Sunday, January 2, 2011

Fall in DC

We got the awesome opportunity to attend a symposium on religious education in America. Mom Santini went for work and we tagged along. It was held at the Newseum in DC and there was an amazing view from the balcony.




It was a fascinating panel discussion. The guy on the far left is President Obama's adviser regarding religious matters, then the next guy is a contributor to MSNBC regarding Muslim issues, the next guy is the president of University of Utah, I think the next guy is some important rabbi, and I can't remember the last one. 

JD took me to Great Falls. When you look at the beauty of the river, you'd never know that just over the trees is DC.



A snapshot of the fall leaves

Enjoying a local corn maze.

The mailboxes contained clues as to how to get through the maze.



More leaves

Playing at Crumland Farms




Rope maze- I got lost




Another event we got to tag along to- the SVU fundraiser dinner. They had a chocolate bar at every plate. I was able to make it out of there with about 5 chocolate bars. I'll do what I've got to do to get the chocolate.

Another tag along event- this one was to a fundraiser to raise money for an epic film called End of an Empire. There are some really incredible people involved in producing the film, including the guy who did the special effects in Avatar.



And to end this post- a really cool picture of the capital that JD took.

Summer Fun in DC Part 2

We got to go to Samantha's (niece) surprise 16th birthday party. She was so surprised that she started crying. It was really cute.

Taylor in the middle of captivating all her friends with the daily gossip.

The party was so cute- Hawaiian tiki torches, lights, Chinese lanterns, and all manor of cuteness.

Fort McHenry

Going into the fort.



Where they held prisoners






This is where they kept the gun powder and weapons.




There's never been a sports museum JD hasn't liked.




Where Babe Ruth was born

Boise State v. Virginia Tech game



The game was played at the Redskins' stadium

We got the privilege of getting a private tour of the White House by Senator Bennett's wife. She knows so much about the history of the building as well as is good buddies with a lot of the secret service personnel. She gave us the inside scoop. 

We also went and took a tour of the Pentagon. There were no pictures allowed, except for in the lobby.

This is the memorial dedicated to those who died on Sept. 11th.