REMEMBER THAT EARTHQUAKE LAST MONTH??

There was damage sustained to the WASHINGTON MONUMENT.  Apparently REPAIRS have begun.....with repairmen repelling on the outside of the monument at the top.  IF you look really, really closely you can see a dark spot just below the top point.  That dark spot is actually 2 people up there.  And there were two people on the other side as well.  Not a job I would want to do at all!!

 We just seem to 'gather' all sorts of critters around the home front here.  This FROG just appeared and seemed quite comfortable and at home.

 And yet another gorgeous SUNSET as we were coming home from the office tonight.

FALL is turning out to be quite a pretty time of the year here!!  AAAHHH......loving it.  And the kitchen should be finished in about a day and a half....but who's counting!!

SUNDAY DINNER......

 YUP....that is right!  We hosted a Sunday dinner here in our home on, well, Sunday!  Our dear friends Paul and Danette Garrett and Joe and Ginny Lambdin.

Everyone happened to be in the area over the weekend so we decided we had to get together.  Only problem was....our kitchen was NOT ready to host any kind of a dinner.  But we sure had fun being together and catching up on all the happenings.

FYI.....COUNTERTOPS TO BE INSTALLED ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th!!!  Yeah.....then I can start washing all of our dishes and putting everything back where it should be.  Can - Not - Wait!!!

MY NEW OVEN.....

YES....I got to use my NEW OVEN last night when I baked CORN-DOGS for the kids.  First thing I cooked in it.  Okay....maybe not the best thing to fix first but the kitchen is not finished yet so I don't really have any way of 'mixing' up something better!

 I have to tell you that it works GREAT and that I LOVE it!!  Can't wait to bake some homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Veli ja Sisar Airaksinen gave me these new MARRIMEKKO HOT MITTS as a 'KIITOS PALJON' gift when they came to stay with us the first part of August.  PERFECT color for my new kitchen......BLACK AND WHITE.  Audrey and Emma 'modeled' them for the picture.

THURSDAY.....

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

We went in to the office late in the morning because we had to be at the house when the COUNTER-TOP GUY came to measure and make a template.  N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y!!!  On the way in we decided to stop in D.C. and pick up some things we needed in preparation for the Chinese Delegation coming mid-October.  I have been helping make all of the arrangements for the 18-day tour around the country visiting different member agencies.

 It has been a lot of fun to work and plan for this very important, high-level Chinese Government Officials coming.  As we were in downtown we drove past the Lincoln Memorial, again....twice in one week!

 We drove across the Memorial Bridge to get downtown.....

 which took us by ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY and the CUSTAR-LEE MANSION.

 LEST WE NOT FORGET......we also drove by the PENTAGON as well.....

 Once at the office about noon, we noticed that our happy little ALEXANDRIA POLICE PARKING ENFORCER (yes....there really is a Police car marked as such!) was out doing their thing.....see that YELLOW MARK on the tire....That would be IT!!

 On our way home from the office we stopped at URBANA HIGH SCHOOL where we watched a soccer  game that Tyler and Spencer were playing in....Tyler being a Senior...

 Spencer being a SOPHOMORE and both on the Varsity Team.

 We got home after dark last night.....BUT...

TONIGHT WAS A GORGEOUS SUNSET off of our front deck.....first day of FALL!!

......AND MORE PROGRESS.....

albeit little...it is still progress....

Today the electrician got more electrical completed.  After all that is what he is suppose to do right!?  New dining room light in place (love it) along with under-the-counter lights!!  (love them)..... outlets and light switches have been completed and have covers on them.....(except for the bar...have to wait for counter top for that one)..... microwave and oven installed.....fridge tomorrow!

 I even made my FIRST HOME-COOKED MEAL tonight.......if you want to call it that....and I DO!!  It was a Marie Calendars' Chicken Pot Pie!!!  I cooked it in the microwave because I need to read the direction book on the oven.....it was GOOD!!!

 And won't I be sooooo glad when I can take that tape off of the glass-fronted cabinets!  YES I WILL!!

STILL LOVIN IT.......

MORE PROGRESS ON THE KITCHEN....

Each day we see a little more progress....and we are still loving what we see.....

 Today....we got the cabinet doors on......

 They are the kind with the 'self-closing' little thingie on them.  They work so 'sa-weet'!

 Those 'X's' on the glass front doors??  NO they come off when everything is complete.

Tomorrow:  The countertop people come and measure for the new Corian.  I love my Corian and decided to stay with that........

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A

DAY

MAKES......

Bright and early Randy (Left---our contractor) arrived with two of his guys ready to install all of those boxes of cabinets!!  They didn't waste any time what-so-ever!  Bless their little hearts......Randy is holding one of Wayne's 'favorite' tools...it has a light built in so when it is in use there is actually LIGHT on what you are doing!!  Very cool.....Maybe a Christmas gift!  SSSHHHHHH!!!

 When we got home from the office tonight we were so pleased with what we saw.....  This is where the sink and countertop stove will be......glass-front cabinets on either side.

 The pantry is on the right with the oven and microwave next to that......lots of cabinets and drawers!

 The BAR will be here.....and notice how many OUTLETS I have.....love that too.....

 Not to mention a built in trash can and recycling bin........what is not to love about that!

 And the FRIDGE will go right there.  With it's FRENCH DOORS facing the front of course.

We are on a roll folks.....and LOVING it for sure!  Randy and his crew are doing a fantastic job!

MONDAY.....

BOXES....BOXES....AND MORE BOXES......BOXES EVERYWHERE!!  And no joke about that.  When we got home from the office today we could hardly get in the front door......

 Boxes in the SUNROOM.....we are not quite sure where all of these cabinets are going to go!

 There was a LITTLE PATH leading through the entry way......

 And through what we lovingly call the DINING ROOM....can't tell it is a dining room at the moment.....

 The new floor is being put down tonight and the CABINETS tomorrow....

Things are looking GREAT though!!

SUNDAY.........

Having been gone for the past couple of days with the Medical School Reunion, we had not seen how the progress was going on our remodeled kitchen......we were so pleasantly surprised with how everything was looking.  WOW......we are just simply loving the NEW LOOK!

The recessed lights are in and working...that is a good thing.  Where the yellow on the walls is, that area will be CABINETS!

 DRYWALL is done......

 ELECTRICAL is well under way......I will have lots of plugs which is just AWESOME!  I will totally LOVE that.....

 CABINETS are due to be delivered on MONDAY......and Randy (our contractor) can start to install them.  We will really see a HUGE DIFFERENCE at that point I know.....even more than what we have seen!

We had dinner after Stake Conference today at Steven and Elinn's home!  That was so nice since we have no way to fix any kind of food......It was nice to eat 'real food' again!!  :-)

SATURDAY.........

REUNION DAY.....Class of 1971........40 years!  

No way.....we are NOT that old!

Of course, we had to get a picture as we entered the MEDICAL SCHOOL CAMPUS.

 And then as we entered the OFFICIAL REGISTRATION HALL.......

 With the ALUMNI STUDENT in front.....

Through all of the months of communicating back and forth with the Alumni Association Wayne had been communicating with NATALIE ALLGEIER......relative?  We don't know.  Some of the Allgaier's changed the spelling of their name to Allgeier in Germany.  We have sure had fun getting to know Natalie though.  We just had to have a picture with her.....

After a breakfast it was off to CLASS!!!!  Oh My......the classroom has certainly changed in 41 years.....look at all of those computers!  Not even thought of that many years ago.  It was 'HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO CARRY'?

I got to talking to one of the other doctor's wives.....Helen is her name.  Found out she and her husband live in Raleigh, N.C.  Say no more.....we call that 'kin' where we come from in Carolina!!  Instant friends we were.  Her husband graduated 50 YEARS ago......I was telling her about our 2 year mission in Finland.  She was quite intrigued because they had a friend who was from Finland.  Say no more about that either....instant friends!  Well, as we were sitting in 'class' and waiting for the lecture to begin (YES, I said LECTURE!) I looked at my cell phone and had a FACEBOOK message from one of our Finnish friends....written in Finnish.  I am showing her here was the language looks like.  Fun little conversation!!

As a part of our lunch break we decided we want a little 'TOUR' of the NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL.....Wayne had gone when the school was on 'H' Street......this was ALL NEW and IMPROVED!  Layla is a 3rd year student who gave us that tour.  What a sweetheart she is!  We were very, very impressed with her.  Very sharp and very on the ball.  She will make a great doctor soon!

Wayne was 'remembering' the good old days with one of his classmates......Ken Moritsugu.  As it turns out we found out he was the SURGEON GENERAL for the United States until about 4 years ago when he retired.  Very impressive title I would think.  

What a fantastic day it has been.  We are so glad we took time out of our busy schedules to do this.  We could not have been happier with how everything turned out.  And when we finished the day we headed back up to Frederick to attend the Adult Session of General Conference.  And that was a fantastic meeting too.  We are just truly blessed......!!!

F R I D A Y.......

It WAS a very special day for us.....well, every day is special because we get to do so many, many things together and we LOVE it!!  BUT.....Friday when we finished our shift at the temple (morning shift) we headed to downtown D.C. where we would enjoy the festivities of Wayne's 40TH REUNION OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL CLASS OF 1971!!  WOW...can it really be that many years already.  Where or where have all of those wonderful years gone to!

But here we are enjoying and remembering......sit back and enjoy it with us!

We checked into the Lombardy Hotel just 2 short blocks from the GW University.  A nice little walk there.  We dropped off our luggage and car and off we went exploring and remembering.  

As we walked toward some of the monuments in D.C. we walked right through Campus.  George Washington was there to greet us....bless his little heart!

 AAAHHHHH......Lisner Auditorium!  This is where GRADUATION was held.....we had 2 children by the time graduation rolled around....Jonathan and David......

 So many things had changed in those 41 years......

 Can we ever get enough pictures of this beautiful monument?  I don't think so.....we LOVE the WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

 The VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL is just as sobering as it always has been.  So many lives lost......

 This is one monument Wayne was especially anxious to see again.....the LINCOLN MEMORIAL.

And here is MR. LINCOLN himself!

Next on our 'walk around D.C.' was the KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL.  This is the first time I had seen this one......also very sobering and very impressive.  I LOVE the way this 'statue' series is laid out.

 About a 10 minute walk on down Constitution Avenue we came to the brand new MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL.  It was to have been dedicated in mid-September but due to our earthquake, tornadoes and hurricanes coming through the area the dedication got delayed until mid-October.  

 'OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR, A STONE OF HOPE'.....Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Very impressive and a MUST-SEE when coming to Washington D.C.

 This monument sits on the perfect location along the TIDAL BASIN and looking out toward the JEFFERSON MEMORIAL.

 Continuing our walk around the monuments.....this is the WASHINGTON D.C. MONUMENT..... not very attractive right now because it is being renovated.

 The beautiful monument to the WORLD WARD II VETERANS.  Also very impressive and very large.  This was just dedicated in about 2003 by President Bush.

 It was starting to get just a little dusk as we were here.....man, we have some gorgeous monuments in our Nation's Capital.

 I LOVE DUCKS!!!!  Lots of pictures of ducks.....but never before one like this one......When you are hungry you do what you have to to find some food.......and this one guy is looking pretty hard!!!  Just a hoot to watch them 'fish' for food.

 YUP....and one more of the WASHINGTON MONUMENT....like I said, you can never have too many of them.

 Walking our way back to the Hotel we 'found' the RED CROSS MONUMENT outside their headquarters office.  Didn't even know it was there!

 Just a gorgeous picture.....the tower is the WASHINGTON D.C. GOVERNMENT BUILDING in the middle of some of the SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM BUILDINGS.

 And by the time we got back to our Hotel it was quite dark....and very pretty and a perfect fall evening!!

We could NOT have asked for a more perfect afternoon and evening with all that we got to do and see.  We are so blessed!!