Grandma

Grandma

There really isn't words to say how much I love this lady.  She finally made it back home and to Grandpa on November 4, 2015. Oh,  how I am going to miss her until I see her again!

At the funeral the grand kids put all their memories of Grandma together.  I don't have a copy of the one read at the funeral but here is mine that I contributed:

·         Going to Lagoon every year with grandma.  One time grandma sat on the wrong side of the  Musical Express ride and I got squished. 

·         Grandma and all her house plants and flowers

       Her watering can and watering stick

·         Texas Toast and French toast in the mornings while staying at her house

·         Toll House Club crackers, Snicker bars in the cabinet, root beer and ice cream in the fridge downstairs, and always getting a cheese slice in the fridge

·         Going with grandma to the fabric store to pick out material for my bedspread that she quilted

·         Sleeping over at her house when mom and dad were out of town or spending the night for my birthday.  She let me pick out any cereal at the grocery store that I wanted to have for breakfast the next day

·         Playing Scrabble and Rummikub games at her house

·         Watching TV on her bed

·         Visiting grandma and grandpa in Washington DC while they were on their mission.  Grandma  helping us catch "lighting bugs" something we had never seen before.

·         Grandma coming to watch my swimming lessons during the summer

·         Driving to Logan on Memorial Day to put flowers on the graves

·         Taking a bath at her house when we came to visit and always using Mr. Bubble bubble bath 

·         Using grandmas down comforter blankets to wrap up in whenever we were downstairs

·         Coming with us when we moved to Washington and picking blackberries

·         Being at all my major events:  Baptism, Wedding, staying with them every time mom had a baby

·         Receiving care packages from her while I was at college

·         Grandma making homemade candies at Christmas time

·         Buying roller skates for my birthday

·         Coming over to help mom out when I had the chicken pox's

       Mentholatum

·         One of my favorite memories of grandma is coming over to her house, her sitting in her rocker knitting, crocheting, etc. and her giving us all big hugs telling us how glad she was to see us.

The funeral was very nice.  It was so great to see all of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins.  27 out of 29 cousins were able to be there, one was too pregnant to travel and the other on a mission.  My grandparent's have left an amazing legacy of family, so lucky to be apart of it.  I could go on and on about this trip and how much it meant to be there but will leave it with thanking Mitch for picking up the slack at home once again so that I could be there and celebrate Grandma.

Here is Mom asking Dale why he took so many cookies (She was a little stressed that there wasn't going to be enough) and Dale answering "because I want to eat this many cookies." We laughed and laughed about this!  This trip was filled with lots of laughing and lots of tears. At one point I all looked at Kara and said "I have a headache from crying and laughing." So glad to say this is my family and I get to be with them forever.

We tend to get a little crazy when we get together.  Everyone made it down for the funeral.  Everyone except Amy (she brought her whole clan) came alone, no kids or spouses. Do you know what happens when there are no spouses or children?  One big party!

This is something I got from my grandma's house.  It has been hang in her home for as long as I can remember.  Mitch is so happy that it is now hanging in mine. :)

Mom and her brothers 

27 of 29 cousins 

Washington DC- Day 4

Mount Vernon-

"First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen"

Our last day in DC was spent in Mount Vernon.  What an awesome house and property!  It was fascinating  learning more about George Washington and seeing how much he was admired and revered as the founder of our country.  I loved the artifacts that his home has, everything from his original bed, wallpaper, to his dentures!  His home is not owned by the government but by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association who bought it back in the 1800's.  The security isn't as tight as a government owned property but still no pictures were allowed to be taken inside.

George and Martha's view of the Potomac River from their back porch

I really liked the weather vane that was on the house, it is called the Dove of Peace.

Tomb of George and Martha

Washington DC Temple-

After we were done visiting Mount Vernon we had some time.  I really wanted to see the DC temple but transportation to the temple without a car on a Saturday is very limited.  We found out that if we took the Metro to the very last stop that we would be about 1.75 miles from the temple.  We figured we could just walk the rest of the way.  On the way there, I found a form online saying, "Trying to walk to the DC temple from the Metro? Not a good idea."  My mom and Katie decided to heed that warning and turned around.  Laura and I decided we were up for the adventure.  True to the advice on that website, it is NOT a good idea to walk to the temple.  Our adventure took us through sketchy neighborhoods, no sidewalks, busy roads, and blind corners, but we did in fact make it!  It is so pretty and like most temples I am trying to see while on vacation, it was closed for cleaning.

Here I am sweating profusely from my walk.  We were afraid that it was going to get dark and the last thing we wanted was to be walking in an unfamiliar place in the dark, so we walked FAST!

Monuments at NIGHT!

Every tour book you read tells you that you need to see the monuments at night, all lit up.  After our "small walk" to the temple we decided to take yet another walking tour through the monuments at night and get our last minute souvenirs.  The weather was really nice the entire time we were in DC but right has we started our night walk it started raining.  A little rain couldn't scare us away!  There was an outdoor concert from a rapper taking place that night, we got a concert and a show all in one.

After our walking tour of the monuments Laura and I made it back to our hotel room late.  The monuments are really breath taking and beautiful.  I couldn't let my mom and Katie leave DC without seeing them. So I created some mandatory family fun.  Katie and Mom needed to at least see the WWII monument all lit up. They weren't sure that getting out of bed and going downtown was fun at 11 pm but I assured them, that it definitely was FUN and most importantly mandatory.

Mom enjoying the "Mandatory Family Fun" on the Metro at 1 am

Proof of the "fun"

The next morning we were up at 4 am to catch our flight home.  We were a "bit tired" but what an awesome time!! Our flight took us home by way of Wisconsin.  Mom was the only one who would put on the cheese hat.

Save the Date

Washington DC- Day 3

 Bureau of Engraving

The first stop of the day was a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  This was a fascinating tour.  We got to watch the entire progress of money being created/printed. There is absolutely no cameras allowed in this building.  Did you know that they print $2 bills every other year?  Finding one isn't as rare as you think. Also, FYI- It is against the law to own the type of paper money is printed on as is owning the special ink money is printed with.  So don't even think about it. :)

National Art Gallery

We made a quick trip through the National Art Gallery.  Got our fill of weird sculptures and nudes.  I did enjoy the impressionist art section and saw some famous works of art.

Capitol Building

We spent the majority of the day on Capitol Hill.  There is a reason it is called Capitol Hill... it is on a hill! The Capitol is being remodeled at the moment and is scheduled to be done by Inauguration Day 2017. When we got to the capitol it was swarming with security (So many black SUVs and police it was C-R-A-Z-Y!)  Come to find out John Boehner was resigning as Speaker of the House at that very moment.  Sort of a big deal.The Capitol building has tight security since September 11th and you can't just walk in and look around like you once could.  Just to tour the rotunda and a few rooms you need to have tickets in advance through your congressman.

Inside the Rotunda -It was filled with scaffolding.  

We also went to see the Senate in session.  We had to go through three different searches and metal detectors before we were able to enter the chambers.  You can't even bring chap-stick into the room, security is that tight.  Of course, by the time we finally got into the room there was only aides, and one senator.  It was still cool to see, but a little disappointing.  We stood in line to go in the House of Representatives but because of the resignation of the Speaker of the House the line to get in there was out of control! 

Library of Congress

Our next stop was to the Library of Congress.  The Library of Congress is made up of multiple buildings and they are stunning.   The architecture in these buildings are amazing.  This was my favorite building!  So pretty.  It is so cool to actually see BOOKS in the Library of Congress!

National History Museum

My kids would have loved this place.  It is huge and is like a zoo/ museum/ science center all rolled into one. They have a whole wing of the building with every animal you can think of stuffed and posed, then a whole wing of the building of animal skeletons. Sort of creepy if you think about it to long!   They had mummies, insects, underwater animals, earth science and so much more.

 I loved how they positioned this giraffe!

Iwo Jima Monument

This monument is HUGE!  It was touching to see so many veterans were visiting around this monument, paying their respects.

Just a helpful hint: IF someone tells you it is faster to take the Metro to Rosslyn and walk to this monument that is very BAD information.  After a day of walking non-stop, this "little" walk from the Metro to Iwo Jima just about did us in.  AND if we didn't have enough of the human consuming mosquitoes from the day before we finished our day by walking  through Arlington Cemetery seeing a few more things we missed, before being driven out by the woman eating mosquitoes.

By the end of the day, it was so late and we were so tired we found a Subway restaurant ate our sandwiches and went to bed!

Benihana

In our house when you turn EIGHT you get to go out to dinner with Dad and Mom to Benihana. What a fun evening with just our Natters. Natalie loved everything about the dinner: the decor, the dinner, the cook, and the utensils...who doesn't love to eat with chop sticks?!

Trying her Benihana soup...

And what more can a girl wish for than her very own birthday sundae to finish the evening off.

Turkey Trot 2015

Last Saturday was our annual Turkey Trot.  The kids were excited and ready to go.  This was the first time in 7 seven years that it rained.  I guess our luck was bound to run out sooner or later....

Lucy and Natalie at the start of the 1K.  Lucy was excited that she was getting a t-shirt and a medal of her very own this year.  I love how her arms at the start line are ready to go.

Natalie pretty much rocked the 1K and came in 3rd over all the kids running.  Two boys were in front of her but she was the first girl.  I love her enthusiasm for running.

 Lucy ran the whole way and LOVED her medal.  Very impressive....

Julia and Cameron ran the 5K.  Julia ran it in 27:29 which is about 8:51 a mile.  She placed 7th in her age group. She was the 38th girl out of 152 girls to run the race and 98/306 overall.  Not too shabby for a sprinter girl.

Cameron kept his streak alive and came in first in his age division with a time of 20:48 which is 6:42 a mile.   He came in 11th of 306 runners! He was really hoping to break that elusive 20:00 minute mark but maybe next time!

Thanks for the fun time Snoqualmie. See you next year!