Monday April the 5th

Even though we were all tired and had been driving for four days with little sleep, None of us could sleep in too much knowing our adorable family was there to play with.

Mom and Dad went and picked up Alisha at the airport, which everyone was VERY excited about.

I got such a big kick out of this. Nate and Owen were wrestling and Nate would just throw that boy around.. and he loved it!

We went to the Park

Michelle and Dad were having a hard time figuring out how the swing worked......We made funny faces..... and gave some kisses...... And just had a BLAST

Then went back to Nate and T's House

And I realized something...

Tanner ALWAYS HAS HIS MOUTH OPEN!!Seriously.. Go back and look at all the pictures. He's always got it open!

(Sidney was taking pictures and thought it was the funniest thing when Grandpa made silly faces)

This was the CUTEST thing!Owen was trying on Sarah's glasses.. and look at him..WHAT A STUD!

So this one you might not totally understand.. but just hear me out for one minute. Sidney and Owen were taking pictures, and while most of them were decent, this one didn't turn out so well. But here is the funny thing. We all think it looks like Nate (in the red) and Dad are holding hands, so it cracks us up ! :)

Later that night we all sat around the computer and watched the NCAA Championship game. Michelle and Telisha were rooting for Butler(the underdog),while Nate and Sarah were rooting for their beloved Duke. Unfortunately, due to a last second half court shot being less than a centimeter off, Duke won. Michelle put her UNC pride behind her and accepted Duke's temporary superiority... but only for now.

Unfortunately the fun had to end (Meaning Dad forced us into the car against our will) and the next morning (Tuesday) we woke up EARLY and drove to DC

In case you've never been to DC I'll try to help you picture what we got ourselves into.

First, imagine a VERY crowded city, with one lane streets and cars and people EVERYWHERE. NOW imagine us in our 15 passenger VAN IN that incredibly crowded city. THEN imagine us trying to park. NOW THAT WAS FUNNY (now that I'm looking back on it) There were TONS of underground parking lots, but could we fit in any of them? NO. Every time we would pull into one, the attendant's eye would get really BIG and heads would start to shake. Clearly we were just too much for DC. Fortunately after an Hour and A Half (yes.. at least 90 minutes) of stress, frustration, and huffing and puffing we FINALLY found an Open Lot. And there was Much Rejoicing :)

From the parking lot our journey began. We walked to the National Archives where we stood in line in the hot weather. Dad was nice enough to buy us ice cream sandwiches which we shared, and ate quickly in fear of the deliciousness melting away. In the Archives we saw really neat artifacts. The most fascinating was the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. In that same room was one of three original Magna Cartas! It was really cool! The most important documents in our country's history were right there in front of us.

From the Archives we walked to Ford's Theatre

(where Lincoln got shot)

(Where he died)

We looked around for a bit, then continued on to the Air and Space Museum.

Adam LOVED this museum...

When it was Michelle's turn to fly the airplane another adult made a some what subtle cough noise as if to say "What is this girl doing? This is for the kids" Michelle's response: Why should they have all the fun?

Michelle found a WWII bomb... Sarah found the Narnia light pole!

We eventually got a little tired..... and some of us became delusional ...

Regardless of our mental state, we continued on.

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose.. But can you pick your friend's nose???Well we continued till a certain someone refused to go on any longer. Yes, even the previously excited 9 year old who normally couldn't get enough of airplanes, space, and engines succumbed to the lack of food and sleep.

 While the museum was really cool, with planes, jets, and space craft everywhere, we were a little bit tired.

So we found a MacDonald's, got some food, and relaxed our tired bodies.

Eventually it was time to continue on so we walked back to the parking lot.

If you ever questioned our sanity before...

There is no need to question anymore. It's official! We're Crazy :)

 

We got back into the car and drove to the other side of town, parked, and walked to the Washington monument. Here we started our guessing game.

How tall is the Washington Monument?

From the Washington Monument we walked to the World War Two Monument.

And then to the Lincoln. This one was both Michelle and Adam's favorite since Adam was learning about him in school and Michelle is just fascinated with Lincoln.

From the Lincoln we saw the Vietnam.

Then we drove to the Jefferson Museum. I think I can say on behave of every, this was our favorite monument.

This guy Really knew what he was talking about.

From the Jefferson we used our nifty Broadband to look for a hotel just out side of DC. We also used it to find out the answer to our question. So Michelle looked it up, but before she told, everyone placed their guesses.

And the Answer: 555 feet and 5 & 1/8 inches tall

While I can't remember who won,but this started a tradition. From then on we guessed for almost every monument or any other random place.

 So after a LONG day with lots of walking and heat we finally got to the hotel at 1:00 AM. Of course we called ahead to make sure the hotel had two queen size beds since we were going to fit 6 people in one room, and the hotel said they had a room. But OF COURSE when we got to the room the beds were not queen, but double. Now you may be saying to yourself, not that big of a difference between queen and double, but to you I challenge YOU to try and fit two people in a double bed. Luckily for the hotel management we were too tired to really fight with them, so we just took the room and crashed.

And We Drove On...

 Sunday April 4th.

We woke up and drove towards Far West.

And then to Adam Ondi Ahman.

After an hour or so we drove on to Columbus and got there around 11pm...But the next day, the fun REALLY began...

You really know we haven't been keeping this updated since our next big adventure was our two and a half week Trip to the East Coast.

We Started out on a Thursday Morning, leaving after Michelle and Sarah's First Class. We got in the Van and headed to Texas.

After about five hours we really realized how spoiled we were. We love our van, with a built in bed in the back, sleeping bags laid out were two benches normally are, coolers and a crate stocked with food, and our beloved TV with a DVD and VCR ....

So we drove through the night, and as we neared our planned stop for the night, the first "funny" moment of the trip happened. It was about mid night and only Dad and Michelle were awake. Mom was asleep, or trying, in the front seat, Adam on the floor, Sarah on the first bench and Michelle in the back. Just outside of our destined town of Sierra Blanca there was a border control stop. Being a large van we were stopped. One guard chatted with Dad about the town we were planning on stopping at, which he quickly suggested we go 30 minutes more to the safer town of Van Horn  (thank you nice guard) while another guard walked around the guard with a flashlight and dog. This guard was flashing into the car making sure we weren't bringing anything that wasn't wanted . Sarah was sleeping and realized we had stopped, so she "woke up" and lifted her head to see what was going on. JUST as she was lifting her head the guard flashed his light RIGHT into her eyes. Michelle busted up laughing as Sarah's eyes got Really big REALLY fast and she jumped.... It may be one of those "you had to be there" moments.. but our family definitely gets a kick out of it!

Anyways, that night we stayed the night in Van Horn Texas, woke up early and headed toward Dallas, specially Plano and had a delicious food and got to spend the night with the Lotts and Moons and Sean and Becky, who we rarely get to see, but Love them dearly. But of course, we couldn't stay long and the next morning we were back in the car and off again.

We drove from Mickinnley Texas to Independence Mo. and listened to the morning session of conference on dad's laptop with broadband (wonderful thing). We were very glad we had the broadband because we loved watching very closely during the songs for Emily, and we all screamed and shouted when we saw her.. MORE than once :) Unfortunately the broadband reception in Missouri is NOT the best, so we could only watch the end of the afternoon session in the Stake Center in Independence. After conference wanted to go to the Community of Christ Temple, but unfortunately it was closed for their conference. Dad was really disappointed because they have a museum full of Church History, but at least we got to see the rocket temple.

(Adam was throwing a little fit... on the LDS temple lot... Ironic??)

Dedicated to the Lord

The LDS visitors center was open, so we took that tour and learned about the saints in Missouri.

 Since our stomachs had only eaten sandwiches made while we were driving, we were hungry for dinner, and being near Kansas city we all agreed on Barbeque.. and O did we get Barbeque. IT WAS SO GOOD. Michelle put it like this: "If I was a Hobo.. I'd eat out of their trash cans"

After our delicious meal we went to Liberty Jail. It was VERY cool, we learned a lot, and felt the Spirit.

 After the jail we found a hotel, and got to bed relatively early.

 All around good Day

Thunder and Lightning

So I realize we haven't been keeping this thing as updated as we, or at least I had originally thought, but hey, We've Been Busy. But let's catch up.

First Order of Business:
I (Michelle) am going to College! BYU-Idaho HERE I COME!! I am incredibly excited to be going to Idaho for Fall/Winter so please no pity or sad-ish looks. No "Oh, well you'll have fun" as if it's some terrible thing I didn't get into Provo. Yes, I was disappointed, yes I cried for two days straight.. BUT after much prayer, soul searching, and reviewing the past 13 years finding things I could do differently, I realized something. Earlier in November I was emailing my wonderful sister-in-law Telisha about how excited I was and about applying to both Provo and Idaho, and she asked me what I would do if I got excepted to both. I said "God will have to show me with Thunder and Lightning that I'm not going to Provo." So there... I got my LOUD Thunder and BRIGHT Lightning which clearly told me where I'm supposed to be. I don't know why, but I do know one thing. There is something I'm supposed to learn and do, and people I'm supposed to meet, classes and professors I'm supposed to have... And it's all at Idaho.

So Here I go.. On to the cold and SNOW :)
PS: Michelle will be getting the AO Student Scholarship (half-Tuition)