Emily

Hi family,

We have had a busy past couple of months. In October, we had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. We took Casey and Mitch, and left Alyssa and Travis with Dorothy and family (thanks again guys – you’re the best!). We went during theUEA/fall recess, so the kids only actually missed two days of school even though we were there for a week. We stayed with John’s sister Cherry and her husband Mel who live in Woodbridge, VA. It was only about a 30 minute drive into downtown D.C, so we never took the Metro in, which was the original plan. We had an awesome time!

On the first day, we took a tour through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where we saw paper money being made. That was pretty cool, no free samples though. We then took a tour of the White House, which we had arranged back in April through Senator Bennett’s office. We had to have back ground checks and everything; otherwise you can only go to the White House visitor’s center. I thought it was pretty interesting; Casey was very unimpressed, because it really isn’t that big. We spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum, which was Mitchie’s favorite. I was impressed by the 36 foot squid that had been caught at 2,000 feet below sea level. It was preserved in formaldehyde, and had shrunken a little, but it was still very freaky. Mitch liked all of the dinosaurs, and rock samples they had like very cool geodes and crystals. We went to the top of the Washington Monument which was awesome; a great view of the city. From there we walked down to the new World War II Monument. We spent some time there as Casey had a few admirers of the opposite sex completely checking him out. Casey thought it was “sweet!” They took pictures of each other, exchanged “My Space” addresses, etc. Casey said they thought his hair was cool. They were a group of girls on a tour from Indiana. Anyway, from there we went to the Korean War, the Lincoln, and the Vietnam Memorials. They were all very impressive and neat to see in person. We did a lot of walking that day needless to say.

The next day we went to see the D.C. Temple, and then on to the Baltimore Aquarium. It’s a pretty cool 4 story building on the Chesapeake Bay. They have dolphins, but no sea otters. Monterey Bay is still a better one in our opinion. One quite impressive thing there was their 4-D theater where we watched a 20 minute film called “Shallow Seas.” We felt, smelled and heard the ocean, wind, dolphins, etc. It was awesome. We found a sea food place for dinner, but I made the mistake of ordering garlic crabs which are the smaller blue crabs; tasty, but not quite worth the work. I had John and Casey helping me get the meat out of those little buggers.

On Saturday, we spent the day at Mt. Vernon. They were having a “Harvest” celebration, so there were some extra things there that day, like George Washington himself! We got to ask him some questions, like were his teeth really made of wood, which of course they weren’t. The answer was animal bone, and human teeth. His dentures were on display in the museum there – pretty cool. While we were there we took the National Treasure II tour, which meant we got to go into the basement and see some other behind the scene stuff. That was cool. We also took a boat ride on the Potomac River. The weather was great.

On Sunday, we went to church with Cherry and Mel, and I met up with my old long lost roommate from BYU: Jolene Pendleton/Houston, who has lived back there for the last fourteen years and who knows my brother and sister-in-law very well. Small world! We also went to Arlington that day and went to John F. Kennedy's grave (the eternal flame), and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. While we were there, we saw the President's helicopters fly over head. Apparently they are dark green and white, and always flys in threes, so no one really knows which ones he's in, then as they go to land only one really does and the others take off in different directions. We found the Marine's Momument (Iwo Jima), and made our way through George Town before returning back to Cherry's where we had dinner with them and my nephew and his family who live in Fall's Church, VA; and with my niece and her family who just moved to Richmond last summer. So, it was a little family reuinion of sorts.

On Monday, we met at Senator Bennett's office for a congressional tour of the Capitol. That was pretty cool because we got to use the underground transportation system, and saw some things that not all of the public gets to see. We also found out that after December, they will no longer be giving Capitol tours because they are building a new visitors center underground, and underneath where the Presidential Inagurations take place. It was all fenced off as they are getting it ready for President-elect Obama in January. We then walked down to the National Archive building and saw The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. From there we walked over to The Mall and spent the rest of our day at the Air and Space Museum. Our legs pretty much just wanted to fall off at the end of the day. It was a great adventure.

After being home for only a couple of days, we went up to Midway and stayed there from Saturday to Wednesday. John had two brothers in town, and we all stayed up there for a reunion weekend. Casey, Mitch, and John went back down the canyon at night since they had work and school.

On Wednesday morning (Oct 29) John had sinus surgery. He basically hasn't been able to breathe out of his nose for a lot of years and finally went in to get cleaned out. He's feeling pretty good now, hopefully this will help out the headaches now that he's taking in more oxygen.

Halloween was lots of fun; three days of wearing costumes! Mitch was Luigi (as in Mario's brother), Alyssa was Tinkerbell, and Travis was a Monkey. He actually really loved wearing his costume this year. He was so cute! Trick or Treating was nice; in fairly warm weather for once. I took my kids along with my niece and nephew visiting from Fresno. They were done long before my kids were. Travis and Mitch probably took in way too much, but they didn't stop until nearly 10:00pm. Casey had fun hanging out with his friends and playing "tricks" on the "trick or treaters".

Well, I'm back at work and into the routine of things once again. I can't believe the election is over, and Christmas is right around the corner! I'm looking forward to seeing those who will be having Thanksgiving at Mom's this year... should be lots of fun!
Love,
Emily and Family