Before I divulge the details of June AND July, allow me to first broadcast my love for Virginia. This move was probably the most traumatic - if you will allow me to dramatize to all extents possible, move that the little Emerick family has ever had to make. Yet, I couldn't be any happier. I love our three bedroom apartment with air conditioning - Holla! I love living close to Washington D.C and enjoying all that it offers. I love the lightening bugs that appear at dusk and magically light the trees, bushes, and grass like twinkling Christmas lights. I love the amazing friends that we've met in our new ward. I love that we live in a city where the traffic is unpredictably annoying and yet we can pull off the street and find ourselves secluded in a wilderness park and see deer, eagles, and other naturistic creatures frolicking in their own natural habitats. I love the summer lightening storms who bring rain showers that cool the night and extend an open invitation to snuggle close to the loved ones near. It's amazing. I love, love, love, love it!
With that said.
Here are some pictures of what we have been up to for June and July:
1.) Washington D.C.
Trisha (my sister-in-law) came down from Pennsylvania to visit us for the weekend. We rode the metro into D.C. and checked out some of the sites there. My favorite monument was the WWII memorial. The memorial makes a circle and has a pillar representing each state and country that fought on our side during the war. There are also plaques with inspirational freedom quotes. In the center is a large fountain pond that everyone sits around and wades their feet. It's a really cool and beautiful memorial. There is a large plaque that reads: Here we mark the price of freedom. Behind the plaque are hundreds of golden stars represented. It's neat. We also visited the Lincoln Memorial which is just breathtaking. Then we stopped by the Obama's house.
2.) We went took a weekend and drove to Palmyra New York to visit some historical sites. Mitch's old mission president, Brother Kinghorn is currently serving a mission with his wife at the historical sites there. They were kind enough to take us out to lunch. It was fun listening to them reminisce about the mission.
We walked through the Sacred Grove.
We toured the house where Joseph Smith lived with his family. As we were leaving the house Marshall asks me, "Where's Joseph?" We'd talked up these sites the whole week prior that we forgot mention that Joseph wasn't living anymore.
And then of course we saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant. This man was all the way from Springville Utah. He played the part of a Wise Man that came to visit the Savior after his birth.
3.) Canoeing and hiking then more canoeing and hiking. On our anniversary Mitch and I found this great little marina that we now love going to every chance we get. It's so magical. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Marshall keeps his eyes peeled for the wild life. We always see cranes, geese and turtles.
It's no wonder they say, "Virginia is for Lovers!" You can't but fall in love with Virginia!