Guys I created my posts in the wrong order so after reading this post and the next post you are going to have to scroll to the bottom, click on older post link and then go to the bottome of that page to the Flying High post and start there and read up so that you get our whole story and get it in order! Darn, I'm dissapointed but I haven't been doing this long enough to have it all down! Enjoy.

The "Stuff" you've been waiting for!

George Washington, The Declaration of Independence, The Founding Fathers, Freedom, The Crossing of the Delaware, Henry Knox and Fort Ticonderoga, The American Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, The National Anthem, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, Abraham Clark, John Morton, Sacrifice, Courage, Conviction.
I could go on and on. These words hold a special place in my heart. They have great meaning in the history of our country. Are you familiar with all of them? No, probably not. Many of us were not privileged to be taught about these amazing men, events, and the miracles that attended them. If you were, I'm so glad, teach others. If you were not, take the time to learn about them. I have experienced an unexplainable love for my country and an unshakable testimony that the men who were called to found this country were some of the greatest men in the history of the earth. I know without doubt that God performed many miracles, through and for these men. His hand was in the founding of this country and it was only by his intervention that we are free today. I know also that our continued freedom is based on the continuity of Allegiance to God.I'm Proud to be an American! I don't understand all of the principles of the government that our founding fathers organized, but I want to continue to learn and support it. I don't want their sacrifices, and they did sacrifice, to be in vain. I hope to teach my children to love their country and understand the "stuff" their founding fathers were made of. I believe Heavenly Father made our children of that same "stuff"! We have heard many times that the constitution will hang by a thread. We will need leaders who are firm in their belief in God, courageous enough to stand up for their convictions, and dedicated enough to sacrifice all to achieve those convictions. A person who possesses all of these traits will be the means through which God will perform His miracles. We know this because we see it occur all through the pages of history. History repeats itself. I am very thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me this testimony and for granting our family amazing opportunities to visit places that instill this "stuff" into our hearts. I hope you enjoy sharing our vacation with us.

The Atlantic Ocean

Our family loves the beach. We spent our last day of vacation on the beach. It was a great day and the kids had so much fun. We found that shell finding on the Atlantic Ocean coast was more abundant than on the Pacific Ocean coast. We brought home many very pretty shells. Before going home we drove through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. That was very cool also.

Jax enjoying the water! He was soaked to the bone. My fault for not planning better. Jacelin below is also enjoying the beach. She is carrying her bad of shells.

Jamestown

We had a great time in Jamestown. We enjoyed touring the ships: Susan Constance (the biggest one and the one pictured above), Godspeed, and Discover. They were replica's of the ships that first landed here at Jamestown. Jax and Dad and Grandpa were excited to see them shoot the cannon off the dock. It was interesting to have them tell us how the ammo evolved and became more dangerous as time went on and they became more ingenuity. Below you will Grandpa with an ornery old pirate, Captain of the Susan Constance.

Leaving the ships and dock and moving on we learned how they made pegs which they used as nails and the kids got to set down at the machine and practice. We learned how canoes are made and the kids enjoyed scraping a canoe out they were working on. We took advantage of a photo op by hoping into the completed canoe.

Moving on the fort we had opportunities to pack water buckets, hold swords, try on armor, and speak to a man all about his musket. Grandpa and Jax loved that and spent 2o minutes or more watching and talking to him. The people at Jamestown were very informative. They knew their stuff and LOVED to talk about it! We were there when there wasn't alot of people so we were able to ask lots of questions and listen to lots of stories. The only part we didn't spend too much time at was the Indian Village. After growing up were we live it is just hard to believe a white man with a beard dressed in Indian clothing. It just didn't work for us. But the rest of the village was GREAT!

At Historical Jamestown (the place where they are actually digging and have found Jamestown to actually exists, not the replica of Jamestown) they were demonstrating glass blowing! That was so neat! That was something we had never seen done before and the process is so cool. Did you know that glass is made by heating up sand, potash, and lime? They said they can change the color of the glass by putting in other minerals and things. The kids and Karl and I watched, fascinated, for a long time. We wore mom and dad out and as you will see in a picture below. We wore them out and we found them taking a little nap!

Here is a picture of him just starting to blow the melted glass he got out of the furnace. You can see the irons in the furnace in the background of the picture below. This bottle below is the finished product. Quiet an amazing process!
Mom and Dad taking advantage of a quick nap!

As we walked the actual acres of historic Jamestown we were told that we could pick Pecans from the old orchards that a man planted here when he came to settle in Jamestown. The kids had a great time doing this and we took advantage of another photo op. And another below! Aren't they sweet!

Williamsburg

After our fun time at Jamestown and Yorktown we spent a day at Williamsburg. We were not overly impressed with Williamsburg, but a few highlights of our trip was listening to Patrick Henry speak. He was fabulous. Very good acting and after his wonderful speech it was very neat to hear him answer questions (still in character) from the audience. It was very interesting to hear his answer to the questions: "Do you ever forsee a time when women will be allowed to vote?" "If you could look into the future to 2007 what would you think of the government today?" and many others. He was very accurate I think and spared no words is answering these questions. But then again, that is what Patrick Henry is known for right? It was awesome and I loved him. I know I would have loved Patrick Henry. His views are very close to my own. If you are interested in hearing his answers you should bring it up. We could have a great discussion one day. I wish that I would have had the ability to record him. Very Good!



Patrick Henry, himself.

We visited the Jail or the Gaol as they called them back then. The kids are sitting on the "throne" or the "privy" as they called it. Kenzi said "I wouldn't want to use this mom, someone could just open the door and walk right in on you." Cute huh? Well she's right.

Jax locked in the jail!

Our home away from home!

After we were done at Mount Vernon we had a three hour drive to the place that would be our home for the next seven days. It was a two bedroom, two bath, condo. It was great. A very comfortable place to rest and eat. Below is a view of the kitchen and the views off our little balcony. Our condo was the one on Jacee's left, we were on the second level.

O Mount Vernon!

Mount Vernon was my absolute favorite place! It is the one thing I feel bad about on our vacation because we didn't get to spend near enough time there. We easily could have spent a full day there. One day I will make it back to Mount Vernon and DC and I will spend hours at each place. The picture below is with a "slave girl" who worked and lived at Mount Vernon. She did a short act telling what it was like to be Charlotte, an actual slave at Mount Vernon. She was very good at being in character.

This picture is of the kids standing on the side of Mount Vernon. We spent 1/2 hour just enjoying the view out the back of Mount Vernon. Below you will see pictures of us enjoying the view of the Potomac River. It is incredible! No wonder George Washington would have rather been there then anywhere else in the world.

George and Martha Washington's bodies are entombed on the Mount Vernon acreage. Before we left we took time to walk down and look at their tomb. It was a sacred, special place. The picture below shown George's tomb very well. If you closely to his right you will see the corner of Martha's as well.

Before we had to leave Mount Vernon because it was closing we were able to spend a few short minutes in the underground museum. This was so neat. We had to take a picture of the kids with General Washington!

On our trolley tour we were able to just drive by many things. We didn't have time to visit all of them. We drove by the Lincoln Memorial and most of the Smithsonian Museums. We drove by the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial the first day but were able to visit them the next day. The pictures below of the Washington Monument were taken from the Jefferson Memorial.


Below the Jefferson Memorial was by far my favorite memorial. Beautiful, peaceful, and inspiring.

Inside the dome of the Jefferson Memorial stands a colossal statue of Mr. Jefferson himself. On the circular walls surrounding him, carved in stone, are some very touching statements made by him, including part of the Declaration of Independence.
Speaking of the Declaration of Independence. One of the things I was most excited to do in DC was see the actual Declaration. It is on display in the National Archives Building. My children were a little put out that we were going to actually wait in the line that was nearly a 1/2 mile long. I almost didn't have the heart for it either, but my dear husband knew how bad I wanted to see it and encouraged us to wait. I'm so glad we did! It was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes, and still does every time I think of it. I spent all last year learning and teaching about the Declaration of Independence, and the Founding Fathers. I even memorized the entire Declaration, except for the injuries of the King. However, in a year or two when I teach the class again, I will memorize these as well. When you enter the Archives you are not allowed to take pictures with a flash because the document is so sensitive. It has faded almost to the point where you cannot read it. The picture below is as good as we could get without a flash.

Can you see the hand print on the bottom left hand corner? It is very light, but it is surely a hand print. I would love to find out the story behind it. It was so fun to see the real thing and see the hand print on it!

We had the special opportunity to walk right up to to the front door of the White House, because we happened to visit during the fall open house. It was very fun. Jacee particularly liked being so close to the White House. In fact when asked she tells everyone that was her favorite part. We even got to see the Presidents dogs come out for a short run around the lawn. In fact as my mom and Kenzi were walking across the lawn to try and get a picture of it they got thoroughly hollered at by the security lady. I was trying to tell them because I had seen another person get hollered at but they didn't hear me and kept walking. Boy did they hurry sheepishly off of the lawn. Mom did get pictures of the cute little things. I will have to try and post them later when I get the pictures she took during our vacation.

We had the awesome opportunity to get tickets and ride the elevator up 500 feet of the 555 feet of the Washington Monument. These pictures above and below are views from up there. Above looking at the World War II Memorial and on past that at the end is the Lincoln Memorial. Below at the end of the green you can see the Capitol Building. Out the north window you can see the White House and the south view is of the Jefferson Memorial.

The District of Columbia

The very next morning we rode the Metro transit system from Alexandria, Virginia, where our hotel was, up to Union Station in DC. At Union Station we caught a Trolley and rode around the District of Columbia, getting off at stops we were interested in taking a closer look at.

Kenzi, Jax, Grandpa, Jacee,(If you look close you can see the tip tip of her head.) Luke, Karl, and Granny at Union Station waiting for the Trolley to take us touring!

First stop was the Capitol Building. It was very neat to see. We learned that when the house and the senate are in session there will be a flag flying over each wing of the Capitol Building. They weren't flying obviously because it is October.

Next stop was the Botanical Gardens. We all enjoyed this stop. I have to tell a side story before I go on with our trip. When Jax was little, very little (He started speaking sentences at 15 months of age.) he loved to smell things. His favorite things to smell were candles. But, he would smell anything flowers, weeds, perfumes, clothes, anything. He used to walk around saying "mell dis." "mell dis" "mell dis" to anyone all day long. It brought back memories, and I watched with joy as he walked around still smelling each flower but being more selective in his urging of others to now "smell these".

Our next stop was the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. This was a neat place but we didn't spend much time here. There was people everywhere and the kids were not very interested. Kenzi enjoyed this museum more than the others and she was very impressed with Ivan Ivanwhich. I'll let you do your own research on him or maybe you can ask Kenzi about him. I would be interested to see if she remembers who he is.

Yes even in DC, Jax can find the wildlife. If you want to call it that. We all got a great laugh watching him try to sneak up on the pigeons all over DC. It was even more funny to watch the people around us look at him! It was great! Memories, Memories, Memories. I will only feel bad that we didn't get the pictures of him being really sneaky! Oh my goodness, so cute! He almost caught one!

DC Temple

After arriving at the Dulles International Airport and getting our rental van we headed to the DC Temple. It was late when we got there, about 8:30 p.m. Even in the dark, it was so beautiful! We kept thinking we were lost because we thought we should be able to see a temple if we were anywhere close to it. My brother, Chad served a mission here and warned me that we wouldn't be able to see until we were right up to it and he was exactly right. I have heard him say many times what a beautiful temple this was but you don't fully understand the meaning until you are there! It is HUGE- so majestic. One day I plan to go back with just my hubby when we can go do a session here. Visiting the temple was a great experience.



Jax, Kenzi, Granny Nancy, and Jacelin are standing at the visitors center with the temple in the background.

This temple is unique to any I have ever seen before. What makes it unique is the stained glass window type things that extend up each of the four corners of the temple. They have huge lights shining on them that make them glow. Very beautiful. The kids were so fascinated with them. Before we left we had to walk around to were they could crawl through the bushes and touch them. They love to touch all the temples they go to now because our stake president extended a challenge for them to go to a temple, touch it, and promise themselves they would go there someday. It was the same with this temple, but they had to touch the stained glass!