Sisters, sisters, never were there such devoted sisters

I feel so spoiled this month because I got to see all my sisters. First, my parents came to Utah for my nephew's baptism, so Scott and I went out to visit, too, seeing my parents and my sister's family.


Then I went to MD to visit Amber. Here we are singing to calm down Sofie, who was sick and tired.


Then last weekend, my oldest sister Kali flew in for the weekend, so Tauna drove out and we spent some time together. With everyone spread out all over the country, I really revel in the time that we do get to spend together. Now if there's some way to see my brothers before the end of the month, I'd have everyone covered...

Vacation!

What a fun trip! Scott and I spent the third week in May in Maryland and Virginia to visit family and the nation's capital, which neither Scott nor I had visited before.


The first few days were spent in Maryland with my sister and her family. She has two adorable little girls, which none of my pictures do justice to. With them we visited Ellicott City, Annapolis, and the DC temple. I'd been told that when you approach the temple from the freeway belt loop, the temple is striking, but actually seeing it was breathtaking! The freeway is surrounded on both sides with trees that are 40-50 feet high, so you can't see any buildings or houses. For a few miles before you can see the temple, all you see are trees. Then as you reach the top of a gentle slope in the freeway (cue angels singing) the temple is straight in front of you, rising above the trees.



This is my sister with her family on the temple grounds. Scott took a picture of me taking their picture.

We only had one day to spend in DC and we tried to cram as much into that day as our feet would let us.


Before lunch we went around to the monuments. I was amazed at the spirit that was present at every monument. They evoke respect and a sense of national pride. I had never read Lincoln's whole "Four score and seven years..." speech until we visited the Lincoln monument. I was so moved by it I almost want to frame a copy and hang it on my wall.



After lunch, we only had two hours left to visit the Smithsonian museums. We only got to the Natural History and Air and Space Museum at warp speed. Unfortunately, our camera battery died on us, so we didn't get many pictures. The one below is a neat one that Scott took.


For the second half of our trip, we went to Virginia Beach with Scott's family. The first night there we stood on the beach and dipped our feet in the icy ocean water as we watched dozens of dolphins swim just several yards off shore. It was a neat experience. Later than night, the sand was crawling with little and big crabs. The next day was our only really good warm beach day. Scott got to play beach football with his brothers and we both got a little boogie boarding in, despite the cold waters.



It was great to see the whole family. It makes me sad we don't live closer to everyone. But we plan on visiting the DC area again whenever we can.