A Visit from Dad & Dedee

My dad & Dedee were able to come visit last weekend. It was so nice to have them here and we had a great time.

Friday:
Our first visit to the Washington, DC Temple to shoot some pictures. It really is an amazing building. We feel blessed to live so close to it. It is surrounded by woods and beautiful nature, so that you don't even notice that the I-495 is only feet away. The butterfly was showing off for us.
Nick was working, so the rest of us drove down to Virginia to see the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
This is a different A&SM than the one in DC. It is a huge hanger that houses actual airplanes, helicopters and even a space shuttle. I was pleased to find a place to visit that Dad & Dedee hadn't been to before, and since dad's a pilot, it was a perfect match!

This is the "Enola Gay" aircraft which dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan.

Small planes doing some tricks in the air.

This is the Fulton Airphibian. It was marketed as plane-to-car model. Pretty crazy. Skip the airfare and the car rental with this bad boy!

This is a shot of the nose of the Concord. It is HUGE!

Dad and me standing under one of the wings of the Concord.

The Lockheed Blackbird. This is one awesome looking plane. In 1990, it "set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds".

We love the Blackbird!

One of my very favorites, the Space Shuttle Enterprise [insert joke about Cpt. Picard here : )]
This shuttle is simply a testing model, but it's still incredible to see.

The observation deck faces the Dulles Airport runway. You are usually able to watch planes take off and land. Sadly, there was no action on the tarmac for us : (

Dad telling us what all of the crazy symbols mean on the control screens. Man that's a complicated map.

Saturday:

Restoring Honor Rally

It was incredible to be a part of this rally. Nick and I certainly wouldn't have gone on our own, so thanks, Dad, for taking us along. There is something special about being part of such a large group of people who are trying to do good things. It was a time to honor the soldiers who continue to fight for our freedom, to honor the families of those soldiers who sacrifice in ways we rarely see, and to remember that this country is a gift from God and should be treated as such.
It was a really hot day, and it was hard to stand for that long in the crowd of people; but we made it down to the reflecting pool, which was our goal. We were close to a monitor, so we were able to see and hear what was going on quite well. Here are some pictures of us and the crowd. Some aerial photos can be seen online now that show most of the crowd, though I don't think any of them have captured everyone from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.

One lesson I learned from this is how untrustworthy news reporting has become. It was incredible to come home and listen to what was being said on various news programs, and to know for myself what had really happened there, how many people were there, how the crowd acted, and what was said in the program. It is sad that people will twist things into whatever they want to support their own agenda, no matter how untrue it may be. With reporting like that, how can citizens ever hope to put good people in office and make changes for the good of society?The metro was of course very crowded afterward. We avoided it until many hours after the rally. We went to some of the Smithsonian Museums, then met Nick at his office.The Smithsonian Castle. This is a visitor's center and is a good place to start your visit. Since there are so many museums to see, and it would take forever to see everything, this is a great place to be introduced to the museums and help you see which you might want to go visit.

This is a piece of petrified Cedar wood hanging in the Castle. It is incredibly beautiful.
Do you think Santa could give that to me for Christmas this year?

This photo is from the courtyard of the American Art Museum. It was our first visit there. They are currently showing an exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings from the private collections of Steven Spilberg and George Lucas. I have always had a soft spot for Norman Rockwell ever since studying art in Mrs. Delling's 5th grade class.

We saw the Star Spangled Banner Flag, housed at the National Museum of American History. We also saw these American gems:

Bon Appetit! Julia Child's kitchen.

This is for you, Nicole! Carol Burnett's famous costume from the skit "Went With the Wind". If you haven't already seen it, click here.

Dumbo! Perhaps actually ridden by dad as a little kid at Disneyland.

Dorothy's ruby slippers.

My favorite - Kermy! He's even cuter in person.

Too bad there was glass in front of Archie Bunker's chair. I'm sure Dad was dying to sit in it and make some politically incorrect joke ; )

Abraham Lincoln's top hat.

Waiting for the metro.

The entrance of Nick's office.

Nick at his desk. We need to do some serious decorating in there!

That's the end of my pictures. On Sunday, we went to church, then stopped at the Temple Visitor's Center where they have an exhibit of bronze statues depicting events from Christ's life. After that, it was dinner, games and a little karaoke (don't worry Dad, I won't upload the video exposing your awesome falsetto. It will be our little secret!)

Thanks, again, for coming to visit. We really enjoyed having you here and look forward to your next visit!