Happy 4th!

This year we went to the Hollywood Bowl on the 3rd and watched an amazing fireworks show while listening to some great patriotic music by the L.A. Philharmonic and Vince Gill (who was actually really good!). Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us tag along with you!

Goodbye Oregon.. Hello California

So we have been really busy lately! When we were in Washington D.C. we got a call from Jack's boss offering him a position in California. We could not pass on this great opportunity to transfer closer to family so we decided to go with it. We found out on a Friday and he left that Monday. It all happened very fast. I stayed in La Grande for a month finishing up with my job. It was so hard to be away from Jack for so long.

I took this picture when we were in D.C. and he was on the phone with his boss. I thought it might be a moment we would want to remember, and it was!


This was the morning Jack left to California. We wanted to have some pictures to remember La Grande.


Below is a picture of Jack's building in La Grande. Jack was able to come back for a few days to pick up his car. When he came back we went out to lunch with his staff at Vista. It was so fun!


The next day we went out with my boss Jo, her husband Mick, and Sean from the Milton-Freewater building. We were able to get to know them all really well and will miss them a lot!



So my amazing mother called me a few days before I was getting ready to move to let me know she was flying to Oregon to drive back with me! I was so surprised, isn't she great? We had a blast! It was such a fun trip! We made a ton of fun stops and I loved every minute of it. The 20 hour drive flew by so fast! Thanks mom, I love you!!!





Now we are in California and I am looking for a place to live. We are living in a hotel and our stuff is in a storage unit so it will be nice once we find a place. Jack is working hard at his new building and loving it. Last weekend we were able to visit some family and it was so nice to see everyone. Here are some pictures from last weekend's adventures...








This was the first time we have been back to the L.A. temple since we were married. It was neat to walk the grounds at night.

That night we went to Diddy Riese. It is an amazing ice cream sandwich shop. You get to pick the cookies you want and the ice cream flavor. It is right next to UCLA. It was so good! I got a chocolate chip cookie with mint chip ice cream. Yum!

On Father's Day we had a relaxing day at the park with the family then went to visit G&G Webster. It was so fun! I cannot believe we are only a few hours away now.






It is so great to be home in California once again and we are so excited for the upcoming adventures!

D.C. and Philadelphia

This past week Mel and I took a trip to D.C. to visit our Uncle Jeff. It was Melissa's first time and I had not been in about ten years. We had a blast! Uncle Jeff gave us the VIP tour of the city. Here are some day by day shots of our trip.

Day 1


Our first stop was the D.C. Temple, which is gorgeous.



That night Uncle Jeff and Billy took us to all the monuments. Nighttime is by far the best time to see them.
The WWII memorial...

The Korean War memorial...

Day 2


Uncle Jeff surprised us with presidential suite tickets to the Nationals game.
After the game we strolled through Georgetown.

Day 3


We decided to take the train up to Philadelphia for the day. This is at Union Station.
Mel's first train ride...

Rocky steps...
Rocky Statue...
Can't go to Philly without eating some cheesesteaks. We had heard about both Pat and Geno's, which are located across the street from each other. We got one of each and Geno's beat out Pat's by a mile in our opinions, but both were delicious.


We have been watching the HBO series "John Adams" in preparation for our trip. It was awesome to go to Independence Hall and see where our country was founded.


We looove each other!
We were wiped out and found a Marriott with a comfy lobby.
At the end of the day we were walking back to the train station and watched Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper shoot a couple of scenes of a movie they are working on.

Day 4


Jeff got us a private tour of the White House. We were able to see the White House kitchen and the President's personal elevator, among other things. He was actually there that day and according to the elevator he was on the 2nd floor.

Melissa vetoing the health care reform bill... good job, babe!
Michelle was very pleased with my speech.
Ford's Theatre...

The Peterson house where Abraham Lincoln was taken after he was shot...
We were able to see the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc. at the National Archives.
Melissa was personally invited into Julia Child's kitchen at the Museum of American History :)
Museum of Natural History

Topped off the day eating smores at Cosi's. Thanks to Erika for the recommendation.

Day 5


We also were able to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol building.
Our tour guide got us tickets to both the House and Senate Galleries. The Senate was holding a vote at the time so we saw people like John McCain, Orrin Hatch, Harry Reid, John Kerry, etc.
The Rotunda...

We squeezed in a tour of the Supreme Court...
and the Library of Congress.
Mount Vernon was one of the highlights of our trip. Uncle Jeff took some time off of work this day to go out there with us. We got a private tour and were even able to go up in the cupola (a.k.a. that thing on the top of the house above the front door). It was amazing.
In the cupola.
Rita's is something I have been craving ever since my mission. They are only on the East Coast and I think they are great. Here we are with Jeff and Billy.

Day 6


We made the mistake of walking from the Washington Monument to Arlington National Cemetary. It may not seem far but it felt far. We chose to take a taxi on the way back.
J.F.K.'s gravesite
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Graves with the Lee mansion in the background. It was so peaceful to walk around the cemetery.
We decided to check out all of the monuments during the day time. As mentioned earlier, we liked them better at night, mainly because during the day we were surrounded by 8th graders who haven't figured out that you should shower on a daily basis.
Vietnam War Memorial...
WWII with the Lincoln in the background...
Nice shot, Mel!

We loved the FDR memorial...
and the Jefferson.

We went to the top of the Washington Monument. It offered great views of the city. Check out this view of the White House.
Soooo tired and trying to close our eyes in the middle of the Mall. We were resting for.....
our segway tour! Uncle Jeff scored us a private tour. Wow, these things provide endless amounts of fun. Much more efficient than walking. Every 8th grader that we passed would yell out, "SEGWAAAAAY!!!!" We have never felt cooler, helmets and all :).

Uncle Jeff also turned us on to Five Guys. It is the In-N-Out of the East Coast. Super good...
We capped off that night with a Pearl Jam concert. Uncle Jeff's friend, Moody, is known as D.C.'s Rock Doc because he is the doctor for most of the rock bands that come into town on tour. He scored us some VIP tickets. Thanks Moody!

Day 7


The Air and Space Museum is very entertaining.

This is the Wright Brothers actual plane that they first got off the ground in 1903.

Relaxing before our tour of the Holocaust Museum and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Ha, I have never seen a squirrel do this...
We ended this day (Mel's B-Day celebration day) by going to an Oriole's game. Our Uncle is good friends with Pat Sajak so he invited us out to his suite. He and his family were great. He even got Mel a birthday brownie with a candle and led the Happy Birthday song, which I got on video and am trying to upload.

Day 8


Before we got on the plane to head back home we made it out to the National Cathedral.
We ended our trip on Jeff's stoop with some Five Guys.

Thanks again to Jeff and Billy who showed us a great time! We are working on putting up a couple of videos but are having some issues. Check back soon to see if we get them figured out.