Christmas Break in VA
We made it to the Foxes town at about 1, but we told them we would stop and eat lunch on the way and be at their house around 2. We stopped at a Chick Fil La to eat and just as we got our food, in walks the Foxes getting lunch for themselves!!! We all laughed so hard and hugged and ate together.
We went back to their house and the kids played outside and we chatted. Scott, Brett and Lisa and I went to Georgetown for dinner and to walk around the village and see these really cool lit up art exhibits. It was really busy, but we still had fun and the burger place we went to was the best burger I have had in a long time!
The next day was Sunday and Brett just got called to be the Bishop of their ward a couple weeks ago. So we got to see him in action! We had a lot of discussions about that and all that entails. He is going to be a great Bishop!
After church we played about 4 different games some with the older kids and some with everybody. The Foxes have a beautiful large house and there was a spot for everyone. Jillian braided Maddy and Giselle's hair together and she colored Rylan's hair pink! He even let her put eyeliner on him. The kids had a blast playing together and Scott and I always love Brett and Lisa's company.
A couple minutes after arriving there their missionary daughter Emma called, she knew we were coming for a visit so she saved her p-day FaceTime call for when we would be there. She is serving in the Yakima, WA mission.
We talked and had a tour of their new home, then headed out to dinner to meet Brian. Then we went to the DC temple lights and there was a concert inside the visitors center of a family with 8 kids playing Christmas songs. They had a 3 and 4 year old that stole the show and had a series of fits and tantrums, they had a friend or aunt that took them off the stage.
The visitors center had nativities from around the world that were so cool to see, and the lights outside on the trees were gorgeous!
I mentioned to Brian and Julie that I desperately needed to exercise, so they told me they would take me on a hike. We went to Leeslyvaina State Park to a historic trail that had remnants of the legendary Virginians General Lee and the Fairfax families. It is along the large Potomac River. Along the hike we saw where one of the homes was and the chimney was still standing, there was a barn foundation and the families old cemetery. There was also an old cannon and the original dirt mounds where they would hide their cannons and shoot from. It was a gorgeous day and I can only imagine how beautiful it must be in the fall and spring when the thick forest is covered in leaves.
Hiking with Julie was one of my most very things to do in Hawaii, so hiking with her again was very fun and a bit nostalgic for me. Scott and Brian walked ahead while we stayed back with the kids and talked about books we have read, families we knew in Hawaii and trails we had been on together.
We contemplated going downtown to see memorials, but we chose Mount Vernon instead. Less people, easy parking and we still can get a great history lesson. George Washington was a farmer at heart and it was so thrilling to see his homestead and I was shocked to see how many original things there were, his banister, 85 percent of the rooms, the paintings, his barn, his desk, and bedroom furniture just to name a few. They had slave quarters, blacksmith shop, grounds keeper quarters, and so many other sections of his property preserved and explained with big signs and plaques. They had a really cool museum that we walked through afterwards, with a 4 D movie of what the revolutionary war was like. I enjoyed it, and the kids eventually liked it, they weren’t so sure at the beginning and had a bad attitude about it at first.
In the evening we played darts, ping pong and watched another movie. Caitlin has grown to be taller than Scott and is on the crew team at her high school. Ethan was home from Arizona State, he has enlisted into the Air Force and starts training at the end of February.
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| Julie and I bought matching shirts and she introduced me to Vera Bradley! |
Next we drove to Richmond,
Oma was waiting for us on the porch. The first thing she said to Maddy was “you’ve got boobies!” Oma had knee surgery about 8 weeks ago but she is still in a lot of pain and was using a walker to get around. I tried to do as much as I could to not make her get up and work. We sat and talked in the kitchen a lot, the kids played with their dogs.
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