On Sunay, July 29th, my parents arrived after driving for three whole days to come see us! We had so much fun with them. Williamsburg was our first stop, and Courtney had a blast having them take her picture everywhere! I look forward to seeing the pics posted hopefully soon. We then stopped at the airport to pick up Becky, and Courtney couldn't have been more excited to see her. We had a "Phineas and Ferb" themed FHE that night. It included watching Phineas and Ferb while eating Perry the Platypus cookies. The next day we drove to Washington DC, and the traffic was awful. I've never been more frustrated in traffic, and I wasn't even driving! It was so cool to see all the sites though. The best part had to be relaxing in the hotel, everyone just chilling, watching the girls gymnastics. The next day, my parents kept the kids, and Becky, and Devin and I went to the DC temple, which is so beautiful! We haven't been close to a temple since Spokane, and the DC temple is 3 hours away, so it'd been a while :S Then we spent the day at the Smithsonian museums, which were awesome!
By the way, my little monster killed the batteries in my camera, so all I got was Grandpa and Mason relaxing before we left for DC. Becky posted some great pics on her FB though. The traffic was soooo bad on the way home, and because it was stop and go, Mason didn't sleep, he just cried. Ugh, so miserable. Devin had to work Wednesday-Saturday nights, which meant sleeping during the day. So we left him at home, and went to Virginia Beach. It was my mom's first time seeing the ocean, so that was cool. Mason got too hot, so my mom and dad took him inside a shop. While there, they bought him the cutest bucket hat, and bought sand toys for Courtney. My parents are awesome, and they agreed to take me and the kids with them to NY to visit my brother, Patrick, and his family. It was so nice to visit and have so many family members together. There was a very special spirit around everyone; I miss that the most. His stake had a large pool party/BBQ, and when they went on a hike, I stayed back with Patrick's wife's mom. She is awesome. I didn't really get a chance to know her when I met her at the wedding, but we talked nonstop while everyone was gone. She's great; how many people can just talk like they've known you forever? Sunday was such a welcome break from the crazy site seeing and on to go-ness(?). My little nephew bore his testimony, and Courtney actually paid attention and was quiet! After church we went to Taughannock Falls, although there wasn't much water. It was still pretty though. We celebrated my Dad's birthday with an awesome chocolate cake with jam filling and York ice cream bars. That was the day Devin was supposed to drive up, but he didn't get in until 1 am! We spent Monday touring Palmyra and the historical church sites. That was our last day. We went home on Tuesday, and I ached to be back in NY with everyone. Oh, did I mention all the Amish? It was so cool to see them, and buy their delicious baked goods?! I kind of wish our family was all in close proximity like them. This post is lengthy, but what I want my family to know, is I love them! I wish we could be together all the time here. Thank goodness for the Celestial Kingdom, where we'll always be close :)
