Bike Ride Around DC

Last Saturday we decided to be tourists again.  The weather was pretty nice and we planned to take out bikes to ride around the city.  So we parked at our favorite free parking in DC, near the Potomac and got on our bikes.  Glenn was really excited to ride around.  I was a bit nervous at first because I don't like riding around a lot of cars.  But traffic wasn't too bad.  We had enough room to ride on the sidewalks most of the way, so we did.  And that was nice.  

We rode to Ford's Theater first and did the tour of the theater, museum, and the house where Abraham Lincoln died.  The tour didn't start for another 45 minutes, so we went walking around that area.  There was a group of ladies who had gotten out of a car and were trying to figure out the parking meter.  I noticed them first and asked Paul, "How many ladies does it take to fill a parking meter?"

hahaha!

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas"

On December 1st, we got out our Christmas things and began to decorate.  We have a lot more decorations, but we just don't have the space here.  So we have a simplified Christmas this year.  It still feels Christmas-y and nice.  

"I Can do That!"

Glenn got a new game from Grandma Esther.  It is a Cat in the Hat game called, "I Can do That!"  It's a really cute, simple game perfect for kids.  There are different colored/numbered cards and they are all face down.  The players take turns turning over three cards, trying to get one of each color/number.  If they do, they then have to try to accomplish what it says.  The 1 cards have to do with how to do it; the 2 cards deal with where you have to go; and the 3 cards tell you where to place the fish bowl.  

For example, you could flip over three cards that read: "Hop...To the fridge and back...With the fish on top of your head."  If you are successful at completely the sentence, you then get to keep those cards/book.  The player with the most cards/books wins!

It is a lot of fun and we've already played it several times.

Fun Around the House

December has started out pretty fun.  We are almost half-way through the month and it's been busy, and it will continue to be busy.  Here is a sampling of what goes on at our house.

Paul's workplace had an open house party last week and we came to it.  Glenn wanted to ride the bike home with Paul, so Paul had Glenn wear his sweatshirt.  Glenn thought it was pretty funny.

Fun at the Park

When we got back to Virginia we enjoyed some nice weather and so we went to the park.  We had Graisen with us for the day and they were definitely wanting and needing to get outdoors and run around.  We met up with Maya and Melanie there and had a great time!

A Visit with the Eberts

After Temple Square, we all headed over to my Aunt Carolyn's house.  We brought cookies and hot chocolate to share while we played a game.  They had a small gift for Glenn and that was really nice.

A Visit in Downtown SLC

Monday night--our last night there--we headed down to Salt Lake to see some of the sites there.

A Visit with Grandpa Thibault

On Sunday we went down to Church in Lehi in our old ward.  It was a lot of fun to see everyone again.  After Church I asked Glenn if he remembered who else lived in Lehi.  He exclaimed, "Ian and Sean!"  So we stopped by their house for a little bit.  They were on their way to Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house so Grandpa, Stan and Dad could talk about and show their pictures from their India trip.  So after visiting with them we went down to Provo to visit with Grandpa Thibault.  We could tell that he was a bit lonely without Grandma there.  But he was sure happy to see us.

Glenn remembered where the toys were and went right to them--after giving Grandpa a big hug of course!

An Early Christmas

Because we flew to Utah and would have to fly back, and also since we weren't going to be with our family for Christmas, we decided to open the presents they gave to us.  So Saturday morning with a few family members around us, we opened our presents.

Celebrating 80 Years

Paul's Grandpa Savage turned 80 years old the Monday before Thanksgiving--the 19th.  Paul's Mom and Aunt Bonnye held a celebration in his honor.  The party was held at Bonnye's house, also in Salt Lake.  We had gone down to Clarisse's again that morning, but they needed some help getting things ready for the party.  So Robyn, Cheryl, Glenn and I went to Bonnye's house.  Cheryl and I worked on a scrapbook which was full of pictures and letters to Grandpa Bob.  It turned out really good for how quickly we put it together.  : D

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving morning we had some time with my family.  Sirie and Spencer were the first to arrive at Mom's house.  They have two little dogs and they came along too.  Glenn was excited to play with them outside.  It was a beautiful morning--and day--and so they had a lot of fun being out there.

A Visit to Provo

On Monday November 19, we headed down south.  Seeing the sun coming through the clouds and the mountains was nice.

Fun at Grandma Esther's

The day after we arrived in Utah, Ethan and Lena invited us to go to see the new Bond movie Skyfall with them.  They brought their kids to Mom's house and got to play with Glenn while Grandma watched them.  It was nice to be on a double date.  The movie was good and then we got good food afterwards.

When we got back we took some pictures of the kids playing together.

Our Flight to Utah

The Friday before Thanksgiving--so November 16--Paul, Glenn and I flew out to Utah.  This was my third time back to Utah this year!  Crazy~

Anyway, we came out for Thanksgiving and for Paul's Grandpa Savage's 80th Birthday Party.  We knew that everyone would be getting together on that side of the family.  That has never happened, so we knew it was important for us to be there.

When we arrived at the airport, we sat next to a big group of soldiers coming home from Iraq.  We talked with them a bit and that was neat.  When we arrived in Utah, we were walking behind them...and when they got to the baggage claim area and where the people are waiting, the whole place erupted in applause and cheers.  We were very honored to be a tiny part of welcoming them home.  I got choked up seeing them greet their family and friends.  What a huge sacrifice for all involved!  

Thank you service men and women!!

(It's not the best picture--I just stuck my hand up and took it.)

A Small Taste of Fall

I meant to take pictures of the trees as I saw them changing...Every time I was in the car and driving past the trees, I would have the thought again to bring my camera--and each time I would forget.  But the drive around was really beautiful.  With so many trees and different kinds of trees, there was just a variety of colors all around.  One day--about a month ago--I looked out my window and thought, 'okay, I'm going to at least take a picture of these trees.'  So that's what I did.  I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get more pictures.  But I think this shows some of the vibrancy and color that we saw here.

Gorgeous!

Balloon Fun

Glenn went to a birthday party of one of his friends from Church.  At the end he was allowed to choose a balloon to take home.  He chose SpongeBob.  

Paul and I are not a fan of SpongeBob because all they do is yell their lines and don't really teach anything good to kids...so normally we don't let him have SpongeBob stuff, but I let this one slide...

...Anyway...

That birthday party was before Halloween.  The balloon lasted a good long while too.  Just before we went out to Utah for Thanksgiving stuff, Glenn found the balloon and began playing with it.  It had lost some of it's helium inside, but it wasn't completely flat yet.  

It was so funny to us that it would just kind of slowly go up and down--it was fun to play with!

Dinner-Time Fun

While the firemen were here last night, we took a break from watching them to make and eat dinner.  Glenn wanted to help me make the crescent rolls.  

I love that he loves helping in the kitchen!  I hope he continues to love helping out and making food.  It is a good skill to have.

A Visit from the Firemen

This afternoon my friend from across the apartment complex called to see if we were home and okay.  I didn't quite understand why she was asking it like that, and she explained that there were 5 or 6 fire trucks outside near our apartment and she couldn't tell if it was our building.  

Oh!

So we went outside to see what was going on.  Indeed there were several trucks and response vehicles right outside our apartment, but it wasn't our building, it was a couple away.  Thankfully.

The National Zoo Again

After the cathedral, we drove about a mile to the National Zoo.  We had wanted to visit again because we didn't see all of it last time.  And since we were so close, we planned to go there again.  And again the weather was so nice we really enjoyed being outside.

A Beautiful Day to be a Tourist

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in the DC area!  

(I heard about and saw pictures of the snow they got in Utah--crazy!)  

Anyway, we took advantage of the nice weather to be tourists again.  

We first went to the Washington National Cathedral.

Some Fun as of Late

I like to post just random pictures too that don't necessarily have a certain story or anything to go along with them.  We've been having fun around the house and I want to share.

Halloween night Glenn and Paul built a fort.  Pretty fun!

Joy School Party

Due to the treat of Hurricane Sandy, the schools were out until Wednesday, the government workers--and probably most other workers too--had Monday and Tuesday off, and so we canceled Joy School on Tuesday.  It was supposed to be my first time teaching and we were supposed to have a Halloween party.  The kids had learned some songs and were going to give a little program for their moms and siblings.  So we decided to combine the lessons and Halloween party for the Thursday class.  So my first time teaching was a bit crazy because I had to fit a lot in, or at least I couldn't follow the lesson plan because I was combining lessons.  But it went well anyway.  The kids had fun doing the program--one of the moms recorded their songs, I believe.  I should get the video from her.  

So the kids got to wear their costumes one more time.  We also had some fun treats.  Glenn and I bought some cookies and Norah's mom made fingers.  They looked pretty real!  And they tasted good too!

I wish I had gotten a picture with all of them, but I was pretty busy doing the program and such.  But I know they had a fun time, and really isn't that what matters?

But we sure had fun with extending Halloween one more day!

Happy Halloween!

Last year I picked up some Halloween decorations after Halloween for a really good price.  I was excited to get them out this year and out them up.  Glenn too was excited to help decorate!

Hurricane Sandy

So the week of Halloween the East Coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy.  They weren't sure exactly where the storm would hit, but they had a big area of where there would be some potential damage.  Our city was in the Red Zone, and so we felt the need to prepare.  Sunday night it started raining.  

Pre-Halloween Fun

Friday October 26th, Glenn and I went to Graisen's neighborhood where they had a few bounce houses and other fun things set up. 

One Last BBQ

This week the weather has been gorgeous!  I even got sunburned at Cox Farms because it was so sunny and warm!  Who would've guessed that it would be in the high 70's and low 80's at the end of October?!  We'll take it, that's for sure!

Since it was so nice, Melanie and I planned a BBQ--probably the last one for awhile.  There is a nice picnic area right near their building here at the complex.  So we brought our food and stuff out there and enjoyed the perfect evening.

 Glenn and Maya had fun with the magnifying glass, looking at bugs and leaves and all sorts of things.

Some of Glenn's Favorites

One of Glenn's favorite things to do is this:

Cox Farms

On Tuesday we went on another field trip with our Joy School group (plus another Mom and her son).  We went out to Cox Farms--just about 20 or so minutes from where we live.

We paid $9 for each person 3 and above, and I thought it was kind of expensive.  But once inside I realized that it was a good price!  The place was big and had several activities for the kids.

"Sleepy" Joes

Last week we made Sloppy Joes for dinner.  Glenn was so tired that he started falling asleep.  We had to help him eat because he literally couldn't do it on his own.

Silly Glenn

"Silly Glenn."  
Those are words that I say so many times a day.

Glenn really is a silly kid.  Here are some of his latest silly moments.

"Exercising"

I mentioned awhile ago that we bought a bike rack for our car.  After Paul got it out, put it together and such, Glenn saw it and thought it looked like an exercising machine.  We asked him what he was doing with it and he said, "I'm exercising."  

Camping and Air Show

On October 12, we went camping with some new friends of ours.  We packed up our stuff and fit it all, and us in their vehicle.  We left later than we had planned, got stuck in traffic, had to stop to get dinner and fill up the car with gas...so we didn't get to the campsite until after dark.  We went to the same campground that we had gone to a couple weeks before.  We didn't even bother bringing wood.  We set up our tents and sleeping bags and then we piled into our tent to play games.

More Historical Visits

On Monday October 8, Paul had the day off.  We decided that we would like to see Mount Vernon.  

Well we didn't think very well...or I guess we had the same idea as every once else in the area who also had the day off.  We drove down to Mount Vernon and saw how busy the parking lot was...and decided to go on another day.  Thankfully there were other things to see in that same area.

George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill

Just down the road was George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill.

Pillow Fun

Glenn loves playing with our pillows.

He likes to put them in different configurations and pretend he is doing so many different things.

One time they were a swimming pool, another time they were a dog house...the possibilities are endless!

 

Joy School Field Trip

The first week of October Glenn's Joy School class went on a field trip to the Kidwell Farm, or Frying Pan Farm Park.  I went along to help and to be the photographer.

Norah. Emma. (Samuel). Reagan. Glenn.

The Dentist

We finally made dentist appointments here!  It had been almost a year since our last visit--it was before Paul left for Virginia actually, so back in December of last year.

Anyway, we went to one less than a mile away.  They were a small little place, but they were nice.  They really adored Glenn.  The assistants, and even the dentist, couldn't help but ooh and ahh over him, it seemed.  They just thought he was so cute!

Seeing Double

Glenn was watching Wall-E the other day and when Paul got home from work, he joined him.  

I love that they are in the same position!  They are so alike in some ways!

(This video is kind of dark and I zoom in and out a few times--I was trying to find good lighting...but I just like how Glenn laughs at Wall-E.)

Happiness Is...

Happiness is making green lights!

Friends and Fun

We have had a lot of fun with our Virginia friends lately.  We sure are blessed to have such wonderful people surrounding us.  Glenn loves having friends.

The other day though he came up to me, with a few tears in his eyes.  I asked what was wrong and he said, "I miss my cousins."

I know he misses his cousins in Utah and elsewhere, but I also know that he is having lots of fun here too!

Glenn. Samuel. Reagan.

A German Dinner

The last week of September Glenn and I were hanging out at the park just across from our apartment complex.  There was another mom there and when I heard her talking to her daughter, I knew she wasn't speaking English.  Her daughter and Glenn soon began 'playing' with each other and chasing around.  I saw the mom and really wanted to say something to her, so finally I said something about how kids play.  That sparked a conversation that went really well.  We talked a lot and I found out she had just moved into our apartment complex 3 weeks ago.  She was from Germany and hadn't made any friends here yet.  Paul soon joined us after work and he mentioned this German restaurant in nearby Leesburg that he wanted to try.  We asked if she would be interested in coming with us.  She said yes, and that she had been wanting a little piece of home.  So we set up a dinner date with her family for Friday September 28.  

So Friday evening they followed us to Doner Bistro.

A Day of Birthdays

Yesterday was quite a fun day!  We were invited to 2 birthday parties!

The first party was for Reagan--Glenn's best buddy!!

A Strange Sighting

Okay so this was just strange.

One day I went to wash my hands in Glenn's sink and saw this...

Yep, that would be a plant of some kind growing out of the sink. 

Strange, I know.  

I can't vouch for how clean the sinks were before we got here...

but I will do a better job of keeping them clean from now on!

Crazy!

The National Museum of Natural History

Paul had Monday off, so we went into DC again.  

This time we went to the National Museum of Natural History.

Gone Camping

This last weekend--Sept 14-15--our ward had a small campout.  We went to Elizabeth Furnace Recreation Area.  It is about an hour and a half away from our place.  

We didn't have a tent, but we wanted to go still.  So we stopped on our way and bought a tent.  It was probably the best impulse buy we've done! : D

It said that it would take a minute to set up--guaranteed.  So we took the challenge--in the dark too.  We got there as it was getting dark and we had to set it up by flashlight.  And it was true.  It really only took a minute to set it up!  It was great!

The Boy Likes to Jump!

Glenn loves to climb on his kitchen and jump on his bed.

Glenn's Alphabet

Glenn has known his letters for a long time now.  Lately though he has been really interested in writing them.  For his birthday, I bought him a dry-erase board with dotted lines for him to eventually practice on.  I thought that maybe it was a bit too soon to give it to him, but he has proved me wrong!

Joy School

A few months ago I got an email from a sister in my ward asking if Glenn and I would like to join their Joy School group.  Yes, we would!

I was really excited to be invited and I knew Glenn would have a fun time too.

We found a shoe box and proceeded to decorate it for his school supplies.

Baseball at the Park

At the beginning of September we took Glenn's baseball bat and ball to the park.  

Baseball with the Disner's

Glenn has been enthusiastic about baseball for a few months now.  This is peculiar because Kayley is known for playing volleyball and me for soccer.  She was a softball player for several years and I played t-ball.  It is not foreign to us, and we are glad he is a typical American boy loving America's past time.

Grandma Thibault's Funeral

"What is this thing that men call death?

This quiet passing in the night?

‘Tis not the end but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart

And calm my troubled, haunting fears

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change

With recompense for vict’ry won

The gift of Him who loved all men

The Son of God, the Holy One."

~President Gordon B, Hinckley

Fun with Toys & Games

I don't have much to say about these pictures, other than this is what we've been up to lately.

Here is another one of Glenn's drawings.  

I love when he does these little people!

Fun at Home

"There is joy in every sound, when there's love at home."

I couldn't help but think of that hymn when I titled this post.  We have had a lot of fun at home lately.  I'm usually the picture taker of my boys having fun.  Enjoy!

Local Tourist Attractions

Paul had August 20th off and so we took the opportunity to tour some local attractions.  It's amazing how many places and things there are to see here!

Clara Barton National Historic Site

First we went to Clara Barton's house.  

Happy 5th Anniversary!

August 15th, Paul and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary.  It was on a Wednesday and we hadn't planned very well...so it didn't turn out very well.  Well, at least it wasn't very exciting.  But we still had a good day.  

(Not the cutest picture of us, but we had to take one on the day...so there it is.)