New York visit April 2008

Ryan and Dana asked me if I would come and watch their kids while they went on a little trip by themselves and so I left a little early for two reasons: (1) to make sure I got there (since I fly stand-by) and (2) so the girls would get to know me so it wouldn't be so traumatic for them when their parents left for a few days. I got there Saturday the 19th of April. The next day, the pope was in New York and visited ground zero. (Ryan and Dana's apartment is right next to ground zero.) We left to go to stake conference before he arrived there. We had to exit through a side door since the front doors were blocked off. Monday we went to the park, Tuesday we went to the Staten Island zoo. It was disappointing, but it didn't cost us anything since it is a reciprocal zoo with the Tucson zoo where I have membership. Wednesday we went to a mall in New Jersey to have the kids pictures taken at JC Penney. Thursday morning Ryan and Dana left. I took the kids to the parks around their house a couple of times. They loved sliding down the long slide. Friday they went to a birthday party. The kids were good although Mia missed her mom especially at bedtime and when she woke up. She would cry, "I want my mommy, I want mommy." The shows Dora and Diego and a music CD were lifesavers. Friday night was particularly hard for her. She wouldn't go to sleep. I told her stories, finally at midnight I turned on the CD player and she went to sleep immediately. So Saturday night, I turned on the CD player when they went to bed and she went to sleep almost immediately. Saturday, Michael called to tell me that the church had announced two new temples in Arizona--one in Gilbert which will be just about three miles from Greg and one in the Gila valley. That is great, although it would be nice to have one in Tucson. Sunday the rains started again. I went to church with Dana's brother and his family. We were going to take the subway, but since it was raining he thought getting a couple of taxis would be better. As I was hanging up coats in the church, I realized I had left my purse in the cab. Talk about panic! Dana's sister-in-law called the taxi company. They said things were turned in to either two police stations and they gave her the phone numbers and told her to call them later that day. As I left the chapel after Sacrament Meeting, a sister asked me if my name was Marilyn and I said yes. She said a taxi cab driver had brought back my purse and she handed it to me. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. My prayers had been answered. About 4 p.m. Sunday Dana called and said they were about two hours from home. While Mia was talking to her, they walked in the door. Mia's astonished face was something to behold as they surprised us. Monday was really a rainy, cold day, but we ventured out when it stopped for a while to take a bus tour. It was a double decker bus and shortly after we got on it, it started raining again. Mia didn't want to go below and she didn't want to wear a rain poncho. After she fell asleep we changed to the lower deck. That afternoon I took a downtown tour while Dana stayed home. I rode in the lower deck this time. Tuesday was a full day. We thought we could ride on a lower deck bus for the tours, but no such luck-we just had upper deck buses. It was a nice view, but it was so-oo cold and windy. It was in the high 40's and lower 5O's. Thank goodness it didn't rain while we were on them. We went half way on the downtown tour, then switched to the uptown tour, then stopped at the Natural History Museum, resumed the bus tour, then stopped at the Guggenheim Museum (we just went inside and looked around--didn't pay to go through) and then walked to the Metropolitan Art Museum. The sky had cleared up by the time we got to the Guggenheim Museum and it was a nice walk to the Art Museum. We took the subway home afterwards. About an hour later I went on the night tour with Ryan, and it was cold. In Brooklyn the bus stopped at a Mc Donald's so we could get something to warm us up. I arrived back home today (the 30th). I landed in Phoenix, then went to the temple before I drove home, so it has been a full day. It's been a full and busy month, but an enjoyable one.