DC & Raleigh

{This is Devin}

In November, I had another work trip take me to an awesome location--Washington DC. Joslyn had been wanting to go there ever since we suddenly moved back to Utah. I thought that this would be a good chance. I flew out a couple days before her, presented and attended a few meetings. Then she flew out, got delayed, re-routed to Detroit, then to Chicago and finally at 3 am to DC. Whew! She still got up early so we could see as much of the National Mall as possible.

Our first stop was the Air & Space Museum

That place is amazing! You could spend multiple days in there. We settled for half a day.

Joslyn with her Great Aunt Amelia. ;)

This was my favorite part: A transparent gas turbine. It brought out the mad scientist in me.

After the Air & Space Museum, we went over to the Capitol building

We made it just in time for the last tour of the day.

The Crypt, the under-working of the capitol building

The Rotunda, it was mostly covered and is undergoing major renovations

Hello, Brigham!

The sun was beginning to set as we got out of the Capitol. There were some pretty views as we strolled the Mall.

After a brief detour because of suspicious vehicle (probably a daily occurrence in DC), we made our way down to the Washington Monument where we had a great view of the sunset over the Potomac.

We had a little adventure finding dinner. We first went to a french bistro. After being seated, we opened the menu to see the cheapest item was $25. Joslyn panicked and ran out. I got up and followed informing our waiter on the way out that we are going keep looking around for a place to eat. We later found this great pizza joint.

Check out these unique soda flavors.

The next morning, we got up early to get tickets to the Washington Monument. While waiting for our tour time, we strolled down to the WWII Monument. This was a highlight. It is so well done and really helps you appreciate the sacrifices that has been made for us. Books like "Unbroken" "All the Light We Cannot See" and "Man's Search for Meaning" really helped bring more meaning to this monument for me.

Atop the Washington Monument

The crack from the 2011 earthquake that I felt in my class at NC State

The Lincoln Memorial. I just loved seeing so many references to divine at each of these memorials and monuments. On the side of Abe Lincoln was the Gettysberg Address and his Inaugural Address both had many reference to God. 

After the Lincoln memorial, we got lost in the American History Museum. This is the only picture we got because we were so consumed in all the displays. It was amazing.

After DC, we swung down to Raleigh to visit our NC friends. It was so good to be back in NC. It instantly felt like home. We walked around one of our favorite lakes, Bond Lake, our first morning there.

We swung by our old neighbors, the Burtons, but we were only able to catch Bruce and forgot to take photos. However, we did snap one of out old house on the way out.

That night we went to our favorite BBQ joint with the Meyers, Lyons and Andersons. It was a good time with a lot of laughs.

On Sunday, we got to go to church at our old ward. Afterwards, we spent hours visiting with these good people, the Zeugschmidts. We literally lost track of time with them. We wish we could fold them up and keep them in our pockets.

The Meyers let us crash with them for a few days. They are such generous people and kids match up so well with theirs. There were a couple times that we wished that our kids were with us so that they could play together.

We also visited with the Waltons. Charlie (on the left) was baptized while we lived there. It was so fun to see his testimony still on fire.

Last, we had dinner with Whites. We love being with them and in their home to observe and learn from their family dynamics. We hope to pattern a lot of our family practices after theirs.

It felt so good to be back at our 2nd home and wish that we had more time to spend with all of these wonderful people. Thanks to all our family that made this special trip possible.