Happy 9th Anniversary!!

Hyrum and I celebrated 9 years in Washington, D.C.! He had a financial planning conference there and since most expenses were covered, we decided to go for it! Mary and Aaron watched our kids for us and were amazing~the kids had so much fun and are already asking to go back. I was worried about how Spencer would do, but he loved them (and their dogs!) We cannot thank them enough for it all.

Hyrum flew out a day ahead of me while I got the kids settled at Mary's. When I got there, he said he had a surprise~he had gotten a free upgrade to the penthouse suite at the Madison where we were staying.

It was an amazing room~I about died when I saw the normal $850 a night price on the door. It had a living room, a deck that overlooked the city, but one of our favorite things about the room: the massage chair! I seriously want one now, especially the heated lower back massage that was perfect for my pregnant muscles, but it's really not in the budget right now~darn!
Breakfast on the deck~the kids call this my "Fraulein Maria" shirt. One of my favorite things about the vacation was sleeping in, taking my time to do my hair, putting on all of my makeup, and simply walking out the door and then sitting down and eating without worrying about getting anyone else's food, sippy cup, etc.! It was a weird feeling, but glorious!

Hyrum's conference was at the Mayflower hotel, which was beautiful and full of history. I was able to join him for 2 breakfasts and a dinner there, and the food was to die for.
My all-time favorite place we ate at was the Old Ebbitt Grill across from the Treasury building~they had the best bruschetta and crab cakes I have ever had. It was our "last supper" with Tim & Meg and Jacob & Carrie before we flew back, so I was so sad to leave, but it was delicious.
The weather was perfect. It was in the low 80's with little/no humidity. I took this picture of the Washington monument when we were standing in line for tickets. We ended up getting tickets to go to the top at 9:30 at night, which was gorgeous! We ate at Buca Di Beppo in Georgetown before and were afraid we weren't going to make it, so we smashed 7 adults into 1 taxi with a crazy driver to get there in time. Fun times! :) Here is the backseat:

While our husbands were in conference during the day, I hit the sites with two other wives~Carrie and Meg. We walked our feet off and had lots of fun together. On Sunday, my friend Melanie invited us all to church with her and to dinner afterward at her place. She moved back to the D.C. area to practice law~it was so fun to see her in her element, catch up, and eat her yummy food she had ready for us.

On our way back from church, she drove us by T.C. Williams high school from Remember the Titans which Hyrum and Jacob were thrilled about, so of course we had to get a picture!
Melanie took us back into D.C. and showed us around a bit, and then Hyrum and me and Jacob & Carrie went to see Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII, and Korean at night.

Earlier that day, we spent some time at Arlington cemetery~such a reverence there for those who gave everything for our country. I could have watched the changing of the guard all day~those guys are amazing.

I also loved the Holocaust museum~we were there for almost 3 hours. It was so, so sad, but touching to pay tribute to those who had been through, and in some case, survived, the most atrocious circumstances imaginable. I have a new perspective if I ever think that my life is hard.

It was a perfect, relaxing 4 days. It was so good to see the kids again, but reality has hit hard and I already want to go back! Goodbye, Washington!

Oh, and P.S.! One of the things I was really sad about when we got here was that none of the Dairy Queens sold cherry dipped cones or dilly bars. But guess what? We stopped at a Dairy Queen in Merkel, Texas (population 2,600) of all places on the way back and guess what they have there? Cherry dilly bars! I about died. Guess where my new favorite Texas town is?