Temples

Here are the two temples were were able to visit on our trips. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't right to enter either, but they were still very beautiful and the spirit of the Lord is so strong outside His house.

BOSTON TEMPLE

D.C. TEMPLE

This is the sad story of our trip. If you don't like sad stories, don't read on. It was almost too much for me to bear. Take a look at the following two pictures. What do you notice different about my face? That's right, in the second one I'm not wearing my sunglasses. "Why?" you ask. Tragically I lost them somewhere in D.C. My beautiful glasses I got from Chicago last year. It is pretty devastating still! Everyone cry a tear for me.

Jefferson Memorial

All of us absolutely LOVED this quote. If only our political leaders today would have this same conviction AND SHOW IT!!

Arlington National Cemetary and Iwo Jima

Abraham Lincoln

Out of everything we saw in D.C., by far, my favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. There is such a reverence and awe for a man who overcame great odds in his life, who continued on after failures, who faced many trials and hardships, who valued our nation so much he would fight members of the nation itself to preserve it, and who had the courage to free a race. Thank you.

Korea and Vietnam

Though being part of the armed forces is not something I feel I could do, it does not decrease, in fact it increases, the gratitude I feel for those who do serve our country. Freedom is not free. We have many to thank for our freedom. May we stand up for those freedoms today!

"Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."

The Washington Monument

Hail to our first president!

This is the view from the top. They have some great look-out windows. I was grateful that, unlike Bunker Hill, they had an elevator to take us up there. I think there's a law that you can only climb up ONE set of hundreds of stairs per vacation. Phew!

Notice the color change in the bricks? That's because construction stopped due to lack of funds and other things. It took 40 years to build it.

White House and Capitol

Here it is. I should be clever and witty about it.....but I'll save you the pain of reading my lame jokes.

A Brief Break

As I post lots of pictures of THINGS I realize how much more I love taking pictures of PEOPLE! So just in case you're feeling the same way, here's a few of Jeremy. Sure the pictures are still from our trip, but no real significance to the place they are taken.

Ahhhhhh. I feel better already!

Two Roads Diverged....

...and I'd rather not take either of them.

So the first picture (courtesy of Jeremy) is of Old Beacon Hill. This is some of the last original cobblestone road left in Boston. I began walking up it for the experience and soon ended up on the sidewalk alongside it. It's so rough and uneven. I can't even imagine going down it on a wagon/carriage. Can we say ouch?

This is a picture down waiting for the metro. After riding the metro around Boston and D.C. I quickly learned that I'm VERY grateful for SLC/Utah and the ability to travel by car exactly where I want to go. I understand this way is probably more environmentally friendly, but put me behind on the wheel of my car and call me lazy all you want and I'll still be happier!!

The Freedom Trail

These are pictures taken along the Freedom Trail. I'm realizing I don't have much of the actual historical things found along it, but you're probably not interesting in those anyway.

First up: be grateful for our awful roads because it could be worse.

"That's where the Boston Massacre took places," Jeremy says while pointing at the center of the road.

Old North Bridge: leads to where "The Shot Heard Around the World" occurred.

Where everybody knows your name!

Interesting how the Bunker Hill Monument looks like the Washington Monument (which you'll see later). The experience was quite different, though. This consists of 294 steps. All of which you climb yourself. I don't consider myself a wimp, but it kicked me! The stairs are numbered so you know how close you're getting to the top. You start out great and you start getting tired and think you must be at least half way up by now and turns out you're only on step 75! I tell ya, though, coming down was even worse. Our legs were shaking from the experience and it hurt to climb and go down stairs for days after. The view was pretty though. Good thing I had the camera because Jeremy says he's never doing it again.

This is how pews were really done back in the day. It wasn't just a row. People actually had their names on their pew. I bet people got just as offended in church if someone took their pew as they do today!

On the Road Again

These pictures are just pictures. There was nothing particularly special about the place. It held no memories for Jeremy. I just wanted the picture. So here's to the stops along the road!

The area is filled with so many charming colonial homes. Ah, tender.