A day without Polo.

A few quick updates from the week:

• Elaina (8), Blake (5) and Bryant (3) are my favorite. Elle is really sweet and has a great sense of humor, Blake is super witty. Bryant is their little Lance ha, He is crazy and always getting into trouble, I love it. I sat down to help Blake put his shoes on and he said,

• “McKell I’m really glad you and Nate decided to come here, this summer is going to be awesome!” as he proceeded to tell him which way to put his socks on haha.

• Another awesome Blake quote, “Sorry you guys can’t come on our trip, we could send you post card!” then Elle says “ The best thing about sending you guys a postcard is we already know the address.” Pretty awesome. They are on vacation this week so the house has been a little lonely, just me and the dog, Polo. Polo is a white german shepherd and he is 5 months old so still a puppy. He loves to jump on me and bite my ankles.. we get a long really well. I’m excited for the Layton’s to come home :).

• There are 130 kids in the primary in our ward. IT’S HUGE! I love it, it was an awesome Sunday.

• Nate’s first day went great! He really likes the people he is working with and the facility is pretty cool. He is still learning about his position so hopefully by next week he will be more comfortable.

Alright now to the real stuff. Yesterday I got to leave Polo home to fend for himself and take a trip into the city! My brother in law, Matt (Natalie’s husband) is working for Goldman Sachs and is training in New York! Perfect timing for us. My mother in law, Ange, Nat and Tay came out to visit and I got to take a train to Manhattan and meet  up with them! Figuring out the train, then the subway, then walking directions was a little tricky. I made the train by 1 minute. I was asking a man how to get my ticket and he said just get on the train you can buy it on there.. so I did. The train attendant came by and asked for my ticket so I told him someone told me I could buy it one train… He said you can, but it’s 6 more dollars.. of course. He looked at me a little pathetically and then said I will let it slide this time but next time buy your ticket at the station. Love those little tender mercies… :) I made it okay though. Then we had a fun day playing, Matt lives across the street from Battery Park. It’s a really nice place.

Tay loved his first subway ride!

Bethesda Fountain

We took the subway to uptown Manhattan for the day (thanks to my trusty app) we actually got on and off at the right places! We went to Central Park for the majority of the day, so fun with Taylor. He loved it and he thought all the animals were so entertaining. When he saw the geese he just laughed at them, apparently watching them eat was hilarious! We ate in the park at this cute little French Bakery. Whit and Mom and I ate there last year when I was here and I loved it, so I took the Dennis girls.

After lunch we made our way over to the Temple and Liberty Square. We went in the temple and talked to a few people in the public relations office. They were really sweet and welcoming.

To end the day we ventured down to 5^th avenue. We went in a few stores and did a lot of walking. My train left at 7:34 so off we went back to Grand Central Station. I found my train and a little snack and I was on my train home! It was a long day without Nate and I felt bad leaving him, but he was there to pick me up at the Station! It was a really fun day and I’m excited for the Yankees game tomorrow night, especially because Nate is joining this adventure.

The cute bakery in the park

The Manhattan Temple! 

cool fact: The church has owned the ground for the temple since 1971, before they built the temple it was just a chapel. Now the chapel is inside and it was dedicated in 2004. It's beautiful.