Vacation

Has it really been that long since I posted? Well I suppose it has seeing how we went on vacation just after my last post. We spent 10 days back east visiting my parents and oldest brother and his family in Virginia, just outside Washington DC. It was a lot of fun and we did great stuff. We saw a lot of the museums and monuments in DC, and we took a weekend trip to New Jersey to see some of the areas Joe served in when he was a missionary. It was pretty awesome. So here are some pictures of our adventures.
The Washington DC Temple is so beautiful! We had the opportunity to do an endowment session with my brother Josh and his wife Erin. It is huge inside!

We went on a tour of the Capitol building.

The Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial (my favorite)

Mr. Lincoln
Simon loved the Smithsonian Air and Space museum

The Natural History Musuem had a butterfly pavilion which was free on Tuesdays, so we got to go and see really cool butterflies.

Alice and I visiting Julia Child's kitchen


We went to Mount Vernon (George Washington's home)

Here is Joe and the kids with Josh and cousin Andrew

Alice with Auntie Erin outside the Torpedo Factory (now functioning as an artist co-op) in Old Town Alexandria. Lots of cool houses in Old Town.


Grandmama and Eli with the Park Place sign in Atlantic City New Jersey. We went along the boardwalk and saw the famous streets and signs from Monopoly.
We also went to the beach in Ocean city and enjoyed playing in the sand. The water was frigid, but Alice had fun on her first trip to the beach.


This is Lucy the elephant in Margate, outside Atlantic city. She is really big!This is the view from the ferris wheel we rode on the Ocean City boardwalk.

I have a few more pictures to download from Joe's camera that I will have to post sometime (hopefully sooner than later). We really had a fabulous time. I loved how green it was, trees everywhere! I felt like I was in a forest all the time, even driving down a main road. Maybe we could bring some of those trees out here to the plains. Of course that is why they are the plains right? Well I don't think Joe or I want to live on the plains forever.

Last week I turned 30. It was all very low key, seeing how we just got back from our trip, so it just kind of came and went. I don't really feel different, but it is a little strange to think I am past my 20s. Where does all the time go? Eli's birthday is this Friday and I keep thinking to myself, "How do I have a 7 year old?" but I do. I am glad we have cameras to help us remember it all.

We are headed to Bear Lake in Utah for a family reunion next week. We will get to see extended family from my side and Joe's side. We get to see them all in the same week. It should be a good time.