United States Capitol Building

My favorite part of visiting DC was the Capitol building tour. I arranged for Senator Reisch's intern to take us on a tour. He did a great job and taught us interesting facts about it.
The original building was finished in 1800, but was burned down during the War of 1812. The only part of the building that remained were some stone columns (pictured below). It was rebuilt in 1850 As the number of states increased, the Capitol Building was expanded.  The dome is made of iron, and is being refinished because they identified 1300 cracks in it. Reconstruction has to be completed by the inauguration of a new US president, so the deadline is January 2017. 
The Capitol rotunda and walls were painted by Brumidi. The pictures below don't do the artwork  justice. Some parts of the wall were left blank, so murals of great things to come could be painted. .
Throughout the day we had to go through three security check points. They tested our phones and cameras for explosives, and when we went to the Senate chamber to watch a session of the Senate they made us check all phones, cameras, purses, etc. They do this for security purposes.
Senators choose their seats and offices based on seniority. The desk on the back row of the Senate floor closest to the door is referred to as "the candy desk" the Senator in that desk keeps it stocked with candy for other Senators. Right now a senator from Pennsylvania occupies the candy desk.

                                                                      This is a replica of
                                                                       the statue on top of
                                                                       the dome. Her name
                                                                        is Freedom.

                                                          Every part of the Capitol was
                                                          painted like this. It was beautiful.

                                                     Artwork added to commemorate the US
                                                     landing on the moon.

                                             Immediately after being inaugurated, US
                                             presidents walk down this stairway.

                                               Pillar from the original Capitol built in 1800.

                                                  Appropriations Committee Room. This
                                                  is where Congress decides how money
                                                   will be spent.

This star is in the dead center of the Capital.

The original plan was for George Washington

to be buried directly beneath this spot. 

however, neither Washington nor his

family liked that idea so he was buried

at Mount Vernon.

There is an electric train system underneath

the Capitol that connects the Senate offices

with the Capital building.

                                     
                                            Cornerstone. Laid by George Washington, 1793.
                     

The White House

Our oldest daughter (nicknamed Panda for this blog) loves learning about US presidents. She was so excited to see the White House. We weren't able to tour the White House, as we needed to provide information at least 21 days in advance for a security check and we found out the dates we were traveling 15 days before we left. To my dismay, the intern that showed us around the Capital building told us that most people who submit their paperwork are turned down anyway.
We took a nice stroll around the White House. There was no parking anywhere near it, so we parked a few miles away and had a taxi drop us off. We could actually get a lot closer to the backside of the White House than the front. 
There was a huge police and secret service presence. The kids were excited to see snipers on top of the roof. 

                                                                    Front lawn

Back of the White House

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

adjacent to the White House. In my 

opinion, it was more grand 

and striking than the White House.

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon is arguably the most famous home in America. It was the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington. Many people had told us to visit Mount Vernon, so we took the opportunity. The house and grounds were impressive. We learned the land was first acquired by George's grandfather, who passed it down to his father, his half brother Lawrence then inherited the land. When Lawrence died, his widow leased it to George and when she died in 1761, George inherited it.

The outside of the house is made of wood logs and painted white, before the paint dried they applied sand to it, giving the house a stone look. This made the house look more expensive and grand than it was.  

George Washington never had children of his own, but Martha brought two children into their marriage. Her daughter died at age 17 of epilepsy and her son at age 26. George and Martha raised his two youngest children.

George Washington believed in conservation. All fences were made of already fallen trees. He to design a fence by intertwining trees together, making a natural fence. However, he was never able to make this fence. 

George Washington was a farming innovator. He rotated crops in his fields, is the first in America to have a composting area, and used left over fish from his fishing enterprise to fertilize the crops.  He also constructed a sixteen sided barn used to tread wheat. 

The treading wheat process was when the slaves would put an acre of wheat on the floor of the barn and then a team of 3 horses would walk around the barn. This would shake the wheat off, onto the floor below, leaving the sheaves. Slaves would then throw the trodden sheaths out of the barn,a nd put another acre onto the floor, repeating this process. Overall, an acre of wheat was processed each hour. George had plans to build three more wheat treading barns, but it was very expensive and at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, which meant it was cheaper for him to invest in a reaper than this process. 

Mount Vernon produced 100 different crops and became the largest distillery in America. It was also the biggest distributor of fish along the east coast and the biggest exporter of fish from America. 

At one point Mount Vernon stretched for 8,000 acres but is smaller today.

Some interesting things that I learned about George Washington include: his famous dentures were made of human and animal teeth and ivory, he was 6'2" tall and weighed 175 pounds, he died of a throat infection and was considered to be of lower Virginian class when born, but his military service and wife's money and success of Mount Vernon helped him work his way up in society. 

The girls loved looking at the old buildings and animals, running through the forest, riding a boat down the Potomac River, making a colonist hat, sewing an American flag and following and filling out a treasure map.

                                                                Mount Vernon

                                                                       Potomac River

                                                16 wall wheat treading barn

                                                                View of Mount Vernon from
                                                                 the Potomac River

                                                                Tomb of Washington and
                                                                Lady Washington

This is called a ha-ha wall, It creates

a vertical barrier without disturbing 

the views. It gets it's name from the unexpected

and amusing moment you discover it's there 

and fall down over it. 

Tea pot from Mount Vernon. The colonists

used daily items like this to show their disdain

for policies. 

Sewing a replica of the original flag

Washington DC LDS Temple

We took the kids to the Washington DC LDS temple visitors center and temple grounds. Brandon took these amazing shots of the temple. We believe that in the temple we make covenants, or promises with God. In the temple, we are also sealed, or linked together as husband and wife and with our kids for eternity. If you would like to learn more about LDS temples please visit here.

Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History has been my girls' favorite place in DC to visit. They've told me everything else is boring. Family favorites included the dinosaur hall and butterfly hall. I enjoyed seeing the Hope Diamond. The girls got to participate in a hands on exhibit where they wore bird masks and mimicked pollination. We learned that birds, bees, bats and even geckos help pollinate fruits and vegetables.

Goodbye's are sad

Why is it that someone has to move or die that we really recognize how much they truly mean to us?
Our friends and neighbors have a bulldog named Molly that my kids adore. Because of some extenuating circumstances they had to give Molly away this week. Before Molly left they invited the kids over to say goodbye. As we left their home, our middle daughter told me (insert adorable little voice) "goodbye's are sad". She is right. It is sad to say goodbye. And we've had a bitter sweet week saying goodbye to many dear people this week.
Although we can stay connected via skype, wechat, Facebook (if I VPN in) and other forms of social media, it's not going to be the same. We are going to miss out on a lot. That's sad. 
When our visit was coming to an end with my grandma and aunt last weekend, I burst into tears. Although I was embarrassed and my kids kept asking what was wrong, I took it as an opportunity to teach them that it's ok to feel these emotions and to express them. And boy have they been expressing a lot of sadness this week. But we've had some tender moments that I'll forever cherish talking about what it means to move and be away from our family and friends.
We have been blessed with amazing family and friends and I wish I had the time and could hold in my emotions in long enough to express to them how important they are and how much I'm going to miss them. 
I almost got out of Boise without  tears until our dear friends, the Colt family came bearing treats and singing one of my favorite humns: "God Be With YouTill We Meet Again".
Saying goodbye this week to so many dear people has  taught me to live in the moment more, meaning  to offer my thanks, love and support more often to those around me.
May God be with each of you until we meet again and "keep love's banner floating o'er you."

Road Trip

  The girls and I went on a road trip to Salt Lake City, Utah last weekend. It started as the road trip from %#**. A half hour into the ride, the oldest threw up. A while later the youngest opened the car door (while the car was moving), and after that the same youngest child got a piece of candy corn stuck up her nose so I had to pull over, grab my tweezers and pull it out. Luckily we all arrived to grandma's safely. I hope our plane ride to Washington DC and our 25 hour ride to China are less eventful.

On Saturday morning we woke up early to run a 5k as a family. The race was called a "Bubble Run" which was basically running three miles and every once in a while running through a big frothy car wash. We had a blast. 

After the race I was able to attend my sister-in-laws bridal shower. We are so excited for her upcoming marriage. 

We ended our weekend in Firth, Idaho to visit with my Grandma and Aunt Jo. We are lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

My siblings and I before the race