Aaron's Baptism

Aaron's baptism was the week after his birthday.  And since everyone came his birthday weekend, only Grandma and Grandpa were able to make it back for his baptism.  But that was ok.  We still had a great time. Sandy and May and Aaron's friends, Tyson and Collin came too.  It was a beautiful day.  He had a great football game in the morning.  We did the baptism and confirmation in the afternoon. Rachel gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and she did an amazing job.  It was wonderful.  Aaron said he felt so warm and happy and wanted to do it again. And that night we left Seth and Ruby with a babysitter and went to the restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere.  It was a great day.  We're so proud of Aaron and his choice to be baptized.

Aaron is 8

Aaron's birthday happened to fall on the day of the Pumpkinman, so we had lots of family around for his birthday.  Sadly, I didn't get any good pictures of that. Aaron had a Reece's ice cream cake and got some foam swords, clue the game, and a spy watch.

We celebrated his birthday with friends a few weeks later when we went to Warehouse Wars and Flip n Out.

What makes you happy:  When people are nice to me
Favorite food: Pepperoni pizza
Favorite thing to do: play soccer with friends
Favorite TV show: Studio C
What are you really good at: football and soccer

Favorite Movie:Despicable Me 2

Favorite color:  light blue
Favorite song: Radioactive

Best friend: Tyson Pettingill

What do you and your mom do together: talk at night

What do you and your dad do together: play football

Favorite sport: soccer and football

Favorite place to go: Washington D.C.

Favorite animal: dogs and cats

Favorite Book: Goosebumps: You can't scare me

What do you want me to be when you grow up: GIS person at the water district like Dad

Pumpkinman

We did the pumpkin man again.  Bob and Grandpa Cliff did the full sprint and did great.  Jean, Ryan and Dustin did a relay sprint.  It's so fun to get together for this race.  Ryan brought his whole family and Kristal came too.  The race almost got cancelled this year because of the government shutdown.  But two days before, the government reopened and we could use the lake. The race seemed to be less crowded this year because of that.

Seth and Ruby's Adventure

Seth and Ruby went to Visalia with Grandma Zonda and Grandpa Cliff while we were on our trip.  We talked it up before they went so they wouldn't miss us too much. They loved their "adventure".  They went to parks and the mall and fed the turtles and swam in the hot tub and picked out Halloween costumes.  Grandma and Grandpa took them to the Tulare County Fair.  And they went down to Ryan and Venessa's for a weekend.

Washington DC

We adored out trip to D.C. We bought Meema and Peepa's minivan and drove that four hours to Alexandria where our hotel was. 

Day One:  We rode the Metro to the National Mall and toured the National Archives, Natural History Museum and American History Museum. The National archives is where they have the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Then we went to the museum of Natural History. That one is so big and full of interesting things. It took us several hours. It was fun to think about how Heavenly Father created all of those things for us. Then we went to the Museum of American History. That one is so big too. After a full day of walking around museums we got back on the metro and went to the Nationals Ballpark and watched the Nationals play the Braves. We stayed for half the game and rode the metro home.

Day Two: We drove in and went to the Capitol Building for a Nevada meet and greet with Senator Harry Reid. And we toured the Capitol. Then we went to the Botanical museum and then to the Air and Space museum. The kids liked riding the simulator ride there and seeing how much they weigh on the moon. Aaron weighed 9 lbs. Then we went to the Jefferson monument at the end of the day.

Day Three: We went to the National Zoo. It's been a while since we've been to the zoo so that was fun. Then the kids and Bob went to the Spy museum and I went to the Newseum.  Then we walked over to the White House and just as we got there they started clearing part of the lawn in front of it. We found out it was because President Obama was supposed to land soon. So we stayed and watched his and two other helicopters fly right over us and land on the White House lawn. There were men with guns on top of all the buildings around and they had another helicopter circle over the area for about 10 minutes first to make sure it was clear. We couldn't see the President get out, but it was still neat to be there.Then we walked around and saw all the other monuments.

Day Four: We went to Mt. Vernon. That was one of our favorites! They've done it so well. You really got a feel for what a good man George Washington was. We all were glad we got to go there. We toured his home and farm and all the buildings around it. And they also have a great movie and museum. Then we went to Arlington National Cemetery. We watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It rained on us.

Day Five: We went to the Washington D.C. Temple.  We enjoyed the grounds and the visitor's center.  Then we went to the Air and Space Museum extension at Dulles.  It had so many airplanes and a space shuttle.

Virginia with Meema and Peepa

In the middle of September, we left for our great trip to Virginia and Washington D.C.  My parents came and picked up Seth and Ruby and took them back to Visalia for their own grand adventure.  Then Danny, Rachel and Aaron flew with us out to Virginia, missing almost two weeks of their new school.  We spent five days in Daleville with Bob's grandparents and then five days in Washington D.C.

We had such a great time in Virginia with Meema and Peepa.  The weather was perfect and their home is so comfortable.  We spent a lot of time sitting outside on the porch or in the garage talking with them.  They have a long, sloping driveway and three skateboards so the kids spent a lot of time doing that and playing darts in the garage.  We went and picked apples at a local orchard, went fishing, went out to eat and went for walks. One day we drove to Bob's parents' graves and all over the area their family is from.