Blitzkrieg Blog Day 6: Washington D.C. Temple, OKC, Cathy Visit, A Friend's Wedding, Pepperspray, A Hike Around Great Falls, and Helping Grandma Move!

Unfortunuatly for our thousands of daily blog readers, I lost our "blogging thumb drive" there for about a week. But all is not lost--the pictures have been recovered and on I rumble. This blog will cover three weeks, between 25 July and 17 August.

Cristy and I went ot the D.C. temple 15 August but found out a little too late that it was closed for cleaning. We tried to join the volunteer cleaning crew, but were rejected by inadaquete signage. Instead I took pictures.

Inside the Visitor's Center Cristy met the only other dietitician from Spokane, Washington. She was so happy.

In order to get some sleep while Cathy Sampert was in town interviewing for a prestigous fellowship in D.C., I went on a work trip from 29 August through 31 August. I spend my "travel day" touring the city, which is not very touristy (or large). I found the OKC Bombing Memorial, which was, in my opinion, the only thing worth seeing again.

The blast broke windows miles away, but left surprisingly little damage to other nearby buildings. This tree, left standing, is black on one side and normal-colored on the other.

Tradition, more than anything else, has kept this wall alive with souvenir from tourists visiting from out-of-state.

Each chair is placed where a deceased worker's desk used to be. At night, each chair is lit-up, but I didn't stick around that long.

Back home, 1 August, Cristy prepares to carry on a Langley Singles Ward tradition: the gifting of the hands. Bereft of my treasure, I still cry myself to sleep to this day.

Somehow we only managed to capture this one fleeting picture of Cathy. I was not around, but I hear they had a great time touring the town...

Apparently, Cristy needed another picture of her by the Washington monument. The one of us on our first date wasn't good enough for her :(

Roots: Part III, A Return to the Farmland

Back at the reception for our no-longer single friend, Cristy and I paused for a cameo. We still sign all of our pictures "C'nN."

Sara (the bride) is still smiling because she hasn't gotten our gift yet :) Everyone else is smiling because they know what's coming.

Tony is like, "Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks..." while Sara is like, "Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!"

Later that night, we attended a Quincenera for one of Cristy's work-friends daughters. Note: please feel free to ask us about how we got invited to said party. Here Cristy is demonstrating one of her many talents: the ability to talk to anyone about anything.

Halfway through the part, the girl changes out of her "girl" dress and into her "woman" dress. I would like to devote an entire blog to a discussion on this concept, but I will not because a.) no one would read it, b.) no one would care, and c.) I don't have a personal blog. Let's just say my daughters won't be wearing any "woman" dresses under our roof.

About two years ago George and I were shopping for self-defense weapons for our respective women. I picked up some pepper-spray because Cristy's had expired and I wanted it to function properly in case she needed to use it. I feel it is important to know how to use weapons you intend to use to protect yourself, and so from time to time Cristy and I practice opening the lock on the canister. Well, needless to say, we will be practicing outside from now on. In this picture, Cristy decided to take a photo while I desperately tried to keep the stain from setting on our wall. I was not happy about that.

My step-mom's birthday is 8 August. Being as she is an active woman, she wanted us to hike around Great Falls national Park, a scenic water fall area. Her best friend and childhood cohort drove down from NJ for the weekend.

There are turtles everywhere, and they are big. Think Galapagos Island.

I am always surprised by nature's propensity to find a way to thrive in an unlikely environment. How does a seed germinate in a boulder?

Some of us chose to take a particularly grueling side path called Billy Goats Trail. Except its more like Mountain Goats Trail. This 1.5 mile "hike" is treacherous. My sister barely finished and the rest of us weren't having an easy time either. It's one quarter bouldering, one quarter climbing, and half intensive hiking.

On August 11, My Mom, my mom's friend, my sister and I all flew into Dothan, Alabama to help my grandmother move to Troy, AL and my Uncle move to Memphis, TN. We began packing the same night we flew in. As you can tell, a lot had been done...

Oh Nostalgia...

This was the most packed up room in the house!

And this room is where I spent much of my ill-advised years of 5-7. Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets--Yum.

Grandpa Wright once ran the Boston Marathon in 2 hours and 37 minutes. He was 37. Wow. Now, he can sweat through three t-shirts in just twelve hours. Impressive.

A day after packing up a house, unpacking it an hour away, then driving back to pack up another person's stuff, we were still not tired enough to have a little old Alaska-native fun. But don't blame me for this Palin spoof--it was my socially conservative wife that asked for the pose ;)

Carly taking aim at a defensive Pepsi can.

And Cristy hunting for raccoons. Though the house did contain a loaded handgun, we settled for the BBs.

Back in Troy, AL, with my (from left to right) Grandma, Wife, Great Grandmother, Mom, and Sister. Incidentally, there are two thihngs my Great Grandmother never misses--televised church and the Atlanta braves. Who knew?

Tomorrow--Grant and Liz in D.C. and then I'm DONE with the blogging and we'll be all caught-up!