Happy Birthday, America! In celebration of Independence Day I thought it would be fitting to post our pictures of when Wayne and I went to Washington D.C. in April. The weather was wonderful, but we once again missed the cherry blossoms. We had a wonderful time and did some things that we have not done before. We stayed in Old Town Alexandria, which is a fun place with lots of fun little shops. We did not step foot in the Smithsonian's this time. Been there and done that quite often. I would have liked to go take a look at the First Lady Inaugural Ball Gowns. (Love that...Wayne, not so much!)

We did not do the White House tour. We've done that...besides who wants to see where Barak lives? We did do Lafayette Park which is across the street from the White House. I had just finished a David Baldacci book where the crime scene was set in that park so it was fun to go there and see the things he talked about.

This is the center of the park and this is the statue of Andrew Jackson. In the book this statue was damaged because of a bomb that went off in the park. I was glad to see Andrew was doing well with no damage. In the four corners of the park are statues of four Revolutionary War Heroes. From France - General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette (of whom the park was named) and General Comte Jean de Rochambeau. From Poland - General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, and from Prussia - Major General Fredrich Wilhelm von Steuben.

Didn't do the tour of the Washington Monument either. Just walked by and stopped for a photo opp.

We did go to the World War II Monument, which we had not seen before. It was quite impressive.

We did check out the Korean War Monument. I think this is one of my favorite. It is so impressive to see the soldiers walking through the field.

More of the Korean War soldiers. Also there is a wall of photographic images of troops who supported the soldier fighting. The way the stone is etched it looks as if they are ghost-like. It is pretty cool. I am so grateful for the men and women who have served their country in the armed services so that we can enjoy the freedoms of this country.

Speaking of serving their country. This is my Uncle Bill's grave in Arlington Cemetery. He was in the Marines and served in Korea. He was a career soldier and made it to the rank of Brigadier General (I believe). I was glad he was buried in Arlington so that we could drive our car to check out his grave and then drive to the other sites in the Cemetery. While we were there we went to pay our respects to President John F. Kennedy and check to see if the eternal flame was still burning. It was!

My favorite thing in Arlington is to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is such an impressive sight to see the Marines and their precision and the honor they show.

We timed it just right. While we were there some school groups had come to put wreaths at the grave and it was fun to see the ceremony that went along with that. Also there were a lot of veterans in the audience. It was a pretty awesome and touching experience.

We did not do the Mount Vernon tour. I kind of would have liked to have done it again but we didn't. We have not been back there since Wayne, Fran (my roommate), and I went back there for the bicentennial celebration.

This is Wayne's favorite place at Mount Vernon. When we were back staying with Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary, they showed us the back view of the place. They lived just up the road from here. You can always see some wildlife from this view. We saw peacocks and a deer on this visit.

One thing I had not done before is go to Roosevelt Island. It was nice to walk around the area. It is peaceful and beautiful. It is a shock to have this wooded rural area right in the center of Washington D.C. They are in the process of building a memorial to Teddy. Here is Wayne standing in front of Theodore Roosevelt, because his Dad's name is Theodore.

This was on Sunday. We went to go to church in Alexandria but no one was at the church building except another tourist couple from Utah. Apparently they were having Stake Conference some where else. So we made the loooooooong trek to the Washington D.C. Temple (only because we kept getting lost). We spent a lot of time in Georgetown trying to get to where we needed to go. It was an interesting drive.

We went to the visitors center and on our way we met this cute little lady, Sister Stubbs, who told us about a ward meeting at the church close by among many, many other things. It was the ward with all the missionary couples who have been called to work at the Temple. It was a pretty interesting ward. There were also a group of nursing students from BYU that had missed their church meeting where ever they were staying.

I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the freedom to worship Him as I please. I am grateful for the heroes of the Revolutionary War and our Founding Fathers for the sacrifices they have made. I am proud to be an American and a member of Christ's church established again on this earth.