Visit from Friends!!!

So for their spring break my friends Whitney Cowley, Erica Heaton, and Katie Steed came out to visit me! We tried to fit everything in that we possibly could, and played until we were exhausted. The week went way too fast, but we loved every minute of it! (In this picture we are inside the Washington monument waiting to go up to the top)





To start the week off right we had a birthday party for Whitney and ate cake on the porch. (To be honest I just needed to make sure they didn't starve long enough to go to the grocery store to buy food for the week)







We started off the next morning as early as we could too see the city (here we are at the natural history museum)



















It took us a couple of nights to see all of the memorials, but Whitney was pretty darn good with a camera :) and while we were taking pictures with the Washington monument we got some pretty funny looks. Most people don't just laydown in the middle of the sidewalk in downtown D.C. to take pictures of each other I guess . . .

ON Friday we got to go to the temple, It was so beautiful and we got to hear a member of the temple presidency speak to us. To get there we had to take an hour long ride on metro and bus, and we started going through some pretty rough parts of town. I was wondering what in the world I had gotten us into, and if our moms would ever let us spend time together again . . . but luckily for us we passed that part of town before we had to get off the metro. Phew!!! We did have our bus get stopped though and a security guard came on to check for IDs. It was such a blessing, we all had our IDs with us (I don't know what I would have done had we got taken off the bus!) Who really takes their drivers liscence with them to the temple anyway?

We also got to go to Arlington Cemetery. Look at the blossoms! I love magnolia trees! I can't wait for the cherry blossom festival and all of the trees coming into bloom :)

And to top it all off, we got to go on a really cool tour of the Capitol, guided by one of my friends in my building. This picture is the old senate chamber, I think my favorite parts of the tour were when he would say, "just walk with a purpose and follow me". (I got to see some different things than I did last time I took the tour . . .)

Mount Vernon

So since I have a lot to cover from the last month I thought I would start with my favorite place that I have seen yet. On President's Day some friends and I were able to celebrate by visiting the beloved home of President Washington.








We also got to see the revolutionary war band and gun salute. So Cool!




It is difficult to even explain what it was like to stand on his back porch and look out over the Potomac and think about what it may have been like at the time. The view is incredible!

How grateful I am for all of the men and women who gave their lives to secure and protect the liberties we enjoy!