At the end of 2012, when I was living in Jerusalem, an awesome family, the Vogelmanns, moved to Jerusalem and joined our branch. They had 5 very funny, smart, and sarcastic little kids, so needless to say I was thrilled. Since I was working in the Primary at that time, I got to see their kids each Sabbath at church, and they often invited me over for dinner after church. Over the next several months, I often went to their house to babysit, play with their children, or just hang out. Dinner conversations tended to stretch on until 1 or 2 in the morning, their children never seemed to run out of energy no matter how many times we wrestled, and I never had to search hard for an excuse to go over and visit.
Although they lived quite far from my apartment (a journey that involved a military checkpoint and almost an hour of drive time round trip), they were always willing to give me a ride home. This might seem like a small thing, but I'll never forget what it meant to me to have someone give me a ride when getting home was always such a hassle and involved switching modes of transportation several times. And although their family also struggled with some of the difficulties of adjusting to life in Jerusalem, I always joked with them that God sent them to Jerusalem to preserve my sanity! They definitely became like family to me, and it was great to have some surrogate nieces and nephews around while I was so far from my own family.
After months of expectation, the Vogelmanns came back to visit family in New York this summer, and naturally I planned a visit up there to see them. It had been just over a year since I'd seen them, but it was like nothing had changed--we still stayed up until 1 in the morning chatting, and I had plenty of chances to give piggy back rides to the kids! It was wonderful to catch up with them and I'm already looking forward to next year when they come back again!
The 5 kids and both parents were staying with the grandparents in a 2-bedroom apartment in downtown New York City. They were kind enough to let me have the whole living room to myself while the kids and parents all slept in one room and the grandparents slept in the other!
Kevin's parents live on the 34th floor of an apartment building in Lower Manhattan right on the banks of the Hudson, and the views from the balcony were exquisite. I always thought I would be overwhelmed by the big city life (I'd suffocate without space to breathe!) but I think if I lived in a place like this it would be manageable!
I was thrilled to see the kids--and even more thrilled when some of them started calling me "Aunt Breanne." One of them even told me, "Breanne, you're kind of like our aunt."
Margaret has perfected the disinterested sneer look when you ask her to smile for the camera. Ain't nobody gonna tell her what to do! I had to laugh at Truman's expression--looks like he's learning from Margaret!
And this gem of a picture, with the creeper in the lower left corner. I laugh every time I look at it. What was he doing on the playground anyway?
I'd been to New York once before hand hit the major tourist spots and I'm sure I'll go again, so this trip we just did things that would be fun for five kids that have been traveling and staying with relatives for the past five weeks. Things like going to the park and wandering through Chinatown. It was great!
Maya took this picture of me. I was pretty impressed!
Sunday morning I went to the Chinese ward in Chinatown. It was a really neat experience--especially when the Relief Society president found out that I speak Chinese and immediately asked me, "Do you want to take a job in New York and move up here and help our ward?" I'm not planning on moving any time soon (I did just move a couple of months ago!), but if I do move to New York I'll at least know my way around the parks and Chinatown!
