Summer Pictures- June

JD's dad works for the National Tour Association-- which means he takes us to cool stuff! We went on a boat down the Potomac River to the brand new Gaylord resort. It was unbelievable! I've never seen something so huge. We went to a special reception with real live bouncers (they DO wear black!) and enjoyed "horse-duvers". We looked like party crashers because we were cruising around taking pictures of everything. But we were invited!!
Holding the 'reserved' card looking all important.
JD chillin'A lovely flavored soda to cool me down.
This is in the lobby of the hotel. It was amazing.

In from of the Potomac River- but that wasn't our boat. It just looked cool.
Waiting for our boat.

This is called the 'Awakening'.

For Mark's birthday we went bowling upon his request. It was a blast!
Dad the-one-armed-Santini kept everyone in line.Go Mom Santini!!
JD scaring away the pins by giving his best intimidating face.
Cutie-pie nephew Carter.

Happy Birthday Mark!

DC Summer

It's been a while since our last post, but we've been SUPER busy! What a summer! To start off, JD has been working for Senator Reid for about a month. He is a part of the Democratic Policy Committee. It's been a super cool experience so far. Today was one of the big hearings. I was able to attend and it was really interesting. The medical expert that testified in the Erin Brockovich case testified today. Check out the news article!

I have been busy with my summer job. I've loved it. I help teens with disabilities in the inner-city to prepare for and find jobs. I teach interviewing skills, visit students on job sites, teach proper behavior, and how to dress appropriately. I am working for the Marriott Foundation. It's been a great eye opening experience. There are such awful conditions in DC. I've been in the area and in the schools and it is appauling that there are kids in the United States who receive such poor education. The schools floored me. Deplorable. But though the kids have no idea what proper behavior is, they are still the same as the kids in the rest of the US. They are great.

We haven't done a ton of touring yet, but have some things planned. We are just enjoying learning about regular life here. It's sooo different from Montana!

As soon as we take some pictures (we keep forgetting to bring the camera with us) I'll post them.
Stay tuned.....

JD's Broken Leg

Well, JD busted up his leg playing basketball. I wish I was surprised. After a few sprained ankles and black eyes, I guess it was just a matter of time. It's just really hard to not let him do something he loves so much. But after this, I'm going to have to hide one of his basketball shoes or pop his basketball.

Oooooo... gross!! It's one of those things that looks disgusting, but you can't help but look at it again.

When JD showed up to church like this, his buddies all got in line to borrow his boot so they had an excuse to go to church in shorts.

Gotta love the black sock and shoe!!

Pictures of our House

My mom came to visit us about a month ago and helped me paint our house and decorate it. Here are some pictures.



Our living room--curtains are on the way-- just as soon as I get my hands on a sewing machine!






















Here is the dining room. The large monkey sitting at the table was JD's decorating touch.



















A smooch on the porch. It was a long weekend to paint the whole place, but well worth it.



















The diploma wall-- the picture of the U of A is holding the place for the big one to come!




















JD has developed a thing for puzzles. The hall is the perfect place to display them.





















Another shot of the living room. I LOVE it!




















Shelves in the living room.

Presenting Mr. JD Smarty-Pants Santini

So we got some exciting news! We will be heading to DC this summer because JD got an internship with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. I am quite proud of him and know he will do a great job. It will be an exciting summer. We will live with JD's parents while JD is fulfilling his internship and we hope that there will be a lot of touring on the weekends. This is a great opportunity. It is especially neat because he will be there during the election hubbub.

JD and I are so blessed and grateful for this opportunity and I am bustin'-at-the-seams proud!

JD's TV Room

JD had been wanting a TV room with a sports theme. We painted a 'BYU wall' and hauled back a bunch of childhood things from his home in DC.

JD has a bunch of sports memorabilia from growing up. You can see his old pennants, a Nolan Ryan framed and signed baseball, etc.

More sports stuff!

Our New Home

We just moved into our first home! It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home, and we are so excited!



Our very own palm tree! We've got 2.

And we've also got a lemon tree. I had never seen a lemon tree until we bought this place.

We've even got a fenced back yard with AZ brown grass.

Megan on the phone in the rubble of the move.