Part Dos

The second day we woke up early to go on a tour of the White House! (Unfortunately, Obama and I changed places- he was on a trip to Arizona. I should have asked him if he wanted a tour of my house too!)

Of course cameras are not allowed inside so Andrea took pictures of me coming out... just to prove that I actually was behind the gates! :) (That little speck by the tree is me! :) )

Once outside that gate..there's no going back! It was really interesting to see the East Wing and all the different rooms- However, I would say that the highlight would have to be the secret service guys! I should have slipped them my number! :)

Here we are outside the North entrance that I just came out from

And then the south side...maybe next time we can play volleyball on that lawn!

We also were able to do the Paddle boats on the Potomac River. It was beautiful with the Jefferson and Washington Memorials. We thought it would be pretty easy, but it was quite a leg work out! It was so relaxing to just sit, talk, and enjoy the view! Totally worth the 10 bucks! (Especially because we go to wear those awesome life jackets! We just put out of our mind how many other people wore them and sweated in them! gross! :) )

Some other cool sights

These pictures really show the true sweatiness of DC! (I of course I had to pretend to be holding the Washington Monument like everyone else does! )

This bridge goes up to Arlington cemetery and this other picture is me with good ole FDR.

Here we were at Arlington cemetery where we saw JFK's grave and the eternal flame. Man- I thought it was hot and then with the heat from the flame...I took the picture as fast as I could and then ran to the shade!

Here we are at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Another emotional place. There is quite a reverence there.

Plus I finally found my throne!




I finally made it to my name state! :) (And apparently they do NOT like speeders!) Plus we went into Maryland when we went to the temple. It was a drive by picture, so its a little blurred!

The last day we had a quick visit to Mt Vernon...

Even though we didn't have too much time here, I learned a lot about Washington and was amazed at the person he was!

As expected, DC is amazing. I loved all the history and especially experiencing it with such a great friend! Thanks again! Can't wait to go back!

DC part 1

Who knew that being in a different time zone for just a few days would completely throw my body out of wack. I have been so sleepy since I've been back that I dont have it in me to be all creative in presenting my DC trip! :) Therefore, I figured I'd just post pictures and you can do with it as you please!

It was my first time in DC and since my friend works there I had a terrific tour guide! Thanks to Andrea and her sister Brittany, I had so many great tours and SO much fun!

Before we went on a tour of the Capitol, We stopped by Andrea's office (since she works for one of the Senators) and took some pictures of the Utah Senator's offices. And another one that caught my eye as we were walking down the hall! :)

This last one should show you how I felt about this Senator. A Joke. Thats about it. "I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And dog gone it people like me." Saturday Night Live to senator...hmm... Lets see how he does.

Here are pictures of the amazing buildings that we were able to see...

Library of Congress: (Awesome tour and beautiful inside. This is highly recommended to tour)

Capitol in the front: (I forgot my camera when we went inside. So I guess you'll just have to trust me that it was fabulous! I really enjoyed it!)

And the back where the inauguration happens:

Supreme Court building:

The Pentagon- We were able to go on a tour and the people that gave the tour were hilarious! I really enjoyed myself! Even though it was a pretty general tour, it did give me a greater respect for the safety of our country. When we left, I truly felt like our country is in good hands!

Dont I look like I totally belong there! Who knows...I might just try it out!

This is the Pentagon memorial from 9/11. It was very touching.Each person that died has their own bench. At the end of the bench it says their name. If you notice the benches are facing in 2 different directions. They did it for a reason. If while you read the name and you look up and see the pentagon, that person died in the Pentagon. If you read the name and you look up and see the sky, they died in the plane. Whoever designed it did a great job!

You can see the 2 different color bricks here from where they re-built the building

Once those trees grow it will be a really enjoyable place. As for right now, the heat/humidity was almost too much for me! I was a ball of sweat when we left here!

That night we saw the Marine show. They talk to you at first and explain all the different groups and what they do. This is on the lawn of the Marine's barracks.(I almost won the prize for the person who traveled the furthest to be there, but a silly lady behind me was from LA! Rude!)

They played songs and marched around. There were also the Marines that did a gun show as they flipped these huge guns all around. Impressive. The whole thing was very patriotic. My eyes even filled with tears a few times.

Their American flag only has 13 stars for the original colonies... cool.

Okay...thats all I have energy for for tonight...I just have a few more pictures that I'll post tomorrow! Get excited!

Spot of Tea Anyone?!

So my mom is cute. Not just a little cute- but SUPER cute!

Because my nieces were in town, she had a tea party for Grandmas and their grand daughters. Who does that?! Only cute, fun, and creative people! She had been planning it for weeks. I felt very honored that I was invited as well... my Grandmas were just there in spirit!

After I went with John and Laura's family to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, (tangent time...beautiful!!! With Beautiful chandeliers everywhere. I cant wait to go back there! ok tangent over) we came home and saw our back yard turned into a little tea room.

My mom had made sandwiches cut out in hearts and stars...plus Peanut Butter Sandwiches on bread cut out as bears with chocolate chips eyes! Each place setting had their very own tea cup that my mom has collected around the country (Each one was glass- and somehow none of them broke!) Oh and by the way.....Tea= Chocolate Milk and Pink Sobe! I loved it! And so did the girls!

They got lip gloss and each girl got to pick out a hat to wear...and I may say that my nieces are BEAUTIFUL

And so is my mama!

(This picture says to me..."hmmp...when will we begin?" )

The girls had fun, the food was yummy, and the weather was perfect!

Basically...It was a brilliant day!

I know that these girls will remember it forever! :)

Thanks mom! I sure love ya! I just hope I inherit some of your creative brain! :)

'arry Potter

Thank you Harry Potter for coming out during the same week as Joey's Birthday! Therefore, we stayed with the theme and had a PARTY for our favorite Joey!

After seeing the movie we all came back for pizza, cake and icecream! :)

Well all love ya Joey!!! I'm so glad that the whole family could be there for your special day!

Platty

Fish. I remember having fish when I was younger, but I don't really remember anything about them except for the bubbler keeping me up at night, the snails that ate the scum, and Wanda was our fishes name!

As you may recall, we have a fish tank at my work. My only job (thankfully) is to feed them in the morning. It's not difficult and I love the way they all swim to the top- apparently so happy to see me and get their daily food. It's a very easy job and I'm okay with that!

There is a fish man- Bruce- that does all the dirty work. He cleans the tank, changes the water and the rocks, and keeps them looking all perty.

The patients love the fish tank and I have spent many hours with them looking at the fish and examining them. We decide if they are girls or boys, give them names - like pokadot- and have a lot of fun watching them chase each other.

They are all the same kind of fish except for one- the Plecostomus. He's our algae eating fish and is so super cool! His face kinda looks like a sting ray! I of course couldn't get a good picture of ours- so this is one from the powerful and all knowing google!

See- I told you they're cool! But they are also very shy and dont like to come out much. You have to consider yourself a very special person in order to have him come out and swim by while youre looking in our tank.

Therefore, because I have examined these fish many times with a different kids, I notice when things are a bit out of the ordinary. I noticed something strange the other day as I went to feed the fish. The usual routine is that I lift the lid and the Plecostomus swims as fast as he can to hide in the dark corners of the tank. (I've decided that he's like a toddler that plays peek-a-boo... "if they cant see me, I'm not here!" Type of thing)

Well, this particular day- he didn't swim away. He stayed like this - you can see the back half of his body and tail under the rock there.

I thought my poor Platty had died. But then the thought occurred to me that possibly he was stuck under there! For some reason, I thought that I would become a super hero and save the day!

So getting towels ready, I stuck my hand in (hoping the other fish wouldn't think they were getting a lucky break and were receiving a steak dinner of my hand and arm) and moved the rock. Platty kinda wiggled, but he didnt swim away. Therefore, I determined that he was indeed- not stuck.

So next idea- He must not be feeling well. He was not acting in his typical "scaredy-cat" form. I wiped off my fish water arm, scrubbed it with soap and water and sanitized it as much as I could. Then I called Bruce. I would let him save the day (and the fish!) I informed him that Platty may need an IV and some life saving skills- all of which I was not prepared to do! (Whether he found that funny or not, I did and laughed at myself for being so Witty!)

Bruce came to my rescue.

As I walked with Bruce to the fish tank and he got out his flashlight, he informed me that our fish had ICK. (I found it funny that the first thought that I had was "Ick? ICK!" Ü and I bet all of you did as well huh!) Then he goes on to tell me that it is very contagious and he would get them medicine. I think he saw the look on my face because he told me not to worry because they would be just fine.

However, I was not worried about the fish being fine (I was sure they would be). I was worried because MY hand and arm were in that 'ICK filled- contagious ' tank- as I tried to 'Save the Day'! I was scared to death that I would start getting a white fungus on my arm! The color came back to my face as he told me that it is only contagious to other fish and that I will be fine! (I sure hope he knows what he is talking about!)

Phew! Now I just have to watch and make sure that they are getting better (whatever that means!) Now I am paranoid every time I give them their food. I worry that they all have ICK and are breathing too fast or not fast enough. That some look like they have more white on them or are being mean to the ones who do. When did my easy job of "just feeding the fish" become a "make sure that they all survive and are in good condition?" I may need to add "vet" to my list of job duties!

And the rest of you just have to make sure that I dont start growing scales or gills! Got it?! Good!

Ick!

Messing with my mind

Its hot. It has actually been quite a mellow summer so far- but today...HOT! When its 8 pm and its still 108... that is a problem. And I do believe that this heat is messing with my mind. Throughout the day- there were many slip ups in my vocabulary that made me wonder what was happening up there!

For example:

I took 2 of my nephews to McDonald's today. In the drive-through, after ordering the food she asked me to go the first window and I replied "Okay wonder"... (PAUSE) ... "ful". P Dog then asked me "Did you just say wonder?" umm..yeah.
I was laughing at myself as we pulled up to that window and they asked what sauces we wanted for the chicken nuggets. P Dog replied "BBQ sauce and ketchup." So then I turned to the nice McDonalds lady and said "They would like BBQ sauce and checkup please. no, I mean...ketchup." P Dog looked at me very curiously and asked "Checkup? Whats wrong with you?"

Maybe it was a subliminal message to myself of what I in reality needed!

Many other words that weren't necessarily funny, but definitely placed incorrectly caused people to have to really think as they listened to me talk today. I was a little nervous to have conversations !

Maybe I just need to call into work tomorrow and take a mental health day. I wonder if they would go for it!

But I do have to say in my defence, I also dont think its all me. Tonight, J-Dog was really excited about his banana shake. Each time someone got their shake, he waited patiently, but continued saying things like "I cant wait for my banana shake!" After taking the first bite, his eyes widened and you could hear the shock in his voice as he said, "Wo! It tastes like banana!"

Genius.

I think its time to move to Minnesota!