James Madison's Montpelier

On Thursday, 7 July, Cody and the kids (Heidi was at Girls Camp) visited Montpelier, James and Dolly Madison's home in Orange, VA. James Madison, considered the "Father of the Constitution" let Kjersti and Eli snuggle right up close. Dolly had to smack them both with her cookies to get them to back off. Sheesh!

There is currently a number of archeological digs underway at Montpelier. There is also a special place for kids to do a little bit of archeological discovery of their own. I'm sure Indiana Jones wore a bright blue top with pink shorts when he was little too.

Kjersti refers to this particular pose on the rocking chair as her "old lady". It's like she aged 80 years while just sitting there. Very convincing!

There was a fantastic wood working area for the kids at Montpelier. Before the staff turn the kids loose on the tools, they had to give them a short class. Unfortunately, it seems that learning how to use the tools is the interesting part...

...Actually using them can be pretty boring.

White House Fourth of July

This year we enjoyed an unforgettable Fourth of July at the White House. Ourselves and about 800 others with military families were invited to attend this wonderful event.



After a great dinner, The President addressed the crowd and then came and shook hands with some of the folks. Kjersti and Cody got to shake his hand. Kjersti also shook hands with the First Lady as well. She thought that was pretty cool!



The Running Presidents from the Washington Nationals also stopped by. They really freaked Eve out, even though after she got away from, she was drawn back to them for the rest of the night like a moth to a light. She couldn't get enough!

There were some pretty amazing balloon artists on hand that did some pretty incredible work. The kids loved it! The USO also brought in the group "Train" to perform after the President spoke. It was awesome!

There was also free face painting to boot!

Here's a "once around the world" tour of the event.

We also enjoyed the fireworks on the Mall from the White House lawn. This Fourth of July will be a tough one to top!

Cute Kids

When you look down and see these cute little faces looking back at you, it's hard not to just love what you see.

The Reston Zoo

Eve the Goat Whisper loves tending to her adopted petting zoo flock. She just loves these goats as you can see. It's not easy to hug a goat over the top of a pen, but she seems to be doing pretty well.

The kids with the food become the main attraction to the locals. This is what makes these places so fun!

Eve couldn't wait to take care of another lamb, and then she realized it was Kjersti impersonating a lamb. That was when she clinched her fist. The photographer had to jump in to prevent a melee from ensuing.

Eli loved the baby goats but did mention the fact that they get your hands all slobbery. He was the first to start looking for the hand sanitizer.

Pool Plan "B"

Eve: When a kid throws up in the community pool and they have to shut it down, I opened up my own pool for business. It's a lot of work and let me tell you, just filling the thing up takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!


Eve: But I like to have fun with it. Hey Eli, I have a wet willy for ya! Hee, hee, hee.


Eve: I call this the "Old Faithful". Looks just like it doesn't it? I know, it's remarkable. What can I say, that's just one of my many skills.


Eve: Speaking of skills, how about the "behind the back pool fill up"? Wicked impressive!

Eve: I haven't given this one a name yet, but it usually ends up with my entire back side getting soaked and not much water getting in the pool. Uggg. Why is filling the pool taking so long?

Heidi's Scrap Quilt Masterpiece

In an effort to fill one of the Church's great humanitarian needs, Heidi and the rest of the Prince William Ward Relief Society gathered all of their quilting scraps and began putting together some pretty creative quilts. After a few weeks of work, Heidi emerged from the craft closet in the basement singing praises to her latest quilt creation!

Cody immediately tried it out and found it met his high standard for lounging. Someone in the world is going to just love this quilt! Well done Heidi and the Prince William Ward RS, well done!

Space Alien

"Greetings from the planet Faceinbuttholder. My name is Kid Pool Floater. Please take me to your leader."


"I have traveled far from my planet and my helmet is shifting unexpectedly making it difficult for me to see at times."


"I am in desperate need of popcorn or a cheese stick. I certainly hope they have these key food groups on your planet."


"Holy cow, it sure is getting hot under my space helmet. Pardon me while I lift it up for a few seconds to ventelate. Ewww, I apologize about the tooty smell. I've been feeling bloated ever since I ate those prunes at the rest stop on the planet Saturn."

"This 'Eli' creature sure is entertaining. I have enjoyed watching his silly antics. I will take great pleasure in eating him for dinner tonight."