Washington D.C.

Here's a quick tour of our two days in Washington D.C. First the Capitol. Even though I'd been there before, I'd forgotten how big it (and all the other buildings and monuments) are.

Our tour of the Capitol was fun; especially the inside of the Dome. The original idea was to have sculptures all around the inside of the dome. When that proved to be too expensive, artwork that looked like sculpture was used instead. I was fooled when I first walked in, until our guide explained what we were seeing. If you are good friends with a Congressman or Senator they can actually take you up on the walkways in the very top of the dome. Apparently they take their staff and interns. Talk about vertigo!

This is the very center of Washington D.C. All points in the city are measured from this point in the Capitol. The center is indented from all the people standing on it over the years.

Thanks to Jim Matheson's office, we had a more personalized tour of the Capitol given by one of his interns. He showed us a place on the floor where a cat had stepped in the wet cement. Apparently, cats used to be regular inhabitants to keep down the mice. There are no more cats, but the story is that just before national disasters people will see a ghost cat in the Capitol. Just one of the interesting tidbits we learned.

We walked all the way around the tidal basin to visit Jefferson....

...and Roosevelt. This monument was newer. It consisted of several different "rooms" to commemorate each of the four times he was elected President. Each had a water feature that isn't shown in the pictures.

The kids listen to a fireside chat...

...and stand in an unemployment line.

We loved seeing Lincoln.

The Vietnam Memorial is another one that I hadn't seen. It wasn't there on my previous trip as a ninth grader. It was touching to see the many flowers and memorials at the monument.

And it was interesting to see our ghost like shadows reflected in the names of those who gave their lives for our country.

The World War II Memorial was peaceful and the cool water was nice to sit beside.

The Washington Monument was closed for a short time just before our tour to the top. Apparently a tourist had left a backpack down below (with the permission of the security guard who wasn't supposed to let that happen). When someone questioned the presence of the backpack, the security guard didn't want to fess-up, so the place was evacuated. They were just letting people back in when we walked up, and we heard the story from another tourist. There was also a helicopter circling the area. A short while later we noticed that the streets were blocked off and a motorcade was coming through town. Was it the President? It looked like his limo and that even more than the evacuation of the monument would explain the presence of the helicopter.

We found a turtle on the grass laying eggs.

We learned the Washington Monument is stone on stone with no other supporting structure. Really? Isn't that why we had to have a multi-million dollar renovation of the Utah State Capitol? I guess they aren't too worried about earthquakes in that part of the nation.

We also loved visiting the Smithsonian museums.

We saw Wilbur and Orville's original plane with new canvas and probably more than a few replaced wood struts, but otherwise as original as you can get.

The Hope Diamond was in a temporary new setting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its being displayed by the Smithsonian. After this year it will be returned to its traditional setting.

We finally made it to the White House.

Note the sniper, security guards on the roof. No wonder tours are so hard to get!

We also visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial. Here Camille and Rachel stand outside.
I didn't take any pictures of the inside. I don't even remember if you could; I just remember that I didn't. I don't remember anyone asking us to be quiet, but it was rather silent inspite of the large crowds. The museum is very moving, powerful and truthful. I had to hustle Rachel past a few displays, though I recognized that some elements of the history could have been told much more graphically.

We saw many other cool things that you can't take pictures of: the flag that stood over Fort McHenry and inspired "The Star Spangled Banner," the very faded writing of the original Declaration of Independence in the National Archives, along with the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the room in the Capitol where Congress meets just to name a few.

We ended our tour of D.C. with a trip to the beautiful temple. Next stop-Philadelphia!

Mount Vernon and Arlington

Our first stop on our trip was Mount Vernon. This house and surrounding museums could take all day to visit and ended up being one of the kids' favorite places. I loved seeing Washington's home; he considered himself a farmer first and foremost and used many innovative farming practices for his time. It was also interesting to see how revered he was among his contemporaries. His accomplishments were recognized even in his day. No pictures were allowed inside the home, but green was Washington's favorite color and the family dining room had bright green walls. Green was also an expensive color and indicated the wealth of the homeowner. Other walls were painted blue, another expensive color.

Appropriately, we were there visiting the home of the father of our country on Father's Day. An actor portrayed Washington and did a great job of telling his story.
I was in the gift shop looking at this year's Christmas ornament for Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon creates a new ornament every year, and since our family adds one new ornament to celebrate each year this seemed serendipitous. I noticed that this year's Mount Vernon ornament had the Arnold Friberg painting, "Prayer at Valley Forge" on the back. The little explanation with the ornament said that the original is at Mount Vernon. We had passed a painting that we all thought was a copy. It was under glass, but other than that there was no indication that the painting was special.We ran back into the museum to get a picture.

The curator said "We get a lot of Salt Lake Mormons that go crazy over the painting." I told him I would be one of those. For a painting that's supposedly worth millions you'd think they'd make a bigger deal out of it.

Because we spent so much time at Mount Vernon we were left with little time to see Arlington National Cemetery. We had enough time for a quick bus tour and to see the changing of the guard which was very precise and impressive. We are so grateful for our armed forces.

Vacation 2011-East Coast and Church History

We just got back from a wonderful vacation. However, to make it great required more planning than had ever before gone into one of our vacations. It required an entire notebook to hold our reservations and advance tickets. We figured we spent as much time planning this trip over the last few months as it took to actually go on the trip! I used to think that being a travel agent would be fun--now not so much.

Look how impressed our children were with all of our efforts.

Seven people, eleven days, and we packed it all into this small pile of luggage. Just like backpacking, everyone had to carry their own stuff.

This was Erin and Camille's first plane ride that they remember and Rachel's very first plane ride ever. Or in her words, referring to how many times we changed planes, "Four more chances to die." I think she is channeling Grandma Adams!

Luckily for Rachel, other than our first landing in windy Denver it was smooth flying.

Stay tuned for the rest of our adventure.

Finally! A new entry.

My kids have been telling me for weeks to go and blog. "Mom you haven't blogged since CHRISTMAS!" "We are sick of seeing Kevin every time we look at the blog!" "Hey, I've done stuff why aren't I on there?" I never actually thought they cared, but apparently they all want their time in the spotlight. Nice to know they are humble and unselfish.

So here are a few things that have been going on around our house. First, did you know that Krysta is really the Tooth Fairy? Several elementary students in Provo were thrilled to discover the Tooth Fairy visiting their school. During a presentation by the UVU Dental Hygiene students on caring for teeth, the Tooth Fairy paid a surprise visit.

"Hello!" Krysta the Tooth Fairy said in her best fairy princess magical voice. The students all immediately knew she was the real Tooth Fairy. Who else would have a bag with a tooth on it? A sash with a tooth AND a toothbrush? And the wings? Don't forget about the magical wings.

The students were thrilled. Especially several little girls who didn't want to stop talking to her.

We have a baby...

Here's a picture of the baby at our house. The girls treat the cat like a baby, wrap her up in blankets, and snuggle with her. She seems to tolerate all of this love.

Easter weekend...

Easter brought us to St. George where we kept the Graf tradition alive by rolling eggs. I thought maybe we were beyond this stage, but no. Apparently the rest of the Graf clan were slackers in this area, so it was up to us to roll the obligatory egg or two. So we met up with Ryan's family and found a convenient hill near his old condo and let the fun begin.

The eggs had a good time I must say.

Kourtney had a great time.
And again, the eggs were all smiles. They were cracking up.
We then had a good time at the arts fair and up on the DIXIE rock.
We also took a fun hike on the hills overlooking Hurricane.

Ready for warm Spring weather?

So was I, but it was not to be. That didn't stop Rachel's soccer team from competing. See the lovely blue sky with what looks like sunshine peeking out from beneath the clouds? It is an evil illusion meant to fool one into thinking of warmth. See the gray storm clouds and the fresh snow on the mountains? That is the true weather. I had on long underwear, two coats, a scarf, gloves, and a hat and I was still cold. Rachel claimed that running kept her warm. Such is the joy of youth.

Here is another deceptive photo.

See the smallish dent in the door of Kevin's car. That was received as he was minding his own business, driving to school. You'd think it'd be no big deal, right? After all the car is more than 10 years old and if it has a dent, oh well, it's a kid car.

A driver turning left into traffic T-boned him. She later claimed it was Kevin's fault. Right, he made her turn into traffic and crash into him. But some mature adults believe they can pin anything on a teenage driver. However, once the insurance company got a witness statement from our neighbor who was fortunately right behind Kevin and saw the entire thing, and once they saw the police report clearly stating that Kevin had the right of way, they quickly paid up. That dent took out the handle and there is no way to open the door from the outside. The repair was more than the car was worth and ended up totaling it. Now Kevin is without a car until we find the time to look for an inexpensive car that also looks semi-okay. Not an easy feat. The good thing is the insurance paid more than we could have sold it for given that it had a few mechanical problems that were starting to manifest themselves.
Then his bike broke. I guess he's supposed to walk more to get ready for trek this summer.

Want me to rearrange your face?

As most of you know, Kevin had jaw surgery on December 21st. Thankfully, it went really well. We are grateful for good doctors, one of whom is even related to us! Yeah for Brian! We appreciate everyone's prayers and expressions of concern. Here are a few pictures of the event. Curt was the one who brought the camera and took most of the pictures. I was too nervous and slightly nauseous to think that was a good idea. Apparently, Kevin wasn't too anxious. He seems pretty calm in the waiting room at 5:30 in the morning.

Here he is several hours later. The surgery actually took about an hour less than the surgeon told us to expect. This meant there were no complications and all went smoothly. Yeah for Dr. Nicholls!
Kevin has an ice pack wrapped around his face. The tubes go to a cooler with ice and water that continuously cycle up to the cooling pad on his jaw. It looks more dramatic than it is. He has no outside scars; all cutting was done inside his mouth. He got to wear this head wrap the entire two days he was in the hospital and then they sent the cooler home with us. It was his best friend for a few days.

When Kevin woke up in recovery, he tried to ask the nurse about nausea. His jaw was elasticized almost shut and he was probably still a little loopy from the anesthesia. The nurse understood the word "nausea" and thought Kevin was feeling sick. The nurse's son-in-law had had the same surgery and threw up afterward. He later told her that was the worst thing that had ever, ever happened to him...EVER! With this in mind, she immediately took precautionary measures and gave Kevin a drug to knock him out so he could sleep off the sickness. Kevin later told us that he wasn't feeling sick at all. He was only inquiring about the possibility. No one thought to tell him that that wouldn't be the best question to ask in post-op!The girls are smiling because Kevin can't argue with them! He would write or use his phone to type what he wanted to tell us.

The mummy has been unwrapped and is almost ready to go home. The next picture is at the height of the swelling. This is what his face would look like if he were a burley football player.
Christmas 4 days later. Note his Christmas morning excitement. That was as much expression as we could get out of him. Rachel would hand him a present, he would open it and give a half hearted thumbs up, Rachel would take away the wrapping, and start the cycle over again on his next turn.

The first few days home were kind of rough. I felt like we brought home an old man that would sleep most of the day, shuffle around a little, and barely be convinced to eat. Thankfully, on Christmas afternoon he "woke up" and started talking more. We all were able to play games that night. From that point on, his recovery went better than I expected.
This was about 6 days after the surgery--much improvement though he still used his phone to communicate long messages.

Now Kevin has lighter elastics holding his jaw in place and he can talk pretty much as normal...dang it! :) He looks forward to eating solids in about 3 weeks. We'll see how quickly he can gain back the ten pounds he's lost. I'm guessing it will take about a week!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to our family and friends. If you've been following our blog, then you know our news and family events. All that is left is to wish you a Merry Christmas and tell you how grateful we are for you. The following song, sung by Brian Stokes Mitchell, expresses how thankful and blessed we feel this Christmas season. Enjoy!

Technology Trials

I just got a new smart phone. That's the good news. That's also the bad news. It is apparently smarter than me. Ironically, downloading apps and using the internet came easily to me. After all it's just a mini computer. However, the basic uses of a phone--calling and texting were difficult if not downright impossible for the first few days. I was used to pushing one or two buttons to make a call. This phone requires more effort and is a lot less simple than my former phone. I've gone from driving a Model-T to trying to drive a Lear Jet. (Update: I have found the "Genius" button. One touch and I talk to my phone and tell it what to do--Genius! However, I refuse to be one of those people who talk to their phones in public.)

I was proud that I found the button to set the alarm on my phone. I found it once, set the alarm for every M-F (workdays), realized that I might want to turn it off sometimes, and can't find my way back to where ever I set it from. Oh well, I have until Thanksgiving to figure that one out.

I downloaded apps with the scriptures and conference talks from the last ten years. "This will be so useful in church," I thought. Then I went to Stake Conference where our Stake President asked us not to bring our phones to church. Sigh. He's right; technology often leads to bad language as you try to figure out what has gone wrong.

I have also learned the meaning of "sync." The meaning was brought forcefully home when I deleted contacts on my phone that were just e-mail contacts and not people that I call. Imagine my joy at discovering they were also deleted from my Gmail! All my Primary and Scouting contacts gone. Thank goodness for actual paper copies. Sync, people, is a powerful force. Use it wisely.