A Simple Photo 3

This is my nephew Alex and I when I went and visited them in Georgia in March 2010. We had just eaten dinner at Red Robin, and the boys (twins Alex & Aidan) were kind of being stinkers. While we were waiting for our check, I told Shari that I'd take Alex and Lilli out to the car. It had rained like crazy earlier that day so there were puddles everywhere. Instead of getting into the van we decided to jump in the puddles. Lilli had a blast and we had to do our best to keep her from going into the street. Alex thought it was hilarious when we would jump in them and he got laughing pretty hard. It was so much fun, and one of my favorite parts of my trip.

A Simple Photo 3

 This one comes from about 16 years ago. This is the only "professional" family picture that we had taken of all of us. Isn't it awesome? Oh gosh, my hair, and my overalls! Wow. Not to mention Shari's bangs, and Kennan. Then there is McKenzie who informed me that the reason her hands are like that is because I kept smacking her hands down. Isn't it so funny? When I went home for Christmas, we visited Grandma, who is apparently the only one who has a copy of this photo. We sat around and just laughed at each other and how different we look. Dad has wanted to recreate this photo for some time now, so with us all being home for Christmas, we took advantage. Now keep in mind, none of us were prepared for this, and it was pretty late at night. The photo was about what we expected.

We haven't changed a bit, have we? We all had a good laugh at both photos. One thing that I am so grateful for now days is the ease of being able to take photos. I so wish that we had more photos like these from when we were all younger. We could have some really great laughs. I fully intend to take lots and lots of pictures of my family as they grown up, and want to take some form of  "professional" family photos at least once a year (or at least every few years) instead of waiting sixteen years, though we do have some family photos from weddings, though they aren't the same. I just think about what a treasure photos are. Without them, how else would we remember all these fun things, and recreate them?

A Simple Photo | 01.21.14

 

(Me in front of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC. I forgot what that building was and spend 30 minutes googling different things to figure it out. I finally got it!)

When I was little, my Aunt Marcie was a nanny in Boston. We would write letters back and forth and she would occasionally send me pictures. One time she took a trip to the Washington DC temple and sent me the most beautiful pictures of it. From that day on, it became my favorite temple, and I swore that I would visit it someday.

Fast forward to my junior year of high school, and there was a boy that I met when I went to visit my sister Shari up at BYU-I who was serving a mission in the Maryland area. We wrote back and forth, and he too sent me some beautiful pictures of the DC temple and the Baltimore area. It made me want to visit that area even more.

Fast forward another seven or so years and my sister-in-law Adrienne and her husband Mark moved out to Virginia, and I hoped and hoped that I would get to visit them sometime. I finally got my wish, and in November of 2011, I flew out of SLC with my in-laws. I was beyond excited. While I definitely wanted to visit the DC temple, I just wanted to see the DC area. I was lucky enough to get to do both. The temple was absolutely beautiful. We went at night at got to see it all lit up. So pretty. Then we were able to spend a day in DC itself. It was beyond amazing. There is so much history there, it was unbelievable. I could have spent a lot more time there. One day just doesn't cut it. Just walking around the museums was an adventure, but to see the architecture there and all these buildings that you only see on TV, incredible. I didn't want to leave. I didn't get to see enough, but the memories I have of that place are amazing.

I hope to be able to visit there again someday, and be able to see everything all over again, plus the places that we missed. I want to learn more about the history of our country so it will mean all that much more. I also want my future children to be able to experience it and to have fun adventures with their parents that they, too, will cherish forever.