disclaimer on the last post

You can really tell I was struggling yesterday. I apologize for my lack of spelling and grammar in my last post. I blame it on the migraine. I felt pretty lucky to get my thoughts out in any coherant form.

a legitimate excuse

I really do have a legitimate excuse for missing my post last week. Nathan was working with the Japanese during the recent Nuclear summit and we were TOLD that we couldn't post electronically all week long for security reasons. That being said I really don't have a lot to say about the last 2 weeks except that I am exhausted. Here is the basic brake down of my schedule

April

1- on an airplane or in the airport for 12 hours total, I am not a fan of flying!I went to my baby brother's wedding in Washington state

2-helped with preparations for wedding
3- went to wedding. It was very pretty and nice

4- spent the day touring Yakima WA stuffed into the back seat of a Chrysler 300 with my 300+ lb baby brother and his new wife. I got to see a tea pot shaped convenience store though so it was all worth it.
5- Saw the U.S version of Stone Henge(bet you didn't know we had one, me either) and way too many hours on a plane again

6- landed around 1:30 in the morning by 2:30 Nathan had a deer and seriously damaged our mini van. cleaned carpets and picked up rental van.

7- cleaned more carpets, went grocery shopping, and did laundry.

8- picked up new couch(hooray), got in-laws from airport, did more cleaning

9- Nathan went to work and the rest of us had an easy morning, met Nathan for lunch and then took in-laws to arboretum

10- Luray Caverns, seriously cool, got lost on the way out there, dang tom-tom! 2 hour drive from home but worth every minute.

11- church, and Cherry blossom festival concert for Mormon Orchestra of Washington D.C

12- Nathan went to work for a very LONG day of standing on the flight line and the rest of us went to the National mall and walked and walked and walked a..n..d.. walked through the Jefferson memorial, 2 Smithsonian's, by Washington memorial, through FDR memorial, and in Lincoln memorial.

13- Baltimore aquarium

14- out to Virginia to visit Nathan's dad's old high school and old house and the woods he used to play in. We also took in the Air and Space museum near Dulles. I got the girls space ice cream:)

15- out to St. Mary's City the first Catholic settlement in the U.S and an unexpected connection was found. Nathan has a great...... Grandfather who was one of the first settlers of Maryland.

16- STAYED home. Nathan and his dad started the process of killing all the poison ivy in our back yard trees.

17- Took Nathan's parents to the airport. Everyone was sad they had leave especially Teia. I was supposed to go on a helicopter flight over D.C again but decided I would rather not be social. So instead we went and picked out the paint for the great room!
18- Spent most of the day in bed with a migraine. I guess I just had too much fun!
here are a few pics to get you started. It may take months to get them all on here.

Love to you all

Have a great week

NINA

While the cat is away, the mice will play.

While Nina was gone over the last few days, the Girls and I (Nathan) went out and had some fun.
First, We went to the National Zoo.
We saw one of the panda's out playing.
Then we got to get up close to the zebra.

The next day, we went to go se the cherry blossoms in downtown DC.







More to follow?

Sing thine Oblations

Having grown up watching the Mormon Tabernacle choir perform at least twice a year for General Conference I sometimes think its easy to forget that there are people up their singing. They are so precise and well trained. The Mormon choir of Washington D.C was not so tonight. The concert was amazing! That being said there was such a showing of human frailty that it was thought provoking for me. This is a good thing, I think. From the old gentleman who was so bent over he took up two people's worth of space to the women who could no longer stand, whether from age or pregnancy. My heart soared when I watched the faces of the singers who knew they had gotten it right! To some people, myself included generally, it would have been a flawed performance. They had to stop and start one song twice because the pianist got ahead of the chorister and then vice versa. This only seemed to add to the performance.As the choir sang of the resurrection of the Lord I saw human nature grasping toward a loving Father in Heaven as if to say "Thank you." Like a child bringing home a picture they drew of home just for mommy and daddy. I can't wait for the next concert at the Visitor's center in two weeks, "A celebration of Cherry blossoms." Till next week
NINA

There is something so comforting about FIRE

I caught your attention with that title didn't I? For the last three days my family has sat around a fire every evening. This is largely due to the need to get rid of a whole bunch of twigs and branches. We have one those little fire pits so don't go imagining anything grandiose. On Friday night it was our turn for date night swap and the swappers made a fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Saturday night it was just the girls and I and no marshmallows. And tonight it was all of us and the a few friends with marshmallows and starbursts(don't knock it till you try it, YUM).
I love fire. I always have. The smell makes think of the mountains and long walks, cold nights and good books all rolled into one. I love to watch the flames dance with the slightest change of the breezes that blow. The change of colors from yellow to orange and sometimes a kind of strange blue tint out here. The warmth that fire gives is always welcome even on a warm evening. But mostly I love what fire does to people when they gather around it. You can complete strangers sitting around a fire in the evening and by the time the last embers die out you have at least one new friend and no is really strangers anymore.
I have decided that one of my favorite things as a child was to sit around and listen to my grandma's stories when we would camp. Last night I started telling my girls stories from my grandma and from my own childhood. My grandma is no longer here to tell the stories she loved so dearly so now it is my turn to pass those on to my children. The girls enjoyed it so much that they started telling stories around the fire tonight. We have a lot more branches to go through which means we have a alot more stories to tell and starbursts to roast.
I recommend to you all to sit down by a fire and tell stories.
Good night to you all. I am off to revel in my smoke smelling hair while I sleep. The sheets will all need to be cleaned tomorrow but what a way to start spring.
NINA

Teia's 7th

Today is Teia's 7th birthday. It is also a little known day- Pi day. It is the day that we celebrate the ratio for finding the circumference of a circle. How do I know this? My dad used to teach math. The day I had Teia my dad got pie for all his students. Teia got her first nickname the day she was born, pi baby. My dad has called her pi baby ever since she was born. This makes her feel very special since Mara was born on Flag day.
For our family birthday parties are only held on odd year birthdays so she had a party this year. We had her birthday party on Friday. She got to invite 7 people because that's how old she was turning. Only 3 came, which was fine for me. The theme was Easter(so easy huh?). Teia wanted to let everyone make their own pizza and watch a movie. Then we had cake and opened presents. It was all very simple but fun.
Here are a few pictures of the big event.

Randomness from Nina

I realized that for the first time in my life Family Home Evening has become a regular part of my week. To the point that when our company left after 7:30 this evening we had F.H.E. It is not always on Monday because of Nathan's schedule but we have had it every week for months now:)Pat on back!

Last night while making truffles Teia came in and asked what Nathan and I were making. Nathan replied "grenades." Teia went and told Mara and Becca that mommy and daddy were making grenades. I will never again call them truffles from now on they are grenades.

I have a purple kitchen.

My children give away free ballroom dance classes to anyone who will let them lead. They don't actually know any steps but they sure know how to dip and twirl.

I hate doing laundry to the point that my 8 and 6 year old do all the laundry.

I love going to furniture stores and open houses.My kids and husband do too.
Here are a few pictures from couch hunting this weekend.
Until next we meet
Nina