Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Thanksgiving (a little after Thanksgiving)



Happy Belated Thanksgiving! Can you say that? Oh well. We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with our family in the East! It began with a nice morning run for me. It was very foggy, but fairly good weather. Then Nate and Clark geared up for the Annandale Turkey Bowl. I went to watch and was lucky enough to get some sweet photos!


When Clark would play QB, Nate would be his go to guy. Here he is receiving a shovel pass. They were quite the duo.


Clark is the one at QB. Wearing the black beanie. Nate is wearing red shorts (for Utah of course) and a black shirt. He is getting a good block!


Unfortunately, I missed Nate's reception that he ran in for a touchdown. I was at the store getting some last minute food for the BIG dinner!


So our dinner wasn't going to be huge, but with the combined efforts of Kara and I, and her mom's kitchen, we ate like Kings! She made a delicious turkey, sweet potato pie, rolls, and I made the green beans, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Isn't your mouth just watering now! It was so much fun. Kara documented the meal with pics, and I didn't get any. But you can imagine it right?

Visit from the Padres!

We had so much fun with Los Padres a couple of weeks ago! I don't have good picture documentary, but we were all over the place! We picked them up in Baltimore on Thanksgiving, then the next day we drove to Richmond, VA! Which I really loved. I think everyone else liked it too. The next day was Annapolis, MD. Then Monday D.C. Three state capitals in three days! Pretty good. Each one was so unique. Some quick highlights.



These two pictures are in the State House in Annapolis. One of the critical moments in U.S History happened here... Can anyone tell me? The man behind us gives the clue! George Washington resigned as General of the Continental Army here! He is the man because he gave up his power, he showed the country that there would be no absolute rule, no tyrant who is hungry for power! (He made that decision again after two terms as President) But that is another story. It was fun to walk around quaint little Annapolis with the Fam!
The picture at the top is us at the Capitol in D.C. In the old Senate Chamber. (Dani's favorite). Nate gave us all a fabulous tour. He was my favorite tour guide. That was one of his favorite things about his job this semester.
We loved being with almost the whole Davis family! We watched the Game, toured, played cards, talked, ate. You know all the good stuff!


Twas the Night Before Christmas


Twas the Night(Days) Before we leave, and throughout our little basement
Nate and Dani are both stirring to pack up their things
Their stockings are hung and they look really cute (thank you)
However St. Nicholas won't be find them there.
Dani's almost done watching her children, Boramy, Thalia and little Joseph too.
Nate cannot rest till he has inputed all of the faxes and letters. We hope he will wait till after the drive for that long winter's nap.
They have lived in the city that is all filled with clatter. It has been great getting involved in all of the politics matter.
They have met great new friends and have loved to be with their favorite clan up in Maryland!
In boxes, and suitcases, baskets, and bags. To the Corolla you go on their way to the West!
Their experience here has been great, something we will always cherish! Now dash away, cross your fingers the weather is good, dash away ALL!
Merry Christmas to ALL and see you SOON!!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Rivalry Week!!!!!!


So we are just pumped up for the game this weekend. I pick up Nate last night and he was telling me how he got off at 5, but didn't leave till 5:25 because he got sidetracked looking up Ute rankings, highlight you tube videos, you know all of the hype. I laughed because I told him I got a little distracted that day looking for rankings, trash talk, you tube videos too!
We are wearing our Utah shirts to bed every night this week. I was wearing my Provo Canyon Half shirt, and he said, " YOu can't wear that this week, bad luck!" Seriously though.

BCS RANK
UTAH 21
BYU 19

AP RANK
UTAH 22
BYU 18

Quite the matchup...

Record
UTAH 9-2
BYU 9-2

GET PUMPED for the game this Saturday 5:00 eastern , 3:00 mtn time.
Here is some good fuel for the fire!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryDzRPOy8N8&feature=related

Friday, November 20, 2009


We are just hangin out here in D.C. We are excited for Nate's Birthday this weekend!

Good Food, Good Week, Great Company!

Last week was great! We had two fantastic visitors! Los padres! Kimball and Elaine came visit us here in NOVA. We felt like we were on vacation too! We ate so many delicious meals, and tried to hit up all of the tourist sites we could. Some highlights were,


Riding up to the top of Washington Monument (550 FT) The view was great!

  • American History Museum ( they have a fantastic exhibit of Stars and Stripes, the FLAG that hung over Ft. McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote our National Anthem... just gives me the chills)
  • Lots of history trivia, and mind you this was a smart crowd, they know their stuff!
  • Lots of rain, ok so not a highlight, but it was flooding here.
  • White House tour, so legendary, I love the stately decor! Nate knew a lot of good stories from the White House. Did you know that Pres. Buchanan sold a lot of the furniture because it was not tasteful to him...but Mrs. Kennedy tried to track it down almost one hundred years later. She found one couch in a Detroit car shop... nice.

    • Hard Times Cafe...mmm good chili
    • D.C Temple



    • Old Town Alexandria for dinner
    • Williamsburg, I won't go off on another history rave, but this place is the birthplace of liberty, way to go Virginia House of Burgess!! We are proud to live in Virginia!

    • Williamsburg, yes I wrote it twice, because we were so captivated here! Did you know, The President of the First Continental Congress lived in Williamsburg? Peyton Randolph. He was the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and we learned about him on a tour of his home.

      • Nate gave his Parents a personal tour of the Capital, and Nate gives a mean tour!
      • Good Weather on Sunday! We had picnic right before they left to the airport. It was the only good weather day they had!
    All in all we had a great week! We appreciated them taking the time to come see us! Thanks!

    Philly Cheese Steak and Football


    Philadelphia, ah... the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence, the crown jewel of our Republic! History happened there in the old Philadelphia State House, better known as Independence Hall. This very building is home to the deliberating of the Dec. of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution.

    It was in the state room the Richard Henry Lee stood and spoke the words,


    "Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved"
    This idea was debated and accepted by the colonial delegates, and they motioned 5 men to draft a Declaration of Independence. We all know it was Jefferson who wrote the bulk of it. It was not till August 2, 1776 that it was signed. Yet, it was accepted July 4, 1776. The first of its kind! Legendary, if you don't feel fired up, do read the document.
    Then 11 years later delegates from every state except one... Rhode Island... met once again to discuss a new basis of law for the Country. They met in the same room, in private. They chartered our beloved Constitution. It was so fantastic to be there, United States History at its finest.
    Ok sorry about that total history nerd raving. We really feel privileged to be able to visit these places that mean so much to us. I am studying to teach the very history that I get to experience at these sites. It is special for me and for Nate.
    Rand met us in Philly and it was really fun to see him. He stuck with us for all of the historical stuff, but after awhile he said he really needed to watch some football and eat a Philly Cheese steak. We found a legit place to grab some delicious phillies and we watched Iowa get beat by Northwestern. Sweet. It was a great Day!


    Wednesday, November 4, 2009

    A Boorific Halloween!

    Yea! So let us show you our truly Boorific weekend. Lots of 1sts:
    1. Nate and Dani's 1st pumpkin patch (it was Gracies too.)
    2. Nate and Dani dress up like each other for Halloween






    3. Utes wore their BLACK uniforms for the first time this season and beat WY.



    4. Donut on a stick game was a hit, Clark beat Dani, and Kara beat Nate. (Rematch next year!)







    5. B&O Railroad, Elicott City, it was the 1st railroad station for that line!


    6. 1st time eating at Lapa Lapa, needless to say, we only left a $1.11 tip. (maybe the last) Elicott City was great though, they had trick- or- treating!

    7. Nate and Dani carved their first pumpkin together as marrieds! 8. Gracies 1st Halloween! RARR
    9. We had our 1st guests from Utah! It was fun to see the Merrills and eat dinner with them!





    Tuesday, October 27, 2009

    A day with the Memorials

    Here are some pictures from Columbus Day when we went into D.C. to see the monuments!
    This is me in front of the Utah section of the WWII memorial. It is really cool. There are fountains in the middle. Two sides Pacific, and its battles, and Atlantic and its battles. Then around the whole thing are wreaths for every state.



    Lincoln Memorial is so legendary, inside is the man himself (pictured above) and then engraven on the walls are the Gettysburg address and Lincoln's Second Inaugural address. Powerful message, he knew what he was talking about.


    This one is tricky. I was laying down, and barely got it all in! Washington monument is TALL






    Fantastic Weekend!

    So don't you just love those really good weekends? We had one last. It was rainy on Saturday again, but sometimes you just have to work around the rain. So I said to Nate on Friday night, lets just drive to Monticello tomorrow, and we will make it work. So we found the directions to Charlottesville, and left about 9 the next morning. It was about a two hour and 45 min drive, but it was the most beautiful scenery ever! All of the leaves were changed and bursting with color. We were on a highway, and passed small towns, and country the whole way! I loved it.
    Monticello is the home of Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, third President, enlightened thinker, French Ambassador, etc. We got to learn a lot about him from our very well versed tour guide. His house is so intriguing because he took all the most modern, efficient inventions and made them a part of Monticello. His plantation and house are beautiful, and they are still kept up. All in all it was most impressive. They also showed a 20 min film we loved. Those films always get me because they get that inspirational music, and then on this one they went through history and showed groups that have followed Jefferson's words and fought for their own Independence and liberty. Nate and I were so fired up! Here are some photos.
    We drove through Charlottesville and saw University of Virginia, Mr. Jefferson's school. It was a cool campus, stately buildings, fun to see.
    The drive home consisted of trying to get text updates about the Utah game. We were nervous. We pulled up to our house, ran inside and saw the end of overtime and the VICTORY! Go Utes!
    For dinner we drove to this Vietnamese center right by our house. We pulled up and everything was in Vietnamese and we were the only white people. Classic. Needless to say we ate at Viet Bistro, after feeling a little intimidated, and it was delicious! They played Titanic theme song for us on repeat while we ate...
    Yea for a fun weekend!

    Running in the Dark

    So today the alarm went off like normal, we pulled ourselves out of bed, and I could hear it was pouring rain. Boo. It's pretty pitch when we go running in the morning, so we have to be careful of cars, obviously. Today I was wearing my BRIGHT yellow shirt from Boston. It is basically neon, and I thought this will be nice and visible. We had just crossed the street and were heading down to our home, when we saw about three cars waiting to turn left. The first two went because we weren't quite to the crossing. We approached the crossing and I waved in my BRIGHT yellow shirt to make sure he saw us. He paused, but I waved again to make sure he knew we were there. Just as it seemed he would wait for us, and as I continued past the FRONT of his car, he started pulling out! I was suddenly running sideways to get out of his way, but he kept coming for me even though I was right in his headlights! I got away just in time and his bumper just nicked my shoe! Ah! Poor Nate, was just standing by watching, he felt horrible. No the car never slowed, or even stopped to see if I was ok. Needless to say it was an Eventful morning, and I am fine. Hey I guess it brought up the question of what to do if you are ever going to get hit by a car, again. It's good to have a plan for that I suppose. Our next purchase... seriously though.

    Thursday, October 22, 2009

    Babysitting

    This is Joseph. He is about 20 months now, walking, talking (but not any words except NO!, and drooling lots! He is a pretty cute little guy! He loves to throw things, usually I try to give him balls, stuffed animals ect. He loves music and dancing. It is pretty fun to sing songs like itsy bitsy spider, head shoulders knees andtoes. He gets pretty into it! I took this funny video today. We were listening to my ipod, which he loves! Joseph is only 1/3 of my babysitting kids. I want to get pics of the other two. Boramy and Thalia. They are part Cambodian, ages 6 and 3.5 respectivly. They are funny because they always get me to play superheros with them, but they always freeze me with ice, or melt me with fire.

    Thursday, October 8, 2009

    The BIG Apple...Oh so sweet!



    Yes... That is me in front of the WICKED poster on Broadway, and I am not just a poser. Nate, who is the best husband ever, suprised me with the WICKED tickets just a couple days before we left for New York. Thanks to our hard work cleaning this summer, we got to see the amazing show! Nate really liked it too. I was so grateful to him for getting the tickets, I owe him big!



    It was fun to meet up with Blair and Emma. The picture of Manhattan was taken from the ferry to Ellis Island, and Liberty Island. It was such beautiful weather. We walked around a lot so we mosied around Times Square, Central Park, Uptown, Midtown. We made a visit to the Financial District, and saw Ground Zero. They had a cool memorial museaum with quotes and pictures. It made it more real to me, and really brought out the devestation, yet hope of the victims and their families.
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    Ellis Island was one of my favorite places. In this picture I am standing in the Recording Room. About 1,000 immigrants passed through this room every day! They came from all over so there were interpreters, medical doctors assessing their health, and people who would sort them. Most of the immigrants were assigned a place to go like Philidelphia or Indiana, and then they would have their destination pinned to their hat or coat, and the workers would hand them their train ticket. The accounts said they were apprehensive, but filled with joy to be in America.




    Nate was excited to show me Federal Hall, which was the First Capitol of the U.S. He is standing next to a statue of George Washington, because this is where he gave his first inaugural address. It was only Capitol for one year before they built another in Philidelphia. I was pumped to take a pic of Nate in front of the First capitol since he works at the acting capitol now!



    A cool thing about visiting New York is seeing all of the places where movies are filmed. I liked seeing the Plaza Hotel, and Central Park, we even ate at Cafe Lalo which is in You've got Mail. Emma and I are pictured in front of the famous Museum of Natural History, from Night at the Museum. I was pumped just to see it! New York was such a great trip! We loved it, it was even good staying in Brooklyn! Oh and the pizza is dreamy in New York. Just for future referrence.

    Thursday, October 1, 2009

    Welcome to NatsTown, and Harpers Ferry, and...



    Hey all! Happy October! I hear some had snow in Salt Lake today, yikes, winter may be coming a little too soon! Nate and I are still just having a great time! I started another babysitting job on Thurs. and Fri from 3:30-6:30, which makes the days long, but it is nice to get a little extra dough.
    Last weekend was great, I rode in the metro Friday night to meet Nate at the Nationals game. The baseball team is awful, but it was fun to be at a major league game anyway. We saw some runs, so it wasn't a total bust! We ate Nats dawgs, and met one of Nate's friend from the internship and his wife.
    So here is kind of an aside, we usually go to the store every Sat. When we got home last week I lined up all of our cereals one the bookshelf and it looked like we had enough for a family of five. Sadly, enough those last us just about a week and a half! Big eaters!
    On Sat. we went to Harpers Ferry, WV with Clark and Kara. It was rainy so we couldn't walk around tons outside. They had kept the town almost just as it was in the 19th century. It is pretty cool. It is also at the fork of the Potomac and Shenendoah Rivers, so the scenery is fabulous. That is the place John Brown, a fanatic abolishionist, made his run on the Federal Arsenal. He and his gang got cought by the U.S Marines, and were later hung. Interesting to think if he was a martyr for the cause of black slave freedom, or just a little off his rocker!
    Anyway, there is a little update! We are off to New York this weekend! Yea~

    Tuesday, September 22, 2009

    Mt. Vernon, General Washington Sir.

    "No estate in America is situated more pleasantly than this" George Washington
    Oh the weekends are so great! We had another fun filled weekend here in the ol capital. Friday night we got to go play tennis! There are tons of courts near us, and we found some that stayed lighted till 11! That was exciting for us.
    Saturday we planned a little trip south to Mt. Vernon. It was only about 40 min. It was quite an impressive estate. Washington really did own quite a bit of land. They have kept it all up really well since the 1880's or so I believe. There are gardens, a greenhouse, farmland with animals, and the mansion with it's surrounding servants homes.
    Nate heard a cool monolugue from one of Washington's slaves. We learned that he had about 316, but in his last will and testament he freed them all. The slavery paradox is one of the most difficult to figure out in all of history. The founding fathers pledge "all men are created equal", yet many owned slaves and women, their wives and daughters, had no rights. This house slave of Mr. Washington said that his ideaolgy of slavery did change for the better as he grew older. Anyway, just something to think about, and Mt. Vernon got me thinking about it.
    Nate and I then drove to Clark and Kara's to watch the secong half of the Utah game. Oh it was too bad they lost, we felt bad. We felt like it was the Oregon State game from last year, only too bad we didn't have B.J. to put together one of his amazing last minute drives. Oh well, better luck next week!
    That is all for now, life is good! Oh and we forgot our camera at Mt. Vernon, just picture Nate and I in this picture!

    Sunday, September 20, 2009

    You Never Know What is Behind the Door!

    Hello all! Isn't my wife cute? This was a great idea she had to do this blog. Hopefully it'll be a fun way for us all to stay connected while we are out here...

    I have two funny stories from work already that are kind of similar to each other. First, on day one of the internship, the six new interns were asked to do a scavenger hunt in the Capitol and Senate office buildings so we could learn our surroundings and know our way around. It was pretty fun; we felt like we were in that National Treaure movie or something. One of the stops on the scavenger hunt was the Senator's hideaway. We though it was an emergency room under the Capitol used for safety...Anyways, after getting lost in the underground Capitol labrinth, we finally found his hideaway. The other 5 wanted to move on to our next item on the list, but I said, "Well now that we found this place aren't we going to at least open the door?" I opened it, and who should be there, but Senator Bennett himself, working at a desk! My face went red, I said "Hello Senator," apologized, and I explained to him our situation. He was kind and understanding, invited us all in, and had us introduce ourselves. We were there only briefly with him. Now we know that the Senator's hideaway is not a hideaway in emergencies, but rather a hideaway from staff and media!
    The other funny story happened last week. I was asked to run an errand and take some paperwork down a level to the Energy committee. No one was in the office, so I opened the door next to it, and Wa La!...I was in front of press cameras at a hearing, standing directly behind the Senator/chairman of the Senate Committee. I was out of there fast. :-)
    Moral of the stories: You never know who or what is behind the door!

    Tuesday, September 15, 2009

    Ode to the Kids!




    We miss our Nieces and Nephews! I don't know how we got so lucky to have the cutest nieces and nephews! I just looked at the pics that Em sent, and I loved to see Eli's first day of school pics. I hope he likes it! And D's football game. Those were great pictures. I like the one where D is in the shotgun! I thought I would write some good mems that we had with the kids this summer...
    Dave, James, and Josh
    We loved tending you that weekend after we were married. They had a remote control airplane that flew over the fence, and we looked everywhere for it. Finally, we figured it was lost, and gave up. Then later that day this nice neighbor lady brought it to us! That was sweet!
    Andrew-
    I think the best was seeing Andrew skiing early morning with Fro and JP. He was a little nervous, but once he was up, he skiied forever! He was smiling and waving, it was the best! We love Andrew's energy~
    Claire and Rachel-
    Nate and I had fun tending the girls right before we came here. I think one of the more nerve racking things is taking them swimming! They don't quite have a sense that they can drown if they don't hold on, so they just took off. You just can't take your eyes off them for one second! It was pretty funny! They are so loving and happy!
    Eli-
    I was so impressed that day we went swimming with Eli's swimming skills! He showed Nate and I how he could jump off the wall and swim with his head down, no problem! Also I love watching Eli lead the other boys in all his creative games. He has the best imagination.
    Jane-
    Jane is so cute. I am glad she is really opening up to us! Before she wouldn't really talk to us, but now she will just stand by you and chatter. I love how she takes one thing you say and just goes off about it! I can tell she tries to be like Eli, she loves her big brother!
    Owen-
    Visiting Ali and Pete on the way out here was the best. Owen was pumped to show us his house and toys. He kept wanting me to read books to him when we were there! The best was that he kept calling me Dan! Owen has the best faces, and you can always tell how he is feeling because his expressions tell it all!
    Anders and Weston-
    Cutest little babies! I loved how they both just smiled when you looked at them!
    Elsie-
    Probably one of the smartest little girls. I am so impressed by all that she knows! Nate and I love when Elsie says things that are grown up like "mom should we hang out now?" I loved going swimming at the pirate ship with Els. She would just stand under the falls that dumped on her. Also getting ice snows (snow cones), she loves those just like I do. Riding on the tuba with Els was the best, she is getting to be more daring! I miss you Els!
    Addie-
    Addie is so fun to tend. It is hard to keep up with her because she will roam anywhere. I loved pushing her on Elsie's bike, and catching her when she jumped off the wall at the swimming pool. Addie is way more cuddly than Elsie, she will come give you loves. One day I fell asleep rocking Ads to sleep in her chair. I think we both slept there for a half hour!
    Gracie-
    I get to be close to Gracie this fall and hopefully we will tend her on Thurs! Gracie is a talker and growler! Yet, she is such a good baby, we didn't even hear her cry before or after bed, or in the night! She is a cutsie!



    Monday, September 14, 2009

    Arlington



    This weekend was really fun! On Saturday we did a run on this sweet trail that runs all the way from Maryland through NOVA (that's the abbrev. for Northern VA, you learn those inside things when you live here). It even goes into D.C. so we love it! Then we went to the Falls Church Taste Fair! Lots of kids and live band, and some yummy food. We drove from there to Georgetown. The campus is cool, but what I love are all the colorful houses/apartments. I kept saying things about them and Nate was like not every house is cute. But they were!
    Sunday we had stake conference, and then met Clark, Kara, and Gracie in D.C.! Nate and I parked at Jefferson Memorial, and while we were waiting we walked over to see it! There is a huge statue of Jefferson, and then there are quotes written huge on the walls all around the dome. So legendary. I love how everything in D.C. is so stately.

    We had lunch on the grass there and then headed over to Arlington Cemetary. There were signs everywhere that said Silence and Respect, and Gracie was just talking and growling way loud! It was the best! We saw where they just buried Sen. Kennedy a couple weeks ago. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is cool. In 1921 they agreed to bury and unidentified soldier there, who had died in WWI and since then the tomb is a memorial to all unidentified dead, "known only to God" It was really impressive. We had so much fun with Clark and Kara. I am so glad they came!