VA Vacation - Random Montage of Family Photos

VA Vacation - A Moment of Prayer for the Family

While in VA, our family had the privilege of attending my dad's church one Sunday morning. And, lo and behold, during this Sunday morning service, he called us before the church congregation to offer up a prayer of dedication and trust on behalf of Paige and Taylor as well as their little cousin Courtney. While this was a special moment, to be sure, we were certainly not prepared for it...just look at the pictures below...we're all wearing jeans and dressed very, very casual. That's fine, of course, and completely NOT the point because after all God could care less how we looked that Sunday morning or any given day, but a little more of a heads-up would have been nice. I certainly would have at least worn something other than my most casual blue jeans. Ditto for the twins' attire that morning too. (I later informed my dad that out in CA, church attire is pretty casual, hence the blue jeans and t-shirts look...I also told my dad that he was lucky we didn't all show up in shorts which has been known to happen in CA where we attend church...ha, ha, ha)

On a related note, unfortunately, as you'll see from the pictures below both the fathers are missing from the pictures - Mike (Paige and Taylor's dad) had already returned to California and Greg (Courtney's dad) has a crazy work schedule preventing him from attending this service as well. In spite of the impromptu aspect to all of this, the prayer for the children was very nice nonetheless!


P.S. The twins had already been dedicated unto the Lord more than a year ago at our home church in CA, but what's the harm in one more prayer of dedication, right?!

VA Vacation - Visiting the Archives of Presidential Inaugural Parade Floats

One afternoon, we visited the archives containing a host of past presidential inaugural parade floats and let me tell you, it was both exciting and scary for the twins. Exciting because it was as if they'd just walked into this amazing, new world where everywhere they looked the largest of structures, animals, characters loomed large. Scary because, by that same token, these large animals and characters were just TOO B-I-G for little people to behold. In fact, in some of the pictures you'll see below, Paige is walking around with her hands over her eyes as she peeks ever so carefully through the cracks of her little fingers at the many sights surrounding her. Some of the floats were open for exploration and the twins had a blast darting in and out of the various twists and turns of the floats.

VA Vacation - A VIP Tour of the White House

I felt like a tourist in my hometown when I took the tour of The White House during our vacation, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and our family so how could I refuse?! While I can't reveal the "in" that we had enabling us to have a VIP tour at The White House, what I can say is that it was truly extraordinary and we were taken to rooms and areas of The White House that are typically unavailable to the public at large. Due to security and privacy issues, photographs were not allowed inside the interior of The White House where we toured, however I was allowed to capture a few select exterior photographs along with a couple of photos at the Washington Press Correspondents Room inside The White House. Finally, while I would love, love, love to rant and rave about all that I learned and saw during that tour, I will simply post a few pictures of the highlights of the tour that day...

The twins and I arrive a few minutes early for the tour so we snap a couple pictures in front of the Washington Monument. Oh, and then, we put the twins' shoes on so they're presentable at The White House.

My mom and her sister join us for the tour at The White House.

One of the interior entrances to The White House - notice the seal on the awning. This is a fairly well-known, recognized location where Presidential briefings are often held.

This view encompasses the residential quarters of The White House. What was extraordinary about this view from the exterior was hearing from our tour "guide" which rooms/windows represented the President's personal office, living/dining room, bedrooms, kitchen, etc. At the time of our tour, as we stood looking at the various windows/rooms of the residential quarters, our "guide" told us that the "President and his family are probably having dinner right about now..." And, as I looked at the windows, I could almost envision the President sitting alongside his daughters and wife over dinner. Very cool!

Inside the interior gates of The White House with the President's residential living quarters in the background.

My mom and dad inside the Washington Correspondents Press Room of The White House.

My dad, mom and Paige and Taylor's cousin Brandon in the White House Press Room.

My mom's sister in front of the podium where the Administration's own Robert Gibbs gives his daily press briefings to the infamous Washington Correspondents.

Paige, Taylor and I take the stage where Robert Gibbs addresses the press.

Taylor and I pause for a photo opp at the infamous White House Rose Garden.