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760 Square Feet

I thought I would post the picture of our soon-to-be charming new abode for those in my family who haven't seen it. We refer to it has the in-between house or the dwelling. Two and a half weeks ago when we left on our latest trip we closed on our house. We need to be out by October 15. We hope to be out on the 9th.

This lovely house (we especially love the paint job) is only 760 square feet. We will be living in it for about 10 months or so while our future house is being built. We chose this house for it's location not because of it's size. It is directly across the street from the land where we are building our house. Our land is also where all our animals are, the tree house, and the barns. The kids love playing there so they will have a very big back yard. The jury is still out yet on whether we can put our queen bed and a dresser in our bedroom. It is very small.

Alex's dad Ken just left this morning after being here for a couple of days putting flooring in this lovely abode. In exchange for some repairs and new flooring we will be renting it for free. We appreciate Ken's hard work for us.

We are in the middle of home schooling, packing, cleaning, sorting, organizing, minimizing and campaigning. Life couldn't be better though. : )

Mt Vernon Pictures

We're Back

We are back home safe and sound from our fabulous trip. Everything went great. We all had a good time. The most important thing perhaps was that we were all truly inspired. It was just what we needed. As things are going into high gear with the campaign it was wonderful to spend time together and to remind ourselves why we are doing what we are doing.

Many thanks to grandpa for running Hank twice a day while we were gone. Apparently Hank was very sad while we were gone. Our cats and horses survived our absences also. It is nice to be home again.

Now we need to:

• Harvest the garden
• Pack up the house
• Clean the house
• Clean the new house
• Lay new flooring, redo bathroom and other minor house projects so we can move into the 760 sq foot house
• Pack up everything, keeping in mind we are going from 2400 sq feet to 760 sq feet
• Move into the "dwelling" or the "in between house" by October 15
• Beat a 6 year incumbent in the November elections-This will include some 50 or so hours of campaigning work a week from now until November
• Continue to home educate our children
• Serve on Jury Duty "stand by" through November 30

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I told Alex though that if I "loose it" in the next six weeks to please forgive me and if I don't to recognize that I'm amazing. hehe : )

Sand Sculpting

While we were at Virgina Beach the annual North American Sand Sculpting Competition was being held. Our view from our hotel room was looking down on them. The sculptors had three days to create. This absolutely fascinated me. We were only able to see the first day and a half of it. It was truly amazing.

Virgina Beach

We spent three days at the beach. We love the beach. I think it is one of my favorite places to be. We always go in the off-season so the only ones ever there are seniors, toddlers and the occasional smattering of other home school kids. We avoid it during the heat of the afternoon though. We enjoy it for its power and majesty. Playing in it is just a fun by product.

Highland

The first week of our trip Olivia and Jared had an ongoing daily "discussion" on who was the better president, Madison or Monroe. They literally went at it every day. Each listed the great accomplishments of their chosen hero. Alex and I would point out they were both Founding Fathers, they were both great and it was pretty hard to declare a winner.

When we originally planned this trip we were not going to go to James Monroe's house. Olivia, since it was her 12th birthday trip, planned the two weeks. There simply wasn't time to see everything. You could spend a month in DC for example before you might see everything there. So for the first week Jared was distraught that plans did not include Monroe's house who he has a deep admiration for. He can be persistent.

So one day we googled to find out were Monroe's house was. Low and behold it was 2 miles from Jefferson's house. We quietly consulted Olivia and she agreed that the family's sanity was on the line. We planned to surprise Jared and visit it the day we went to Jefferson's home.

When we arrived at Monroe's house he looked up and started crying. He whirled around and said, "Are we at Highland????" He was so excited! This stop totally made his day. Life was better for the rest of us after that too.

Monticello

One day we were able to go to Monticello which is President Jefferson's home. This home was interesting. He built it in the shape of an octagon which was interesting. The beds were also built into the wall. The gardens outside were huge. I'm glad my garden is small. His house had a lot of great things. It was also a very informative tour. I, of course, drooled over all of the books. This was a good stop.

Arlington National Cemetery

For Sunday we decided that the best activity would be to go to the Arlington National Cemetery. We were able to walk around there with some friends in the morning. We only saw some of the headstones. We saw the "Eternal Flame" that lights the JFK's graveside. We also witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was something that Alex has always wanted to see. We also walked through Robert E. Lee's house which is inside the Cemetery. In the afternoon we attended our friend's ward. After church we had dinner at their house and visited with them.

Washington Monument and American History Museum

After the temple we went to the top of the Washington Monument. We saw several great views. After that we went to the American History Smithsonian. We were able to see a display of Abraham Lincoln that was amazing. We were able to see his famous top hat. The other wonderful display was the flag from Fort McHenry that Francis Scott Key saw "so gallantly streaming" after a ruthless sea battle during the night while fighting in the War of 1812. Seeing the flag was truly a holy experience.