A Presidential Inauguration

I must confess that I wasn't interested in attending the inaugurations in 2009 and 2013, but I really wanted to take the opportunity this year. Kent wasn't convinced he wanted to go because of crowds and traffic, but I talked him into it. I pointed out it was a once in a lifetime chance, and we'd only be four years older for the next inauguration. Besides that,the weather forecast was for relatively mild temperatures, which is unusual in January.

The federal employees in DC had the day off to help alleviate traffic, so we were able to sleep in and started driving to DC around 9am. Traffic was the lightest I've seen it in months, so that was a good sign. We drove to Arlington Cemetery in about 45 minutes and found the parking lot there virtually empty. We parked and took the metro to the stop by the Capitol. 

We'd been given tickets to the inauguration by a friend in another ward and they were reasonably good tickets. Everything was very well organized and the crowds weren't as hideous as we thought they'd be.

We knew where to go because as soon as we got off the train there were active duty military people directing everyone to the correct exit. Once we got up to street level there were signs and more police  and TSA officers available to give directions and answer questions.

By 10:30am we were in our places in front of the Capitol and talking to the people around us. One couple we talked to had come from California and we met a mother and daughter from Wisconsin. It's always nice to attend Republican events so we don't feel like we're the only people in America who don't agree with the mainstream media!

 Our friend, Carma Huggard, is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, so we had fun finding her in the choir and trying to get a good picture of her. We have a pretty good zoom on our camera,

 but these were the best shots we could get.

 We only saw three protesters as we walked to get to the inauguration. We were on the west side of the Capital, and CNN was broadcasting from the east side, so we figure most of the protesters were over where they could get on the news.

 Unfortunately, from our perspective the jumbo tron closest for us to watch was behind a tree, so all our photos of the jumbo tron have a tree in front of them.

 It sprinkled a bit in the afternoon, but you can see from the photos that it wasn't a downpour and we both had hoods on our raincoats. We didn't try to go to the parade because it was too crowded. We went back to Kent's office at Arlington Cemetery and rested (my legs were very tired from standing for about two hours). We relaxed there until it was time to drive Maryland to work at the DC temple.

It was a great experience--Kent had to agree it wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be and he was glad we went!!

Carson's Blessing in California

On January 12th Kent and I were up bright and early to take a flight to LA to visit the Lees over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.  Our flight was delayed out of Chicago so we arrived in LA late, then had about a two-hour and fifteen minute drive to Bakersfield. 

It was very gratifying to me that as soon as Grace saw me, she yelled "Grandma!", ran out the door and flung herself into my arms. This is why I visit my grandchildren so often!

We got to the Lee's house at about 6:30pm, in time to have a quick dinner before going to watch Grace and Sophia at their gymnastics class. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took of Sophia turned out blurry.

 Carson is a good sport about waiting around for his big sisters during their classes.

 Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Kent and Adri repainting the dining room while we were there, but that's what they did for most of the day on Friday while I played with Grace and Sophia was at school.  Here's a picture of Kent in his paint clothes taking a break with Grace.

 Carson wasn't smiling when I left in October, so it was fun to see him smiling and laughing.

 Russ's parents came in on Saturday and we drove out to see the Chevron oil fields. It was an amazing sight.

 This picture was taken near the headquarters building on the Chevron compound.

 We played lots of hide and seek with the girls while we were in Bakersfield. Here's one of Grace's excellent hiding places.

 Here are some pictures of Carson on his blessing day. He's wearing the shirt that I smocked in 1988 when I was told Adri was going to be a boy, so I made a little boy blessing outfit.

 The shorts that I'd made in 1988 were too small, so I made some long pants while I was in California and attached them to the shirt.

The shirt was a bit snug but fit okay, and he looked very cute in the outfit.

Carson was a good boy during the blessing and didn't fuss. Here's their sweet family all together.

Proud Mommy and baby.

 At three months Carson was older than most of our grandchildren have been on their blessing day, so he was definitely more alert and aware.

 After Sacrament Meeting and some family pictures I took Sophia home because she wasn't feeling well. She fell asleep in this box in the family room and slept for quite a while in it.

 I had to include this sweet picture of Grace and Carson with Kent after church.

Both the girls in their princess nightgowns loving on Carson.

 Another adorable picture of the three Lee kids. Love them all soooo much! It's always hard to say goodbye after just five days.