We were sworn in.

Our first Christmas

Disneyland
Joni joined Jami, Jana and Joey in the show.

Jami graduated

RIP LOST.

We bought a house.  It was a short sale.  It took 76 days from offer to close.  It was the first house we looked at.

We traveled to the Buffalo, NY area for the wedding of Chris and Lauren.  We took in some church history sites while there.

The Joseph Smith family log house

Palmyra Temple

Hill Cumorah pageant

Niagara Falls (American Falls from US side)

The happy couple
Their wedding, in Lockport, NY, was beautiful.  It was followed by a great reception in Depew, NY.

Anchor Bar
The birthplace of the (Buffalo) wing

American Falls from the Canadian side

Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side

Newel K. Whitney store

Boulevard of 500 flags in Eastlake, OH
the largest display of flags in the US

Kirtland Temple

John Johnson farmhouse

A Christmas Story house

The internet told us it was the best $8 you could spend in Cleveland.  The internet also told us that the main export of Cleveland is crippling depression.  The house was closed for tours so we just took a picture.  We saw the leg lamp.  While in Cleveland we stopped at a tourist gift shop.  The cashier asked if we were 1) passing through or 2) there on an extended layover.  Noticeably absent from her list of possible reasons for visiting Cleveland: we came intentionally to stay.

Edit: I forgot to mention… Leigh’s birthday!  We celebrated it in Huntington with her.  She’s so old now.

And with that, I’m caught up on my blogging. Joni says we’re just boring lawyers now, so I’m not sure what I’ll blog about. Guess we better do something.

View from hotel room

Joni at San Cristobal

Enjoying some piña coladas at Barrachina’s, who claims to have invented the drink

We rented a car and drove to the El Yunque rainforest. We saw this thug on a horse along the way.

At (nearly) the top of the mountain

Then we stopped so I could get a picture of a waterfall. It started to rain. A lot. Notice that we’re dry in the picture above.

We were completely soaked by the time we ran back to the car.

Capitol building

Barbados (Paynes Bay)! We took a taxi to the beach and realized we had no money to get back. All I had was an American Express card. So to get back, we said nothing to our taxi driver and when we arrived at the boat we told him we needed to get the money. He was willing to wait because he wanted his fare. I hung out with him while Joni ran back to the boat. Meanwhile, he and the other taxi drivers had some vodka.

On the deck of our suite on the boat

It’s a bear!

St. Lucia:

Rodney Bay

It’s a bat!

Antigua (Turner’s Beach):

St. Maarten (Orient Bay):

We went parasailing. This was our parasail, but not us:

Rabbit!

St. Croix (Rainbow Beach):

This sign proved to be very accurate. The umbrellas kept flipping inside out in the wind.

Monkey!

Draper Temple

Just married!

Lunch was near the Jordan River temple, so we stopped by for a picture.

The cake is a lie, but it looks good!

Trent, waiting for the handoff from Larry

The happy couple

PS We miss you guys.

We were in a hurry so we didn’t make many stops. But we did get the state signs as we passed.

Joni – using her cell phone while driving. How careless!

It’s the name of a tribe. He he.

Hoover Dam, with the new bridge:

Home, at last:

Stops were:

• (Start) Arlington, VA
• Bristol, VA
• Russellville, AR
• Albuquerque, NM
• (End) Las Vegas, NV

2,480 miles. We were in Las Vegas just a couple days before flying back to DC to attend graduation. So, starting with our San Francisco trip, that was 5 one-way trips across the country in just a couple weeks.

Joni and I took a quick daytrip up to Philadelphia after returning from San Francisco.

Pat’s vs. Geno’s

Geno’s wins. Plus they have birch beer.

How to order a steak by I. M. Hungry

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell

See Mom, there’s nothing in Philadelphia besides cheesesteaks, the bell and ugly people (not pictured).

We started at a Giant’s game. They serve garlic fries with enough garlic to fill the stadium with the smell.

Jami, Joni, Jana at the wedding

Us at the wedding

Zach, Jana, Joe, Joy, Jami, Joni, Derek

Noisy things

Ate chocolate here

Cable car, of course

The doors of the Grace Cathedral – cast from the same mold used to create the doors of the Duomo in Florence, Italy. For comparison, my picture of the Florentine version is below.

Top 2 rows of panels on the Duomo doors

Grace Cathedral

The Transamerica Pyramid

Pyramid again

Mushrooms from Super Mario Bros.

Monticello – Home of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s flowers, with Thomas Jefferson’s butterfly

Jefferson wrote this epitaph himself. Notice how it doesn’t mention being President. He didn’t seem to like that job much.

The Virginia state flower – the American Dogwood.

The Capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia

George Washington

Robert E. Lee, in commemoration of his acceptance of a position to lead the armies and navies of Virginia. He is placed in the Old House Chamber in the spot where he accepted the commission. Visually, it’s interesting that this puts him facing the opposite direction of Washington, just behind him. His speech:

Profoundly impressed with the solemnity of the occasion, for which I must say I was not prepared, I accept the position assigned me by your partiality. I would have much preferred had your choice fallen upon an abler man. Trusting in Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my fellow citizens, I devote myself to the service of my native State in whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword.

The new Assembly Room

The Avenue of the Monuments – Robert E. Lee