Washington D.C., Part 3

I'm finally continuing my wrap up of DC after several interruptions. Adorable little interruptions (check back after Christmas for more pictures of Allie), but interruptions none the less.

After we left the hotel where my conference was held, we traveled to the National Mall. Our second hotel was just blocks from the Mall. We immediately ditched our bags and headed out.

Only problem was we headed out into a flood of people. People everywhere! I hate crowds and we managed to walk right into one of the largest I've ever been in.

We had forgotten that the John Stewart/Steven Colbert rally was that same day. When we initially heard about the rally, they were expecting around 40,000 people. That number swelled to an estimated 250,000 people (or more depending on who you ask).

It was insane. People were dressed up (it was the day before Halloween) and it seemed like everyone had a picket sign. There were people young and old (you should have seen the number of baby strollers...hello, I like my heels. Please don't run over them with your stroller!).

I know I'm from small town America so it's probably no surprise that the crowds were overwhelming. I mean there's 250,000 people in Lincoln and Lincoln is a heck of a lot larger than the National Mall.

I was amazed by not only the number of people that attended the rally, but also by the distances they traveled to attend. The next day when we were out sightseeing, I was wearing a jacket we had picked up in Alaska a few years ago which had Alaska stamped on it. As we were crossing the street, a woman with 3 teenage daughters stopped us to ask if we were from Alaska. I explained that we had picked up the jacket on vacation but that we had heard there were people in town from Alaska to attend the rally. They kindly pointed out that they were the people in town from Alaska. I was floored. I can't imagine traveling that far for this rally. Maybe a different rally, but not this one.

Now don't ask me what the rally was about. All I know is it attracted a ton of people and I never did figure out its purpose. Our plan was to avoid it all costs. So, we ducked into the first museum we could safely reach and enjoyed the relative peacefulness of the museum.

She's Here!

Miss Allie Jean Boehle finally arrived in the early morning hours of November 9th! Dave and I took a whirlwind trip to Grand Island yesterday to finally meet our newest niece.

Let me start this post by saying she's the most adorable little thing you'll ever see. So, navigate away if you don't want to see lots of adorable pictures.

When we arrived, Allie was sleeping but she eventually woke up to meet us. She was the most alert less than-a-day old infant I've ever met. She has beautiful dark blue eyes and crazy dark hair.



This guy couldn't have been a prouder papa.



She's already full of smiles.



She's got her Uncle Dave all figured out. Sleep in his arms and he'll do whatever she wants.

She also has the longest fingers and toes I've ever seen

and a grip to match.

I got the privilege of feeding her during our visit. Let me tell you, that girl can eat (and belch) with the best of them. She's absolutely precious and I'm not sure if I can wait until Christmas to see her again.

Congratulations Mike and Andrea!

Washinigton D.C., Part 2

While I was sitting in meetings for my conference, Dave was left to explore the area. He meandered over to Alexandria. After seeing all of his photos, I was so jealous that I didn't get to go.

Alexandria is filled with cobblestone streets (original from the 1700s) and row houses.


The homes are so different than what we have here in Nebraska. The architecture in the area kept Dave and I in awe for the entire trip.

He also went to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

Once again, the building was amazing, both inside and out.

While the buildings were amazing, the scenery was equally captivating. We were in the area at the right time to capture all of the fall colors.

Christmas Decorating

Christmas decorating was interesting this year. Patton was more than delighted to help which made the process challenging.

He watched us put up the first tree with excitement. He had his nose in the tree and was sniffing like mad.

When we opened the tote with ornaments and other decor, he went crazy.


He stole a roll of ribbon and proceeded to kill the ribbon. It was quite entertaining to watch.


When we finally got the ribbon on the tree, he kept grabbing it and running. Luckily, the tree never fell over.

He's been doing pretty well with the trees up and decorated. He only pulled one ornament off. Can't say I blame him considering they are glitter covered balls and he loves to play with balls.

The stockings have also been tempting him. They are hanging on the railing heading upstairs. He likes to sneak up the stairs and untie the twine holding them up. The stocking falls and he runs off with the stocking like he has the best prize ever.

Putting presents under the tree should be interesting as he never misses a chance to shred paper. Could be an interesting holiday season here.

Washington D.C., Part I

I've never promised to post things in a timely fashion on here, have I? I didn't think so. Dave and I went to Washington D.C. over a month ago and I'm just now finally getting around to sharing. It's been a crazy month.

Our trip was somewhat of a surprise. We had no intentions of traveling anywhere this year as we have been trying to finish up the house. But an opportunity came up for me to attend a conference in National Harbor, Maryland and we figured since my travel there was already paid for, we'd make a vacation out of it.

We stayed at a ginormous hotel in National Harbor. I can't even tell you how many times I got lost because I stopped counting. Seriously. The conference I attended had over 1,000 participants and there were at least 5 other conferences happening at the same time.

Our hotel...

National Harbor was a cute little town full of shopping and dining. They had a beautiful harbor on the Potomac with some of the largest boats docked there that I have ever seen.

They also had a Peeps store. Yes, that's right. An entire store dedicated to Peeps. It was sugary goodness.

They also had this bizarre sculpture. On a man made beach, the sculpture appeared to be a man buried alive.

It was huge and weird.

Up next...Alexandria

Santa Paws

We took Patton to see Santa Paws last weekend. The Humane Society in town was offering pictures with Santa for a donation to the shelter and we thought why not.

Let me tell you why not. Our dog is apparently afraid of men in red suits with crazy white beards. He wanted nothing to do with Santa. Dave would walk him up to Santa and he would look back at me with this complete look of terror. It was quite entertaining actually.


Since we had already made our donation, we were bound and determined to get our photo. We finally had to give Santa a handful of treats to even get Patton on the bench with him.


I'm not sure who was more terrified...Patton or Santa.



Finally Patton settled down and we got a couple of decent shots.

Maybe we'll skip Santa Paws next year. Depends if we need a good laugh or not.

Patton...Then and Now

Patton's now 5 1/2 months old and 53 pounds! I look back through the photos from when he first joined our family and I just can't believe he was that small! It brings a tear to my eye.