

Saturday in the park is all about couples out for a stroll.

It was a beautiful day. We walked down through the park, past the Loch and North Fields to the reservoir.

Genevieve contemplates the beauty of the city.

Michael contemplates ducks.

We were tired after ten blocks of park (I don't want to hear it!), so we caught the bus down the west side to 72nd street to see the Dakota Building and Strawberry Fields. The Imagine mosaic attracts a sizable crowd, equal parts tourists and weirdos. And then we were done with the park and proceeded downtown to Gold Street for some lasagna and Arrested Development.

Attention weather fans! It is monsoon season in New York. It's been raining since Sunday night, and this morning it was chucking it down. There's no wind this morning so it hits the ground straight on and bounces up about three inches. The streets corners are like little inland seas. And clever Genevieve had left her wellies at work. So I swam this morning, picked a fight with some brainless girl who wouldn't let a chap with a cane past first on a narrow stretch of pavement, and just hoped my poor old brown boots wouldn't disintegrate before I reached Park Ave. Sorry I'm not decorating this post with pictures of dark, swirling waters. If it keeps up til tomorrow, I promise to get it all on pixels.

Bruce's clone

Lucy has just found Jonathan reading the yahoo weather reports for Salt Lake City and Dallas. Guess who he's been hanging around!

I want to go on this!

Jonathan is definitely a Bovee

He annouced to Lucy today: "I want to try lots of new things!"

He was hungry for toast when they got home from school today so Lucy decided to show Jonathan how to use the toaster. Excited about his new skill, he decided to go whole hog and made himself a cheese sandwich, slicing/butchering the cheese with one of his little kiddie knives. "Isn't this a nice sandwich?!", he declared, and promptly gobbled it all up.

Oh and Jonathan has adopted three ducks. He made the mistake of feeding them some bread a week ago, and now they hang out in front of the flat. If they're elsewhere on the block and Lucy and Jonathan appear, they come hustling over to see them.

Things are getting a little tense at work. Our Director is on maternity leave, so my boss Aileen has taken on a lot of her work. It's causing her to get quite stressed and because Aileen and I work pretty closely it's starting to rub off on me as well. I'm picking fights with publishers and sending emails that couldn't possibly be mistaken for being polite. The rest of my life is going very well, I've been having heaps of success with my family history research, I've had two terrific weekends in a row, I've been reading the Book of Alma which has been spiritually uplifting, and yet, I'm feeling anxious and aggressive here at work. I'm happy and fun loving at home and about town, but as soon as I get to the office I tense up and start looking for trouble. And as those who really know and love me (well, you'd have to) know, when I go looking for trouble, I always find it.

I found this on an ancestry.com message board. It's from a book of biographies of Beaverhead County, Montana pioneers. Martin Barrett is the uncle mentioned in Ellen Mulherin Ducie's obituary, and the reason she went to Montana.

"Martin Barrett, Bannack, b. 2 Feb 1840 in Mayo Co., Ireland[I have his death certificate]. At the age of 8 he went to Canada with his parents. In the fall of 1859 to St. Joseph, MO. In 1860 to Salt Lake City and back, driving an ox team in a train. In 1861 to CO. While in Canada he learned the trade of tanner and currier, and attended common school. Arrived MT Spring 1863 and with Joseph Shineberger located his present ranch. He remained on the ranch whle Shineberger went to mining. They disolved their partnership after 8 yrs. Mr. Shineberger going to Red Rock and establishing his stock business. Mr. Barrett had mined in CO for two years - on 6 Aug 1867 he married Miss Alice E. Cook [I have her death certificate as well], at Sims Este's place, Red Rock. In 1879, he was elected councilman, served one term and was re-elected in 1884. He has 1,160 acres of hay land, mostly, from which he cut 500 tons; as near as he can estimate has from 1000 to 1500 head on his ranch and range. He is one of the oldest and most successful stock men on Horse Prairie." (1885)

Alice and Martin had no children of their own, but adopted a son, Robert, about 1900.

I've been thinking a lot about the origins of the Bovees and also about our connection to the Church. Cornelius Bovee came from New York and settled in Jackson County, Wisconsin sometime between 1850 (when he's in Lewis, Pinkney County, NY census) and 1859 when his youngest brother Silas N Bovee is born in Wisconsin. He came with his parents Nicholas Jonas and Orinda Bovee and five other siblings, his grandparents Nicholas and Mercy Bovee, and his two uncles Zebulon Bovee and Silas Lewis Bovee and their families. So the whole clan upped sticks and went to farm western Wisconsin. Today I discovered that Jackson County was also settled a few years before by a large group of Mormons. I don't think our Bovees went to Jackson County because they were Mormons, but they must have had contact with these early Saints, possibly even married into their families. I don't know why, but all this intrigues me. As we know, Cornelius' children weren't the nicest bunch, and yet three of his grandchildren and their spouses found their way into the Church. It just seems like we Bovees are supposed to be Mormons. I don't think it's an accident.