Lambie Cake

Here are just a few pictures that we have taken so far today of Savannah's birthday. My Internet is being weird, so this is all I am going to do today!

Happy birthday Savannah!

Just a little note, we have a tradition of giving the birthday baby a lambie cake for their disposal!

"Bottom hair"

I laugh out loud every time I think about this little conversation Jackson had with his Grandpa when he was here a week ago. It went like this...

J: "Grandpa, you have no top hair?"

G: "nope"

J: "You only have bottom hair?"

J: "Grandpa, you have big tummy? Can I touch your tummy?"

We teased Grandpa all day about his "bottom hair"!

Dad, you are so wonderful. We are all missing your "big tummy" and your "bottom hair". I am sure needing one of those hugs from you right now. We love you so much, and we miss you more that we can express.

Manassas

Wow!!! What an amazing piece of history! We went to this battle field for the second time this week and we have barely touched on this horrible but so incredible part of the American Civil War. I am going to have to revisit this place.



On this land, 5,000 soldiers died in the first battle and 2,500 in a second battle, fought 13 months later.



This house was actually destroyed. From what I understand, there was only one civilian casuality in the whole 4 years of the war, and it took place in this house. It was an older woman who refused to leave her house when she heard the armies marching toward her. The two sides collided right in her front yard. One of her slaves was hit with a bullet, but she survived. Another slave hid in the fireplace, and spent the rest of her life deaf. The family returned after the battle to find their house in ruins and their elderly mother dead on her bed. Sad. The confederates actually stripped the house later, I am not sure why. All that was left was the foundation and the stone fireplace. The house was rebuilt.



The land was just breathtaking. It was hard to imagine that the bloodiest battle in American history took place on this very spot.



This is where Stone Wall Jackson emerged from the trees. His men had almost lost hope, when he entered the field sitting tall and sure on his horse. It was here that he was given the name of "Stone Wall Jackson", and the confederates ended up winning this battle, even though they lost the war.



The museum on the property also had some really interesting things. There were swords and bullets that were found at the site, along with many other things. One thing that left an impression on me was the coat of a 17 year old boy that was shot in the shoulder minutes into the battle. On his coat you could see the hole from the fatal shot. I read about how the men and boys were very optimistic about war...their daydreams were shattered quickly when reality set in.

I am glad we could see these lands for the beauty they hold, and not the death they were once blanketed with.

A Light in the Darkness

Sunday night we took the kids to the DC Temple to see the lights. We also had a cute neighbor who was playing "Mary" in the live nativity. It was really neat to see the nativity acted out and see all of the beautiful lights. I just really missed the Utah snow that we usually encounter at Temple Square. I won't complain though because the truth is...the cold usually discourages me from taking the kids to Temple Square and this night in DC it was in the high 50's. Just perfect! We were all sweating in our coats!





We caught this photo driving down the road after leaving the Temple. I love the way it shines through the dark silhouettes of the trees.

If Trees Could Talk

I fell in love with Mount Vernon. I even dreamed about it that night... ball gowns and carriages! So far, I think it is my favorite place we have visited. During the month of December the third floor is open to visitors, so we were able to see where Martha Washington spent her last two years of her life before she passed away. When George Washington died, Martha closed the door to the room that they shared and moved upstairs to a bedroom on the third floor where she could see his tomb from her window. She died two years later. I just thought that was so romantic. They wouldn't let you take pictures inside the house...I wish I could have though. It was amazing.




This is the same view George Washington saw from his porch 200 years ago. The tree in the picture is one of two original trees on the back portion of the house.


This is the Tomb where George and Martha are buried.



George often paid for a camel to stay on his property for the Christmas season.





The visitor center had 13 themed trees decorated. Jacob couldn't leave the ornaments alone. We had to get out of there fast. It was a wonderful day. We spent about 5 hours looking around the farm, and even saw a fox. (Tehya had a nightmare about being eaten by a fox with glowing eyes that night...exciting!) I told Chad that we are going to have to buy a year pass there...and if you come to visit us, just plan on making a trip to Mount Vernon. All the paint in the house is original and so is 40% of the furniture. The house has such a grand feeling to it...just imagine all of the important decisions that were made within those walls...

One more thing...

If you do get to watch it, look for the poor guy who has to stick a huge thermometer up his nose. I felt so bad for him...the things we do for money!!

He's on TV!

So tonight Chad and I went to his bosses house to watch a thingy, (I don't know what to call it), but anyway, National Geographic did a story on what Artis has been working on. It was so much fun to see him on TV. I feel bad though because I didn't tell anyone about it...so now I am telling you about it. It was entertaining to see Travis Poulson (my cousin), and other of Chads friends on TV. Good job boys! So now, you can watch it too! It is replaying a few more times:
Saturday Dec 6, 2 pm
Thurs Dec 11, 5 pm.
Now these are Eastern times, just so you know. It is playing on the National Geographic channel. They didn't go into much detail on how the system works, but it is really interesting. I am proud of those guys for creating something that can save lives. It was a good 2 minutes of fame, now back to work! Let me know what you think...