Tribute to my brother

Hi All...I know it's been awhile since you've heard from me. I'm still around...just haven't been blogging. My little sister called me the other day and said I needed to post SOMETHING. And so here goes...I want to talk about my middle brother....I will call him SMILEY for the sake of this blog.

I totally look up to Smiley. He lives across the country with his wife and little girl and little boy. He works full time for Boeing and goes to law school at night. He is almost half way through his program. He is a really hard worker and doesn't know how to relax if there is nothing to do...probably because he hasn't experienced time like that with his busy schedule. He is a super dad and will change stinky diapers and cook dinner. He does his church callings with 100% effort. He does his home teaching each month. He really does sound perfect, huh? Well, I haven't told you that he is a know-it-all and a bit stubborn but that's more reasons to love him. When we were younger, I'd ask him a question, and if he didn't know the answer, he'd make up one that seemed logical. I caught on to his answers and began asking him how he knew that...needless to say, I don't always believe everything he says...but at the same time, I find myself doing the same thing when someone asks me a question.

So, Smiley, I just want to say that I love you and your fabulous family. And I'll try and come visit this fall.

A Gift from SM

Over the Mother's Day weekend, SM and I went shopping and found me an orchid plant. I have wanted one for a while, but have put off buying one...always finding a reason why I shouldn't get one right now. But luckily, I have a very kind, sweet and totally uninhibited husband who helps me buy the things I won't buy for myself.
Isn't it beautiful? And more and more flowers open every few days! I just hope I can help this plant bloom again when the first blooms go away but for right now I won't think about that and just enjoy the flowers right now.

I find myself just sitting and looking at the blooms. Thanks SM for helping me get this small bit of beauty.

My Tomatoes

I really love my tomato plants and how quickly they are growing right now. SM and I get carried away taking care of these plants...but what can you do when we don't have pets, a yard or children?!
AND...I do have a tomatoe growing!! I love growing plants.

Fri. May 9, '08

DAY 5 Adventures:
It continued to rain on Friday but we were okay with that since we were driving around a lot. We started the day driving to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Because of the rain we couldn't just drive down the street with our windows down, smelling chocolate in the air. Oh well, instead we went on a small tour of how Hershey Chocolate is made at Chocolate World, bought some chocolate souvenirs, drove around a bit and then left.
G-man wanted to show us all that his hair got wet in the rain. We spent many hours in the van that day...and everyone did pretty well, except Little S because she still wasn't feeling better.
We stopped at the Gettysburg Visitors Center on our way home and spent an hour looking at stuff from the Civil War and the battle at Gettysburg.
Uncle SM had to tease the boys and get the tickling started!!
This is a great picture of a cannon and a great picture of some cute relatives of mine.

Thanks so much for coming to visit. Thanks for all sleeping in one small bedroom. Thanks for your love and letting me play with the kids. We created some great memories!

Thurs. May 8, '08

DAY4 Aventures:
Thursday morning started with a little bit of sunshine which then disappeared for the next five days. Luckily we started our morning with mild misting rain and were able to enjoy the Bonsai tree at the National Arboretum before continuing our trip north to Baltimore, Maryland. (Also, note that SM was able to join us this day! Yipee for having nothing to do at work!!)
Little S was feeling only slightly better...the medicine was slowly starting to work. I really love this picture taken at the Bonsai Indoor Garden. And I think she enjoyed being inside away from the sprinkling rain.
Our next stop was the National Aquarium at Baltimore. This aquarium is HUGE! We were able to see all sorts of fish, dolphins, turtles, alligators, sting rays and SHARKS! G-man was so so so excited to be able to actually see a shark and after he did, he decided he didn't like them and wanted to leave that exhibit.
Here's all of us...except for me taking the picture, as we traveled from exhibit to exhibit looking at all the aquarium had to offer.
We were lucky to also be able to see a dolphin show. These guys were so much fun! Everybody was thrilled to see the show and be entertained by the dolphins and their trainers.

After getting back to the apartment, we decided that pizza was calling our names! I think we all again went to bed exhausted. Phew! Vacations can be so exhausting...but A LOT OF FUN!!

Wed. May 7, '08

DAY 3 of our adventure:

Wednesday brought another day of sunshine and so another day of sight seeing. Unfortunately, Little S was still very sick and so my BIL decided to stay home with all the kids and my SIL and I went to see the sights. We started at the Washington Memorial.
Then we walked to find some souvenirs and ended up at the White House. You'll notice how dusty this picture is...it's because some guy on a large piece of machinery was grating some dirt near the White House and it was putting lots and lots of dust in the air. After this, we walked to the WWII Memorial (but I don't have a picture of it on this post...sorry).
After walking to the WWII Memorial, we took a short side trip to the Island where the Signers of the Declaration of Independance have their names, we then took another side trip to this statue of Albert Einstein. Luckily for us, not many people were near the statue and so my SIL was able to get an "up close and personal" shot.
From Einstein, we actually sat for a few minutes and ate a snack. We had been walking for miles but enjoying every minute...almost. Anyway, after the snack we saw the Vietnam Memorial.
And then the Korean Memorial.

And then the Lincoln Memorial.

And then we walked and walked and crossed a huge bridge over the Potmac...crossed into Virginia and went to the Arlington National Cementery. We walked many, many miles that day. And then we had to get back to the apartment because Little S had an appointment with a doctor to help her get some medicine so that she could start feeling better and stop having fevers...which is what happened.

Because my BIL stayed home with the kids all day, after SM got home from work, he took everyone (except SIL and Little S) on a tour of some of the Memorials at night. We started at the Iwojima Memorial and got there just after dusk. I wasn't sure any of these picurew would turn out, but this one did.

Here are the boys in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I was amazed at the hundreds of teenagers that were at this memorial. In fact, there could have easily been one thousand kids there that night.

We ended the night tour at the Jefferson Memorial. I think those boys got to bed past ten o'clock that evening. I know that I was exhausted! What a great day to end a day!

Tuesday May 6, '08

DAY 2 of our Exciting Adventures:
Tuesday morning we all took the metro into Washington DC and starting being tourists. The first building we visited was the Library of Congress. This is one of my favorite buildings, inside and out. I love the huge columns and the ceilings and the mosaics, etc.
After the Library of Congress we headed next door to the Supreme Court Justice building. There really isn't too much to see on the inside so we spent our time on the outside of the building. My SIL took pictures of the huge columns...check out the size of these things.
After the Supreme Court Justice building...I kept the group walking and we went to see some of the United States Capital Building. Once again, we stayed on the outside and just observed. Wow! What a big building!
Next, we went off the beaten path to another favorite of mine. The National Botanical Gardens. My SIL and I both took lots and lots of pictures of flowers. I'm sure between the both of us we ended up with close to one hundred pictures only of flowers. But I'm sure glad we got this picture of the kids playing in the water.
And to end out day, we went to the National Museum of Air and Space. This is a picture of G-man in front of a helicopter. He actually wanted a picture in front of all the planes and space ships stuff. He'd even pose so that we could get the right picture. And after his mother put away her camera, he'd come up to me and beg me to take his picture in front of something. He absolutely loved the Air and Space Museum. He literally came alive when we entered the building.

The rest of the day consisted of riding home in the metro with all the adults about to fall asleep...searching for about an hour for an Urgent Care because Little S was still burning up with fevers and feeling pretty awful...and dropping off the kids to a friends house so that we could go out for sushi. Phew! What a busy day!