Time of my life

Mount Vernon

2011-12-26T11:14:00.000-05:00

My most wonderful college roommates came to visit. Being the tourists we are we went to Mount Vernon

Either due to the time of day (8::30 am) or the time of year (the Monday before the 4th of July) there wasn't a line in sight, but we pretended to wait anyway

After our tour of the house we enjoyed some time on the back porch overlooking the Potomac

A posed with the house...

people don't often get me on the other side of the camera so when they do I go a little crazy...

we then wandered around the grounds...to the Potomac

and through the woods

we got very thirsty along the way....

It was good times for everyone!

June - Sailing Trip

2011-12-25T19:26:00.003-05:00

Annual RS Sailing Trip

We met great friends

we went crabbing

even managed to catch some...

then out on the boat

jumping off and swim around

and then we played on the rope swing

SO much fun!

Sticking out the tongue helps you concentrate

a wet Amy

go Mel, go Mel!

All the girls - look my tongue is sticking out again...

we're so beautiful!

Thank you Bishop Mason and friends for taking us out to play on the water!

Photo Recap

2011-12-25T18:58:00.001-05:00

I'm a slacker. And in an attempt to set things right I'm going to several photo recaps of the events of the last almost 6 months since I posted last. Hope you enjoy them!

Roommates, roommates, never been such devoted roommates...

2011-07-25T11:58:00.001-04:00

This summer my visitors came in twos :)

My college roomates Valory and Julie came to visit!

Valory came out for a conference for work and stayed some extra time to spend time with me. She was here for the 4th of July (as noted in previous posts) and then was joined by Julie (stateside for a few months from teaching English in Russia for the last few years.) on July 7th.

We had SO much fun together :). I miss those girls. I had forgotten how well we get a long and how much they bring out the silliness in me (dancing in the kitchen for example)

I had a great time playing tourist with them. A luau, visiting Mount Vernon, Old Town, etc. Posts to come.

Photography Class

2011-07-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

Jess and I are taking a photography class through Fairfax Country rec center. The teacher's teaching style dosen't really match my learning style, but I'm still learning and taking pictures of things and in ways I wouldn't normally.

Here a few of my favorite shots from our Shutter Speed assignment we had over the Fourth of July weekend

and from our first

assignment on aperture.

More pictures to come :)

F/A-18 Hornet

2011-07-09T14:19:00.000-04:00

(this post is provided by Ghost Writer Mel)

The F/A-18 Hornet has been used by Navy & Marine pilots since 1983.

It can serve both as an air-to-air fighter and as an air-to-ground striker on the same mission.

The F/A-18’s typical assignments include suppression of enemy air defense, fighter escort, reconnaissance, close air support, forward air control, and day & night strike missions.

It is a twin-engine aircraft.

The Hornet has a 20-mm gun mounted inside its nose & can carry up to 13,700 lbs of external ordnance. This ordnance tends to come in the form of 2 Sidewinders combined with other air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons depending on its mission.

There are 2 models of the F/A-18. The C model has just 1 seat for the pilot while the D model seats both a pilot and a WSO (weapons/sensor officer).

We were lucky enough to have a demonstration of the F/A-18 before seeing in participate in the Navy Heritage Flight. It is an aircraft that has served America well over the last (almost) 30 years and has seen combat around the world.

Navy Heritage Flight

2011-07-09T14:14:00.000-04:00

(this post provided by Ghost Writer Mel)

This year is the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation! Given my love of military history I have to throw in a bit of the back story but I’ll try to make it brief.

In 1910, Glenn Curtiss approached the War and Navy Departments offering flight lessons to any officer for free. Aviation was still young enough that each manufacturer had very unique cockpit controls. For pilots to transition to a plane manufactured by a different company they would have to be completely retrained on the instrumentation. By training these officers on his controls, Curtiss made it necessary for the Navy to fly planes build by his company, Curtiss Aeroplane. (Brilliant businessman, right?)

By December he had 3 army and 1 naval officer working with him. They began working on the first seaplane (1 that could land & take off on the water) & after dozens of designs, they flew their 1st model in January of 2011. In February, Curtiss flew the seaplane to tea aboard the Pennsylvania and landed in the water next to the ship’s mooring. This demonstration, and the return flight, encouraged the Navy and who took possession of their first 2 seaplanes that summer.

During this same time Curtiss was also working with the navy to create an aircraft that could take off from and land upon a ship. In November 2010, a contract pilot for Curtiss took off from the cruiser Birmingham, the first take off from a navy vessel. Never mind that the ship's makeshift flight deck was so short he literally drove off the end & touched the water before gaining sufficient air speed... The following January he landed on board the Pennsylvania. Given the shortness of the flight deck, they developed & used the first tailhook to snag a cable strung across the deck to stop the airplane’s progress. Aircraft carriers all over the world today still use this same basic technology.

Sorry, more information than you wanted to know but given this anniversary I was hoping for more naval aircraft demonstrations. Sadly, most of the naval aircraft were only on static display. There were however a few flights, including a Navy Heritage Flight of an F/A-18 Hornet and a F4U Corsair.

It was amazing to watch an aircraft that first saw combat in 1942 flying with 1 introduced to the navy 41 years later. The difference between the 2 aircraft are marked and show how much aviation can change in just a few decades.

2011 JSOH and Airshow

2011-07-09T14:09:00.000-04:00

(the following post is provided by Melanie)

Bright & early on May 21st we set out for the Joint Service Open House & Air Show at Andrew’s Joint Service Base. It is still so odd to refer to it that way instead of as Andrews Air Force Base. Anyway, this was our 3rd year attending the event although you’ll remember we tried 4 years ago & it became the day we didn’t go to the air show. Emma, Awesome, Amy, & I (Mel) drove up to FedEx Field to catch a shuttle over to the base.

One of the great things about the event is that it combines static displays of aircraft, tanks, and even boats with aerial demonstrations of planes, parachutists, and helicopters. I’ll post some more about these later.

The opening ceremony involved a parachutist dropping with a 75 lb American flag.

While there, we ran into several friends including April & Maggie. They left fairly early to head to another activity but we were soon joined by Joe & Sundee.

After the Thunderbirds performed, we headed to the lines to board the buses back to FedEx and had to wait in line for quite a while. Aren’t we cute?

Amy's Birthday Week - Day One :)

2011-04-26T19:30:00.000-04:00

Yes, we celebrate not just birthdays, but birthday weeks (or months if you're feeling kind of ambitious.) It's a big birthday for me this year and all my sisters (plus an adopted sister of sorts in the form of my college roommate Valory) are all coming out to help me CELEBRATE!

Becky and Sarah arrived late Sunday night.

Monday morning was day one of my birthday week celebration :)

We spent the morning paying dress-up Barbie with Becky as Barbie. She's taking some of my clothes that don't fit properly any more (Mel made me buy new clothes...)

After that fun adventure we headed down the DC for a quick tour of the Tidal Basin side monuments/memorials (Jefferson, FDR and George Mason)

By the Potomac on our way to the FDR memorial

I LOVE my sisters - They are very silly. I come by it honestly, just ask my folks.

Look for the continuing adventures of the Durtschi sisters in future posts...

Bridals

2011-04-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

My roommate Ellen got married a month ago (I know...a little slow in getting this post up :)). Mel graciously offered to do her hair. This necessitated practicing before the big day. We figured if Mel was going to go through all the trouble of doing Ellen's hair we should at least take some bridals.

From the first go around (we got a late start and didn't have the best light outside and I'm not so cool as to actually know what to do with my camera to compensate)

The second go around.

There's a little bridge on the way to church we drive by weekly and I always thought it would be a nice place to take pictures so we headed there.

There was a little trouble with the veil staying in :)

Ellen was honked at (apparenlty seeing a bride in all her appearal is exciting :P)

Christmas in GA

2011-01-01T11:52:00.003-05:00

My cute little sister flow out to visit me and we drove down GA to visit with my folks.

We had a great time.

Christmas Eve, we had a family of dad's friends over for come treats and reading the Christmas story.

David and Melissa had me for Christmas.

Their package was so well wrapped/tapped that I had to take my dad's pocket knife to it.

Snow! We almost had a white Christmas in GA. It snowed the day after.

My favorite part were the leaves stuck to my car windows

Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2010-12-20T22:39:00.000-05:00

My roommate and I were driving home from a friend's house Saturday night. When we turned off of 7 we saw an ambulance coming down the street followed by a fire marshal truck with their lights flashing (no siren though). Like a good, obedient drive I pulled off to the side and waited for them to pass... they stopped at the house just across from us. I looked at my roommate, she looked at me and said, "whats going on, should we be concerned?" And then who do you imagine stepped out the ambulance?... Yup! That's right! Santa Claus. One of the firemen got on his bullhorn and announced "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN." Kids came running out and 'Santa' handed out candy. Luckily I had my small camera with me.

You better watch out!
You better not Cry!
Better not pout!
I'm telling you why!
Santa Claus is coming to town!

And apparently he's upgraded from a sled to an ambulance.

A Dragon known as Fluffy...

2010-11-28T21:31:00.001-05:00

My parents inherited an iguana. Found him abandoned in one of their rentals.

I'm not sure how he ended up with the name Fluffy... I think it was David's fault

They couldn't find any one to be an iguana-sitter so they decided to bring Fluffy with them in his 'small' traveling cage (it was 3' by 2' by 2 or something like that)

They should have had a poster in their window that said Have Iguana, Will Travel

Personally I think he's a pretty lizard. Very much like a mini-dragon. Not very friendly like. He's fine if you're only watching him...but get close he'll puff up and whip his tail.

Remembrance Day 2010

2010-11-25T12:48:00.000-05:00

On the 19th of the November 1863 the Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg was dedicated. President Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address. On the Saturday closest to Nov. 19th Gettysburg memorializes this event through Remembrance Day. It includes parades, parties and the placing of flags on the graves of the fallen.

Mel's masters program alma mater - Norwich - has a group that gets together for a tour and discussion about the battle and to place flags.

Again this year, like last, my parents were able to come with us.

Greg, an alumni, professor, Air Force Capt., and tour guide walks us around a small part of the battlefield and gives us an overview of the battle.

Remembrance Day is kind of the last hurrah of the reenactors for the year. They come out in full force in all their finery.

Greg had us put US and Vermont State flags on the graves of the Vermontians who died during or shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg and are buried in the National Cemetery.

Greg told us as they are always learning something new as they continue to research the events and people of the Battle of Gettysburg. One thing they found is that some of those buried in the National Cemetery were in fact Confederate Soldiers. They marked these graves with the Confederate flags. It's great statement to the reality of a civil war. They fought each other and died and now they rest side by side, equal in death.

This is the 3rd time I've gone with Melanie to Remembrance Day and I enjoy it every time and learn something new. If you happen to be in the area the Saturday closest to Nov. 19th I high recommend taking a little time for a trip to Gettysburg.

Europe Memory Lane - Ferry to Greece

2010-11-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

Part of Jess' family is from Greece. We wanted to see Greece and had the excuse to visiting Jess' family to speed us a long the way. You can get to Greece by land and air, but really? If you're going to visit an island you really ought to take a ship.

We pretended we were on a cruise. It was about a 23 hour ferry ride. They had a dining hall, bar/dance hall, pool, and etc on the ferry. Very much like a mini-cruise. I decided that I like being on a ship.

The most impressive part was the sunset. Pictures never does nature justice, but it will give you an idea.

It was kind of amazing to realize how quickly the sun sets. I thank God for the beauty of this earth!

"We can't all be heroes...

2010-11-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

some of us get to stand on the curb and clap as they go by" ~ Will Rogers

On Saturday November 6 we had the great opportunity of doing something you NEVER get to do these days…go past airport security to the gates without a 'valid boarding pass!' The reason for the unusual privilege? Welcoming a group of World War II veterans to the Nation’s Capitol to view the WWII Memorial. Mel’s grad school’s local alumni association was asked to participate in welcoming an Honor Flight from Southwest Florida. The flight had 184 passengers including 73 veterans, their escorts, the event planners, & some medical support staff.

We got to Reagan National Airport about an hour and half before the flight arrived to get boarding pass like documents that allowed us to go through the airport security to the boarding area. They decorated the arrival area with red, white, & blue balloons and all of the service’s flags.

As we waited, we made some new friends from among the alumni. Aren’t the kids so cute?!?

I was impressed with how they were able to recognized the greatness of the men they were about to meet.

They also had a live band come & play for the veterans as they disembarked the aircraft. It was a bit of a challenge to get their instruments through security but it was worth it. They played such songs as The Star Spangled Banner, The Armed Forces Medley, Stars and Stripes Forever, In the Mood, & other songs from the 1940s. Several of the veterans danced around to the familiar tunes, as did some of the welcoming committee & grounds crew as we waited for the flight to arrive.

Once the plane was connected to the jetway & the plane’s door opened, the band played our National Anthem. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the waiting area.

As they left the plane they were greeted by active duty soldiers standing at attention & saluting. Once they left the jetway they were met by others cheering & clapping & the sounds of the music of their youth.

Many of the veterans were touched by the welcome, overwhelmed even by the outpouring of love & thanks being expressed by those of us who had the privilege to be there.

The veterans were so cute!

They all seemed so happy to be there.

Don’t you think he looks like Elder Perry?

After the veterans had left the airport & were boarding the buses to head in groups to the WWII Memorial & to Arlington National Cemetery. Mel & I decided to head downtown to the Mall to see some of them as they viewed the actual memorial dedicated to their generation & what they accomplished. The memorial dedicated to those of their friends who did not make it home, who gave their all & who are represented in the field of stars. At the WWII Memorial we also ran into another group of WWII veterans from Columbus, Ohio.

Watching these men view this memorial was touching. Watching them remember drew to mind the beautiful epitaph written by John Maxwell Edmonds: “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today.”

There were lighthearted moments as well as the veterans interacted with each other and with the men and women currently serving in our nation’s military.

(Seriously…doesn’t he have beautiful eyes?)

One man, a Vietnam veteran, was challenged by a couple of the World War II vets to do 30 pushups…he did.

It was a beautiful fall day that became even more beautiful by our opportunity to remember the sacrifices made by our grandparents’ generation. It became even more special due to the unique opportunity presented to us to thank a group of men (& 2 women) who had served our great country during times of such uncertainty and fear. If they are not truly the greatest generation, they must be pretty close.

Happy Veteran's Day

(this post was provided courtesy of ghost writer MLG)

Pershing's Own

2010-08-31T16:10:00.001-04:00

Is it really summer without outdoor concerts?

The thrill of listening to music under the summer sky without the benefits of hall acoustics… the numerous bug bites.

We attended the Memorial Day Concert but hadn’t had a chance to attend any other until August 17^th when we were able to head down to the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument. There we had the opportunity to attend our 2^nd 1812 Overture Concert put on by “Pershing’s Own” U.S. Army Band.

This year they played a Disney Medley and the ever popular Armed Forces Medley where members/veterans of the various services stand as their service’s song is played. They also played a medley of songs popular throughout the history of our nation’s wars including “Your in the Army Now” and “Proud to be an American.”

The highlight of the night is always the Presidential Salute Battery firing its four three-inch anti-tank guns.

These guns weigh a whopping 5,775 pounds and are vintage WWII guns. Did you realize it takes one-and-a-half pounds of gunpowder to fire each shell? Between the four guns, twenty-three 75mm blank shells are fired in time to the conclusion of the Overture with the grand finale being a volley fired by all four cannons. Amazing!

Europe Memory Lane - Friends of Friends of Friends

2010-08-22T21:22:00.000-04:00

I love networking! Such fun and random connections.

Jess' Mom's coworker's family lived in Coventry England and she arranged for us to stay with them while there. They are such LOVELY people. So kind and generous. Kieron and his family welcomed us in. They took us around to several touristy spots in Coventry and around. We visited castles and William Shakespeare's birthplace, but honestly, I loved being part of a 'family' for the few days we stayed with them. They opened their hearts and their homes and give us a very memorable experience.

They are really the sweetest and most wonderful family!

I hope to be able to extend the same kind of friendship and hospitality to someone else when they are on their adventure.

Happy Birthday Melanie!

2010-08-01T11:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Melly!

In true Mel and Amy fashion we had wonderful BBQ for Melanie's birthday. Yum yum.

Sundee made the most fun cupcakes brownies for Melanie's cake

We had a fantastic time. I think what everyone liked best was the balloons...

This is what happens when you put 10 or 15 20-something year olds in the same room and give them a bunch of balloons

Happy Birthday Mel! We love you!!!

4th of July - West Falls Church Metro Style

2010-07-04T23:36:00.002-04:00

After Reed's little birthday celebration we headed over to West Falls Church Metro stop to the top of the parking garage for some firewroks.

I had great anticipations of taking some AWESOME pictures with my fun new camera....

But instead...

my battery died! Sad story huh?

These are the few picture I managed before it's death.

Playing card games waiting for the fireworks to start

We had a lady sitting next of us take a picture of our whole group (Joe, Me, Mel and Reed) but the lighting was bad and the settings wrong and it didn't turn out.

The 'distant' fireworks :) We could see fireworks for several cities from the parking garage.

Next year I'm going to get some cool shots.

It was an odd Fourth of July for me, being a Sunday and all and having commitments we didn't go into the city. Different from previous years, but I really enjoyed the firework show the put on by the school near West Falls Church metro. Getting out the parking garage was a little crazy, but we were just patient and played Go-Fish while we waited.

Reed's 30th Birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY REEDY!

2010-07-04T23:25:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Reed!

(We found the perfect hat for Reed)

We celebrated Reed's brithday BBQ style! FUN!!!

(someone else obviously had the camera at this point...Thanks for taking pictures Joe! I don't usually have my picture taken since I'm usually the one with the camera... Not sure how I feel about it...)

There were several remarks about the number of candles....

See Reed's angery-fist-shaking face?

There were so many candles that Reed had a hard time blowing them all out...

I wonder if my renter's insurance covers fire?

We LOVE you REED!

Birthday Wishes!

2010-06-26T20:02:00.000-04:00

This posted is dedicated to my good friend Julianne Lindgren aka Jules who celebrates her 20 something birthday today (if you want to know how old she is, ask her:))

I've known Jules for over 13 years (crazy but true). We met out Junior year of high school. It was destined that we were to be friends!

She rocks! And here are some of the things I love about her!

She's crazy :)

A great writer with a vivid imagination - nothing I like better then when she writes me stories. When she finally gets around to writing her book and is a world famous author, I can say I knew her when and I have some of her early original works.

She makes me laugh, smile and cry all within a conversation.

She loves BYU football, like me :)

To get all sentimental...she was my friend when very few were.

I LOVE JULES!!!

Happy Birthday BUDDY!

(I used to have some really awesome pictures of Jules, but since my computer was stolen in January I don't have any anymore...sadness I know...But look at this link too learn about the awesomeness that is Jules)

Summer Feast

2010-06-22T20:41:00.001-04:00

I love to BBQ :) That's one of my favorite parts of the summer.

For one of our Girl's nights with my friend Jess we made kabobs.

A work of art!

Yummy!

Europe Memory Lane - La Marcha

2010-06-21T14:33:00.004-04:00

We small town Americans are in general quite boring and reserved in our night life unless you live in a big city, such as New York, but not so the Spainards. Jess and I spent 4 weeks in Granada Spain completing a course to become certified English teacher and got to expereince the Spanish night life first hand.

Did you know that most of the restruarnts don't open until 8 pm for dinner? And that's considered an early dinner. We had one dinner party scheduled to start at 10 (but we got lost and it ended up becing closer to 11)

They have what is called La Marcha every night. Bacsically everyone dresses to the nines, even young children, and they head out to see and be seen. It consists of a lot of window shopping (since the shops usually close about 6 or 7) and socializing in the streets. After the kids are sent home the night turns into a city wide pub crawl.

Since we were 'students' at the time and keeping American time (8-5 and no 2 hours siesta) we didn't participate very often, however we could hear them outside our apartments all hours of the early morning.

Towards the end of the course we went out a few more times. Even though we don't drink (and it wasn't just us, two of the other girls drank very little) we would go out with all the students and our teachers.
Our Crazy teacher....

Once we tried to go to dinner...we planned on going at 7 pm. That was before we realized that most places didn't open until 8 pm. Silly Americans and Brits!

Quiz night at one of the pubs

Lauren's birthday dinner

Good Times!

Europe Memory Lane - Temple Hide and Seek

2010-06-19T16:56:00.002-04:00

We decided that we wanted to try to visit as many temples in Europe as we could. We made plans to see 5 of them, but actually only made it to 2 of them. London, as mentioned in a previous post didn't happen.

We made it to Madrid. I love that temple! Beautiful! And right next to their MTC. It was fun to watch the new missionaries

Frankford, however, well that's an interesting story. We had the address and asked the lady at the Tourist Visitor Center how to get there...the funny thing is she sent us to the right address, but in the wrong town.

Where the temple should have been...

Doesn't Jess look happy?

The next one on our list the Bern Switzerland Temple. We called the temple to get directions and they sent us into a residential area. The gentleman who had given us the directions had told us to 'go under the building.' we were completely puzzled by that phrase, but it was the best we could get with the language barrier. We didn't understand until we can to a large aparentment buidling that had a tunal type passage that went 'under the building.' Coming out of the tunnel there suddently appared....da da da! An Angel Moroni! I can't even begin to explain the surge of emtion I felt at seeing Moroni. I'll confess I might have teared up, just a little. It was like coming home. I suddently didn't feel so unsure and we easiliy found the temple just by following Moroni.

The last temple was supposed to be the Copenhagen Denmark Temple, however we miss read the website and ended up being in Denmark the same the temple was closed. Sigh...happens I guess :) 2/5 isn't too bad right? Madrid and Switzerland were well worth it.

Europe Memory Lane - Separated Before we Start

2010-06-16T12:15:00.001-04:00

Sometimes things just happen. Jess and I were coordinating via phone, IM and email and somehow...someway...we ended up flying out two different days! We planned on leaving on different flights since Jess was going with an one-way ticket and mine was a round trip and we both went with the most cost efficient for each, but we HAD planned on at least flying in the same day, but I guess I didn't change the date back when we were debating what day to fly out and ended up flying out the day after Jess. No worries right? We'll just meet up in London (big place London :P) We made plans to meet at the London Temple, little did we know how far it actually was from London...

I landed and took the train from Heathrow to Paddington Station. I'm a smart girl, I knew I wasn't going to be able to figure which train to take by myself so I asked the gentleman at the information desk how to get to the temple address. What I didn't take into consideration was the language barrier... I know... England, English right? I know we were both speaking English, but we were not communicating! Finally I just handed him the address and he wrote down what train I needed to take and what time it left and from what platform. Wonderfully nice guy!

By the time I was on my way it was at least an hour after I was supposed to meet Jess. With every mile the train went outside of London, my worry increased. Would I be able to find Jess?

Someone loves us! After waiting for a long while at the Temple (which isn't terribly close to the train station) Jess had decided to head back to the station and wait there. I spotted her as the train pulled into the station. Oh happiness!

I never made it to the London Temple, but Jess did.

We went back to London to the flat we were staying the night, dropped off our stuff and wandered the town.

I've always like Big Ben :)

we found all the things you see in the 'typical' British movies amusing and therefore picture worthy.

I'm sure someone, somewhere was thinking or perhaps even saying, "Stupid Americans" You've got to love us!

Memory Lane - Across the Pond

2010-06-15T19:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since we visited Memory Lane...

Two friends from my ward, Sundee and Dan, recently went on trips to Europe and it made me nostalgic and sent me to my pictures from my Europe trip with Jess.

Jess and I spent 3 months together in Europe - January 2006-April 2006. Now, this may seem a little trite to say, but it was a very life changing and character building experience. When we were making plans it never crossed my mind how this trip would become an EVENT in my life. You know what I mean right? Those defining EVENTS that shape you and influence you for the rest of your life. I would do it again a hundred times over! It was well worth the cost.

I will share some of my favorite parts of the trip.

Annual Sailing Trip

2010-06-12T23:43:00.000-04:00

I love the Masons! They are so awesome! This is the 4th year they have invited all the sisters from the Langley ward out to their house near Solomon's Island for a day of water fun - sailing, kayaking, swimming, etc.

This is the first year I was able to go down for the Friday night devotional and games. Melanie, a new girl in our ward and I left about 4 or so and arrived in good time. We were the first ones there by over an hour, but that's okay! We enjoyed the taking pictures and wandering around.

Eventually others showed up

Becca and Katie decided to enjoy a little kayaking while we waited for more girls to arrive.

The sunset was AMAZING

The next morning we had some breakfast and then about 15 of us got onto the two sail boats and headed out.

Brother Mason let several the girls pilot the boat

Laura

Elisa

Stephanie

Kristin

Brother Mason Sr. and his boat caught up with us. Hello girls!

One of Mason's neighbors steamed some crabs for us and Mike (another neighbor of the Mason's who magically shows up at an all girl activity - Invited...but I guess they (Sister Mason to be exact) forgot to tell him it was a Relief Society activity...1 boy to 40 girls) gave us a quick tutorial on eating crabs.

Good times!

Spirit of America

2010-06-10T22:39:00.002-04:00

I love this great nation. Goodness knows we have our issues and problems, but I am proud to be American. These are some of the pictures I took Memorial Day that show, in my mind's eye the Spirit of America.

Children holding the pictures of the WWII soldiers Honoring those who gave their all

The Price of Freedom The past and the future. Mel's friend Lisa (a doctor in the Army) shaking hands with a WWII vet

My heroes!

The Hope of America

God Bless America and the whole world!

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-10T22:36:00.000-04:00

Sunday:

PBS National Memorial Day Concert. On the Capitol lawn. Beautiful! A little warm, but the concert was amazing. Lional Richie and Brad Pasley and others :)

Monday:

We went to the WWI memorial first. They were having a wreath laying ceremony. Laying wreaths for each of the branches of the military.

Afterwards we headed over the Korea MemorialThey had some wonderful bagpipers. I asked a few if we could take a picture.

It was hot and at that time of the day we still have several hours before the ceremony at the Vietnam Wall. Jennifer and I decided to to go to the American History Museum to take advantage of their air conditioning, while Mel and Lisa opt to stay and save us spots in the shade.

We went to the pop-culture display as well as others. So much fun. I've still only seen a so few displays in that museum

Jennifer found Dumbo :)

We met up again at the Vietnam Wall. They had some wonderful presentations and speeches.

I enjoyed watching the Young Marines in front of us. So young!

After the Vietnam Wall we wandered up Constitutional Ave to enjoy the Parade.

JSOH Air Show

2010-06-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

We went to the Joint Services Open House Air Show. A lot of fun! The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, with a breeze.

We went with a great group of people.

Our Military escort

We wandered around to see the static displays

And watched the shows...and tried to take a group picture during the show...bad idea...

We have just over half actually looking at the camera...I guess that's not too bad

JSOH Air Show - Heritage Flight

2010-06-10T21:04:00.000-04:00

The F-22, F-16 and P-51 Mustang

JSOH Air Show : Cobra - F-22 - F-16

2010-06-10T20:40:00.002-04:00

Cobras - Attack Helicopters

F-16

F-22

WOW! Sexy plane!

JSOH Air Show : BLUE ANGELS

2010-06-10T20:15:00.000-04:00

I would hope with this pictures you would get just a little taste of what the show was like. It was amazing!

Happy Birthday to Me! Virginia Version :)

2010-06-07T18:22:00.001-04:00

So my roommate Mel loves me and so does my friend Jess. They are also super-sneaky, or at least tried to be. Since I was going to be in Utah my actual birthday Jess and Mel planned me a birthday dinner with a small group of friends. I declared, since it was my birthday, that everyone had to wear hats to the dinner. I think the girls had more fun with that then the boys.

Brian didn't wear a hat so he had to hide his face in shame....

Dinner was great and the gift opening fun....

uh...thanks Brian...

I know...some of these pictures look like I'm doing a commercial

LOVE love love this show! And it's finally out on DVD...well as least the first season is... My sister Becky's the one to blame. She introduced me to it...

The way it was supposed to work is that people were going to come to the house while we were wandering around after dinner. Reed had Mel's key to let people in, BUT it was the busy weekend and no one outside of those who came to dinner could make it, but I was surprised to see them in my house when we came back and it was a wonderful birthday!!!

Although Sundee couldn't come she made me a fantastic cake!

Afterwards we went to Jess' house for a sleepover.

Hairdryers are multi-functional things...

FUN FUN FUN! I love acting like we're 13 again!

Visit to UT - David's Graduation!!!

2010-06-06T22:03:00.001-04:00

YAY David! You rock! You did it!

We went to the House of Thai for lunch before David's graduation. Good food, good fun, good family!

David performed the $1 melodrama

Graduation!

The Graduate

Family Picture:

Visit to UT - Cute Baby Twin Nieces!

2010-06-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

Kimmy and Abby the cutest little girls!

As I mentioned, my brother David's twin girls were blessed on May 2nd, while I was in UT, or maybe I should say that's why I went to UT, that and to see David's graduation...

These are from the night of my birthday party :)

At my brother Stephen's house where we went for family, fun, food and games! So great!

The day of the baby blessing. The girls were so good! and so cute!

All my cute family who could make it :)

The Two Twins! My nieces Chris and Katie with the baby twins, Kimmy and Abby.

my brother David may want to invest in a shotgun, just so he has something to clean in about 16 years...

Visit to UT - Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-06-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

My brother David graduated on April 30th and his twin girls were blessed on May 2nd and since I was going out there anyway for those events I decided to leave a little early to celebrate my birthday with my family.

My sister Becky and my mom love me! They made me breakfast.

After breakfast we all went to the temple together. The Jordon River Temple. It was beautiful. There is some lovely about being in with family in the temple. I loved it!

That evening my brothers Stephen and David came over with their families and we had a BBQ and played games. Lots and loads of fun!!!

Good-bye Bronwyn

2010-06-05T19:10:00.001-04:00

My roommate Brownyn left us for California.

She decided to move out with Rachel Cousins in Daly City, CA.

We decided to have a goodbye party

Bronwyn in the hot seat :) People asked her questions and told her of their favorite Bronwyn stories...

The next morning, Saturday, a group of people came over to help to Bronwyn pack her car. I will confess...I was impressed what she could fit!

California or BUST!

Good Luck Bronwyn! Don't miss us too much!

Random Picture from Elisabeth

2010-06-05T16:47:00.000-04:00

I was at work yesterday when my phone sounded, indicating that I had a new text. Willing to be distracted from the jet log I was putting together I opened it up and found this...

My nephew Dallin. He's SO cute! Going in for his 4 yr check up. It made my day...so I just had to share.

Up Close, By Melanie G.

2010-05-10T16:42:00.000-04:00

I came home from work one day earlier this spring and found that Mel had put my camera to good use and took some pictures of our azaleas

The one below is one of my favorites

Love this one above too...the color contrast is lovely

I currently have this one as my background on my work computer. It makes me smile :)

Medieval Times

2010-05-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

Go back in time...kind of...We did it and everyone else should too. Expect it to be a little cheesy and a lot of fun and that's exactly what you'll get!

For Lisa's birthday we went up to Maryland to Medieval Times, where they re-enact a 12 century tournament, with horse, jousting, swordfights and more.

Where polite society is left behind and you eat with your hands and boo the bad guys.

The Lord Chamberlain - Master of Ceremonies

Amazing trick used by the knights during battle to protect their rears. The horse would rear up and kick to the back

So cool!

The Falconer

Partially eaten dinner...remember no utensil

Our Knight

Cherry Blossoms

2010-05-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year! Spring!

I love this time of year. I have some wonderful friends who gave up a little sleep to head up to DC to see the the Cherry Blossoms early Saturday morning.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

I was surprised how many people were already there.

We ended up parking in never never land. BUT it turned about well because of the great pictures we got on the way to the tidal basin and on they back.

Great Friends :)

Random Pictures :)

Second Annual Peeps Diorama

2010-04-15T10:30:00.000-04:00

Reed has this obsession with Peeps...okay maybe not an obsession, but a fascination perhaps? Either way last year he decided that they would make a great foundation for a Diorama. 100s of peeps were purchased and the fun ensued. So much fun that we had the 2nd Annual Peeps Diorama this year. :)All the sickening sweetness and sugar...

The art masters hard at work..The Trapeze PeepsThe JudgePeeps Bobsled - Team USATragic accident and Big Bird meets his end....

The results of all that sugar...or something like that...or maybe their natural reaction to my camera in their faces again...

The big 3-0

2010-04-08T16:29:00.000-04:00

My friend Brian has officially left the world of 20 something and entered the world of 30 something. A group of us all got together at Bertucci's in Tysons Corner for a little dinner and then headed over to Reed's for ice cream and cake.

I can't say that Brian was completely thrilled about the gifts he received. I think Pretty in Pink and a New Moon Card are completely apporiate for a 30 year old boy...right?

We even got the waiter to get a piece of cake for Briand and sang happy birthday to him. What are friends for but to humiliate you in public...?

Happy Birthday BRIAN!!!

Make a wish!

Congrats Brian! You made it to thirty!

Fort Marcy with Lisa

2010-04-07T10:24:00.001-04:00

Mel's hometown friend Lisa had Saturday (March 20th) off and came down to visit her. Mel invited me to to join them in a short hike. We ended up at Fort Marcy (one of my favorite places!)

Unfortunately the river was still still too high for us to be able to cross it without getting wet (we were not prepared to commit to being wet...) So we simply spent awhile enjoying the sound of the water and the warm weather...and the sticks. I found a nice short and shapely stick, perfect for racing down the river and chucked it in. It ended up getting stuck in a group of rocks, but never fear! I went down to rescue it.

See there it is in my rigth hand. Don't I look happy? I think I was in the middle of saying something when Mel took this picture.

After saving it I set it free once more to watch it go down the river.

Goodbye little stick

It's that look again...remember the "your camara is in my face" look?

Virginia Winters

2010-04-05T11:18:00.000-04:00

Remember all that snow we got?

Well, I took several (hundred) pictures (why have a new camera if you're not going to use it?) and these are some of my favorites (in no particular order).

Gives a new meaning to Snow Babies...

Look closely and you can see my little squirrel friend. Trying to get to his stash under 3 feet of snow.

Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in morning, sailors take warning (and this was taking about 7 am Tuesday and we were hit by the blizzard late that night and Wednesday Morning...)

I would love to take a photography class. I love photos and taking picture. I don't really have much skill nor training, but that doesn't stop me...ask Melanie. She has perfected the "Your camera is in my face again, but I'm going to smile anyway" look.

Yup! That look... You'll see it again...don't worry

Pi Day Celebration and Albert's Birthday

2010-03-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

As Mel has told me on several occastions...I'm a nerd and she's a nerd and we love our nerdiness. And the crowning evediance of our nerdiness is our annual celebration of Pi Day. Yup, that's right, Pi Day :) 3.14159265 (etc).

And most of you may not know this...but March 14th (aka 3.14) is also Albert Einstein's birthday (fate?)

Now those of you who have never heard of Pi day need to know that Pi Day is celebrated (by those in our group) by the making and eating of Pies, get it...Pi and pies :P (Yep! 100% nerd)

See? Pies :) And of course a birthday cake for our friend Albert! And in case you were wondering Pizza Pie TOTALLY counts!

FACTS ABOUT PI

Geometry: Half the circumference of a circle with a radius of 1 is exactly pi

Record for calculation: 2.7 trillion digits (by Fabrice Bellard, December 2009)

Record for memorization: 67,890 digits (by Chao Lu, 2005)

How random? There are no occurences of the sequence 123456 in the first million digits of pi

Source: "The Joy of Pi," Pi World Ranking List

Some of our happy pie eat, Pi Celebrating Frineds :)

Snowbound

2010-02-14T12:43:00.001-05:00

For the second time this winter the DC metro area was hit with over 20 inches of snow.

Some people have called the Snowamgedon or the Snowacopolous...no matter how you look at it 25-30 inches of snow is a lot of snow...even if you life in an area that deals with snow often.

The Onley house invited us over and a full-scale snowball fight ensued :)

We even had the random neighbor kids join us...

Snow angel...

Building forts

Safe inside

Most of us didn't have work Monday (except Melanie of course, she always has to works...). Tuesday I had to work, but everyone was battening down the hatched for the second storm, which hit us Wednesday. And it was a good one! Blizzard and another 15-20 inches of snow. (I have pictures somewhere...) There were times we couldn't see the trees in our front yard. Emma was going to have to go to work and we told her the friends don't let friends drive in blizzards. So she called the her supervisor and got the day off...I have no idea what Tysons Corner Mall was thinking to be open!
The Onley boys and the McDonald sisters lost power so they braved the storm and walked over to our house for some warmth, food and fun.
I'll be honest...I'll be happy when there is no more snow on the ground!

Happy Birthday Emma Lin!

2010-02-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

You know...I don't know why we try...but we do, every year we try....Try what you say? To give Emma Lin a surprise birthday party and it never fails that she finds out about it. Or something goes wrong with the planning, most often with the weather. This time we can blame Reed and Dan for Emma knowing about her "surprise" birthday party and Bronwyn did such a good job too... But doesn't she look surprised?

Reed Helping to decorate...

Happy Birthday Emma Lin!!!

Pictures!

2010-01-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

My sister Becky went over to visit Melissa and the baby twins at the hospital today and I convinced her to send me a few pictures while she was there and here we go!

Kimmy

They are so precious!

Hopefully I will get a few more pictures as the week goes on...

An Auntie again!!!

2010-01-22T12:54:00.000-05:00

David's wife, Melissa had her twin girls today. They named them Kimberly and Abigail.

Kimmy is 5 lbs 12 oz and 17.5" long
Abby is 5 lbs 6 oz and 18" long

I'm waiting on some pictures, but I'll share once I get them. I'M SO EXCITED!!!

I really wish that I could be there, but with work as it is that will have to wait a few months perhaps.

YAY!

And So Life Goes On...

2010-01-15T21:52:00.001-05:00

On Thursday (Yesterday, Jan 14th) about 4:30 pm one of my roommates called and told me that our house had been broken into. My initial reaction was disbelief. Then she confirmed that her laptop, Wii and the other laptops in the house were gone.

We were upset and mad.

Emma called the police. They came and dusted for finger prints. They lied. They told us that the powder would come up with soap and water and out of the carpet with a quick vacuum...it didn't. Ask the back door...it's still feeling a little black even though we've washed it several times. Maybe the officers haven't had to clean up after themselves before....

Despite how we felt then and since, good things have come out of this experience.

First, Life goes one. Yes it was frustrating and even scary, but we survived and life goes on.

Second, and probably most important, was seeing how much people reached out and help us in any way they could. We are so loved and have amazing friends. Tragedy, no matter how small, can bring out the best in people. Let's focus on that.

(After the break-in and the cops had left...calling family and talking. Can you say bonding expereince?)

Stuck in Northern VA

2009-12-21T10:19:00.000-05:00

Most of you probably have heard about the huge snow storm that hit this area. Don't think less of me because of this, but I hate snow! I love watching it fall and don't mind playing in it, but when it interferes with my plans and causes so many problems I just get so irritated...

I was supposed to leave Saturday morning for GA to spend Christmas with my folks, but due to the snow I was stuck...we had 11 inches by about 9 am after only about 12 hours of the storm about 12 more to go...

I was feeling desolate and upset about the whole thing. I had spent about 30 minutes on the phone with my folks about 6 am on Saturday morning, honestly trying not to cry I was so upset, but having experience driving in the snow I was not foolish enough to try to leave. Northern VA isn't equipped to deal with that amount of snow ever, let alone when it all falls within 12 hours. But thank goodness for great roommates and good friends. We laughed, watched movies, made cookies, s'mores, ate pizza and played in the snow and played games. It turned out to be a great day. Full of fun and troubles forgotten.

(Note: I pirated these pictures from my roommates since my camera died and I didn't have extra batteries...)

Michelle showed up at our house unexpectedly about 10 or so. She decided that she wanted to go for a walk in the snow and figured we lived close. We watched Muppet Christmas Carole and drank hot chocolate and measured the snow (very scientifically of course :P)

Michelle left about noon and shortly there after we saw a poor guy trying to get his car out of the snow. We dressed warmly and headed over to try to help. we were able to get it to the side of the road out of harms way, but not much farther. On the way home we made some snow angels, following Emma's example.

Up until about 2 Emma's was scheduled to work at the mall at 3, but after trying to help the guy move his car we told her (for about the 100th time) that her going to work was suicide...if we could even get her car out of the driveway. She called her manager again and thankfully she was told that they were closing their store early and they would take the fine that Tysons Corner mall would give them for not being open, but it wasn't worth it to endanger the lives of their employees...That's when the real party began!

I felt so much better that Emma didn't have to work. I was thinking about going with her to work if she had had to go so she wouldn't have to try to drive alone, but gratefully she didn't have to work.

The Onley boys started pelting our house with snow balls about 2:30 or 3. They were trying to hide behind our snow covered cars but we knew it was them and we invited them in. Andrew stopped by too...We made hot chocolate, cookies, bread and finished watching White Christmas.

After the cookies were made we decided to go deliver them to Michelle and to Steve, Dan, Brad and Ryan's house. We bundled up again and headed out...we took our time. Everyone kept ending up in the snow bank...odd I know...

We collected Michelle and headed over to Steve and roommates' house. at some point it was decided that we could go to the Onley house to make s'mores, pizza and play games by the fireplace. We convinced Michelle to come with us, even though the other boys weren't interested. We stopped by Safeway (which was open, but didn't have ANY milk or eggs) to get s'more makings. John and Scott had headed off earlier to start the pizza and fire. The rest of us showed up about an hour or so later.

Stomping through sometimes knee high snow is tiring about 9:30 we were about ready to fall asleep on the couches and decided we should head home. We took a 'short cut' through the park and ended up in more knee high snow and Emma ended up chest high at one point...

In the end we ended up with about 20 inches of snow. Beautiful, but dangerous. Sunday morning my folks called about 7:30 am to see if I was going to try to leave...I looked online and the VA department of transportation still showed not just the secondary, but even the primary roads (such as 495 and 95) in sever conditions. I told them no at first, that I would wait, but the more I thought about it and the more I looked at the traffic cameras and saw the freeways moving that I decided that IF I could get my car out of the snow and make it to 495 I would head down to GA only a day later then planned.

My car Friday night at the beginning of the storm
My car Saturday night....I swear it's there :) somewhere....

I was shoveling my car out when my roommate's brother showed up to see if he could borrow our shovel (which we borrowed from the Onley House). I basically told him that I was trying to get my car out and if I could get it out he could have the shovel. We had a well devised plan (remember...I have snow experience and so does he, unlike some of those people we were pushing out of the snow banks on Saturday) It only took us about another 20 minutes or so to dig my car out and I parked it (probably illegally) in a wide spot on the road so I didn't get stuck and headed back to the house. I showered, finished packing and called Reed (who's flight had be canceled and rescheduled for Christmas Eve he thought, but couldn't get a hold of anyone from the airline to confirm it) to see if he was going to come with me to Atlanta and try to find a flight from there...he still wasn't sure what was going on so he decided to stay in DC and tough it out (good news! I just heard from Reed...he made it home :)).

I left about 11 when all was said and done. Driving on 495 was a harrowing experience at times. Just because I know how to drive in snow doesn't mean others do...I saw 5 or so accidents/disabled cars between when I got on to 495 at 66 until I exited to 95...one of them on 95 right were those from 495 were trying to merge onto 95...it was a MESS! At times we were forced by snowplows or disable vehicles to move more into the unploughed areas and lets do the math; 20 inches of snow compared to the height of the bottom of a Chevy Malibu...hmmm lets think about that one...I was a little worried I was going to get stuck, but thankfully I didn't. Someone was looking out for me and I think my roommates, parents and my prayers were being answered.

After about Stafford, VA things started clearing out. The roads were even almost dry. After that it was basically smooth sailing. I turned off of I-20 West onto GA-441 about 8:30pm (about an hour from my folks house) and met my folks there and my mom drove me the rest of the way through the dark twisted roads of rural GA and my dad followed in their van. I'm SO happy to be in a place with no snow :) and to have made it 'home' for Christmas only a day late thrills me to no end.

MERRY CHIRSTMAS everyone!

Our Virginia Winter Wonderland

TNT 2009

2009-11-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

Annually the Langley Ward holds a Thanksgiving Talent no Talent event. Affectionately called TNT by the ward members. We have a potluck Thanksgiving type dinner followed for talent acts by our favorite people.

This year was great. There were some amazing acts.

Some of my favorites were The Sloppy Joe song, Baby it's Cold Outside, performed by Kendra and Josh and the Harry Potter Puppet Pals.

A new addition to this years festivities by our table was our table art. Mel and I had been helping Jess put together baskets for the DC foster Care program and had been drawing Hand Turkeys and however that didn't fill my Hand Turkey need and I started drawing some of our paper table cloth and then insisted that Reed, Brian and Melanie draw some as well. Unfortunately the pictures were lost... We shall have to try to recreate them at some time...

The Day we Didn't Die

2009-11-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

Veterans day - November 11 2009

Reed and I had the day off today. We decided to go visit Melanie at work...not to rub it in the we had the day off and she didn't, but to take her to get lunch with us.

We went to Pei Wei...good food, good times and fun company. It was getting late and we decided to head back to Melanie's work. It's important to note that it was raining.

On the on-ramp to 66, Reed decided that it would be fun to hydroplane into 360s (if you want to know how many degrees we actually turned around you'd better ask Reed or Mel...they figured it out...I believe it was about 640 degrees or something like that)

It could have been a LOT worse. We just turned around and were facing the wrong way on the on ramp. Mel and I talked about it later and were a little surprised to realize that both of us had kind of the same reaction...a kind of detached attitude. My thought process went something like this. "Oh we're turning...Look a light pole...I really hope we don't hit the pole. Oh good we missed it. Shouldn't I be more freaked out by this?" (yes I really thought that). Reed, based on observation, was a little more freaked out...but he was the driver.

So we ended up facing the wrong way on the on ramp and that's when other cars started showing up. The first two just went by not waiting for us and the third one kindly waited for us to get turned the right way keeping other cars from coming upon us suddenly.

And that my friends is the day we didn't die. Like I mentioned before...it could have been a LOT worse. We were VERY blessed. Our guardian angels must have been working overtime.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps

2009-11-08T21:03:00.001-05:00

My friend Mel, as you know from previous posts, just finished a Masters in Military History and has been wanting to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps forever and finally the stars aligned and the fates agreed that it could happen and we headed down to Quantico.

I will say. I was impressed with the museum. Interactive and informative. And I'll be honest, one of my favorite parts was the open space and natural light in the middle of the museum (the lighting in museums give me headaches and it's nice to get a break from the headache inducing lights and therefore enjoy the museum more.) I also really loved the helicopters...I LOVE helicopters. Ask my family. I lived near Fort Hunter Liggett as a kid and would have to point out every helicopter that went by, and usually loudly as only a little kid can do.

Melanie and her plane - Okay...she doesn't own the plane, but she wishes she could. The corsair is one of her favorite planes.

And in her own words, a brief history -

"The Vought F4-U Corsair, the bent winged bird, or the “Whistling Death” according to the Japanese was used extensively in the Pacific Theater of WWII & during the Korean War. The Corsair was built around a powerful 3 blade 13 ft 4 in propeller to take full advantage of the Pratt-Whitney Double Wasp air-cooled radial engine. Given the size of the prop, the engineers were faced with a dilemma: either shorten the prop or lengthen the aircraft’s landing gear. If they shortened the prop, they’d lose much of the engine’s power & therefore much of the plane’s speed & climbing power, but if the landing gear was too long it wouldn’t be able to withstand the forces placed upon it during a carrier landing. The engineers solved both problems with the Corsair’s distinctive inverted gull-wing design, which raised the nose of the plane & allowed for both the large prop & the short landing gear. To make additional room on the carrier decks the wings also folded up. Once in service, a new problem was found. The raised the nose of the airplane caused the pilot to lose about 12◦ of the horizon which made carrier landings hazardous. The Navy therefore gave the bulk of their Corsairs during WWII to the Marines, who operated them off island air bases. The British Navy actually figured out how to land the aircraft on carriers using a curved approach which allowed the pilot to see the LSO (landing signals officer) & the deck until the last possible moment. This was quickly adapted by the USN & Corsairs operated off carriers throughout the end of WWII & the entirety of the Korean War. They were a favorite of the soldiers, providing close air support, & were particularly appreciated during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. "

One of Mel's favorite Marine quote "Retreat Hell! We've Just Got Here!"

(Attributed by MajGen Ben Fuller to Col Frederick M. “Dopey” Wise, CO 2d Bn., 5th Marines, 2dDiv, AEF in France, whe told that the French troops were retreating and advised to do likewise)

Mystics Game

2009-11-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Kara had a few extra tickets for the Mystic basketball game. She gave me 4. Mel and I invited Slade and Reed to come with us.

We went to 5 Guys before.

Slade got an Everything Regular Hamburger. WOWzer!

I think the home team lost, but we had fun anyway.
Doesn't it look like we're having fun....?

Most definitely!

Ward Campout - We're SO Cool!

2009-11-08T20:56:00.001-05:00

Our ward made its way to Maryland once more for a little weekend getaway.

The weather didn't completely cooperate. It rained a little, but the morning fog sure was impressive!
There was a small miscommunication regarding the kitchen implements available and so those of us with Breakfast detail were a little surprised to find we had no mixing bowls, no utensils...basically nothing, but never doubt the determination and ingenuity of hungry campers.

We found a plastic container that had had brownies in which to mix the pancakes up and cut up a cardboard box to use as a flipper... Yup! We SO cool!

And it worked really well too! And people ate and where happy :)

Good times!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-08T20:21:00.001-05:00

We didn't go all out this year for Halloween, but we did dress up :)

Mel went as a page boy and me as an artist... Mostly I wanted to wear my beret.

Reed came over for a little while....guess who he is? Ron Weasley? good JOB!

Isn't she cute?

Mel and I stayed home and handed out candy and watched some fun Halloween movies. Hocus Pocus and The Legend of Sleepy Hallow to name two.

Visiting Sister Sarah

2009-10-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in a previous post, while we were in UT we made a fun little trip to visit with Sister Sarah.

It was SO wonderful to see her. She's looking good.
Sarah took us on a tour. We even got to go on top of the conference center.

I personally don't know if I would have handled having my family visit me while on my mission, very distracting, but she seems to have handled it well and part of that may have to do with where she is and the fact that the possibility is greater of her seeing family then it ever was for me.

June 29th - Phantom of the Opera

2009-10-08T11:38:00.001-04:00

AMAZING!!!

Just so cool! Giddy would be a good way to describe me. The anticipation was immense!

We found a nice Italian place near the Majestic Theatre for dinner before the show. It was a lovely atmosphere.

After dinner we walked towards the theater, taking our time and shopping along the way. We lined up for the show and waited. I kept feeling surges of giddiness come over me. Despite the long line once they opened the doors it didn't take us long to get inside. Grandma and Laura were taken to lower seats since they didn't have an elevator up to our seats. I personally loved our seats. The first row on the balcony...lots of leg room (a definite plus for me)

The inside of the theatre was beautiful. As part of the show they had the buttress's covered at first. I didn't even realize until the pulled off the fabric when they raised the chandelier. BEAUTIFUL! We snuck some pictures (NOT during the show of course...PLEASE! We have much too much theatre edict to do that!)

We also may or may not have sent gloating texts to various family members and friends before they asked us to turn off our cell phones ;)

The show itself was amazing!...as stated before. So lovely! I forgot how much I love plays. Movies are great, but live theatre...no comparison. The atmosphere, the trill and emotion...it's just indescribable.

After the show Mel, Valory and I made our way home. Valory made a great find! Several street vendors were set up outside the theatres waiting for people to come out. Valory found an amazingly fun purse.

Overall is was a fantastic, amazing, thrilling, fabulous day!

June 29th - Ellis & Liberty Island

2009-10-08T11:36:00.000-04:00

This is the second time I visit Ellis and Liberty Island.

I LOVE it!

It's an amazing place to be for those who love history.

In random order. Some of my favorite pictures.

Random find of an amazing staircase. I actually really like the architecture of the old buildings.

The sorting room - Again, love the architecture.

The view from the ferry.

SO much fun! I love boats/ships and being on the water.

As you can see it was an absolutely perfect day. I was worried about a long line, but we got there earily enough that we hardly had to wait at all...and got great seats on the ferry!

Lady Liberty -

We all aspire to be like her...

June 28th - Wandering Sunday

2009-10-08T11:28:00.000-04:00

We spent essentially the entire day just wandering around.

We managed to find a church on Queens, not far from our hotel. Unfortunately for everyone else the service was in Spanish. Personally I enjoyed it a great deal.

After sacrament meeting we went back to the hotel and changed in to 'street' clothes and Laura, Hilda, Valory, Mel and I set out for some major wandering...from Downtown to Uptown...all over the place.

We visited the WTC site. Even almost 8 years later there isn't much to see. In some way I feel that says more then any memorial.

We stopped by Trinity Church and Wall Street

We then made our way Uptown. We went to Central Park and up 5th Avenue to the Guggenheim Museum and then down 5th Avenue to Tiffany's

Shhh...you're not supposed to take pictures in Tiffany's...I didn't know that when I took this one, but the security guard informed me...fortunately he didn't make me delete it.

We went to Juniors for dinner and bought a Cheesecake to take back to the hotel to share.

Look at those hamburgers...bigger then my face!

The Cheesecake was huge! Bigger then we anticipated, but amazingly good. Even Mel (who doesn't care much for Cheesecake) was convinced to try the cake top part.

It's all Melanie's Fault

2009-10-08T09:39:00.000-04:00

We never watched much TV growing up. Movies, yes, but TV no. I basically kept that habit all through college and over the several years since I graduated. However, ever since Melanie moved in with me I've become addicted to a few shows and the most recent one is So You Think You Can Dance.

I've always enjoyed watching dancing. I would go to watch my sister Becky at her Ballroom dance classes at BYU and my roommate Valory at her international Folk dance classes. Heck I even took a Polynesian dance class at BYU and participated in two luaus there and danced for one of the opening celebrations for the 2002 Paralympics. HOWEVER I can't dance! I try...sometimes. This show inspires me...it makes me wish that I could dance and I find myself prancing (notice I did NOT say Dancing...) around the house more frequently and that my friends is all Melanie's fault :) (there are many things that are Melanie's fault, but we'll stick to this one in this post...now I know we could go into that whole discussion that Melanie isn't forcing me to do anything and I have my agency and all that, but for the sake of this post just pretend it's Melanie's fault and if you have a hard time with the word 'fault' go ahead and use 'influence'...it was all Melanie's influence)

So when you see me though the open blinds (because they always seem to be open...), making a fool of myself...shake your head and sigh and think, 'Poor Amy...it's all Melanie's fault.' and then I give you permission to laugh. Laughter is good for you and someone ought to benefit from my silliness :)

The Month of September

2009-10-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

September was a crazy month...

I flew out to UT to on Sept 1st to help my sister Becky move into her new condo (YAY Becky!) It's a nice place. I like it a lot. She seems happy and excited about it.

That next day my dad called and told us that he was fired (officially, not just a notice like before) He was so sure that he was going to be reinstated since he was one of the senior programmers on the project with the most knowledge and experience, but honestly that's probably why he was fired. SO my dad packed up his stuff in California and drove to UT (He was coming to UT anyway, but was only planning on staying to help my mom pack up the Orem house, which they just sold, and for my nephew's baptism and then head back to CA) My dad only had 18 months until he could retire with the full benefits and all (another reason he was probably let go)

Anyway...my folks got to UT on Thursday night (Sept 3rd) By which point we had Becky basically moved in. We (my folks and I) spent all Friday packing up the Orem house and I went to pick Becky up from work and died...we still had more to do, but it was getting late...my folks stayed in Orem...

That next morning my dad called about 8 am to tell us that my Grandpa Durtschi had passed away earlier that morning. It was expected, he had been sick and in failing health for a while and all, but I don't know if that really makes it much better...I was doing okay until I had to talk to my coworkers to arrange for more time off to stay for the funeral.

We had the funeral service on Wednesday Sept 9th. It was a simple and beautiful service. Elisabeth was able to join us. Becky, Elisabeth and I sang and I spoke. I'm happy that my grandparents are together again. It must have been hard for my grandpa, staying behind while my grandma went on last December. I'll miss them both.

My nephew Jared was baptized on Saturday, Sept 5th. I can't believe he's already 8 years old! Time flies!

That Sunday, Sept 6th we made arrangements to see Sarah at Temple Square. She took us on a tour. It was SO much fun. I miss Sarah. She looks great and seems very happy.

I flew home Sept 10th. Before I left we finished packing up most of the Orem house expect for the last few things, such as the dolly, which my dad packed at the end and didn't secure well and it ended up falling on his head...he had to go to the emergency room and get 8 stitches. My poor daddy!

So I got back to work on Sept 11th and was told that they had chosen a new person to hirer and she would start Tuesday. Tuesday came...she started and we started training...training is interesting...fun and yet so time consuming. Needless to say it was an interesting 10 days. The newbie didn't quite work out and on Sept 24th my manager spoke to her and told her it wasn't working...it was hard for all parties involved.

My folks made a cross country trip, stopping at Grandma Maren's (Southern Utah), Aunt Anita's (Colorado Springs), Elisabeth's (Temple TX) along the way.

As I said, September was a crazy month...I'm so glad it's Oct :)

With all the heartaches and struggles my parents are going through they seem to be taking it really well. It's an inspiration to me. I know they have prayed and cried, but they haven't given up and that's a big deal.

Memory Lane - Valory Comes to Visit - UT Edition

2009-08-27T15:22:00.000-04:00

Valory and I met our freshmen year at BYU. Quite by chance actually. I was downstairs with a friend studying our physics homework. It was the first assignment of the class and I was already stumped (that didn't bode well for the rest of the semester.) While we were there a young girl came in and asked if it was okay if she could watch TV. She saw what we were working on our physics 105 homework and stated that she was in the same class and asked if she could join our study group and that was the beginning of wonderful friendship.

We lived together our Junior and Senior years...such great times! So many stories, but not to be shared right now.

I left for my mission in July and Valory in November. It was almost 2 years before we saw each other again...and that was when Valory came to visit me and my family in Utah.

We had the BEST time every!

We went camping...

Becky showing us the true way to cook a bagel over an open flame :)

The next morning...there's nothing like day after camping look.
For FHE during Valory we played Nephites and Lamanites, which consisted of PC pipes and mini-marshmallows. :) We won...we being the Lamanites.

We went to watch a movie...yes we took a picture of ourselves in the movie theatre...don't worry it was before the movie started.

Lastly and most importantly we celebrated Valory's birthday.

I've never been so blessed as by the 'happenstance' that ended with Valory and I both taking physics our freshman year and meeting oh so long ago downstairs and bonding over homework.

Memory Lane - Illinois Thanksgiving 2006

2009-08-17T15:30:00.000-04:00

For my first Thanksgiving after moving to Falls Church I was invited by Julie to join her family in Illinois for a Thanksgiving celebration.

We started out in Tampico, IL (the birth place of Ronald Reagan) where Julie's brother's in-laws own a bed and breakfast and a diner.

We stayed here at the Bed and Breakfast. It was us and all the in-laws. We watched movies and played games. We had a bomb fire and overall just had fun.

Thanksgiving Day Julie and I took the grandkids out to play and to keep out from underfoot.

We made a friend on the way to the park to play.

We went over to the diner for Thanksgiving dinner.

Can we say Pie! They had several different kind of pie...and I'm happy to confess I tried a little of each :)

That next day we headed out to Nauvoo. I hadn't been there since Valory and I made our grand trip across country after our BYU graduation in 2003. It was a truly lovely experience. I love the Smith's. They are such wonderful people. A family away from family.

I went to the temple
And later we went on a horse and buggy tour with some of the Senior missionaries. SO much fun!
Nauvoo really is City Beautiful. Right on the Mississippi River. Even in early winter the landscape and atmosphere is brilliant!

Melly - One Day Older and Wiser Too!

2009-08-08T21:06:00.000-04:00

Yup! It's true! Mel has survived another year and we had a wonderful time celebrating her birth.

I know...shocking, Mel got military footage for her birthday :)

To finish the collection - HP #7

Happy Happy BIRTHDAY!!!

The famous triple chocolate cake!

Congrats Melanie!

Time Square Dinner

2009-07-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

After the boat tour, we were all starving...

We made our way over to Time Square looking for a place to eat. It was crazy busy, but what did you expect on a Saturday night in New York City. Finally we found a place at a Rudy Tuesdays. It was packed but the food was great and company fun.

Thus ended our first full day in New York City. We got home about 11pm or so...tired!

June 27th - Boad Tour

2009-07-14T11:55:00.000-04:00

Since the Empire State Building took less time then anticipated we ended up with some extra time. Grandma was interested in going on a boat tour. So with our handing map and some help from a local we made our way to the piers. It was kind of stressful for a while there, but we made it (just barely) onto the last 3 hour tour...very relaxing.

They had a gentleman describing what we saw and told stories about the area.

We went by the Intrepid. Someday we're going to go back and actually take a tour of it. How COOL would that be?!

It rained hard, but breifly and then we were treated with this lovely view.

Melanie informs me that we went under a total of 27 bridges during our tour. The most notable being the B. M. W. (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg)

I would recommend a boat tour, or at least a ride on the Ferry to anyone who visits NY.

June 27th - Empire State Building

2009-07-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

After the temple we gathered the rest of our group and headed out to the Empire State Building. We bought our tickets online to try to save time, but we given an even greater break because we were with Melanie's grandma. Grandma couldn't walk well and standing in line would have been really hard on her so they let us go ahead in line. What was expected to take SEVERAL hours only took us about 90 minutes.

It was impressive. The view was amazing. Looking down was almost enough to give you vertigo.

Looking down...

Looking up...

Looking out...

Good times! I felt like I could fly!

June 27th - Temple

2009-07-10T11:31:00.000-04:00

We were all going to go to the temple, however due to traffic and delays at the airport, most of our party didn't get to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning and the idea of waking up just 2 or 3 hours later was too much. Valory, Melanie and I prepared ourselves to go and made the trek into Manhattan. Jeremy our shuttle driver told us there were three food things we need to enjoy before we left New York City

1) a street vendor hot dog with everything

2) cheesecake from Juniors

3) Pizza

We added that to the list of things to do :)

I love the Manhattan Temple. It's an oasis of peace and calm in a busy city. It was amazing to step inside and forget that you were a few blocks from Time Square in one of the largest metropolis in the US. It was beautiful inside and unique outside. You could miss it if you didn't know what you were looking for. Of course you would think that the Angel Moroni on top would be hard to miss but not many people look up.

June 26th - Congratulations Melanie!!!

2009-07-08T18:02:00.000-04:00

Waking, once again, at an early hour Valory and I headed up to Vermont for Melanie's graduation.

I never realized how beautiful Vermont is. I guess I should have known, but I haven't seen many pictures. The other thing that surprised me was the number of 'rolling hills.' I loved it.

Another thing I never realized is how small Massachusetts is. I mean seriously?! It's about 53 miles from bottom to top. Less then an hour. Amazing no? I guess that's the West Coast girl in me. Growing up in California where we had to drive 53 miles to get to church and you can drive 4 hours and still be in the same state.

The graduation itself was wonderful. Short and fun. I'm so proud of Melanie. She's amazing!

After graduation we went to the Sugar House, a small hole-in-the-wall diner. The food was great! They had real VT maple syrup. After feeding our tummies we made a short stop at Sharon VT, the birth place of Joseph Smith. The sister missionary there suggested that we all take our pictures touching the top of the monument. Fun no?

The monument is a foot for every year of Joseph Smith's life.

after our short stop we headed down the New York. We ran into some really bad traffic from some trees blown down by the storm. Some people said it was actually a tornado that went through, but I was never able to confirm that. Finally we made it to New York City (Queens in our case.)

Valory had the foresight to take a nap :)

June 25th - Connecticut here we come!

2009-07-07T21:24:00.001-04:00

In DC you have basically two options when going on a road trip in order to miss traffic. Leave at o'dark hundred or about 9:30 am after traffic dies down. Since Valory and I tend to be morning we went for o'dark hundred route. Leaving about 6:30 am we made great time...getting just outside of NY about 9:30 am. We decided to go for the Palisades route instead of going through NY and the George Washington Bridge. We wondered through small towns NY. It was beautiful! although a little frustrating since we had to deal with traffic lights and not finding a gas station, but we found out later that it was a better option. Apparently traffic horrible on the George Washington Bridge. We arrived at Aubrey's house about 1:30 pm.

I love Aubrey! It's been several years since I've seen her last. She hasn't changed much since we were roommates at BYU. I love her kids. Tyler is 5. Ashley is about 4. David is about 2. I wish we had more time, but we have fun with the little time we had to hangout.

Let the Adventures Begin!

2009-07-07T20:42:00.000-04:00

On June 24th, Valory flew in to Ronald Reagan National Airport to mark the beginning the Grand adventures of June 2009.

Here's a brief schedule

June 25th - Drive to CT, visit with Aubrey
June 26th - Drive to VT, go to Melanie's graduation, Drive to NYC
June 27th - Temple, Empire State Building, 3 hour boat Tour
June 28th - Church, WTC, Trinity Church, Central Park
June 29th - Ellis & Liberty Island, Phantom of the Opera

I personally took over 300 pictures. Obviously I can post all of them, however I'm going to go day by day of our June Adventures and give you the high-lights.

Let the walk down memory lane begin!

Memorial Day 2009

2009-06-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

Mel and I went to the Memorial Day concert again this year. It was well worth the wait and time. Reed, Brian, Emma, Bronwyn, Joe and Spencer joined us.

For some reason I don't have a picture of the whole group. I know we took one :) I'll have to see if I can find it.

The next day we (Bronwyn, Mel and I) went to the Vietnam Memorial service and the parade. Th parade was great fun!

Memory Lane - If you're going to San Franscico...

2009-04-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

After we moved to UT my dad and my sister Sara stayed in California. And if you have family in California it's obligatory that you visit them.

We went to the beach and enjoyed the sun.

Here we are...all together now :) Sarah, me, Sandy, Becky and David (Sarah's friend)

Aren't we cute? :)

We made a huge sandcastle. It was just like being 6 again

Later that night we went to the Oakland Temple Pageant. It was fun. We got there a little early and were slightly bored so we stared playing with my camera while we waited.

The next day we went into San Francisco

San Francisco is famous for their steep hilly roads

Down by the piers. And yes I AM sticking my tongue out.

Sarah, Becky and Sandy and the Golden Gate Bridge behind them.

Fog - the hallmark of San Francisco

After wondering around the City for a while we went to Ghirardelli Square were we indulged in an "Earthquake." It's 8 scoops of ice cream with 8 different toppings and you are guaranteed to feel a little sick after eating it, even if there are several of you. But it's GOOD!

Easter

2009-04-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

I love this time of year. I love spring and the return of the warm weather. I also love the reminder we have of the life, death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ as we celebrate Easter.

Growing up we usually went to Utah to visit our grandparents since our schools planned Spring break around Easter. That visit usually entailed a egg hunt on Saturday night with all the grandkids. When we stayed home I remember always having a big Easter dinner, but we usually bought and hid our candy on Monday. (candy was half off after Easter you know) I don't think we cared, we still got candy and had fun.

Something that was never really part of our Easter Tradition was the new Easter dresses or hats. However, this year, my roommate Emma decided to wear an Easter hat and went to borrow one from Freda. Unfortunately the only hat she could find didn't really match her dress, but it matched my outfit so I wore Freda's hat and Emma wore her own.

After church we posed for Easter Pictures.It was a beautiful day all around!

Afterwards we had an Easter Dinner. We went untraditional again, having BBQ chicken instead of ham, but it tasted great and we had a good time.

Us sitting around after Easter Dinner

Memory Lane - Bushes BEGONE!

2009-04-16T10:41:00.000-04:00

When my parents bought their house in Orem they inherited 6 foot plus juniper bushes. This wasn't a problem until they actually moved into the house and my mom decided those bushes were OUT of CONTROL and needed to be trimmed...that is until she found out how much it would cost to maintain them and then she decided that they need to GO. Fortunately my parents had the foresight to have several children and those children are willing to work for food and board. Those said children also happened to have friends who would work for pizza. Needless to say my mom jumped on the idea.

(I thought I had a picture of the house before we started, but I couldn't find it, so here's the 1/2 point picture from the street, but it gives you the idea what we were dealing with. Imagine if you can the bushes extending all the way down on the other side of the stairs (where you can see Becky standing in the background.))

So 6 girls and a boy(plus 2 missionaries for a few hours) with a reciprocating saw, pruners and a lot of determination removed over the course of several days about 30 feet of 6 foot plus juniper bushes. We're so COOL!

Half way point picture. We're only cut down the bushes...we haven't removed the debris yet. That's Becky and I in the background taking a break, while mommy takes a picture of us :)

Removing the debris: I say bushes, but I should probably say trees. Some of the main 'branches' were a good 6-8 inches in diameter (Julie hard at work)

So we removed the smaller branches and cut the bigger wood in to 2-3 feet pieces so we could use it as firewood later the year (Sandy, doing much the same as Julie)

Yup...it was hard work. For those of you not familiar with juniper bushes I must inform you that they are prickly, hence my long sleeves, since it was my job to pull the bushes down after my mom or Becky cut them down near their roots. (Julie, Sandy and Me)

After we removed the smaller branches we piled them up in the back yard

and on the driveway. Eventually we used Rachel's truck (the red one in the background) to take them out to the dump.

Here's an "almost done" picture. Only a few bushes to go.

Look, we're even closer to done! Becky and Julie are showing off their stuff :)

Brent came over later that night to help out. He showed those stumps who was boss!

Supervising...Mommy and Gracie. Despite what these pictures show, mom did not spend the whole time of the phone. She usually was the one with the camera and the only time someone else had it was when we were taking breaks and that usually happened when mom got a phone call and so that's when we were able to take pictures of her.

FINISHED!!! It looked great. And later we planned some flowers a long the top so it didn't look so bare.

Dirty: The face of honest hard work :) Showers and Pizza here we come!

Trip down Memory Lane

2009-04-15T08:25:00.000-04:00

I was going through my pictures looking for some photos to print and to find some pictures of my grandparents for my brother David and oh the fun memories! And these pictures aren't even that old. I decided that we need to take a trip down memory lane. Over the next few days, weeks or however long (probably until I get tired of it) I will create posts titled
"Memory Lane - ....."

It will be fun!

Let the trip begin!

Our Flowers

2009-04-14T15:17:00.000-04:00

Some of you may recall that a week ago I created a post about Flower Therapy and the beautiful flowers we planted in our yard. My roommate Mel is great and provided me with some pictures of all our hard work...seeing it now perhaps you wouldn't believe that it took us several hours of work, but ground was really bad. We had to break it up first and then add some fertilizer and some garden soil and mix it in before we planted the flowers so that our flowers had a chance of surviving and thriving.

We planted a line in front of the house, seen here:
And then some around the two trees in the front of the yard, seen here:Here are some close ups of the Snapdragons and petunias under the trees

Beautiful no? They may not look like much right now, but give them a few more weeks and warmer weather (I'm sorry the 40s and 50s aren't warm, although better then the 30s :)) and they will be growing like crazy!

YAY for flower therapy! Don't you feel better already just looking at them?