Happy 90th, Grandfather!

God has been so kind to you.  

Ninety years; what a full life you have lived.

We praise Him for your earthly life, but even more so for your life in Christ.

He has loved you, redeemed you, and sustained you.

Thank you for leading us, loving us, serving us, and modeling Christ in our family.

We wish we could be there to celebrate with you all week!

Have I told you today that I love you? 

We do all love you and look up to you, just like she does.

Happy 4th of July!

Mark closed the church offices until 1 pm today in honor of the gorgeous, unseasonably cool weather that we've had this week!  It was such a treat to have Nick with us this morning.   We headed down to the mall for a picnic right between the Lincoln and Washington and in the middle of the White House and the Jefferson.
 It was a great spot in the shade under the tree the boys love to climb.  

Since I leave again on Friday for another work convention, I thought I'd go ahead and post these a little early.  I'll be back on Monday, and then on Tuesday we plan to go to the Capitol Lawn for the dress rehearsal concert for the 4th and then on the 4th we will celebrate by watching the fireworks from the CHBC rooftop.
We hear that you can see the District fireworks, the Virginia and the Maryland fireworks from there.  Exciting!

Mom's Retirement Party

Mom retired in May after 36 years of teaching!  

We are SO excited for her!

She's not the kind of person who would want a big party with teachers and friends and such,

so we threw her a little party with her grandchildren and I think she liked that best.

We surprised her with dinner and cupcakes and Dad got her a Macbook Air.

Woohoo!

Tour of the Capitol

My cousin, Maddie, is here as a Senate Intern for a Louisiana senator

and she gave us a tour of the Capitol yesterday.

It started out with lots of excitement - we got stuck in an elevator in the Hart Senate building and ended up pushing the call button to get help.  The kids did great as we waited to be rescued.

It was a fun memory!

Then we rode the little train underground to the Capitol and had a perfect-length tour; given that we had three kiddos and it was lunch time.  Even though we had all been before; it just never gets old. 

We actually had a tour on a visit to DC just before we were pregnant with Elijah with Mom, Dad and Leighton.  It's amazing that we had three kids with us this time!

 And the kids loved being inside the dome.

Nick had the day off after his travels last week, so we scheduled it for him to go along with us!

This is the plaster model of the Statue of Freedom that's on top of the Capitol Dome.  It was used to make the bronze that's now on top of the dome.  This is the actual size.  It was neat to read all about her.

Standing on the "Good Luck Star."

Yes, we reverted back to our old tourist ways.  

The old Senate Chamber.

We stood on the "Whisper Spot" and heard voices from the other side of the room.

We had the best tour guide ever!  

Thank you for doing this for us, Maddie!

And actually, Molly is also here as a Senate Page.  

We were going to get passes to see her on the Senate floor, but they weren't in session on Monday.  Bummer...   

It has been SO fun having both of them here this month!

Papa and Nana C's Visit

Here's my latest excuse for not blogging...

Papa and Nana C came to visit us, and we packed in the fun!

 These albums don't capture all of it, of course, but here are a few of the highlights of the week.   

We didn't get to celebrate Christmas with the Roark family, since we moved right after Christmas.  So they brought our gifts and we had Christmas one night; complete with a ham for dinner and presents for dessert!

Pictures of our Christmas Night:

We went on quite a few walks and they went with us to our weekly gymnastics hour.

Park and Gymnastics:

We went on a double date to Founding Farmers for dinner (thank you, Lindsey!)

and Nick and I went on a date to Lauriol Plaza (thank you, Papa and Nana C!)

I wish I had pictures of those nights, but I don't.   Sad!

On Saturday, it was a gorgeous day and we headed to Eastern Market,

then the Botanic Gardens, then to the Natural History Museum, and finished it off with Good Stuff burgers, which never disappoints!

Saturday's Outings:

We loved our visit, and we're so glad you got to visit our new home, church, school and city!

DC Visit

We took a weekend trip to DC to let the kids see the area and get an idea of where we will be.

John and Jessica hosted us in Georgetown, and they went all out.  

Everything they did for us was amazing.

Thank you for giving up your weekend to host us, and for loving on our kids.

We got there Friday after lunch, and put Emmaline down for a nap.

We hung out at their house until Jessica got home and John had to go to a meeting.

So they swapped and Jessica made dinner for us.

Taylor and Lindsey joined us, and we made caramel apples after dinner.  

Jessica has a great recipe for caramel, and she had toppings for the kids to decorate their apples.

We saved ours for after they went to bed, and they were sooooo yummy.

The boys slept in their 2nd bedroom on a futon with their sleeping bags.  

We never heard a peep from them; they did great.

Emmaline slept in their laundry room in a pack n' play and she napped and slept wonderfully as well.

That always makes a trip so much more enjoyable...

Before dinner, we walked John to his meeting all bundled up;

 Friday night was the chilliest time of the weekend.

It was a fun, brisk walk.

I guess it was also the kids' first walk in DC!

Here's Mr. GQ on his way to his meeting.

Jessica gave Emmaline "Madeline in the White House" -- how thoughtful and perfect is that!?

On Saturday, we woke up and had Jessica's delicious homemade cinnamon rolls.  Mmmm!
John had to go to a conference, so we drove our van to his parking garage,
then walked to the closest Metro station.  

The kids rode the Metro for the first time!

Jessica did such a good job of teaching them how to stand/ride the escalator on the right, and how to get on and off the Metro quickly and all of that public transportation etiquette.

We hopped off near the Smithsonian museums and started walking...

Hudson pointed out "The Pencil!"

The museums weren't open just yet so we walked to a Starbucks and got some drinks and had a little snack break then we headed to Air and Space.   The kids loved it.

Jessica treated them to some Space Ice Cream!

Then we walked towards the Capitol and zipped into the Botanical Gardens, which were gorgeous.

The boys liked it so much more than I thought they would; there were so many neat plants to see.

Passing the Capitol...

It was such a gorgeous day.

We headed to Good Stuff for lunch.

They're known for good burgers, spiced-up fries, and milkshakes.

It was a winner.

While we waited for our food, the kids watched the pizza guys next door.

They'd spin their dough in the air and show off for them.

Hudson started whistling to them, and they'd whistle back and laugh.  

It was so cute.

At this point, we were close to the church (CHBC) so we decided to walk over there.

I had fun swooning over all of the gorgeous doorways and colorful doors.

This pic would be so much better if I took the time to straighten it...

We played on the church playground and then headed back to Georgetown for naps.

After naps, the Hardins gave the kids some gifts, 

which were totally unnecessary but so fun and thoughtful.

They gave them a Gator Golf set, which is perfect, since John is a great golfer.

They also got some crazy mustaches.

Yikes.

Jessica cooked another amazing meal, and while it was cooking, the two of us walked to Georgetown Cupcake and picked up cupcakes for everyone.   She was a smart local and knew to order them online ahead of time, so we waltzed past the line that wrapped around the block and went right in!

John and Emmaline watched a little Madeline while we finished up getting dinner on the table.

Jess made ribs, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and homemade rolls.

It was as awesome as it sounds.

On Sunday, we drove over to the church and the kids went to Praise Factory and childcare

then we had lunch at the Dever's house (which is right behind the church).

The kids did great, and loved the soldier hats that Ms. Connie gave them.

Then we headed back to Raleigh with Taylor...

bless her heart, she had to sit next to Emmaline who did not take a nap all day.
I hope she will still be friends with us.

We are so excited about the journey ahead of us, 

and getting to meet some new people

and worshipping there,

and showing the kids around

just makes us even more excited.

Thank you for such a sweet weekend, John and Jessica.

And here are more pics...