I love to see the Temple--NYC day 2 (American Museum of Natural History & WICKED)

We started our second day (Thursday July 11th) in NYC by doing baptisms at the Temple in downtown Manhattan.  I was so grateful to be able to make this happen and make it part of our trip.  The Manhattan Temple is unique (as all temples are) but this one because of the fact that it was built with doubly thick walls in order to ensure that it's peaceful and quiet inside.

We ran into some friends there, the Davies and also the Hale family.  I met Chelsea when we recorded in SLC and she was delightful and her whole family is in MCO.  After some visiting we determined that her husband David and I are likely distant cousins so we claimed family connections and enjoyed doing our baptisms with them.

It was a good thing we had both Dave and Stephen with us because the Manhattan Temple was trying to operate with only 6 endowed male temple workers and they were running all over trying to take care of things and it was a big help to have Stephen and Dave there, otherwise it would have taken a long time.

While we were in the Temple, Grandpa took Matthew on a special mission--to look into additional Broadway show tickets.  Grandma's favorite show is Wicked and we were hoping for some last minute tickets for that night which we got!  So blessed and fortunate to see TWO shows in the same trip (Lion King--really good seats were the Christmas present for our family we already had on the itinerary for Saturday)

After the temple, we changed into our NYC shirts, and hit the American Museum of Natural History, and then grabbed an early dinner at "Times Square Diner" where the Sam and I got these massive Club Sandwiches before going to WICKED!!

"Unlimited"!!!

The show was AMAZING, wonderful, Lindsey fell in LOVE and got a shirt for her souvenir.  The costuming was so creative, the vocals amazing, the story profoundly powerful.  Can totally see why it's Susan's favorite show.  I now want to comeback to NYC someday and go see as many shows as possible!

Other memories from the day--it rained which made things exciting.  We kind of got lost on the way back to our hotel in the evening and ended up going the long way around.  Sam impulsively got onto a subway before the adults were sure it was the right one and the doors closed on him and we almost got separated.  Luckily some natives helped get the doors open for him to get out.  AND K almost got hit by a car.  So NYC is totally exciting!

Start spreading the news.....NYC or bust!

We have the incredible opportunity to perform with our choir in Carnegie Hall in NYC!!  We are so excited and have turned it into an epic weeklong family vacation!  And we decided to invite Carl and Susan to come make memories with us--we are SO excited!

Seatmates on the plane!

WEDNESDAY JULY 10th!!

We took an early morning flight--so grateful we have kids that can walk and hold their own while travelling.  We made quite the entrance in the airport, each of us with a backpack and a carry on suit case, walking in a single file line.  

The flight was uneventful and when we landed we had to take the Air Tran to connect us to the subway.  Our kids got their first taste of different life perspectives--something they were going to see a lot of on this trip.  We then made our way to our hotel, the Heritage Hotel which was perfect because it offered us a suite with two joined rooms and a shared bathroom.  Grandma and Grandpa were right down the hall.

Our hotel was right near the Flatiron building and Madison Square Park which is where the original "Shake Shack" restaurant where we ate lunch and it was super YUM!  And a view of the Empire State Building.

Then it was off to do some exploring.  

We walked to time square and explored the M&M store and the Hershey store.  

We ran into fellow MCO friends the Hunsakers whose daughter Abby is in MCO with Kaitlyn.  

We enjoyed dinner at an Italian restaurant recommended to us by the Hess family which didn't disappoint, Angelo's Pizza!  There is something about Italian food in NYC, we can't wait to have more!  The meatballs were HUGE!

We enjoyed seeing some of the lights at night at Times Square, and then we huffed it back to the hotel it had been a long day!

Farewell to the Torpys

 I don't like this post, not one bit.  We've known Jon and Monica Torpy since Stephen and I were newlyweds.  We've remained in contact as they've moved all across the country and 3 times have bounced back to Allen.  This time though they're leaving for good to Colorado.  We've spent as much time as possible with them leading up to their departure.  And we're holding on to our plans to spend New Years with them to help us survive.  These are some of our closest friends who we've known our whole married lives and our children interact more like family than just friends.  They are "Fram-ily" and I think we all shed a few tears about them leaving.

Magnolia with friends

My good friend Hillary Hess and I are a bit nuts I think.  We wanted to go on an outing down to Waco to the Magnolia Silos and we took a few friends.

We enjoyed bakery treats, a little shopping, and playing in the yard area.

And on the road trip home we stocked up on kolaches in West, Texas--Yum!

June 2019 Summertime outings

I really enjoy my summertime with my kids, we're always trying to get them outside and off screens so here are some of the things we did:

Stephen and Melissa went trail bike riding, mom is new at it and had to go slow.

We (plus friend Grace H.) went to the Perot Museum which is always a favorite, but we really enjoyed a special traveling exhibit called "The Art of the Brick" which were really cool things made of Legos--we LOVED it!

The city of Melissa opened a Buc-ee's which is an epic gas station that has quite a following and is something of a mecca and beloved in Texas

One day a week we turn off the screens and get outside, on one of these days we went for a long walk in Plano to the Oak Point Nature Preserve, it was lovely!

Matthew always has more energy than we know what to do with, so I try and take him with me on my morning walks.  Sometimes he runs, sometimes he rides his bike and sometimes we make great discoveries like this turtle!

Fathers Day June 2019

We celebrated our dad's in College Station and enjoyed giving them breakfast in bed!

All three of them!

And we enjoyed some cousin time!

 

Boating season 2019

 Not a lot of comments about this boating season because I think the photos and expressions on people's faces say it all.  I will say that this summer we attempted double skiers and tubers which was excellent fun!