Catching Up.....March

Oops, I did this a little backwards in my "catch up" posts, since March is before April.

It's been a few years, but my husband and I used to go see the cherry blossoms in DC every spring.  The last couple of years, it just hasn't worked out, but this year we went by ourselves to see them, and it was a lovely date.  The weather was pleasant, although the skies were gray.  And the cherry blossoms were as beautiful as ever!  It's one of the things I love about living near DC.

Catching Up.......April

This is my son, the Easter Bunny.  My youngest son has worked the past few years for a local farm during their Fall Festival, and one of the things he loves to do is dressing up in costume & entertaining the kids.  This year they called and asked him to be their Easter Bunny for a day, so here he is!

Space Shuttle Landing at Dulles

I was lucky enough to have my morning free, and I found a nice viewing spot for seeing the Space Shuttle Discovery coming in for it's final landing at Dulles Airport. It will be put on display at the Dulles Air and Space Museum. We heard it coming before we could actually see it. I took the above photos as it was coming in for it's final landing. You can see the landing gear is down in the top photo. The bottom photo shows it just above the Dulles Air and Space Museum. The tower in the photo is the museum's observation tower.

When in first came in, it went on to DC, where it circled several areas. My husband saw it circle above the Tyson's area as he was on his way to work. We could hear it but not see it the first time, so while it was circling DC, we went and found a nice little spot where we could get a good view without being obstructed by trees. It came in from the east, then instead of landing, circled and headed south towards Manassas, then came back and approached from the southeast of our viewing spot. Again, we heard it before we could see it.

It was absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!

Second Necklace

The above necklace was my own design. Fairly simple, but it's made to look like a draped necklace, except it uses a clasp and is two strands instead of just being very, very long.

This could really become addicting.

Seven Month catch up

Here is the condensed version:

October had pneumonia again. Second son and his wife had a little girl.

November went to Texas to see my new granddaughter.

December went to Texas with whole family. It was our first time in four years that we were all together with our kids and grandkids.

January I got sick again (don't think it was pneumonia, though), and my third son went to Brazil.

February I went to Utah for a visit with my daughter.

And now we're in March.

Life's been busy. Maybe I'll post some pictures later.

September Fun

September brings two family favorites: Cox Farms Fall Festival and the Maryland Renaissance Festival. The Renaissance Festival actually begins at the end of August, but it's usually very hot the first weekend(s). This year we went Sept. 10th to the Renaissance Festival so that Josiah could come. Cox Farms Fall Festival began the following week, and once he started working at the Fall Festival, he would have fewer opportunities to go with our family.

First, the Renaissance Fair

Above: me in my Renaissance costume

and a flower wreath in my hair.

I got my costume at the Fair that day.

I had wanted one for years.

Below: Josiah with a Renaissance Jester.

Above: the Tournament is always a fun event to attend.

Below: Josiah and Jordan watch a Fair Magician do some tricks.

Second, Cox Farms Fall Festival

Kick off weekend had Josiah help with training new employees

at the Cox Farms Fall Festival. Above you can see him at the rope swing.

There are lots of places you can take pictures on the farm.

Below: Jordan on a tractor. The tractor doesn't work, of course.

Jordan treasures the leather jacket he was wearing. He would

never wear it to do work of any kind, let alone farm work.

July was Awesome! Part 2 (finally)

The main reason for Jeanne, and Mike & his family coming to visit in July was for Josiah's Eagle Court of Honor. It was a wonderful event, and many friends came to share Josiah's special day.

However, we also planned some fun things to do as a family for the days after the Court of Honor. On the day after, we got packed up and headed north for New York. We stopped at Hershey, Pennsylvania and took the free chocolate factory tour. Mike's car still had a problem with overheating and needing coolant, but we got on our way after the tour and got to New York late that night. We were camping at a very nice campground, and we let them know we'd be arriving late. We were setting up our tents around midnight, but we finally got settled in.

The next day Jordan, Josiah, and I played with the kids at the campground, and Jon, Jeanne, Mike, and Lena went to the Nauvoo temple. That afternoon we went to see the Smith Farm, the Sacred Grove, and then went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night. Above are most of the family in front of the Smith home. Below is a photo of Jon and me sitting in the Sacred Grove.

The Sacred Grove is beautiful, but it is also a very quiet and reverent place. Even though there were many youth groups there, it was not noisy. I heard one or two people call out, but they were the exception. Most people seemed to feel immediately how sacred a place it is and spoke in quiet, hushed tones. It was very much like being in a temple.

We also went to see the Grandin building, where the Book of Mormon was published, after the Sacred Grove and before the Pageant. Many years ago as a young woman, I was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but I'd never actually gotten to see it before.

On Saturday we packed up, visited the Hill Cumorah itself, then went to the Peter Whitmer Farm. After the Whitmer Farm, we said goodbye to Mike's family, and they went to Kirtland, Ohio before returning home, while we headed south to go to our own home.