Arlington National Cemetery

We again had a beautiful day to go sight seeing. We took the metro down to Arlington again. Mom and Dad were becoming pros at it by the second day. I tell ya taking the metro makes going downtown so much easier. I guess I was ignorant to the fact that Arlington was so large and that it had so many memorials on the grounds and not just white tombstones. We only saw a fraction of what there is to see. We went up to the Arlington house, which was Robert E. Lee's home before the civil war. That is quiet a view from up there!! My kids loved reading the tombstones finding out what war a person fought in and many fought in more than one. We found it interesting that many men or women had their wives, husbands or even children buried with them in Arlington. There were many civic leaders as well. It is a pretty magnificent sight to see. My favorite thing of the day was seeing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. Such precision is taken it carrying out that transition, which to me shows such respect. The guard paces back and forth in front of the tomb. When it comes time for another guard to take his place the new guard comes to the commander of the guard (which commands that everyone stands and is silent) and gets a thorough inspection (seriously, like five minutes of checking his gun, his clothes, ect.) and then the procession begins to meet the current guard at the center of the tomb. The two guards greet and salute each other and then salute the tomb. Then the changing of one guard to be exchanged for another happens. The guard leaving gets a final inspection and then he leaves the grounds. It is really something special to see. Looking out over all those tombs that represent lives lost in defense of this country and the freedoms of others was truly humbling. It made me proud to be an American, and thankful for men and women willing to sacrifice for others. After we finished at the Tomb of the Unknown solider we headed back to the visitor's center and had a snack. Grandma promised to treat the kids to dinner so we headed to Chick Fil A for dinner. It was a really good day and we were so happy to be able to share it with my parents.

{Visitors}

We had some visitors for the last couple of weeks.  My parents came in time for Meysa's baptism on the 19th and then stayed through Thanksgiving and a little after that too.  The day after Thanksgiving we set off to show them some sights.  It ended up being a gorgeous day with temps in the 60's.  We couldn't have asked for a better day!!  Our first stop was the Metro station.  They got a crash course on how it works and we were off to downtown to show my Dad the Air and Space museum.  My dad who loves to fly, probably could have spent hours in that place if it wasn't for us.  Ryan and I had been to it before but the kids hadn't.  The older kids were into it but the younger kids realy could have cared less.  Wyatt pretty much wanted to run everywhere.  I really wanted at best a shock collar, at worst a harness to keep track of him.  We had a stroller but he refused to sit in it.  Some times it isn't so much fun taking him places.  :)  After the museum we went out to the Mall area and had lunch and then Grandma spoiled the kids and let them ride the carousel.  The kids of course loved it and Grandma won some good brownie points with the kids.  We decided after that to walk down to the WWII memorial. On the way to the memorial, we found a really cool tree to climb and my kids took full advantage of it.  Ayden climbed to the top, Meysa got almost there and Lauryn used the tree as a place to pose for the camera.  Wyatt took a cue from Lauryn and thought he would strike a pose as well.  Funny kids!!   My Mom's Dad fought in the war as a Marine gunner on board the USS Enterprise.  It was neat for them to see the Memorial.  We had wanted to go to the Lincoln memorial but it was a ways from the WWII memorial and our kids were done. So we headed back to the metro stop to make our way back home.  It was a wonderful day, but we had more planned for the next day....Arlington National Cemetery!!

{8}

 In our church, the age of eight is a magical age.  It is the age at which children can choose to be baptized.  Meysa had a birthday yesterday and she turned the ripe old age of 8!!  She was really excited that it worked out so that she could be baptized on her birthday.  We had family (even grandparents clear from Idaho) and friends that were there in attendance to help celebrate in Meysa's day.  The baptism went wonderfully and the spirit was felt.  We are so proud of our Meysa and think she is such a wonderful girl!!

After the baptism we came home and hung out with my cousin, who happens to live close, and her family.  Then Meysa chose to eat at 5 Guys and then to have root beer floats and Texas Sheet Cake for dessert.  She made out with some great gifts from all the people who love her.  It was such a wonderful day and we are very thankful for Meysa in our lives.  Happy Birthday Girl-

{Saturday Morning}

 It is that time of the year, when we have an abundance of leaves in our yard.  The lawn guys have been taking care of them when they cut the grass every week but there were so many we thought we would pitch in and help.  Plus in our neck of the woods there is a certain day scheduled in which the city comes around with a big leaf sucker upper and they suck up all the leaves around town.  All you have to do is put all the leaves on the curb.  It is really a great idea.  Ours is next Tuesday, and I wasn't sure if the lawn guys would get here before then.  So we set the kids to work (slave labor) right after breakfast.  The two oldest kids helped tremendously, they were such hard workers.  The younger two....well not so much, but they were outside and were with the rest of us so I guess they can be included in the fun.  When we woke up this morning it was 30 degrees!!  I love this time of year, it is cool (maybe even cold) in the mornings and evenings, but it is so pleasant during the days!!  The kids started out all bundled up but by the time we were done, they had stripped off the hats and gloves.  It is shaping up to be a great Saturday!!  

{Cribbage}

Ryan has been at me for years, and I mean years to learn how to play the game of cribbage.  It is a game that is played with gusto on his side of the family.  His Papa will play anyone for quarters, and he usually is the one coming away holding the money.  It is a game I had never heard of until I married into the family.  There are phrases like, fifteen-two, fifteen-four, and so on.   It sounds like code for something to me!!!  Well we just recently upgrade our phones to the smart ones and Ryan was happy to find a cribbage game that was a free app.  Well what do you know, instead of me learning how to play cribbage, he is targeting the younger generation.  They are eating it up!!  Meysa snuggled up next to him on the couch getting the finer points of how to play.  Ayden listened to the instruction as well and then commandeered my phone and was playing it as well.  Ryan installed the game on my phone in hopes that I would learn to play since it was just a click away.  Sadly, I haven't lived up to his expectations.  There is hope though with our kids, just another reason I am glad I had them.  Good daddy time is a good thing too!!  

{Want some Chicken?}

 Ayden's face says it all.  It was 8:30pm and we had just started to put up 120 lbs of fresh chicken.  120 lbs!!  I planned on bottling some and freezing some.  Ayden stayed up until I put the first batch in the pressure canner.  I didn't get to bed until 2am and I had only gotten two batches done in the canner.  I had four more to go.  It takes almost 2+ hrs. per batch.  I had all the jars ready I just needed to process them but it was way past my bed time already.  I was DONE.  So I put the rest of the jars in a warm oven and spent the next day babysitting my pressure canner.  7am to 7pm!! We spent so much time together I really should have given her a name!!!  I got four dozen jars and a plethora of bags of chicken in the freezer.  It was worth it, I just wish I could have started a little earlier in the day.  I also enjoyed teaching my oldest a little bit of canning.  A worthwhile skill I think, even for boys!!   

{Horses}

 This last weekend was the Washington International Horse Show in Downtown D.C.  We stumbled upon it while Ryan and I were looking at hockey games at the Verizon Center online.  Knowing how much of a horse lover Meysa is, we thought what a great way to spend a Saturday.  There was a FREE kids day complete with pony rides.  Free is even better.  Well we found out about it in early September, and we had no inclination of what kind of weather we were going to have.  Yup the day we had planned on being outside, was the freak snowstorm around our area.  Thankfully we didn't have any snow per say but it was cold and we had freezing, slushy rain.  That didn't deter us.  We took the metro down since there is a stop basically at the Verizon Center and brought our umbrellas.  They had moved all the kids day activities indoors and cancelled the pony rides.  Meysa was really put out about that but what can ya do? 

 Meysa was in heaven!!  She kept referring to books she had read about different horses and how you can tell what breed they are.  This passing fascination we thought she may have about horses has turned into a full blown obsession.  She couldn't wipe the smile off her face if she wanted to. 

 The other kids had a great time as well though.  There were free cupcakes (Wyatt looks like he is about to devour his), they got to groom a pony (Ayden was brave this time), watch a Native American paint a pony (pretty neat actually), paint their own horseshoe, and of course watch some competitive jumping.  That was Meysa's favorite part I think.  We had to text my brother Alan for some information so we could understand the judging and scoring but for the first time coming to something like this I think we enjoyed it immensely.  So despite the weather it turned out to be a good Saturday!!