These wonderful women I love!

Well, as most of you know I just spent an amazing weekend in Washington DC with my Mom, Aunt Candy, Sisters (Maria & Steph), and Jessica (who is, dare I say, a cousin-in-law of sorts) my cousin Aaron's girlfriend. We had a blast seeing the sites, familiarizing ourselves with the subway, eating fabulous food, staying in a nice hotel and enjoying all the girl time we could squeeze into one weekend! I really had such a great time being with my family and getting to know Jessica who is now just as much a member of our family now as Aaron is (maybe more so!) So, to start our trip off Stephanie, Wendy (my friend), and I got on a plane headed for San Diego on Thursday afternoon. My friend Wendy was tagging along on our plane ride also headed to the DC area to visit a friend of hers and meet a friend of mine. From San Diego we took a red eye flight to DC and arrived Friday morning very early. Friday also just happened to be my 11th Wedding anniversary. After being pretty sleep deprived I was a little emotional about that. That morning I spent a few hours with Wendy and my friend Rob, who I haven't seen in years. We headed down town and saw a few things... Dupont Circle, Embassy Way and the portion of the Berlin Wall that is located at Johns Hopkins University where Rob works. We got some breakfast and then headed to the Temple. Wendy had never been to the east coast before and really wanted to see the temple. We first went to the bookstore because I really wanted to see if they had a porcelain Washington DC temple since Rich and I don't have one. Unfortunately, they didn't have one so I didn't buy anything there. When we arrived at the temple and walked around the grounds I just happened to look down at my phone and realized that I was standing in front of the Temple at the exact moment that Rich and I had walked out of the front doors 11 years before as a newly married couple. That's about when I got a little emotional. I took a picture of the temple with my phone and sent it to Rich. Here are a few other pictures I was able to take at the temple that day.
Around lunch time we met up with my sisters and my mom. I said good bye to Wendy and Rob and us girls went to pick up Aunt Candy and Jessica from the airport. After that we headed to the hotel to check in and then headed out into the city for lunch and to explore. We took a test ride on the subway and walked around and saw a few sights down town. It was pretty awesome. Then we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep so we would be well rested for our big day Saturday. Here are some really great pictures I got on Saturday. Here's Mom and Aunt Candy riding the subway. I coined a new nick-name for them while we were out. I guess I never realized how similar they look, so now I affectionately refer to them as the Double Mint Twins. Here's Steph on the subway, she sure does love to ride that rail! So, I'm really sorry to say that I am not totally sure that this is what I think it is but here goes... I think this is a replica of the Liberty Bell Here are some pictures from the Capitol building Ok, old ladies first, oops I mean Ladies first... no "old"! So, we all know what this is!!!! (drum roll please...) Here's the Washington Monument Here are some pictures of Aunt Candy and Jessica holding it in their hands! Wow, they're pretty strong! Here are some pictures from the Jefferson Memorial.

This is a video I took of what is etched into the marble at the top of the wall in the Jefferson Memorial. I really loved what it said and you will have to excuse my shaky video work. This is a round room and I was trying to keep the words in my sights while I spun in a circle trying not to run into anyone else!


Here are the Double Mint Twins again!


Here are a couple more pictures of the Washington Monument. I love how beautiful the sky is behind it the second one.





This is a painting of The Beatles that is hanging in The Hard Rock Cafe there in DC.



Here we all are at The Hard Rock Cafe about to have lunch. It was the best burger I've ever eaten in my life, seriously!



Move Over, George! It's my house now! (Come on, we all know I'd do a better job than Obama!)
We made it to the front gates of the White House, it was pretty awesome!







We went to the Smithsonian National Art Museum. Here's a slightly funny story, this first picture was actually a piece of art placed somewhat centrally in this very large, long room. Maria and I were sitting on the couches you can see in background about fifty yards away or so from this particular piece of "art". Mom and Aunt Candy and were up near it and Mom starts talking and I'm thinking "Why is mom talking to that woman? She obviously isn't responding to her and wants to be left alone!" Mom eventually walked away and I got up and headed their way only to discover that the woman was not real, she was a piece of art! I was a little bit embarassed!






I just loved this beautiful Pianoforte