By the time we got back to Richmond with my parents, we were exhausted! It was a good thing the next day was Sunday so we could relax and sleep in (that's one nice thing about 1 o'clock church)!
We did show them a few things here in Richmond including Todd's school, the Canal Walk, Maymont Park, and the Hollywood Cemetery.
The Hollywood Cemetery is where President Monroe and President Tyler as well as Jefferson Davis are buried.
They left Tuesday morning and I was so sad to see them go. I cried more this time then I did when I came back after Christmas! It was so much fun to have my parents here and be able to show them around Virginia.
Thanks mom and dad for a fantastic visit! Come back soon!
Before we headed back to Richmond, we stopped at the Temple. I was excited for my parents to see the temple and do a session. I love the Washington DC temple, it is so beautiful inside and out!
My parents came out to visit last week! I was so excited for them to come! I've been trying to get them to plan this trip since we moved here so I was so happy when they finally did! This was my dad's first time out here so we had a lot to do and see. They flew into DC on Thursday afternoon so as soon as they landed, the sight seeing began!
First stop, Air and Space Museum by the airport. There are some awesome planes and I think my dad could have spent all day reading about every single one!
Next, we went to the National Mall to check out all the monuments. We stayed in a hotel by the Capital so it was nice to be close to everything.
I love seeing all the monuments at night!
Friday, we toured the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, and the Capital. We also visited the National Archives Building, Ford's Theatre, the White House and some Smithsonians.
The Library of Congress (Thomas Jefferson Building) is beautiful inside. From the floors to the ceiling, they didn't miss a thing designing this place.
As we were touring the Supreme Court building, we learned that a guy named Cass Gilbert was the one who designed it. I'm sure we're related to him! :) just kidding- but he was amazing architect so we'll claim him as family!
We toured the Capital with one of Rob Bishop's interns. It happened to be his last day as an intern and last tour ever.
Brigham Young, who represents Utah, inside the Rotunda
We also stopped at Ford's Theatre
to see where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated,
and the White House
By this time, we were all so exhausted and didn't think we could walk any further. We past a little bike rental place by the White House and saw that we could return them by our hotel. So we rented them and had a blast! We just wished we would have rented them earlier!
The bikes were a great way to end the day!
Saturday morning we went to the Arlington Cemetery and the time worked out prefect so we were able to see the changing of the guard.
There is so much to do and see in DC! I love that we live so close to here.
When I heard that these cute girls were planning a trip to the beach with their kids, I tagged along! I had the day off of work so what better way is there to spend time in this beautiful spring weather!
I was definitely the odd one out not having any kids! Between those 8 girls, there were 15 kids with more of the way! However, I love being around every single one of these girls. They are all amazing mothers and are great examples to me of how motherhood should be!
Todd and I decided to go hike Old Rag Mountain last week. We had heard from a lot of people out here about this hike so we decided to see for ourselves. The weather was beautiful and the hike was awesome.
Towards the top, there's a rock scramble and in some parts I was on my hands and feet trying to get around rocks! There are huge boulders, rock crevasses, a staircase carved into the rock, and many places where you have to decide to go over, under or around the rocks! When we read about the hike, it said it was strenuous but we thought, how strenuous can a mountain that is only 3291 feet high be. It didn't help that some of the rock was wet so it was pretty slippery but it made for a fun adventure. We loved it! The rock scramble made the hike much more exciting!
We recommend this hike!! There are two ways up so if you have kids, I would probably avoid the rock scramble but the hike was awesome and the view is beautiful!
Girl's Trip:
Last weekend I went on our Ward's Relief Society's Temple Trip. It was so much fun and our Relief Society is awesome and did such a good job organizing the whole thing!! On Friday evening we headed up to DC and checked into our hotel. We had a little devotion and then played games, talked, and ate lots of treats!
The next morning we had breakfast delivered to our rooms, big thanks to the ladies who planned the trip, and then we were off to the temple. The Washington DC Temple is so beautiful!!
(and thanks to Sara for taking pictures!)
When I got home Saturday afternoon, Todd ask me how it was and I told him how much fun it was and then said, I was so tired because we went to bed really late and woke up early. He then told me, "This is why we don't have sleepovers, you come home tired and don't get anything done!" Of course he was joking but I thought he had turned into my mom! That's what I heard after every sleepover growing up!!
Boy's Trip:
When Todd knew I was going on this overnight trip, he also wanted to do something. He went on another backpacking bromance, this time with Brian. They went to Shenandoah National Park and hiked the Cedar Run White Oak Canyon Loop. They were planning on setting up camp half way but they got rained on a lot and decided to just keeping going and head home that night.
Beautiful! Tons of waterfalls and streams!
We both had great trips! We feel so lucky and blessed to be in such an awesome ward and have great friends out here!
Todd and I ran the Monument 10K this year. This race is huge with 40,000 runners and tons of spectators. We had a lot of fun and it turned out to be a prefect day. We lucked out with blue skies and sunny weather and being able to park just a few blocks from the starting line, thanks to having a church building near by and President Anderson unlocking the parking lot for us. The race made us both realize how we need to get back into shape.
I tried to convince Todd he should be running with these guys because the top finishers won cash prizes. However, due to not training since he ran for Weber State, he chose to run with me instead. Maybe next year...
(Picture/Video taken from the sportsbacker's website)
This is a little preview of what the race is like! Lots of runners, people in costumes, crazy VCU fans, bands on every corner, and tons of people cheering you on!
And of course....
to our family and friends back home, this is where Todd goes to school!
WAY TO GO VCU!!
Final Four!
It was sad to see them lose but it was sure exciting to be here
