"The Best of" Six days in Washington DC

Instead of giving you a blow by blow account of our trip back East, I thought I would just tell you of our favorites or "The Best Of ..."

"The Best Museum"

Since this is a city full of museums and we visited our fair share of them, it was quite a task to pick the best one. But all of us agreed that the new museum at Ford's Theater was very good and Preston chose this one as his favorite. The last time we were there the museum below the theater was in dire need to be updated and the new one is very nice. This is a picture of the booth Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot and not the museum but...

Garth's favorite museum was the Holocaust Museum and I don't have any pictures from there because pictures aren't allowed. While the Holocaust Museum is a great museum, I couldn't pick it as my favorite just because of the subject, you definitely don't come out of there happy.

Jason and I both picked the National Gallery of Art as "the Best Museum." With an extensive collection of Renaissance Art including a di Vinci, a nice gallery of Impressionist Art, a large collection Spanish armor and American art we all enjoyed this museum. The added bonus is that the building is beautiful with nice atriums for resting. Preston likes art museums because they always have lots of benches to sit on and study the artwork. Here is a Manet beggar with the boys trying to look poor - kind of hard to do when you have an ipod ear piece in your ear.

"Best Memorial or Monument"

Preston choose the new Korean memorial and it was a close second for Garth. The statues of these 19 soldiers is just a portion of this memorial. In fact, one day we got off the subway into the middle of the Mall and noticed all the flags were at half mast. Not having kept up with the news we wondered what had happened. Silly us, we didn't realize that July 27 is Koren armistice day (end of the Korean war) so there were wreaths and flowers all over this memorial.

Jason and I chose the Lincoln Monument; you can't help but be impressed with this stunning monument and Lincoln himself. In fact we did something related to Lincoln almost every day of our trip.

Garth's new favorite and my second choice is the new WWII memorial. The architect did an amazing job with the design and the symbolism he used throughout the memorial. I loved walking around, guessing what something symbolized and then find out if I was right or not. There are volunteers at many of the memorials who give little mini tours or answer questions.

"Best Building"

We had four "Best Buildings." A night time visit to the temple has to be a highlight to anyone who visits DC, even if they're not Mormon.

A close second was the Capitol and even though it was packed with people, it is a beautiful building and is full of amazing works of art. We just felt bad that they have restricted access to so much of the outside since 9-11.

Preston's favorite building was the Pentagon. We all thought is would be neat to tour the Pentagon but you can't take pictures and they don't show you anything other than where the plan hit it on 9-11. Preston enjoyed finding out that no movies are allowed to go on location there but you could pretend you were giving a news conference.

The Ford's Theater was also a family favorite. A man pretended to be a policeman in the audience the night Lincoln was shot and gave us a detailed description of what happened. It was another highlight of the trip.

"Best House"

Okay, you think we have to say the White House right? Not by a long shot. The tour they do is terrible now, you spend more time going though security practically. They just herd you through the rooms with no explanation of anything. Everyone felt like you can't go to DC and not go to the White House, but it was voted the best waste of time. It is beautiful but...

George's home, Mt. Vernon, is a beautiful place as well, but since there was a two hour wait to go through it we decided just to look at the grounds which are wonderful. Garth sat on the banks of the Potomac and watched bald eagles. The boys and I explored the grounds and had a great time making videos, swinging on vines in the trees and looking for Duke and Earl, the oxen that work the place today, who we never did find. The new museum was very good and we even got to see a set of George's false teeth.

Actually, we didn't have a favorite house. Arlington House (Robert E. Lee's home) was being renovated and there wasn't anything to see there and none of males in my family were to hip on looking at any houses.

"Best Things We Saw"

While it was very difficult to choose the best thing we saw because there was just too much, both boys chose the one shot pistol that John Wilkes Booth used to kill Lincoln.

Jason also liked the display of emeralds because they came from Colombia.

And I liked the guy protesting out in front of the While House. If you could read the sign, his anti-nuclear weapons group has been there since 1981, 24 hours a day every day of the year. I think they are making progress though, haven't you heard about them in the news?

"Best Celebrity Citing"

Who would have ever thought we would see Robin Williams in the Natural History Museum? We were surprised.

Actually, he is just wax was standing next to Teddy Roosevelt. The figures were there to promote the "Night at the Museum" movie that came out this summer. The Smithsonian had all kinds of exhibits and events related to the movie.

"Best 3-D Glasses"

Do you think they could have found any more attractive eye wear than these? We watched the 3-D movie "Deep Sea" and rested our legs and most of us also had a nap. I mean fish are fish.

"Best Joke"

Because we are the loving, kind family we are, we would never do anything that would embarrass a member of our family all day long right? Wrong! After leaving the Capitol where we had to wear these stickers the whole time we were there, everyone tried to stick them on each other's back without that person knowing. You have all played that game before. But someone got Preston good and he walked around the rest of the day with a sticker on his butt. Jason and I couldn't look at each other because we would start to laugh.

"The Best Tutorial"

As I said before, Preston had a great American history teacher last year and Jason claimed that two years in Colombia had made him forget everything he knew about American history (yeah right). Well, Preston took it upon himself to help bring his brother up to speed on what he was seeing and this was most apparent at the Vietnam Memorial. Preston's teacher had spent more than two weeks on the Vietnam War and Preston knew his stuff which he imparted to his elder brother.

"Best Places to Eat"

One of the boys' top priorities was eating, of course, and we found it difficult to find many places to eat later in the evening (everything seems to shut down early near the Mall) and while our hotel was conveniently located for subway riding there wasn't too much for dinning unless we made the 7 block walk to Georgetown. After a day of walking, 7 blocks just isn't too appealing, but if we wanted good food that is where we went. Plus, it is a great place to look around. Georgetown University has a beautiful campus and the harbor area has great views of the Potomac, the Kennedy Performing Arts Center and the Watergate complex.

On Vacation

We decided that we were done vacationing in big cities, so when it came time to plan our vacation this year I looked into going to Oregon. It met our qualifications - cool weather with the possibility of rain, mountains and nature abounding and no major big cities. When we asked Preston where he wanted to go he chose Washington DC. The complete opposite - heat, humidity, lots of people and one very large city. Last year he had an amazing American history teacher who instilled in him a desire to see our nation's capital. So we waited until it was nice and hot and then spent 9 days in or around DC.

I have quite a reputation in my family for not making our vacations very relaxing and in fact usually we need a vacation from our vacation once we get home. I figure that while you are in place you need to see everything there is to see, who knows if you will ever be back. So granted we usually walk our legs off but we always have a good time. This year our flight left at 7:00 am so we had to be up early to get to the airport by 5:30 am to check our luggage and make it through security. Wisely, Garth and I went to bed early the night before, but our boys thought a party in the basement was a good idea and didn't make it to bed until 1:30 am. That makes for a very long day the next day and as a result this is what they did on the subway the first day and most of the days afterwards.
The rest of the vacation we all went to bed at the same time; Garth was up an hour earlier than I was and I was up an hour earlier than the boys but this is what we got every day.....

and this.... no matter where they were sitting or standing they would fall asleep.

Some how Garth and I were able to go all day without napping every time we sat down, although we did have a hard time when we watched a video and the lights went out. But we actually had to stop at 10 in the morning to let Jason take a nap or he wouldn't have made it through the day!

But this was just ridiculous though sleeping on a cement barricade while we waited for our bus! I know they are growing boys but really.

I'll do another blog with more pictures of our trip and put some in when the boys were awake because they were some of the time, especially when it came time to eat.

The dog days of summer

Ever since Jason has come home, the temperature has gotten hotter and hotter. And as the temperature soars, my energy level drops. I think that the heat is like the dementors in the "Harry Potter" series and it just sucks all the life and happiness right out of you. With temperatures consistently above 110, I have a real hard time getting motivated to do much of anything let alone go to the grocery store - getting in and out of a hot car just makes me sweat to even think of it. Besides who needs food when you just lay around all day? Answer: my two boys who have bottomless pits for stomachs! If I don't wake up before 6:00am to get started I won't ever get anything started. The nice thing is is that everyone who lives here understands that 'the heat' is a very good excuse for anything.

Yesterday we had a close call at our house. I manged to rise Preston from the dead early enough to have him help me clean a small part of our garage (we're working on small parts because we would die if we did the whole thing in a day). Dieter our marvelous, adorable, fun loving little miniature dachshund never misses a chance to ride in the car and if you open the car door in he goes for a ride. Preston went to back my car out of the garage so we could clean and Dieter must have jumped in. A few minutes later I opened the car and put up the shade screen and then we left it in the sun for the next hour or so as we cleaned the garage. Once I wondered where Dieter was because he usually loves to be around us when we are working outside, but I figured that he probably thought it was too hot to be outside and was lying under the ceiling fan on his bed. As we finished picking up our cleaning supplies I told Preston to move my car back in the garage - I was sweating enough and didn't want to get in that oven to move it 5 feet, besides that's what teenagers are for right? When Preston opened the door guess who came jumping out! Neither Preston or I could believe that Dieter could have survived that long in a closed up car that was sitting in the sun in 100 plus weather. Dieter ran and got a drink and then Preston stuck him in the pool to help cool him down. After just a couple of minutes Dieter was just fine and we were in awe of our little miracle dog.

A Busy Weekend

The weekend that Jason got home, we decided to try and crowd in as many events as possible while Scott and Lonica were here.

Even though it was late by the time we got home from the airport on Thursday, Jason's friends came over to play and talk. You can see that he still has on his missionary name tag but that didn't last too long. Our Stake President came over and released him and Jason came away with tears in his eyes saying, "I'm not a missionary any more."
He got out all the sovereigns he had brought home for everyone and food for us to try. One of the things missing from this picture are the caramelized ants he brought - they haven't been too popular.

Everyone got T-shirts, though Lonica's won't fit her for a couple of months.

Of course he had to bring home a Colombian flag and there are a few things on the mantle, a hat, a gold statue, a spoon, plate and one lady gave him an emerald.

Garth and I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning talking to him and hearing about the last two years. It was absolutely wonderful!!! Poor Jason had been up since 5:00 am and it was 5:30 am his time before he went to bed. It was just so great to have him home.

What do you do the day after to get home from your mission? Go golfing of course! Garth and all the guys took off to go golfing while Lonica and I ran some errands and got some food ready for the next day when we would have a baby shower for Lonica. Raquel was at home working on the cake she was making for Jason. Jason also worked on organizing his photos from the last two years for the show later that night.

For dinner we couldn't think of anything better or easier than Barrow's pizza.

Although Lonica, Garth and Scott don't look to excited right here while they were looking at Jason's photos, it really was a lot of fun and very interesting to see what it was like in Colombia. We were glad when Grandpa Crockett showed up to watch the pictures with us.

We took an intermission and had the special cake that Raquel had made for Jason. It was really yummy with a crushed Oreo (his favorite cookies) filling. Even though everyone was pretty tired we had another late night viewing all the pictures.

On Saturday we got the table of food all set up for Lonica's baby shower. Once again we had great food thanks to Robin, Lonica's mother-in-law, Alyson, Lonica's friend, Raquel, and Fredda, my friend. Many hands make light work and this was certainly the case. Thanks to Fredda and her decorating skills, the table looked as good as the food tasted.

We had bunches of friends and family that came and they brought lots of nice things for Lonica's baby. Here is Lonica and Raquel with the quilt Raquel made.

The hit of the shower was the gift that Grandma Joan had sent. It was lots of little gifts to go along with a finger play that has been in our family for generations. "Here's the big umbrella to keep the baby dry."

Just look at the pile of clothes for this yet to be born baby. I know she will be well dressed.

That evening we had a barbecue for family and Jason's friends. I was so glad to have Scott back to cook all the hamburgers, I miss his grilling skills.

Once again we had lots of help getting all the food ready, my kitchen was full of people helping; we so thankful for family.

Paul whipped up his famous salsa in just a matter of minutes. The Rowleys brought wonderful vegetables out of their garden and we had some of the great corn that is grown just down the road from our house.

We so appreciated having all the Patterson's come and

my dad and Dee and of course Paul and Judy - she's not in the picture.

Once again Jason's friends showed up; it is a given they will be there if there is food!

Sunday, Jason spoke in church and did a wonderful job. The spirit was strong and you could tell he had worked hard, loved the Colombian people, studied the gospel and strengthened his testimony. He had left as a boy and returned as a man. It was all I could ever hope to ask for.

Right after church Lonica and Scott had to catch a plane back to Ohio. It had been a whirlwind kind of weekend - lots of food, friends, family and fun - we couldn't have asked for anything more. Thanks again to all of you who came or sent your wishes. We love you all!

Thirteen Days Ago

Thursday June 18, Preston and I spent the day cleaning the house, preparing food and trying to keep ourselves busy until Lonica and Scott flew in at 6:45 that evening. Garth came home early from work because he couldn't concentrate. We picked Lonica and Scott up in terminal 4 and then headed over to wait for Jason's plane to come in about an hour later in terminal 3. Terminal 3 is dead and we couldn't even do much people watching while we waited. We did get the scoop on what Lonica and Scott had been doing and that was good plus we got to see Lonica's little pregnant tummy for the first time and feel the baby kicking.


It wasn't long before Ben and Christian (two of Jason's friends) were there waiting with us. They were almost as excited as were we and almost as early. They had both just gotten home from their missions in Argentina and Taiwan two weeks before.
As our little group of welcome home wishers grew, we couldn't sit any more and stand so we can see down the hallway, we still had a half an hour to go. Time always amazes me - it goes so low when you want it to move fast and it goes fast when you want it to slow down. Here Garth is joined by Skyler who returned from the Philippines the first of March and put off his wedding until Jason would be home.

We are so blessed to have so many friends who have supported Jason the last two years and made the effort to come to the airport. We were a little worried though when Raquel and Dave hadn't made it and the plane had arrived. They

are known to get lost and since we were at a different terminal than we usually use, we were worried, but they made it in time. In fact as people started coming down the aisle, it was Dave who was asking where they were coming from and found out that they indeed were from Atlanta. The suspense was definitely building. I had kept myself really busy all day and tried not to think about seeing Jason too much, but when Garth started saying that he could see him coming my feelings were just overwhelming, I just wish I was a bit taller! Once I got a hold of him I just hugged and hugged him as I sobbed. It is hard to describe what I felt - excitement, relief, pure joy and amazement that this moment was finally here.

He looked so good and so skinny! He had on funny Latin shoes that he had literally walked the soles right off of and spoke with a great accent that thirteen days later he still has some of. Although now he doesn't look to me for words he can't remember near as much as he did that first night. Doesn't he look great!

Preston has garneredd the most comments from all of Jason's friends as they come home and as they couldn't believe how much he has grown, and Jason was no exception. Although Preston is Jason younger brother, he isn't little anymore. There were lots of smiles all around and laughs as Jason hugged everyone there except the single girls whose hands he shook - he was still a missionary.

I was the lame mom who didn't make any welcome home signs but luckily Robin and Lisa Rowley brought some balloons for him. Thanks!

As you can see smiles were easy to come by. It was a day I had imagined since he was born but I had no idea it would be that wonderful.

After two years, once again our family was all together!!

What do you do the day before your son gets home?

When your friend calls and wants you to go hiking, what else can you do but go? Besides Jason wouldn't be coming in until 8:30 pm so I had all day Thursday to clean the house and get ready.

Terry is an old friend and he and I have about the same adventure level. Although the Willow Creek hike he planned last fall was over the top. This week he wanted to go to Araviapa, a canyon that I'd been wanting to hike for years. It is difficult to get permits during the cool months but since it was June Terry didn't have any trouble. In fact we were the only ones there.
Terry loves to take his grand kids hiking but their mothers don't like them hiking alone with just their grandfather, so I'm the designated hiking partner that has to get them out if something happens to Terry. I've told him that I promise to get the kids out but that I'm not carrying him out - I will call for help for him though.

This day we had 10 year old Carson and 9 year old Hayden with us. It was a cool beautiful day which is very unusual for June in Arizona. If you can tell, there is one of us that isn't smiling quite as much as the rest. We would soon find out that he wasn't too excited to be there that day.
From the very start of the hike we had to walk in the water and that was agreeable with us all, in fact Hayden plunged in and couldn't wait to get really wet. The stream was mostly in the shade, the water was cool and we were ready for our 8 mile round trip hike.

We looked for wildlife, posed for pictures and played as we went but did notice that one of our group was lagging a bit from the very beginning. Terry said he liked to day dream a bit but that he was a good hiker so we let him fall behind a bit.

Once when we stopped to let him catch up with us we noticed that he was limping. He showed us that his shoe had fallen apart. Carson had questioned the big roll of duct tape that Terry made him carry but as his shoe was duct taped back together, he was very glad we had it. Now was he not only slow but his shoe was a mess.

It wasn't too much longer before the other shoe fell apart too and as you can see from our group picture at our lunch spot, Carson had matching Tin Man shoes. We didn't make it to our destination because we were going so slow, so we found a shady spot, had lunch and prepared to head back. At this point our poky hiker became excited and declared that he was going to run all the way back. That lasted about 15 minutes and he returned to his snail pace which was just driving Terry crazy.

Araviapa Canyon is absolutely beautiful and in many places the saguaro cactus come pretty close too the stream. Since we were going pretty slow we had lots of time to look at the scenery.

The rocks were amazing and I keep telling Terry that he needs to take a geology class so we know about all the rocks that we see when we hike. There were bright orange, green and blue ones and lots of layers of rocks as we got deeper into the canyon.

It had been partly cloudy most of the day but on our way back during the hottest part of the day the clouds left us. So what do you do when your walking in a stream and your hot? Find a deep spot and get soaking wet

and then have a little water fight!

On our way home we stopped for drinks and Carson wanted a Dr. Pepper. We questioned whether his mom let him drink Dr. Pepper and he assured us that she did. After drinking the whole thing, he was bouncing off the walls all the way home. Terry declared that next time he would have the Dr. Pepper before we started to hike. Originally Terry had told me that we would be home about 1 o'clock and I figured I would still have a good portion of the day to get things done. Well, we didn't get home until after 5 but that was okay. We had had a great day in a cool stream in the middle of the desert. Araviapa is a place I will definitely be going back to.

Count Down

Just 8 more days until Jason is home!!