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!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

New Jobs, New House, New Place




This week Nate started his internship at the Capitol. He takes the bus to the metro and then the metro to the Capitol. I feel bad that it takes him so long. He said work was good yesterday. They explained his duties. He will be working in the Energy and Natural Resources committee and the Judiciary. One of his main bills he will research is the Cap and Trade. We don't know much about it so it will be helpful! Oh and he got to meet Sen. Bennett, on accident! I will ask him to write the story it is pretty funny!
My job is nice. I just go upstairs, never have to leave the house. Joseph is a cute little guy, and easy to play with.
Well I have got to go but here is a pic of Nate on his first day at work!