While We Were Gone

It was a big deal that we left our teens at home alone. I truly felt they would be fine and that they would be responsible with our home and cars while we were gone. They did a great job and thoroughly enjoyed the independence. In fact, maybe a little too much. They made it kindly clear that they didn't really miss us with all the fun and freedom they had while we were gone.

Sara worked on sketching more often in preparation to start her degree in art this fall semester. These are a few of her sketches. I love them!

Freddy and Sara went out to Gilbert. They did some shopping together and then Freddy met up with the ward at the Gilbert Temple, while Sara had a photo shoot with Josh Jensen across the street at an old house.

Here are the kids that went to the temple.

And then out for treats afterward.

The photos from Sara's photo shoot are INCREDIBLE!!!! Josh likes the more vogue look, but he took a few smiley ones for me. She is so beautiful! I love that her rosy cheeks show. It was 108°, so she was more than rosy, I'm sure. Here are my favorites from the shoot.

While we were away they spent a lot of time with Leah and Tessa Livingstone, Josh Jordan, Brynn Wilde, Lilly Jensen and a bunch of other friends. Gram and Papa checked in with them a few times and brought them some food. Jon and Krista Baker also had them over for dinner and video games. They had a wonderful 2 weeks of living on their own and they even kept the house clean!

Goodbyes and Home Again!

Monday morning was our last bit of time with the Blakeleys before heading home. It was made very clear to me that I was to document the Lego house from every angle for historic purposes. They worked hours and hours on it and remodeled windows and such to make the roof work with the amount of tiles they had. I had even spent an hour digging through a huge bucket Saturday night to help find more.

Everybody LOVES Kenny! He is a big kid at heart and tons of fun to play with .

Here is their Lego village.

I sure love this lady! We were so grateful for their love and generosity during our stay. It is pretty cozy in their little house, but tons of fun!

Here is everybody with their buddy.

Sabrina and Daniel

Susanna and Megan

Molly and Laney

Kenny and Rich

We can hardly wait until next time!

Our drive was gorgeous! It is so different to drive through the green fields, the woods and all the farms in the south. We drove through Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico on our way home to Arizona.

The kids were incredible travelers. We listened to almost the complete series of Percy Jackson and the God's of Olympus over the 3 day drive.

After a 13 hour day of driving we stayed our first night in Jackson, Tennessee. Our second day was 12 hours of driving and we stayed the night in Amarillo, Texas. Rich and the kids enjoyed the pool at the hotel. It was a refreshing break from the car.

Day number 3, the home stretch, was 11 hours of driving. Daniel worked on my shoulders for a long time. I was so grateful!

Getting close!

ARIZONA AT LAST!

Almost the first thing Daniel did was sit down to play the piano. He missed it!! And so did I, but not as much as my bed and the dry Arizona air. I won't miss the humidity. 

It was wonderful to relive this DC experience with this bunch of our family. It was different in lots of ways this time. When I went 2 years ago the kids ages ranged from 14 to 17. This time it was 10 to 14. Their interests were quite different because of that, but it was equally fun and enjoyable. I especially loved sharing it with Richard, since it was also his first time back east.

Sunday and the West Wing

Needless to say, we were all really tired at church Sunday morning. Richard said he was just stretching his neck, not sleeping. Susanna was out. We enjoyed the speakers and teachers, despite our tired eyes. Laney and Susanna were both thrilled to be wearing their new Indian dresses.

We all took glorious naps when we got back to the house. After dinner, Kenny took his mom, Pat (who had flown in the day before), Amanda, David Sessions (a friend from church), Rich and I to the West Wing for a tour. It was definitely a highlight of our vacation. So much history!!!

Pat, David, Kenny, Amanda, Rich and Steph

 We were not allowed to take any pictures inside. It was all smaller than I was expecting, narrow hall ways and such. The photos and art were spectacular as well as the historic furniture. I can't name all the rooms and things we saw, but here are a few: The Roosevelt Room, The Oval Office, The Secretary of State's reception area, the Rose Garden, a series of Norman Rockwell pieces about visiting the president (found here: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/flbk/So_You_Want_to_See_the_President/#/2/ ), the main reception area where foreign dignitaries wait to see the president, and tons of other things.

This is just outside the reception area of the West Wing.

You can't tell in this picture, but there are two snipers on the roof top by the flag. When they are there, you know the president is in the White House. The skies were crazy awesome with a big storm brewing.

This inside the Press Briefing Room

(yes, I'm standing on a stool. I felt like a midget with all these tall people, but then I was too tall so I squatted a bit.)

Kenny got special permission to take us into the White House, through the service entrance to see the scorch marks from when it was burned down during the war of 1812. It was pretty cool!

Then we got a tour of the Eisenhower Executive Building, just across from the West Wing. We were allowed to take pictures in there! While the West Wing was amazing, the Executive Building was GORGEOUS!!!

Look at the floors!

The ceiling above the staircases

The stairs! It took my breath away!!

We went in the Indian Treaty Room. It was splendid!

We took a bathroom break. It was interesting to find televisions mounted in there to keep officials up to date on meetings while in the restroom.

Then we toured the Secretary of War suite. There are 10 rooms, we only saw around 4 or 5 of them. The antique flags and portraits were stunning. We loved all the other historical pieces and items. Again these rooms were stunning!

Our national bird attacking Richard's head

When we finished, we had to run for cover from the storm. My feet were killing me! I stupidly wore heels so I wouldn't be SO short. It was a vain and dumb idea with all the walking we did.

Here we are about to exit through security. Kenny sweetly ran back to the van while the rest of us waited in the shelter of the security station.

What a night! And what wonderful friends to share this experience with us!