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!