Where do we start... Dun dun da daa da daa, dun dun da daa da daa .... Start spreading the news... I want to be a part of it... NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!After a 10 hour coach ride and no sleep we wash and head straight to the Brooklyn Bethel. In the short cab ride, Tara had already decided that she wants to move here! We met up with Adrian Brett who took us on the tour and invited us for lunch. It was cool to be in the same building as the Governing Body. In fact, I bumped into one of the after lunch- my claim to fame. The view from the top overlooked Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan, with the Statue of Liberty in the distance- It was stunning!We then made our way over to The Browns, in Stamford Connecticut- who despite never meeting us, kindly let us stay with them. Which I think they soon regretted after we drank all their PG Tips- I miss English Tea!Wednesday was a tourist day.. 1st stop Times Square, it was amazing by day and even better by night. Then the best part of all was FAO Schwartz Toy Store. We played on the giant piano from the film Big- we even taught the shop assistance how to play. Everyone was too shy to have a go, so we took in over for 15 minutes and ended up with an audience- Yes we loved every second!Then to Serendipity cafe for lunch, from my favourite film. They served Frrrrozen Hot Chocolates (kinda contradicts itself huh) Passed Bloomingdales and headed to the UN, hoping that Armageddon wouldn't start while we were there! Rockefeller centre was next on the list. Inside was NBC films studio's where Heroes, Friends and House are filmed! Ooooo! We took a walk though Central park and dodged the hundreds of joggers, and discovered an ice rink! It was freezing! (Not the ice rink, thats obvious, the weather was freezing also.) Later and after some confusion, we found Helen at the airport to join us for our trip. Thursday we caught the Statton Island Ferry which passed our good old friend Libby (AKA Statue of Liberty) Beautiful sunset and we were all in a hype... you'll find out why in a moment... Went passed ground zero where Twin Towers stood. Currently lots of construction, so couldn't see much but opposite was a delightful shop called Century 21, so we weren't too dissapointed. So back to the hype... in the evening we went to THE LITTLE MERMAID!! Best night EVER- I loved every second and now may have an addiction to Musicals!Friday morning we headed up to the Patterson Bethel with Kate and Amy. A brother in their hall gave us a tour. Great atmosphere, really friendly brothers and sisters. Jem bumped into an old friend Travis, who had the shock of his life. I met the brother who brought my dad into the truth (my spiritual Grandad) Alan Boyle. He's one of the remnant and draws illustrations from the publications. He took us on a behind the scenes tour of the Art department. We saw paintings he had done for publications, the studio, props, costume, and makeup rooms and up the Tower. (See the back of Oct Study Wtower, on LHS) He took us to places that even some Bethilites hadn't seen. He even touched my nose, now I'm filled with Holy Spirit... You are just competing with my bump into the Governing Body aren't you?!... Yes, I am! The evening was filled with joys of watching the Knicks game... DE-FENSE (clap clap clap) DE- FENSE (clap clap clap)... Although they lost by 1 point.. (1 point damn it) the atmosphere was electric! And we had great fun with our foam fingers. High five with strangers competition all the way to the station. MAAACCCDDDDOONNAALDS (ask Helen) That with Sam's Joker mask, Helens Dodgy fake teeth, and Tara's antics on the train, all in all a funny night. My sides hurt from laughing! Saturday should have been a disappointment evening as the Empire state building was closed and it rained so hard we couldn't go Ice skating in Central Park, but Helen saved us when she brought us Statue of Liberty hats, we had Manhattans in Manhattan and a great bicycle ride with Pedro though New York. "Pedal, Pedro, Pedal, Pedro" and other songs were sung. Jem was particularly happy as Sam had gone out a brought Rock Band. So they spent the rest of the night playing that and jamming. Yeh, guys, you should all check out Sam's album he released on Itunes. "Sam Brown, Tell it to the Postman" it's really good. Sam even helped us make a song about our trip, so stay tuned.Sunday we spent on the ministry and at the meeting. We ended out weekend with the last supper with Sam and Amy. We are now on our way to Washington which is a miracle in itself as we lost each other this morning. Tara's wheels fell off her suitcase and lost her mobile phone and I walked 3 blocks in the wrong direction with 30lbs + of luggage! Arghh! But fear not. We found each other and caught the bus!Again, another big thank you to the Browns for having us and making it such a fun trip. 5 stars to the Brown Hotel!!! (Sorry about the noise) Blogagain soon, all leave us comments!Love Jem & Taraxxxx