What a great week! Last week our friends, the Richardsons, from California came for a visit. As part of a longer trip on the East Coast, during which they visited various historical sights from Virginia to Boston, they decided they couldn't resist a stop in the Big Apple to visit us - and we're so glad! Before we got married, Susan spent quite a bit of time at the Richardson house and this visit definitely reminded Susan of how much she enjoyed their company. The kids will all be in high school next year and it was amazing to reminisce about going to watch basketball games when the youngest was in 2nd grade! As Preston was quick to remind me - I really am getting old! It was fun talking with the kids about the highlights of this trip and their latest school experiences; helpful talking with Karen about life and tips for household management; and great talking with Kent getting caught up on the latest news regarding the building project at our old church. It was also a huge blessing having the family here as the girls volunteered to help in the kitchen and Kent cleaned out the screen in our bathroom faucet and increased the quality of life for our neighbors buy purchasing and installing felt for the bottom of our kitchen chairs! We're so glad that our apartment is big enough to allow a family of 5 to visit without it being too squished.

On Friday we went to the city so the girls could do some shopping in Manhattan (I think more for bragging rights at school than anything else!) and then to meet up with Ivan and go to dinner. The girls found some great Tees for school and Karen bought flip flops for me and her. Then, we headed to Ivan's office. Our original plan was to walk to a Puerto Rican restaurant about 15 minutes away. However, by the time Ivan came down, it was pouring rain. Now, I've seen some storms in my life, but it has been a very long time since I've been in such a torrential downpour. We were ill-prepared for the weather (Karen had an umbrella, Kent had a jacket with a hood, and Kailey had a poncho) so we quickly changed our plans to only walk 5 minutes to the Olive Garden. Kent bought two more umbrellas on the way, but we were still soaking wet by the time we arrived. The wait was supposedly an hour, so some of us went to the bathroom to try to dry off. Someone had the fabulous idea to change into the new, dry clothes and flip flops that had just been purchased and it made for a much more comfortable evening. We had a great time eating yummy food (those breadsticks are killer!) and by the time we left the rain had stopped and the sunset was beautiful. We got to go back to Ivan's office and get some great views of the city at night from the upper floors.

We all took some photos, but I can't find my cord to download mine from the camera, so maybe I'll get to add some to this post later or they'll pop up as a Facebook album sooner or later.

Labels: Food, NY