our trip to virginia

note: when i added these pictures to the blog, they were in reverse order and i couldnt put them back the way i wanted them. so the story will be in reverse order also. sorry:(

we arrived in virginia friday afternoon and returned home monday night. our flight home left at 2pm, so in the morning we decided to go into washington dc to see the sites. i have been there many times in the past, but it is always exciting to go no matter how many times you have seen the memorials and monuments. they are still breathtaking. we took the metro in and had to walk more than we orginally had planned. we saw the capitol first. we were there around 8am, so none of the morning vendors were open to sell food or coffee. we walked a while before we found somewhere to eat. after we ate, it seemed like there was a place on every corner, of course. next we took a taxi to the white house. NOTE: my husband hates to walk so we took a taxi...twice. it was really cool to see the white house. i cant remember ever being that close to it in the past, which seems weird to say because of 9/11. by this point, it started sprinkling and we needed to get back to where we started from to meet my mom and dad. we then took taxi #2 to go back to them. my brother was sightseeing with us during this time. this taxi was worth it, because we were able to get more pictures taken of the sites. we got the lincoln memorial, jefferson memorial, washington monument, cherry blossoms, and the wwII memorial. that was cool. our trip in the city didnt last too long because we didnt want to be late for our flight home. 

the previous day, sunday, we spent with my grandma in maryland. we call her gammy. she is 91 years old. she lives with my uncle and aunt. we were able to visit with them for a short while before they left for the opera. it was a nice visit. jesse and i hadnt seen their new house they built. it was pretty awesome. they live on 18 acres. most of which is woods. me, my dad, and my brother took a little hike in the woods and my dad found a tick on his pants when we got back. disgusting! luckily we didnt find anymore. they have a beautiful house with a detached barn. we walked the outside of the house and visited with gammy and the dogs. it was great to see her. here's a funny story: my grandma is 4'6'' which is shorter than my brother is, sitting down! too bad we didnt get a picture of that.

mom, dad, trevor, gammy and me. jesse was taking the picture.

uncle and aunt's house in maryland

on saturday, was the reason for the trip out east. it was my cousin's wedding. she is a little older than i am and she is beautiful. she was gorgeous that day. the rain had cleared from the day before. the weather was good but it was cold. it didnt seem to bother anyone else. being from california, i am used to the 70's and 80's, not mid 60's. brrrrrrrrr. we had a really fun time. they threw a great party. it was great seeing all the family. everyone looked so good. 

me and jesse. i am wearing the "drapey sweater wrap" to keep warm. that was the name of the item listed at target. i didnt really know how to wear it or how it was supposed to go, but when you're cold, none of that matters. it didnt look too bad... i hope.

me and cousin jaime. we were best buddies growing up before they moved to virginia. i remember us trying on our grandma's wigs and pretending to be all grown up. we even have a picture of it.

we arrived in virginia, friday afternoon. we were all starving!! we met up with my uncle steve and his girlfriend, my aunt laura, and my cousin joe and his fiance sarah. all were on my mom's side of the family. it was really nice to catch up with everyone. i hadnt seen my uncle steve in probably 12 years. he looked really good. prior to us arriving in virginia, we had a layover in salt lake city, utah. when we landed it was COLD! we got off the plane the old fashioned way, where you walk down the stairs to the tarmac and then walk into the terminal. it wasnt snowing, but it was really cold. even inside the building. shortly after, it started snowing. by this point we were already boarding onto our next flight. the snow started out light then grew a little heavier and heavier. the pilot announced we were going to have our wings de-iced before we took off. we taxied out and this machine de-iced our wings and then we sat for another 5 minutes in the snow. i thought we would have to get them done again, but no. we were ok. it was crazy. we took off in the snow without any problems. thank you Jesus!

overall we had a really nice time visiting with everyone. it was great to see all the family that we could fit in. we are really glad to be back home, even though our dog found her way inside our house and left us wonderful surprises all over. thanks charlie!