This past weekend Tenille had a conference for her math research stuff down in Maryland. We took the opportunity to take the whole family and enjoy a couple extra days of sightseeing. We visited with our cousin Stacy and her husband Cameron. (Thanks again for letting us crash!)
The first of our posts from the DC trip features two houses built to honor God: the National Cathedral, and the LDS Temple in Kensington.
The DC Temple -
This was Nat's temple growing up. As a youth he went to to baptisms and has fond memories of those group trips with friends from the ward. This time was special, since it was the first opportunity he's had to go through the temple as an endowed member. We actually went thrice; once with the kids to show them around and tour the visitor's center, once without the kids (again, thanks Stacy!) to go through a session, and once in Sunday best to tour the grounds. Here's some pics.
When we first got in sight of the temple Grants reaction was a mix of awe and excitement. He just stood there pointing and saying "Oooooh" for about five minutes.
In the visitor's center there was a really cool exhibit of Hubble telescope images. These were displayed with creation/universe-type scriptures (think Pearl of great Price kindof stuff). Above is a picture of Nat telling Grant about bar-spiral galaxies. The caption might read "Someday, son, all this will be yours." Fitting for the temple...
Fact: Most temples have cool doors. The DC temple is no exception. Here's a picture.
One of Grant's favorite bed-time songs? "I like to see the temple, I'm going there someday..."
The National Cathedral -
This national landmark is waaaay underrated. Nat had been to DC how many times and never even really heard of it? It is an interesting blend of old world orthodoxy and new world democracy. The founders nearly achieve sainthood in this cathedral celebrating both the gospel of Jesus and the birth of American freedom.
Saints Washington and Lincoln?
The burning bush and tree of life, perhaps? These windows face each other from across the nave.
The rose window makes a striking feature, heading a procession of the flags of the states. We liked this in conjunction with a line from Washington's War Message to congress, which is etched into a side chapel wall. He sums up the aim of American freedom as being to "bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free."
A final and futile supplication: "Lord open the King of England's eyes."
Maureen's sheep had new baby lambs in November, and we took a few hours on a Saturday to make the long drive to visit the baby sheep. Grant was so excited when I told him we were going to see the sheep and goats, and he told me in his matter-of-fact way, "I want buy sheep."
Grant helped me make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I put the cookies on the rack to cool, but Grant decided he couldn't wait to eat the cookies and helped himself. Unfortunately, his first cookie-sneaking experience didn't fair so well (for mom) and he ended up dropping the warm cookie onto the floor. Dropping the cookie on the floor presented only a minor set back for Grant who just sat on the floor to eat the rest of the cookie.
Big-Boy Sleeping
Sadie rarely laughs for mom. Sadie sometimes laughs for dad. Sadie always laughs for Grant.
Afternoon church is not compatible with napping. Not only are we at church during Grant's nap time, but the drive home tends to lull Grant to sleep at 4 pm. This Sunday was no exception. We transferred a sleeping Grant from the car to his crib after church, expecting him to wake a couple of hours later. (We've learned from experience that keeping Grant up until bedtime when he misses a nap can be torture for the parents --- and probably Grant as well.) But Grant did not wake up. Nat woke him around 9 pm to change his diaper and clothes. Grant went right back to sleep. Given the fact that he went to bed at 4 in the afternoon, I thought that I was in for an early morning. The picture above was taken at 8:30 am Monday morning right before I had to wake Grant up. He sleeps like his dad.
Sadie is growing up way too fast. She's rolling over and scooting around the floor and is very close to sitting on her own.
I love watching my children interact with one another. Sadie adores her older brother and carefully watches his every move. Grant is very concerned for his little sister and makes sure that she has everything she needs. His concern for Sadie is captured in the picture below where Grant is graciously sharing Fox and fixing the music on Sadie's chair. Bath time on Sunday was particularly memorable. Grant has decided that he must help mom give Sadie baths. Interestingly enough, he has also determined that he himself no longer needs baths. Grant responded to my comment that it was time to bathe Sadie by running into our bedroom where Nat was watching Sadie and exclaiming, "Sadie bath!" while trying to pull Sadie off the bed. After a talk about not trying to pull Sadie off the bed, he excitedly ran to the bathroom while I got Sadie ready for her bath. Grant would laugh and talk and splash as I bathed Sadie; Sadie laughed, talked, and splashed back at Grant. I love watching the two of them interact and communicate without any intelligible words. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and dirty boys must bathe.
This collage captures just a few of our adventures this summer: playing with Sadie, discovering science, exploring Kirtland, playing in butterfly gardens, hiking with Fox, cleaning the car seat, and laughing.
Here are some more pictures from our adventures in Washington D.C. We had planned to devote all day Saturday to exploring museums and monuments. After dealing with two cranky kids in the Natural History Museum, we decided to walk the mile separating the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in the hopes that the kids would fall asleep. It worked. Unfortunately, we took too long walking around the Mall and the kids woke up just in time to be cranky in the Museum of American History. No one wants to take pictures of cranky kids, so we only have one picture of Grant (who currently refuses to smile for the camera) and no pictures of Sadie. But we do have pictures of happy parents when the kids are napping. 
One of Grant's favorite bed-time songs? "I like to see the temple, I'm going there someday..."
Grant got a hair cut. Here's his really cute before shot.
I really miss the long hair, but I don't miss the puddle of sweat Grant's hair created every time he took a nap. Seriously, this kid's head can really sweat!
We wore the kids out on the Fourth. Sadly, we missed the fireworks and the 4K race. Oh well, there's always next year.
I wanted to make a cute movie of Sadie smiling at her fish mobile. Unfortunately, I think Grant stole the show.
My sister already noticed that Grant's shirt was buttoned incorrectly in the pictures in the 2 to 200 post. I come home to incorrectly buttoned shirts regularly, but I usually give Nat the benefit of the doubt because Grant can be kind of squirmy.
So it's a little difficult to tell from the picture, but Grant's shorts are on backwards. Again, I think Candace gets credit for noticing this one when we got home from working on Thursday. In Nat's defense, most of Grant's pants have fake flies.
