Lately….

So…I went to St. George the 2nd weekend of October. My parents were getting honored as Distinguished Alumni. It was bittersweet. My parents surely deserved it, but I just wish my dad could have been there. He really loved Dixie College and has dedicated so much of his time, energy, and love to that great school. He fought much for the preservation of the good old Dixie spirit. We really missed him. But, my mom deserved it so much, and so it was great to see her honored as well! It was a great weekend, but was awful about getting my camera out. The only picture I took was of this little bug at my sister’s house.

My little Kayelee Mae! She is the cutest and most hilarious little girl you will ever meet! She is 4 yrs old going on 20 yrs. I love to here the thing that come out of her mouth!.

Last weekend…Jason and I went to visit his family. It was his Grandma’s birthday and his Uncle Glen and his wife Mary threw her a party. They made a lovely dinner, we played Rummikub and had pie. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Jason’s family is really witty and they love to laugh. It was a really good time :)

Uncle Glen bringing the birthday pie

Jason sneaking into his grandma’s picture!

Blowing out Candles!!

The three of us :) ....Jared's not much of a photographer! Jason's eyes are closed! haha

The Whole Gang!

It was really a great visit! Thanks so much to Glen and Mary!

Oh…and I made Cafe Rio for dinner on Sunday…it was delish! Jason took a picture…but not a very good one of the food. I was quite proud of it. It’s not too hard as long as you plan at well.

And….sad to say…we have finally past our lovely fall weather into the cold. I am going to have to turn my heater pretty soon…not too excited about the coldness, but happy to get my winter clothes out…so fun!

Same old…same old…

Nothing really new to update….just working like crazy!  I’m working 5 days a week for the next 3 weeks, so that makes the rest of my life hectic….

…I know…poor me…five days a week like the rest of society, but neck is really feeling it tonight.  It has been fun though because I am filling in at the Dental Hygiene College, and it’s been great.  The first clinic session was STRESSFUL, the next was much better, and today went really well overall!

Jason is just finishing up his last semester at BYU and then on to grad school…which means right now it is application time, and with school, work, research, studying for the GRE and applications – he is BUSY!

So, that is the update for now – I’ll post some pictures when we get some – hahaha!

Maryland Trip! Fort McHenry and the temple

So...our last big day was Wed the 25th. We went to Fort McHenry just outside of Baltimore and the to the DC temple. It was a great day. Really fun because Sheryl and the kiddos could come along. We didn't get a single picture of Sheryl...sad....she is officially the mom taking all the pictures now!

If you don't know the history of Fort McHenry....it was attacked by the British in the war of 1812. It is the fort where the HUGE American flag was flown after a full day of bombardment. The flag is seriously gigantic. We saw it in the American History museum in DC and it was just incredible. Just outside this fort is where Francis Scott Key penned the words to the Star Spangled Banner. It was a great historic place to visit.

So here is little Savvy Girl. She is such a good baby. She is just so pleasant and easy to take. I mean, she is still a baby and takes a lot of attention, but Sheryl is a great mom w/ a great little girl so it makes it really pleasant!

Me, Jason, Blake, and Lizzie in one of the Magazines....this was like a bomb shelter to keep all the Ammo Safe. We were trying to take a picture against another wall, but Lizzie had taken a picture here before and was like "No...this is where we take the picture!" not in actual words, but she got up on that little box all ready for the picture. It was so funny!

Blake and Jason heading down to another bomb shelter area. Blake loves Jason!

The two bandits! This is one of the holding cells for prisoners.

Posing in the bunk room for the enlisted soldiers.

Lizzie and Blake on top of some cannonballs. I think Lizzie first called them "meatballs" and so Blake starting saying it too. They are such funny kids. I was trying to help Lizzie up there and she says..."No! I do it myself!" She is full of fire!

Me and Jase by some HUGE cannons!

Up on one of the top hills of the fort next to the cannon. You can see the flag pole in the distance. The flag being flown is like a 1/3 or a 1/4 the size of the original flag flown

Overlooking the harbor. Isn't the sky amazing! The day was overcast and just perfect for being outside. It really was a lovely day.

Me and the Lizzy girl in some kind of tunnel thing. We were getting ready to go and she was just waiting at the top of the stairs for someone to take her down. (Jason and Blake had gone down before and she wanted her turn ---she is seriously hilarious!)

We ended our day @ the Washington DC temple. The DC Temple is Beautiful. I couldn't believe how big it was! It was really a great experience to do a session there. A good break in all the hubbub of vacationing!

Day #2 in DC

So....we were kind of done taking picture our 2nd day....so it's not quite as well documented. But the 1st thing we did was take a tour of the....

Washington Monument

Here is a statue of George Washington right before we got in the elevator to go up in the tour.

We basically got to go the the top --- I think just the last 50 feet is the tip of the obelisk and that isn't accessible, so it was a pretty awesome view!

The National Mall and the Capitol building at the end

The ellipse before the White House

A closer view of the White House

The national mall, the reflection pool, Lincoln's monument and the bridge to Arlington across the Potomac

Jefferson Monument and the Dulles airport further back and to the left would be the Pentagon

Walking the stairs in the monument (we only had to walk one story to get the the elevator to go back down!)

Jason and I really liked this quote by George Washington. He really was an amazing man --sent and inspired by God.

Well, after the monument we went and got some food....the we went to the

Holocaust Museum

So we couldn't take any pictures in the main exhibit....but I have to say that it was an amazing experience to go through the museum. Pretty overwhelming, and I was brought to tears and even made sick a couple of times by what I saw. Tragedy, Travesty, and Horror are not even strong enough words to describe what happened during that time. It is something I will never forget!

After the Holocaust Museum we went to the

Natural History Museum

Again, not very many pictures....but I loved the Jewel part of the Natural History Museum! So here are just a few pictures of that....

The Hope Diamond

Some Amazing Diamond Earrings

Aren't they ridiculous! Definitely brought out a bit of envy!

I was exhausted after that day....

We came home around 7:00 that night so that we could watch the kiddos. We wanted to give Sheryl and Ian a date night out (Mostly we just wanted an excuse to play with the kids!)

Lizzy and I settled into the princess book (5 princess stories) which we read like 5 times (that's 25 stories -- and I'm not joking) She has Cinderella pretty much memorized! It was so cute!

Jason and Blake played horsey and master....of course Jason is the horsey (he plays so good with kids...he is way patient and just pretends with them forever and ever)

Jason Playing "Horsey with the Kiddos

Jason is a great horsey! Blake had to basically BEG Lizzy to go for a "horsey" ride with because she was content with her book (he is all boy and she is all girl!)...but finally she gave in, and they had a ton of fun!

Day #1 in DC

On the Metro heading into DC....fresh and happy....we have no idea how long our day is going to be!

The Tomb of the Unknown soldier

Jason at the tomb....it was SO HOT!!

Me in Arlington. Walking through that cemetery definitely brought some tears

Jason at Arlington

Women's Memorial just outside of Arlington

The mold for the statue at the top of the capitol building.....the statue of freedom!

The top of the Rotunda in the Capitol building

Me outside the capitol building after our tour.

The National Museum of American History

We spent like 3 hours in this museum! It was so great! Seriously so fun to see a ton of pop icons and also read and see displays about a ton of different things in our nations history

The Ruby Slippers! I love the Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland

Abe Lincoln's Hat

C3PO

Sweet old dental chair :)

The Memorial Walk....

After the American History Museum we walked the mall to see all the monuments. It was dusk and they were lit up. They weather was perfect! What a great time to see the monuments and memorials!

Jason at the WWII Memorial...by the Philippines tower

Me at the WWII Memorial

Jason next to one of the end fountains at the WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial. It was so beautiful all lit up at night

Outside the Lincoln Memorial

Jason next to Abe

My turn :)

Night View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

Jason Standing next to one of the Columns at Lincoln's Memorial

The Korean War memorial. It was great to again be reminded of my dad. All throughout our day at DC I was reminded of him. DC just represents so much of what my dad love and lived for....the freedoms and rights and privileges of this great country

The first picture Jason took of this I wasn't smiling, so he made me redo it...which I'm glad. It is always so hard to think of my dad and not be sad....but at the same time, it's hard not to be happy and full of love when I think of him as well....and I would rather be the latter!

The Korean War Memorial wall.

This was a World War Memorial funded by the people of DC. I think it was erected after WWI and they are planning on redoing it. We were trying to get to the Jefferson Monument, and this was on our way

We couldn't get to the Jefferson Monument or the FDR memorial park because of construction for the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial....bummer. I LOVE the FDR memorial. But...we saw the Jefferson Monument across the bridge all lit up and it was beautiful!

Riding the metro!

Jason in the subway

Waiting for our train down in the subway.

So tired after a super long day! Heading Back on the Metro to the Green Belt!