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We find out Thursday what we are having. I can't wait!! The suspense is killing me.
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Washington D.C.

In two days we were able to see the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Monument, WWI, WWII, Vietnam and Korean War Monuments, The National Air and Space Museum, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Washington DC LDS Temple. We spent one day just hanging out and had tons of fun times with the Beatles Rockband! I have learned that I'm not too shabby on the drums. I think it was my favorite instrument and I pretty much stuck with that most of the time. Xavier loved playing with Ronan and Porter and they definitely had fun running around like 3 little Indians! Noah introduced us to a drink called Bubble Tea which is basically a fruit smoothy with small tapioca balls mixed in. Xavier couldn't get enough of the "bubbles".



The boys first snowball fight



Washington D.C temple. When we first entered the city it was at about 10 at night. We were just driving along and all of a sudden we saw this amazing light beyond the trees. It was the temple. It was such an amazing sight. Our first thought was there must be a lot of accidents on this stretch of highway. You aren't expecting it and when you see it it is so amazing and beautiful.



Arlington cemetary. The magnitude of this cemetary is mind boggling even after we visited. All I can say is wow and express my gratitude for all those who have served our country and fought for the freedoms we enjoy each day! I'm proud to be an American. I hope that I can instill that same pride in my children. I also want them to know the importance of serving one's country.



Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier



The Eternal Flame



My little rockstar. He kept singing "Gree you rock you back", which is Xavier's twist on an old classic "We will, we will rock you!"
Porter and Xavier continually argued about what the right words to the song were. They never settled the matter.



Lincoln Memorial- one of my favorite stops.



After miles of walking we finally got a quick pick of this view! I was proud of my little prego body hanging in and not even taking any rests along our long trek from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.



This is just a small section of the massive WWII Memorial. It is so beautiful and makes the WWI memorial look tiny.



Jefferson Memorial



The White House is in the background. Hopefully next time we can go on a tour. Apparently you have to get a letter from your congressman before they'll let you go on a tour. We certainly need to plan this one a little in advance.



One of my favorite ladies!! I always love being with this girl. She's fun, we never run out of things to talk about, she's an awesome mom, she is so talented and crafty, and she is such a nice and genuine person. She's like one of my sisters!






The Capitol building

We can't wait to visit this city again. There are so many more things I want to see.

Next stop: Washington D.C.

After our visit with Mars we headed over to Washington D.C. Some of our best friends, the Donadieu's, just moved there so Noah to start his training working in the foreign services. I've never been to D.C. My first impression: Amazing! There is so much to see and do here. We had just a sampling of all the great history that resides in this great city.

We had a jam packed weekend of sightseeing. Our first stop was the National Air and Space Museum. As soon as you walk in you are completely overwhelmed at the size of everything in the museum. It's huge! There are planes, missiles, rockets, and all sorts of things to look at. Xavier loved seeing everything up close.



This is the Spirit of St. Louis



This is from Apollo 13



Some rocket ships



There was an entire exhibit on the Wright Brothers.

I've always wanted to come to D.C. because there is so much to see and do. As a kid and teen learning about so much history was fun! But actually being able to come to museums that have the things you hear about in history books certainly brings it to life and makes it more memorable.

Trip to Hackettstown, New Jersey

MLK weekend we decided to make a trip out to visit Mars Chocolate Headquarters and check out some towns we think we may live in. It was a fun winter road trip. We packed up and left early Thursday morning and made the 10 hour trek. We visited a few towns in Pennsylvania and then headed over to the Mars headquarters. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we could smell m&m's. I guess Tim won't mind smelling that every day.

Tim got to meet the VP he'll be working under and several other managers and teammates in his department. While he was meeting with them Johnna took Xavier and I on a tour of their facilities. It is a very bright and colorful place as you can imagine. They have gigantic m&m's on all the walls, so we went on a little scavenger hunt trying to find all the different colored m&m's.

Our next stop was the game room. In this room they have a Wii, games, books, couches, tables, and small m&m's dispensers. Xavier dispensed so many his hands and mouth were covered in melted chocolate. A kids dream!

Next we visited the vending machines. Throughout the office they have vending machines that dispense all kinds of candy Mars makes. The best part is you don't have to put any money into the vending machine. You just press a button and voila candy comes out. Xavier had a little too much fun with these. Let's just say we ended up taking more than our fair share.

We ate lunch in their cafeteria. They gave us great advice as to where we should live in Pennsylvania. They even told us some of their new products they'll be coming out with this year. Kind of neat to get the inside scoop.

As we started saying our goodbyes we had one of those proud parents moments. We ran into another manager that Tim will be working with and they got to talking. Out of the blue Xavier points to this man and says "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" As you can Tim and I are mortified, shocked, and wishing we couldn't claim Xavier as our child at that moment. The craziest thing is we have no clue where he learned this. Of course, as all kids do, they have impeccable timing. I immediately apologized a million times over and took Xavier aside to explain to him why we don't say that. He walked back to the man and said he was sorry.
If nothing else we'll definitely be remembered and the couple who's son told a manager to shut up. What a great first impression! Despite this one horror Xavier was great through the entire thing. To give him some credit he spent 10+ hours in a car and didn't get much sleep, so I guess it's as good as we could have asked for. No one is perfect.

Everyone was so friendly, accommodating, and made our visit such fun! This trip just cemented how right this will be for Tim and our family. They truly have a family friendly atmosphere. They even sent us home with goodies. Xavier got a stuffed toy that was an orange m&m, i got a purple scarf, and of course, bags of m&m's (fresh out of the factory) and an entire box of 3 Musketeers Fling. Let's just say I can't give this candy away fast enough.

Hermit crab

Xavier is constantly surprising me with his imagination. Everything in our house is instantly transformed into all sorts of things when Xavier gets a hold of them. This morning our salad spinner became the steering wheel to a blimp. His bed became a submarine. And in this picture he wanted to be a hermit crab. I don't even remember what I was doing at the time, but when I turned around he said "Mom, look I'm a red hermit crab!" Every time I get ready to cook a meal he's instantly at my heels pulling out every pan we own and making some type of soup. If I even get near the pans he says, "Don't touch mom! I'm cooking."
Since we are in the house a lot during these long winter months I'm glad he can use his imagination so he doesn't get bored. It is quite entertaining for me to watch his personality shine. He sure is my sunshine bug.

Snow bunnies

This week for the past two years is always my least favorite. Why? Because after having Tim home for almost a month and enjoying lots of family time, he is now back at school and life has returned to normal. Not to say I don't like a routine and a normal schedule, but I'm just in a rut. It takes me just a little bit to get back to life after the holidays. Today I miss my hubby. Today I was looking at some pictures from the break and saw these two. I am so lucky to have a great husband that wants to spend time with us when he's not studying, working, or in class. Xavier is so lucky to have a dad who loves and adores him.



Our first venture in the snow in 2009.



Xavier loves the snow as much as he loves the water! His excitement for everything is contagious.

Digging for what?

Tim's little sister Mary is a Freshman at State this year, so we've had the chance of seeing her quite often. We try to have her over for dinner as much as we can and we have loved having her around. Last week we had her over for dinner and on a whim Tim wanted to make caramel corn. This isn't too eventful, but the picture below looked hilarious to me as I was watching it happen.




When I walked into the kitchen I saw both of them bending over digging in brown bags. To me it looked like they were digging in the trash. What they were really doing was mixing the caramel with the popcorn and nuts. Tim made enough for probably 30 people, that's why it couldn't be mixed in a regular bowl. If this doesn't sound funny to you, I guess you had to be there. We sure had a good laugh. Fun times!



The finished product! Yum yum! I failed to get a picture of the kitchen afterwards, but it looked like popcorn had exploded all over the floor and counters. All for a good cause.

New Year's Eve

We definitely rang in the new year and decade with a jam-packed day. We first went to a Piston's game with Uncle John, Zach, Eli, and John's buddy and two sons. I felt a little out of my league since I was the only girl amongst 8 boys and men. I guess I didn't get the memo that no girls were aloud. Who says women aren't as big of sports fans as guys! The Pistons played the Chicago Bulls. As a kid I wasn't a Utah Jazz fan, well I was by default, but I loved the Bulls. Who wasn't a fan of the Bulls back then though. I always wished I could have gone to a Bulls game as a kid. So it was fun to see them play. Too bad they aren't as good as they used to be.



The last time we took Xavier to a Pistons game he was 18 months old. This time the beginning terrified him. If you've ever been you know what I'm talking about. They turn all the lights off. The announcer's microphone is as loud as possible, and their are flames of fire shooting up from the basketball hoops. We were in almost the furthest seat from the court and we could feel the heat from the flames. Xavier kept saying "No, the fire! No, the fire! It's gonna get us!" We kept reassuring him that it wouldn't hurt us and he insisted he did something bad because the fire was there. Tim was smart and said they use the fire to scare the other team. So Xavier kept repeating over and over "The fire scares the Bulls! The fire scares the Bulls!" I think we went over this conversation about 100 times during the game. By about half time he was shouting "Let's go Pistons! Defense! and Rip Hamiltom!"



If you notice Tim is wearing his Pistons Bad Boys shirt in honor of the good old days.



Joe and Amy hosted New Year's this year, so we headed to their house after the game. Here Xavier is bargaining with aunt Jenny for some Starbursts.



Amelia was the life of the party. She's all ready to go in her princess dress and make up. She tried on every princess dress Grace and Lillian owned and every time she'd come up to me and say "Look!" She was so proud at how beautiful she looked.



Amy's mom is a fabulous cook and she managed to provide most of this spread. I think she prepared to feed an army! The Richardson's and Beach's sure know how to party!

Griffins Hockey Game

Tim's little sister Suzy invited us to go to a Griffins hockey game over the holidays. Her boyfriend has a two-way contract with the Redwings, meaning he signed a contract to play with the Redwings. But since he's still pretty young he plays on an AHL team, the Griffins, until the Redwings need him. So, we went out to dinner with Suz and watched Cory play hockey. Xavier hasn't ever been to a hockey game before and he had an absolute blast! He was less mobile and moved around a lot less than he ever has at a sporting event which meant it kept his attention.



Since Suzy is the girlfriend of a player she gets to sit with all the other players family, friends, and girlfriends. It was kind of fun meeting all the players girlfriends, wives, fiances. They are all beautiful! Hockey is an interesting sport because most of the players are foreign. Most of the players on the team are Swedish, Canadian, Russian, and French. So, most of their significant others are also foreign and speak simple English. It was cute seeing Suzy with all these girls because she is so bubbly and outgoing that no matter how little or how much English they spoke she was friends with everyone.



Throughout the game they'd have different giveaways and they would usually throw them down from the rafters. This is a picture of Xavier holding up his hands hoping to catch some of the loot. My favorite was when the mascot was shooting hot dogs into the stadium. We never caught anything, but Xavier looked so cute waiting for something to land in his arms.



I thought this was a cool pic that Tim got with Cory #8 surrounded by four players from the other team. Hey Griffins, help out your teammate!



A sporting event + daddy + popcorn = SWEET!



Xavier even got up close and personal with the mascot. He didn't even cry and scream "No!", which is his usual reaction to anyone that even looks at him.

Unfortunately the Griffins lost, but Cory had two assists and played awesome. I asked Xavier after the game what his favorite part of the hockey game was and he said "Cory!" As we were leaving Grand Rapids Xavier kept saying, "I want Suzy. I want Suzy." Cory and Suzy sure won his heart tonight.