Liesel's 8th Grade Washington DC Trip

Hi! It's Liesel.

 I am here to tell you about my 8th-grade trip to Washington DC.

We had to be dropped off at crazy early that morning because our flight was at 9 am.

I chatted with other people, said goodbye to my mom, and then we were on our way!

While we were there, we visited many museums and monuments throughout DC and other nearby areas.

Jefferson Memorial Building:

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Washington Monument:

This is a shirt I found at the International Spy Museum

Arlington National Cemetery:

The Civil War Unknown Memorial/The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier:

The Robert E. Lee Memorial

US Marine Corps War Memorial:

Mt. Vernon:

National Museum of the Marine Corps:

My friend Emery and I

The White House:

Although it was early October, there were still a lot of beautiful plants growing

I thought this duck ramp was really cute and kind of funny.

The Capitol Building:

Supreme Court:

WWII Memorial

And finally...

Air and Space Museum:

Thanks for looking at my 8th grade DC trip!

Liesel...signing off

Young Eagles Last Flight of the Season

Although we left the house early, we were a few people down the line and then the clouds rolled in. The girls were the next in line when pilots started saying they wouldn't be taking anyone up. They actually had a pilot and plane all ready to go but we had to wait for more to return and report on the weather. While we waited we saw this awesome plane take off. 

At long last, they got the green light.

Their pilot was an instructor who felt more comfortable on the right side of the plane. See how all the instruments are on the left?

Yeah, that's where Gita sat. They had no headsets for the the girls in the back so they were a little nervous with this set up. 

Sydney stayed with me and we drew pictures and shared snacks with the poor people who came later than we did and were hangry. 

All that nervousness melted away once the girls were up in the air again.

I could be wrong, but I think this is the Fox River.

Pretty neighborhoods and farmland as far as the eye can see! I love that they get to take in a different perspective through this program. Their flight logbooks are filling up and they are learning more and more every time they go up.

It will be spring before the girls can participate in Young Eagles again, but I bet we will find a way to get them in the sky before then.

Onward, Ever Onward

Sydney has been taking the discussions with the Sisters to prepare for her baptism next month. For their final discussion, the Sisters surprised her and made her the missionary. She had a tag and an acceptance letter and everything! They announced Sydney would now be teaching me the discussions.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Even though this is our fourth child, ergo our fourth set of discussions with the missionaries, Sydney definitely made each and every one of them unique. On the very first discussion, she got deep into dinosaurs, continental drift, time travel and boomerangs. I'm still not entirely sure how she made those leaps when the discussion focused on prophets, the First Vision and the Book of Mormon. I have to say it was really entertaining seeing how the Sisters would try to tie all those tangents back into the topic at hand. We were also working on getting her squared away with ADD meds so that might have had something to do with her meandering mind. In any case, Sydney has come to adore those Sisters and the whole house has been filled with the Spirit.

When Sydney put on that tag and handed me a Book of Mormon, I asked her if I was supposed to read the whole thing- I mean, it's pretty long. I asked if she'd read it... which was definitely a leading question because we've been reading it all year and are almost finished. She came around to my side of the table and said, "So you can start right here" and she pointed at the first paragraph. Then she said, "Go ahead, read it." I realized she expected me to read it right then and there. When I was finished she said, "See? You can read it just fine."

After teaching me a few principles I asked, "How will I know if all this is true?" Again, I was unfairly leading her to tell me that I should pray about it and listen to the Spirit. Instead, she looked at me quizzically and said, "Welllll because I just told you!" The Sisters stifled laughter. Missions can be so hard, I hope teaching Sydney was a bright spot in their week. 

Because they were definitely a bright spot in ours. Sister Oveson and Sister Parsons had special handshakes with each of the girls so saying goodbye got to be an epic thing. We were sad when Sydney finished the discussions but I know they have a lot of work to do!