DC for the 4th!

I can finally say that I have been to our Nation's capital. Actually, now Ben and I can both say that because neither one of us had ever been to DC before July 4th! That's sad! So, I was extremely happy when Ashley and Carleton invited us up for the July 4th festivities! Ben and I thought about going to NYC for the 4th, but after Ben talked to some partners at the law firm in NY and they told him the only place to be for the 4th was DC, we were sold. So, I drove up with Ashley, Ali and Josh on Thursday, and Ben rode a bus from NY. We all met at the DC temple. Sadly, I don't have pictures of that here b/c they were taken with Ashley's camera, and I haven't loaded those pictures to my computer. Anyways, that was awesome to be at the temple where my parents were sealed. I definitely know why my Mom loved that temple so much. It is sooooo beautiful! After the temple, we walked around Georgetown, and then made it back to Carleton's brother's house where we were able to stay for free! Yes, I love it!
Friday morning we woke up early and went to Arlington National Cemetery. This is a cool place. It's kind of mind blowing to think that all of those little white stones represent a person because they go on forever in every direction!

We were there in time for the changing of the guard ceremony...whoa, they are so serious!

After Arlington, we went to see Lincoln.

And then we played with Washington...

And then we visited Vietnam...

And Korea.

Carleton and Ben at the Korean War monument.

We were able to visit the World War II Monument. This was cool for me because my Pappa has a purple heart from serving in World War II.

We saw the Constitution.And an old man playing trumpet outside the Nation Archive building.

After a long walk, we also saw Jefferson.

On Saturday, July 4th, we signed a traveling I-beam that will be part of a 9/11 Memorial in NYC at the World Trade Center site,

visited Obama at the White House,

saw the July 4th parade...hello, those outfits have got to be so hot!

We saw dinosaurs...

and I found my birthday present! Yay for me! :)

We rested near the Capital Building,

and then took pictures with the Capital Building.

Will our children have blue eyes or brown eyes? That is the question!

The Holts, Connells, and Clausses on the back steps of the Capital Building.

Ben and Carleton looked tough on the steps of the Supreme Court.

Ben and Josh waiting outside of Carleton's law firm.

Lastly, we saw some sweet fireworks! Seriously, I know a lot of tax dollars were blown up this night, but the fireworks were so cool! I've been to some pretty cool firework shows, but these fireworks literally lit up the whole sky! It was crazy! They were huge! And we had a nice view from the top of Carleton's law firm.

We saw Washington again.

We finished it off with a drive down Embassy Row and by the National Cathedral.

Yea, I was definitely dead tired after this trip! I think we pretty much saw everything there is to see in DC...it was so much fun! Between the three couples, we have close to 900 pictures! Crazy, I know! Next on our places to visit is Charleston! Woohoo! Ben and I are the only ones who have been to Charleston, so I can't wait to show them around one of my favorite places ever!