{O, Christmas Tree}

 The last couple of years we have not gone with our trusty fake, Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Our kids have decided that they much more prefer the smell and experience of going out and finding our own very real Christmas tree.  We were lucky enough in Washington state to live literally up the road from a tree farm.  A short 10 minute drive, 30 minutes to select and cut down the tree and then hoisting it up on top of the van to be taken happily home.  Well this year, we still got a real tree but our options were a little more limited.  There are u-cut Christmas tree farms around our area but sadly they are a little bit of a drive from where we live.  That and the fact that they close at 5pm or dark, doesn't leave much time for us to drive there after work and our weekends have been full.  So up the road about 10 minutes away was a nursery that was selling already cut Christmas trees.  So that is what we had to settle for.  They only good thing was the trees were a really good size and really full.  They had them lined up like they were in a forest, so it kinda felt for real!! :)  The kids narrowed it down to three trees and I think I ended up making the final decision.  We hailed our trusty tree guy over and he untied the tree from it's stake and took it to re cut the bottom and to net it up for us.  They also put it up on the van and tied it down.  We took it home to soak in a bucket of water for a few days before we took it inside to decorate it.  We love how it looks and we LOVE the smell!!

{Army vs. Navy}

A few weekends ago, Ryan and I had the chance to go to a fun football game.  Back in August we had found out that the yearly Army-Navy game was going to be held here in Washington D.C., which isn't the normal venue.  Well we decided since it was just a metro ride away, we had to go.  We have a few couples in our ward that are also members of the military and we ended up going with one.  They happened to be rooting for Navy, since he had graduated from the Naval Academy.  

The cold December day dawned and we were thankful for no wind, rain, or snow.  It was a cold 45 degrees, but without all those other things it was bearable.  We just had to keep the supply of Hot chocolate coming.  We rode the metro down and walked from the metro stop, along with thousands of other people, to Fed Ex Field.  Our tickets were up on the top section, but while being high up, they were actually really good seats.  We had a great view, even though we were seated on the Navy side.  We arrived for the pregame stuff just in time to see all the Army cadets leaving the field and the Navy cadets marching on.  We also were high enough to see the snipers that were posted around the field due to the fact President Obama and Vice President Biden were in attendance.

After a really good game it ended sadly for us Army people.  We made it a round number and put up our tenth loss in a row to Navy.  Army made a good run for it but it just wasn't to be.  Ryan and I had a great time though and would go again in a heart beat.  It only took us three hours to get home.  Us along with some 81,000 others!!  Until next year....Go Army!!

{Lost....and Found}

 Normally when we go to bed, we make the rounds checking in on the kids.  Making sure they are in their beds, all tucked in.   Last night while making the usual bed check we found that one bed was empty.  That bed happened to belong to Wyatt.  We looked under the bed, which from experience with Miss Lauryn and her not-sleeping-in-her-bed-but-instead-hiding-in-strange-places phase, we knew was a possible place.  We checked under there but no Wyatt.  We looked in Ayden's bed thinking maybe he crawled in with big brother.  No Wyatt.  Then we just stopped to listen.  Wyatt sounds like Darth Vader when he is asleep, so we really had to only follow the sound of his snore to find him.  

 We followed the snore and stopped outside one of the narrow hall closet door which was shut.  We slowly opened the door, to low and behold, find our youngest blissfully sleeping.  How he got himself and his pillow inside the closet and then shut it is beyond me, but that is just what he did.  And why he thought of the closet as a great place to sleep I have no idea!!  If he is anything like Lauryn, this won't be the first or last time he is found sleeping in some other place besides his bed.  I just hope we can find him every time!!

{Christmas at the Temple}

The lights at the Washington D.C. temple turned on December 1st. We stopped by last night to see them. Oh they were so beautiful!! The kids loved them!! Ayden kept saying how wonderful it was to be there that night. It was a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit and you know what there wasn't a Santa in sight. It is an easy way for me to remind my kids that Christmas is really about our Savior and not so much about Santa and what he will be bringing on Christmas for them. It was the perfect thing to do on a Sunday night. We (the older kids and I) will be going back next week for one of the concerts that they have every night!

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.