Sailing on Lake Almanor with "the fam"

This past weekend we took a short little road trip to lake Almanor in California where Ben's family was busy vacationing. We decided to drop in somewhat unexpectedly on their party...

Ben's DC Trip Part 2

The following pictures are mostly of the home of George Washington in Mt. Vernon Virginia. The views were spectacular. The home was beautiful but we weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside. GW himself declared it one of the most desirable pieces of real estate in the country. When he first moved in, the cultivated land totaled about 2000 acres. He worked to expand that to 8000 acres before he died.

As wonderful as his home was he left it and his wife Martha behind for 8 years to fight in the revolutionary war. From 1775-1783 he only returned home to visit a total of 10 days. At the end of the war he had to persuade his officers to abandon plans for a military take over of the country. Then he voluntarily resigned his commission so he could return home and retire. But his work was not through. In 1789 he was unanimously elected to serve as the first President of the United States. After 2 terms and 8 more years he again voluntarily resigned as President. He was determined to let the control of the country be left in the hands of its people.

It was a wonderful privilege to learn about such an inspired man. He was a fearless leader but took no glory for himself. He was completely humble and selfless. During his time as President, Washington considered himself a public servant and he never accepted a single pay check.

This is the detached kitchen where a team of cooks would prepare meals for the Washington's and their guests.

This wind vein sat on top of George Washington's home for centuries, until in 1992 they had to take it down to preserve it.

These were the slave quarters, not the nicest accommodations.

This is the sword that George Washington carried into battle during the revolutionary war.

This is the sight where George and Martha Washington are buried, along with 25 other family members. The grave sight is about a quarter of a mile from the homestead. In his will, Washington requested to be buried here.

After a long day of sightseeing, nothing hits the spot like a couple of fresh Atlantic lobster. (This is actually my very first lobster. It was delicious, but way over priced).

Ben's DC trip Part 1

Here are a few shots I took while staying in DC. I was there on business for two weeks.

Late Posting - Easter

This is a little "Happy Easter" poster I made for Ben. I was trying to think of something creative and cute, but inexpensive. The coolest part was I taped those paper eggs in a way that they popped out. I had lots of fun making it.

Here I am on Easter Morning my basket from the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny was very good to me and gave me lots of treats. Yum.....

Here's me dying Easter eggs. And......

...look what colors I did!!! My favorite. I even put flower stickers on them. They were so pretty I had to take a picture.

The Cheese Cake Factory

Since our bad experience at The Mayan, we haven't ventured too far out of our dining comfort zone. But this weekend we decided to try eating at The Cheese Cake Factory. Above is a picture of our appetizer which was about three times bigger than we were expecting. Between that and the tasty bread basket, by the time we got our entrees we were nearly full. But it all tasted so good we ate until we were stuffed to the rafters. It was a beautiful day and we ate outdoors. We took a slice of strawberry cheesecake home with us and it was divine.

Catching up

Now I will attempt to catch you up on the last 4 months of our lives...

Back in March the Dodds family came to Utah for a visit and we all went to the zoo. Brandon and Melissa traveled from Boise and Elizabeth traveled from BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. We had a great time being all together.

Sisters!

Jenna and Aunt Andrea

Cute picture of Sarah, Melissa, and Brandon. We even got the giraffes in the background - they're pretty amazing animals.

The bears were pretty fun too, especially when they would play/fight with each other (depending on how you looked at it).

Andrea thought this penguin was so cute, she had to get a picture!

You've got to love the Elephants - their just so cool!

Jimmy is a friend of mine from college and we went to his reception. He played the bass guitar when the band debuted with "Play that funky music" at a ward talent show.At the reception I couldn't help noticing the table cloth was spring time green, one of Andrea's favorite colors and the same color she happened to be wearing that day.

On April 6 we celebrated our second anniversary. We didn't really do anything too extravagant because we're hording all our money so we can buy a house. We went out to dinner at The Mayan which features a jungle-like interior with divers that dive into a pool 30-40 feet below. Almost anyone who has even heard of the Mayan will tell you in the same breath that their food is not all that great, but the atmosphere is a must see. So we thought we'd give it a shot, and it was true, the decor inside was really cool and the food was really bad. Even the chips and salsa weren't that good. Seriously, how do you mess up chips and salsa!?!?

Yesterday we went down to Provo to visit Emily and Craig and their new baby Hyrum.
Now you're all caught up.