Washington D.C. and NYC Trip

As many of you know or if you read my previous post Josh and I were given the amazing opportunity to go to Washington D.C. and NYC! Josh's little brother got married in the D.C. temple so his mom thought it was a perfect excuse to do a little sight seeing! Well, we didn't just do a little we did tons! In this picture we are facing the Washington Memorial and behind us is the famous reflecting pool and the Lincoln memorial! We actually arrived in D.C. the day of Obama's inauguration! They were in the process of taking down big screen t.v.s and cleaning up! We were amazed at how many blue toilets there were! There were thousands! It made us laugh because everywhere you went there were more porta-potties! Seriously I didn't think that many even existed!

o.k. so when I loaded these pictures I tried to do it in order but it just didn't happen plus...I think this is the most unfriendly edit system! So, sorry they are way out of order and some are sideways! It drives me crazy too! Anyway while in NYC we went to the wax museum and we just had to compare J-lo's butt to mine!

Top of the empire state building! It was a beautiful day and we were able to see everything!

Lion King Broadway show # 1! It was amazing, Josh and I both loved every minute of it!
We also saw Mama Mia and Wicked!!

Our first night in NYC! By the time we drove to New York and found our hotel room, took the rental car back, and rested a little it was about 10:30 at night but I couldn't stand to stay in the room with all this excitement outside! We had this great hotel room where we walked out the front doors to Times Square! It was very convenient and so so so cool! Josh, his dad, and his mom are on top of the ticket stairs. They are these great big red stairs right in the middle of time square! The red glow on their faces is due to the stairs lights! While in NY we went to a David letterman show, Live with Regis and Kelly, the Today Show, the statue of liberty, the empire state building, 5th avenue, Broadway shows, the wax musuem, and lots more! oh yes, and we ate tons of great food!

After the wedding in D.C. we went to New Jersey for the reception and on our way we stopped in Mnt. Vernon! Which is where George Washington's Estate is! It was so cool and huge! Everything was either original or replica's of the things Washington had or did. The had slave quarters, stables, planting fields, his own fertilizing station, brewery, toomb, and so much more! We weren't able to spend tons of time here but it was definitely worth the time we did spend!

Back to D.C.! Sorry it makes me mad that I was too dumb to make these in order! This is a picture of the nation's capital! We of course ran out of time during the day so we headed there at about 10 o'clock! It was so cool though because we were the only ones there besides a few security guards! It was huge!

D.C. temple...again sorry it is sideways! I loved this temple! It was so peaceful and amazing! (like all temples) But there is something different about going to the temple when you don't have to rush home right after to relieve babysitters!

The White House! Getting a good picture was quite the task! They had large bleachers up from the morning's parade so we had to just cram into a small corner to get a peak! As we were walk around on the other side we were told that we need to exit the front lawn. As we were doing so we noticed they (security) weren't letting anyone back into the front so we knew something was up. We decided to wait around and see what was going on and sure enough about 30 mins later President Obama and his security team drove right past us! It was pretty cool, he rolled down his window and waved!

The Lincoln memorial! We saw all the memorials in D.C. and there are lots! If I posted every picture it would not only take forever but it would be the world's longest post!

I have somewhere around 300 pictures of this trip and I just got sick of posting them! For some reason I think it's important to take my pictures in the highest resolution and as a consequence it takes forever for them to load! So this will be it for now! I know this doesn't do the trip justice but hopefully when I get around to scrapbooking those 300 pictures it will! We had the time of our lives on this trip. If anyone was wondering yes, it was freezing! Oh yeah and if anyone was wondering...our kids were with grandma marcy and they loved it! Thanks lorie and rory for such an amazing experience!!

Back from the Dead??

Well we really weren't dead just so stinkin' busy! I am sure everyone can relate! I decided to stop blogging basically because I got to the point that "something had to give"! Also because lets face it...I am just no where near perfect and every time I looked at all your (blogging world people) blogs, I was just too hard on myself! So honestly, I am not a great cook, I don't have any special talents, and I am not one of those people that accomplish something great everyday!! My house isn't clean all the time...actually, we don't even live in our house yet (yep, we are still with my parents). My kids aren't always well mannered or well dressed! Heck, most of the time all I wear are jeans and a t-shirt! But, I love my life and the craziness that comes along with it!
I started looking at friends and family blogs again last night and realized that I loved seeing and somewhat keeping in touch with people. I never realized how many of my family members really looked at our blog and liked to see pictures of the kids! And I must say I like bragging about my kids...who doesn't?!! So, it's back! I can't promise any great journal entries, or great entertainment, but for sure you can look forward to the crazy memories of the Olson household!
A little update- We sold our townhouse in September and have been living with my parents ever since! They have been so great to us and so patient with our house building process. Josh has been working his guts out trying to work a full time job, go to plumbing school, and work on our house. I don't know anyone that works as hard as him! We have had some great help from our parents trying to Finnish the dang thing and hope to move in within the next few months! Oh yes, I must mention my cabinets are in and I love them! Chy-if you read this thanks for recommending your brother, he has been great!
The holidays were great! They always are so busy and it seems as though the time just flies right on by! Trey and Tessa of course got spoiled by all grandparents, Santa, and mom and dad! Josh always does a great job and he didn't disappoint this year.
After Christmas we gained a new sister-in-law! Jake, Josh's brother, got married in Washington DC! Josh's parents treated us to an amazing trip for the wedding and then to NYC! We had so much fun, more than I could even describe! Trey and Tessa stayed home and were in great care between Kristy, Sue, and my mom and Lynn!
February just flew by...and now it's March! Hopefully we will start seeing some good weather so we can get out of the house more! One day last week it hit 40 so we rode bikes around the greenbelt and it was wonderful!
We are looking forward to April 4th to go to the Monster truck show at the Holt Arena! It will be the 3rd year that we have taken Trey and I am sure this will continue to be a yearly tradition! Daily he wants to know if it's time for the Monster Truck show...I don't know if he'll be able to wait 3 more weeks!
As soon as I figure it out I will have to post some slide shows of all our fun DC pictures! But for now I better go and make some dinner...tacos!:)