weekend with my peeps

This weekend was the BEST weekend in DC yet because I handsome of my two favorite people in the world as visitors!! Cecilee and Beata came out to DC and they let myself and their other cousin Molly join in some of their festivities. I loved every minute of our jam-packed weekend. Some of the things we did included:

• Take a night bike tour of all the monuments (Cec's knee was giving her problems so she was able to hire a peddi-cab driver to take her around the whole time. It was a total success and she became great friends with her driver.) We saw the Lincoln, Vietnam, Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr. FDR, World War II, and the Washington Memorials and learned a ton of cool stuff about them.
• Went to Mt. Vernon seeing his house and grounds as well as a fair of things used to do back in the day like tin making, wig making, etc.
• Got dinner at Johnny Rocket's in Georgetown
• Ate at the most DELICIOUS ice cream shop in Georgetown
• Went to the National Cathedral. We loved looking at all the different stories in the stained glass windows and we even saw the Darth Vader gargoyle on the outside. 
• Went on a walking tour about Lincoln's assassination and learned a ton from our very dramatic tour guide. Cec told us the tour was going to be 45 minutes but it ended up being 2 hours and 15 minutes. Haha 
• Saw the Iwo Shima Monument
• Drove by the Arlington Cemetery
• Went to a free concert at the Kennedy Center
• Enjoyed each other greatly

Overall it was a great weekend. Cec and Bea were able to do even more things you will have to ask them about. So fun! There is an open invite to any or all of you who would like to be the next visitors here in DC. Seriously though....

Believe in America!

Jayne working hard for our next president. Go Mitt! And Go Jayne!!

Busy days in Bountiful

So, Bountiful High Homecoming was this last week and guess who the most beautiful girl there was? If you guessed Rin you were right! Rin was gorgeous in a vintage dress from college-era Cecilee. Just shows some things are better the second time around! A big wow for Rin!!!!

Boon is in his first year playing football for the Bountiful Braves 8th grade team. He is kept busy playing every down in both offense and defense. Boon is tough, tenacious, and smart! Anyone see a future cougar in there somewhere?

Boon had quite a cheering section at his game. We all loved watching him. You can really tell he loves every minute of playing football. Go Boon!!!

And by popular demand we bring you another picture of Rin and her homecoming date who was 6'7".  Sooooo cute, Poppy!

September is here!

Two special people have had birthdays this week! First, Grandma turns 75 in full Russian style. The entire mission home puts on a party to celebrate this great lady we all love!

Next, Becca Boo turns 11 and receives her dream present....a birthday shave! This is a pic of one leg before and one leg after. So silky smooth! She couldn't be more excited about this fun rite of passage!  We love you Becca!!!! Enjoy being 11!

John and I are 3/4 of the way through our temple tour of Utah. We voted the Vernal Temple the "friendliest temple" in Utah. The drive was beautiful too and Vernal even has a Cafe Rio! Who knew!

Thanks to Sarah for getting this blog back up and going. Let's keep it up--love to see what's going on in your neck of the woods. 

I am posting this right from my phone so we can all see how easy it is to join in the fun.

DC baby baby

As many of you know, I have moved my roots from good ol Provo to the capital of this great nation aka Washington DC. I have already learned a ton and I'm really liking it! I thought I would put a few pictures up of my experience thus far. Enjoy! 

 When I first arrived at my hotel-like apartment (we have a concierge and I totally felt like Eloise) there wasn't any bedding so I had to walk over to Macey's and buy this pillow and flower bedspread. It's definitely not up to our family quilting standard but it works.

My brilliant way to keep track of my keys.

Our first day in DC! We went to the Library of Congress and got fingerprinted. Good day.

I convinced my roommates to go down into Georgetown one night and we got some cupcakes which apparently are really famous here. Plus they were free because it was 'Fashion Night Out' (hence our super cute outfits haha) which was an added bonus.

These are all the student teachers. We've got a high school math teacher, 4th grade teacher, 4th grader teacher, 3rd grade teacher, art teacher, and junior high social studies teacher. (In that order) The one in the white shirt and the two on the right are also my roommates. It's fun because four of us go to the same school so we can travel on the metro and the bus together. The bus is a very cultural experience but it's all good.

 First day of school at Miner Elementary. 

My roommate Anna and I went downtown and checked out all the memorials last Saturday afternoon. It was extremely hot and humid but super cool to see everything. I think my favorites were the World War II and the Lincoln Memorial.

All in all, it's been crazy but good. I'm already learning a lot and even though my little kids can be serious pills occasionally I really love them. They are cute, sassy, usually want to learn, can get down like no white kids I've ever seen, and are really precious. I love them and I love you all too!