Presidential Mayhem

Last night we decided to take a walk to see the White House. At the same time the President was returning home so we got to see him drive by. It was madness. It was like the whole city was on red alert or something. Helicopters were circling, fire trucks sirens were blaring, they stopped traffic, the whole nine yards. The President has quite an entourage too (no less than 7 other cars was traveling with him). It was actually pretty cool. On the down side we didn't get to see the White House because they had blocked the road and we weren't allowed to go any further. Bummer.

Gettysberg and Mt. Vernon

This weekend our family had the chance to go to Gettysberg. I think it's one of those places you need to visit at least once in your life. It was really cool. It's wierd to think how many people died there. It's such a beautiful place. It really makes you appreciate the people who fought and died for our country and the freedoms we all enjoy. We also went to Mount Vernon (George Washington's home) It is really cool. We didn't go inside the mansion because we would have had to wait for an hour. There were a ton of people there. Here are some pictures from our adventures.

New Pictures of Rhys

Thought I would put on some new picts of the banbino! He's so cute!!

Not sure what I think about big city life!

I am so spoiled!! I've realized that many times in my life. Our little family is in Washington, DC for about 6 weeks while Scott is on a temporary duty assignment here. They've put us up in an apartment on 8th street, which is right between the National Archives and an art museum. It's also about a block away from Scott's office so he walks to work. It's awesome!!! We are right in the middle of everything. We are in walking distance of just about anything you want to see here. I've been to the Holocaust Museum, Natural History Museum, twice, and yesterday Rhys and I went to the American History Museum. I didn't finish it (it's huge) so I have to go again sometime. Another awesome thing is that there's a pool and a gym and a courtyard that we can hang out in. Also, and here's the awesome part, we get maid service every week. They even do your dishes!! I am spoiled.
There are some downers which totally throw me off though. I'm not brave enough yet to go on the metro by myself with Rhys and I don't have a car here. I haven't figured out grocery shopping without a car. Plus it's noisy here!!! The other morning someone's car alarm was going off for about a half an hour and that was really annoying. Also, we're on the 11th floor, and anyone who knows me really well knows how much I hate elevators. They make me really ill.
So yesterday evening there was a really awesome storm here. The lightning was flashing, thunder rolling, rain pounding on the windows, etc. I was holding Rhys looking out the window and I commented to him how lucky we were not to be out in it. About 30 seconds later, the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building!!! (P.S. This is funny, it took Scott about 5 minutes to get ready to go. I was standing at the door with Rhys waiting for him while he was getting all his gear together. If it was a real fire we would have burned up.) Anyway, once we finially left, we couldn't take the elevators so we had to take the stairs down 11 flights of stairs. Once we got down all our neighbors were waiting in the hallway next the the exit cause no way in heck we were going out in that storm until we actually see flames. They eventually let us go back home once the fire department said it was ok. It was just a leaky fire sprinkler.
We're having fun so far but I am still not sure how much I love big city life. I think I'm probably a small town girl.

Missing everyone already!

This month is a very big month for our family. Three of the siblings and their kids are moving this month. My poor mom... Anyway, Brooks and Meg are moving to Virginia (or is it West, I can't ever remember), Sarah and TJ moved to Ely, Nevada, and we're moving to our new home soon. The movers are coming to get our stuff this week and I'm kinda freaking out. Not that I don't want to move, I do. It's just a HUGE move for our family. I said goodbye to my sibs already and I just want them to know how much I will miss them. I love you guys all so much!! I will miss being able to see you all as much and watching your kids grow (other than pictures that is). I think you are all wonderful people and I am glad that we are a forever family. Love you!!!

A monumentus first!!

It's Awesome!!! Rhys gave me his first smile yesterday!!! I've seen him smile before, but he's not conscious when he does it. But yesterday, we were sitting there, I was smiling at him, and he gave me the cutest toothless smile you've ever seen in your life!! Probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It's amazing how exciting a smile can be once you become a mom. Life is good.

So very mysterious...

So Scott was nagging me to change this blog. I can say that because I know he reads this blog (I love you Scott!!) Anyway, Scott's job has some potential to put his family in danger if he comes across the wrong people. So I'm supposed to keep what he does for work on the DL so that no one can find out info about us on the internet. Apparently you can just Google someone's name and find out loads about them. So we just have to be careful about what we write on here so that people can't find out too much. So I've taken out any info about where we are going and any time where I typed his first and last name together. If you find anywhere I missed let me know so I can change it. It sounds very dramatic, I know, but you never know what will happen in the future and it may keep us safe one day.