Last week Chris' sister, Julie, and her husband, Zach, came out to visit. We had such a great time with them. They were troopers, too. It was incredibly hot and humid. I thought St. George was bad, but this gave us a run for our money. Kate was so good through it all too. Kate loved getting to spend time with Julie and Zach, they are gonna be great parents someday. (wink-wink!) Chris and I got to go to the D.C. temple because they babysat for us. It was so beautiful. We didn't take pics though but we will sometime. Thanks for coming out you guys. I will post more of our pictures soon, but this is all I could get done for now. We just had so much fun it is taking me awhile to document it all.




This is Chris and I with some of our closest relatives. Chris really liked the cavemen for some reason. They always remind us of the Geico commercials.




We walked around and saw all the stuffed animals (for lack of a better word). It was like going to the zoo. Except none of them moved they just stared at us. Kate loved it!

This is Kate looking at lion. It wasn't alive. It looked like it was growling. When we put her in front of it she kept going "ooh". You can see she is doing it right now.

That is a huge elephant behind them. It is front and center

when you walk into the Natural History Museum. It was pretty intimidating. It makes you feel really small.

This is Zach in front of Mount Vernon where George Washington lived. He had such an amazing house. When he first inherited it is was tiny. I think they said now it has 21 rooms in it. Washington's tomb was neat to see, too. He was a very humble man. In the exhibit emphasized a lot about how George Washington could have become the next King after he won the war, but instead he gave the power back to congress and went back to Mount Vernon, where he hadn't been for a long time. I had heard that but never really thought about it. It is weird to think if he hadn't done that we could be under monarch rule right now. He was a good man.

Kate and I went to Mount Vernon with Zach and Julie. I was a hot day there. This is President Washington and his wife, Martha and their two grandchildren that lived with them. That is me standing in front of President Washington. They digitally recreated him to look as closely like him as they could. It was pretty neat to get to see how he looked. They showed him throughout the exhibit as he got older.

Kate was really tired. She did so good though. It was tough being out all day in the heat and humidity all day.

This is the Washington Monument at sunrise. However, I did not take this picture. I owe this to Zach and Julie who got up at 4:30 and went down with Chris to D.C. Kate and I were still in bed. This is my favorite picture. It looks so peaceful and quiet.

Out and About

Chris and I went to Six Flags with a couple of friends two weeks ago. We had so much fun, it was Roller Coasters galor. Chris and I tried on all these weird hats. Kate thought they were pretty funny. Then we went there, again, yesterday and took some cute pictures of Kate swimming. After we went into this show and they made us leave our stroller outside. We thought we took everything in with us and also thought they guy standing there would be watching our stroller. Well he didn't and we came out of the show and all our stuff was pulled out of our bags. Our digital camera was stolen. I was so bumped out. I am mostly just sad about all the pictures I lost. At least we have these cute ones still.

Things that Kate Likes....

Kate loves to hide from us. Her favorite place to crawl is behind our chair and then she gets into all sorts of things. No matter how many times a day we pull her out from behind it she always go back there for some alone time and mischeif.

Kate favorite toy is a plastic Easter egg. It is also a big hit in church with all the other babies. Chris and I have sworn off buying any toys for awhile because her favorite toys are a $.99 pack of Easter eggs and empty 2 liter bottle of pop.

She really likes to play in the water. She likes showers, baths and especially swimming.

Kate really likes to wear shoes. She mostly likes to admire them on her feet or she also enjoys chewing on them. She hasn't learned to walk just yet, so they aren't being used to their full potential, yet.

Breaking News!

It's offical Kate has her first tooth. There have been speculations and even doubt that any teeth existed. We were beginning to wonder if any existed in there. It seemed she had been teething for almost five months, at least that is what the doctors kept saying, but about a week and a half ago, after an incredibly crank day, we spotted (or felt) one inside her mouth. We were very excited. Every baby that is younger than her in our ward at least has one if not two teeth. We decided she was just making them extra stong.

She really likes brushing her teeth or chewing on her toothbrush, however you want to see it. We are just glad she will at least let us put it in her mouth.

Spring has sprung, It's past and done!

Spring is over, but I just couldn't resist not putting these pictures up. I have been telling people how beautiful the Cherrry Blossoms were, so I decided I had to prove it. At first when we decided to come down to D.C. and see them I didn't think they would be very great. I was so wrong. These trees line the whole walkway and more. If you ever get the chance this is a must see in D.C. Of course you have to come in April or early May or else they are gone. The Cherry Blosom Festival is a big deal here. I am with Heather, Ashley, Diana, Mandy, and the adorable little girl is Bella, and that handsome boy is Mathias.

The Fourth of July

This is Kate in her Fourth of July dress. Unfortunately she didn't really get to celebrate in it, except around the house. Chris had recieved tickets for the three of us to go down and watch the fireworks on the lawn at the White House. We thought this would be the ultimate Fourth of July! We were all excited to go and decided to kill some of the time before hand walking around the Mall and through the Smithsonians. We started walking toward the White House and we heard over the loud speakers that there were severe thunderstorms coming and a tornado watch was out for the area. They hearded thousands of people inside different buildings, but luckly we were able to sit in out car and wait it out. After an hour in the car with Kate and it didn't seem to be letting up and we decided that sitting on a wet ground with a baby didn't sound like much fun anymore. We went home. All three of us ended up in bed before the fireworks even started. It was kind of a bummer. It was still awesome to be down on The Mall with all the National Monuments on the Fourth though.

This is us sitting in the car, waiting out the rain. Kate is just a little too busy to be that confined.

Pig-tails are always in style!

This is our first try at doing pig-tails. It was pretty hard to get them in, but they stay in for at least a day. She hasn't figured out how to pull them out, yet! She is now nine and a half months old and crawling everywhere. She also eats everything she can get her hands on including what is on the floor. One the Fourth of July we were getting ready to leave for our Ward breakfast and my deodorant fell and broke all over the ground. Thinking I had cleaned it all up I finished getting ready. Then suddenly I hear Kate gagging and choking. Come to find out I missed a piece and she was trying to swallow it. As you can imagine it isn't very easy to swallow and it was stuck in her throat. Not only was it disgusting but also a little scary. My floors stay very clean these days.