Summer in New York

Here are all of my favorite pictures from our summer in New York City. 

Riding the subway home from the airport after our winter and spring travels. We were away from mid January through the end of May. We had to make the trip home from Asia without John so Anna was happy to see him.

We lived around the corner from a collegiate church with a big grassy lawn and garden. Thanks to an invitation from our friend Bea (picture of her below), we joined their "little seeds" program for the summer so we got to spend time hanging out on the grass and watering the garden every week.

Helping me do the laundry. 

Another cherished grassy area in New York, Ft. Tryon Park.

And of course, the Bronx Zoo! We bought a membership!

In front of our building.

On several occasions I walked into the front room in the morning and saw Anna with the scriptures open, flipping through the pages. (Also, can you see the plastic bags on the couch behind her? We had to keep all of our clothes in plastic bags ALL summer while dealing with our building's bed bug infestation.) 

Clifford at the 42nd Street library, our favorite NY public library.

My favorite girl posing next to my favorite blossoms.

First time eating pizza! And do you recognize the others in the picture? John's Aunt Suzie and her family came to visit us.

Playing in the water fountain at the park on a really hot day. 

This picture shows one of Anna's favorite things about New York. DOGS! The first thing we did every morning was get up, get dressed, go to the park, visit the dogs. 

First time on a carousel. This was at the pier on 23rd St. She hated it.

In July Anna and I headed back out West for Music, Arts, and Technology Camp in Evanston. This year I wasn't teaching but it's such a big week for my family that I wanted to be there and I wanted to take Anna to the baby class. We spent some time in SLC with John's parents as well and all my pictures are from our visits with them. The picture above shows Anna taking one bite out of each apricot and then throwing it behind her. It was so cute I let her do it for a while. Then I realized that the apricots were probably needed for some homemade jam. Oops!

Eating watermelon with Grandma Linda at Bear Lake.

Grandma and her two favorite kids.

Back in New York. A rare photo capturing Anna's infectious smile. (She doesn't like to smile for cameras.)

Central Park 

My parents came to New York to visit for Anna's birthday. We were so excited when they arrived and really sad when they left.

I wish this pictures showed more faces but this was on the way home from a spontaneous trip to the Bryant Park carousel with our friend Bea and her girls June and Olive. We love them a lot.

We had a fun visit from John's brother and sister-in-law and their son Eli who is 10 weeks older than Anna.

Racing up the stairs to our apartment. Eli won.

Eating her all time favorite food.

This and the next two are from Bennett Park, which was across the street from our building. Most days Anna spent more waking hours there than in our apartment. She is a very early riser so there were never many kids there in the mornings but we made some good friends.

Our last picture in New York. This was the day before our flight to Cambodia and that is Anna's favorite dog, Mattie. Mattie loved Anna. She was gentle and kind, and was very protective of Anna around other dogs. I wonder if they would remember each other if we ever went back to visit.

Life in Cambodia

I just can't sit still long enough to write a blog post anymore! I think I'm just not introverted enough or something.

Anyway, I'll write a little about what our life is like here. One might think that the reason there haven't been any of "Michele's Occasional Updates" lately is because I don't have anything happy or exciting to write about. But it is just the opposite! We have been enjoying ourselves and having so much fun that I just haven't had time to think about my blog.

I am a volunteer music theory and piano teacher at the Royal University of Fine Arts. It's hard because most of the students don't understand English and I of course do not understand or speak Khmer. But I am using my education and I am excited about that. I'm also teaching piano lessons at a private music school in our neighborhood. I have never thought of myself as a piano teacher but there is a big demand for piano teachers here so I'm doing it!


We have a nanny/house helper. She helps take care of Anna, goes to the market, cooks dinner for us, and cleans. It is strange to think that in New York I was the babysitter and now we have our own. The best part about it is that I can spend so much more time on the floor playing with Anna because I don't have to make dinner, do the laundry, or scrub the bathtub. I love it!

Sometimes John and I reflect on the differences between living in New York and living here. In Cambodia, we get to go out to eat as often as we want. We get to go on trips. We have reliable transportation. John enjoys his job, I enjoy my job. We have money in the bank. In New York, I had to cook, clean, shop, do the laundry, take care of Anna, and deal with all kinds of other things (BED BUGS) that people who live in New York have to deal with. We realized that in New York, we just lived from one crisis to the next. In Cambodia, we look forward to each day as it comes.

But of course there were some up sides of living in New York: Broadway shows, good food, museums, parks, hanging out with some of the best people and best friends we have ever known.

And there are some down sides to living here. The biggest one is that we are so far away from our family. There's no substitute for family.

And now for some pictures I just pulled off my phone. The girl in the second picture is Alice, Anna's current best friend. She lives across the hall from us and they play together every day.