I packed up my three boys, and with the (wonderful) help of my (wonderful) mom, we flew out to DC! I big adventure and a crazy thing to do! But fortunately we checked some bags and the carseats, so we didn't have to carry those through the airport, and so it wasn't as bad as it could have been (I have a previous post about when Scott and I tried to do that...). We got in on a Tuesday evening --10ish, but if any of you know traffic in DC/Virginia, you understand why it took us til 12:30 to get home. My brother and his wife actually live in Fredericksburg, VA. It is so beautiful out there. So many trees. The trees made me think of two (very different) things: one, when Joseph Smith went to a grove of trees, I can picture it. So different than here in Utah. Especially where we live. A grove of trees here would either be going up to the mountains, or to a park where they have a few trees bundled together. And second, no wonder it is really hard to find missing/murdered people. I can't imagine trying to look for a "body" amongst all the greenery/bushes/trees/etc. I know, morbid thought. I am a little strange, I know.
Once we were there, the kids played! Kim and Val have three kids, Ellie 7, Spencer 4, and Taylor not quite two. So the kids all played together wonderfully! They are a great family and Val was such a great hostess. Val and I went shopping, about every day. It was lots of fun looking for a dress for her for the wedding (the reason we went to DC--my little bro Kyle got married), and I found an AWESOME belt. I had already bought my dress--a really fancy and expensive suit thing. I looked like I should be a in a corporate meeting for some big company. My favorite part is the price--normally 320$, but I got it for: guess, everybody... fifty bucks! What? That is right, I am a bargain shopper. I had gone with my mom earlier to find her a dress, which we did, and it is gorgeous! We also did lots of projects preparing for the wedding. We got to choose the "favors" for the guests. They had some pretty small brown boxes with a brown ribbon, and we chose some nice wrapped dark chocolates, and then put the fancy chocolate covered raisins and almonds around the chocolates, and then a flower on top of it all. It turned out really cute. I should have taken a photo!
Scott came out a few days before the wedding and we took a day in downtown DC to see things. We actually saw all that we wanted to see! I didn't want to make the "mall" a boring experience for the boys, so we didn't try and go through all of the museums and see things they wouldn't like. We hit the air and space and saw the main things there, then headed to the natural history, but quickly realized it wouldn't hold their attention (we had just gone to a dinosaur museum here in utah a few weeks before). So we hit a different one, and saw stuff about Abraham Lincoln, and a really fun place about Imaginative inventions. The kids, especailly Brennan, loved it! Brennan loves to play with pots and pans and big spoons, etc, and they had this big magnetic wall with all that kind of stuff (with magnets attached). He just went crazy. Then we stopped at the Washington Monument, and then took a LONG walk to the Lincoln Memorial. What a great man. One of my favorite things there is a sign that asks people to be quiet to show reverence and respect to the memorial. I really wanted my kids to see that. Then we went home--took the Metro which is a neat experience, especially with kids. They really liked it, though.
The next day we went to the Washington, DC temple. Scott and I were married there almost seven years ago. Weston is always asking which temple we were married in, and I am so glad he was finally able to see it. Unfortunately, he threw up on the way, and we had to stop and clean that up (fortunately, it was strawberries he thew up, so it didn't stink as bad as it could have).
We had a big family barbeque with my whole family and Linzi's family (Ky's now wife). They are great people. Saturday was the wedding. It was at a friends home called "Pemberley-On-Pond". Doesn't that sound romantic? It was gorgeous. The weather was perfect and it was beautiful. We had a big family photo (first time my family has all been together in years) and then a reception after. Ky met Linzi (Gerlach, from Sandy, Utah) in DC, kind of a set up. She is GORGEOUS! She has a beautiful little girl, Evy, two years old. They are soooo cute as a family and Ky is happier than I have ever seen him! Congrats you two! Be happy!
The next morning we flew home. Fun trip! Really it was so nice to go and just have the kids play, and hang out with Kim and Val, and then other family. Here is a slideshow of photos for you to enjoy (we took 200 pics while in DC!! These are just a few of those!)
He chose Lucky Charms for his birthday cereal (a tradition). And he wanted Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. I slaved over that and the cupcakes for HOURS on his birthday! The cake is a bunch of cupcakes together to form an emerald. Not my favorite cake, but I was really in a bind with the theme. He was happy though! Grandma and Grandpa came and we opened presents and had cake. We got him a little MP3 player with the Star Wars theme on it. He is so far enjoying it! Grandma and pa gave him the Clone Wars movie and Night Vision goggles. 
