DC trip

A couple weekends ago Jake and I took a trip to DC to meet up with my brother Dan and his wife Amy to enjoy the nations capital...without kids!  A million thanks go out to Amy, who deserves all the credit in her amazing ability to plan and book us some fantastic tours...and for letting us crash their getaway for a few days.  And another million thanks to our babysitters who were willing to take 3 kids into their home.  They were very brave!

Our first tour was of the White House!  I've been told it isn't very easy to get these tours.  Very cool!!!  It was fun just to be able to say I was inside!  We were not allowed cameras inside, but it was great to see some of the rooms.  The green room, blue room, red room, the library, the dining room and the east room where many presidents' bodies have laid in state.

We spent a good 3 hours in the American History Museum.  Loved every second of it!

 Dorothy's red slippers

 Headstone of the first Nauvoo temple...before the fire.

Jake and I escaped that afternoon to go to the DC temple.  It is not easy arranging to get in to Manhattan to visit our temple there, so we took advantage of this opportunity.  So lovely!!!  One of the prettiest temples in my opinion and the colorful glass from the inside is stunning!  Too bad the traffic on the way home pretty much killed the peaceful feeling :)

The next morning we toured Ford's Theater where Lincoln was assassinated.  Being so close to history and learning so many details of this tragic event...I wish I had adequate words to describe how neat this was.

 The house they took Lincoln to after he was shot

 All the books written about Lincoln.  What an amazing man!

Then we had a personal tour of the Capitol building.  I think Amy got these tours through the Utah Senator.  We had to go into the building next to the Capitol to pick up our tour guide and then we went underground to get to the Capitol.  It was fun to feel kind of important.

 Hard to capture the rotunda

Library of Congress.  What a beautiful building!  It was also fascinating to see Thomas Jefferson's library/collection of books.  Reminded me a little of my grandpa :)

On Saturday we drove out to Mount Vernon.  And had a heck of a time trying to find it with google maps and apple maps.  But we made it in time to tour the inside of his George Washington's estate their.  It was really great to get to know this man a little more personally as well.  He had quite the operation up there with his farms and slaves, from growing their own food to making their own tools and clothes, everything.  I also loved how he opened up his house to any visitor.

 And you can't beat a view like that!  Yeah, I could retire here as well...no problem.

That afternoon we came back to the city and did the Holocaust Museum.  That was an overwhelming, emotional experience that was hard to swallow and hard to describe.

And we finished off our stay admiring the amazing monuments:

 Jefferson monument

 Lincoln Monument

Jake and I have been to DC a couple of times but this trip was completely different!  Being able to take time to read the plaques and soak it all in without distraction, made for a rich experience that we really appreciated and will never forget.

It was also great to be able to spend quality time with two of my favorite people!  Thanks again guys!