We are having way too much fun!!!

Can I just say that I'm loving living here in Virginia/DC area so much? We are having so much fun here. We have been taking advantage of everything this area has to offer. Once the weekend arrives IT'S PARTY TIME!!!! Since Scott is pretty much gone from 7am until 8pm Monday through Friday, Saturdays and Sundays are the only days we get to spend together all day and even some Saturday he goes to study for a few hours. We've been trying to go and see at least one place on the weekends. It's been a blast! A few weeks ago we went to the Natural History Museum. It was pretty crowded but it was fun to see all the cool dinosaurs! You could seriously spend days in each of the museums here.

Hope Diamond--45 carats!!! Yes you read it right 45!!!! It is even more incredible in person!!!

Braden seems to ALWAYS want to play with what Brielle is playing with...he's having a fit in this picture right in front of the Hope Diamond!!!

Brielle is generally such a good big sister to Braden. You can see she's giving him the care bear in this picture and usually tell him in a very sweet voice, "it's ok Bwaden, it's ok, here you go"

An old Post Office building, I don't know if it was the first post office building or what...we'll have to go and find out one of these weekends...but isn't it a beautiful building?

Two weekends ago we went to the zoo with the whole family. It was really, really HOT and we started the day late and missed most of the cool animals. But nonetheless, we had a great time and the main animal I wanted to see was the Panda and we were able to see them. They are so cute and cuddly!!!

A red panda.

The fam.

Brielle thought she was so cool wearing my mom's hat.

This is the main reason I wanted to go to the zoo!!! Doesn't he just look so cuddly?

This last Sunday, after our Sunday nap, we wanted to go on a walk with the kids. We decided to drive to DC. There are so many FUN places to walk there. (BTW, since I've been here, I have noticed that everyone is so active and fit! People are always running, riding their bikes, etc. And it's awesome because there are trails everywhere that allow people to do that, it's great!) We went to the Jefferson Memorial, it was so beautiful. It was so nice because there weren't as many people and I have to say that this is one of my favorite spots I've been here in DC so far. It is just BEAUTIFUL!!! We kept walking and we went to the FDR Memorial, then it started to get dark and it was time to go home. But we had such a great time.

The Jefferson Memorial

It was just the perfect day to go on a walk!

Definitely my FAVORITE place in DC so far! I love the view!

The FDR Memorial. It's just so beautiful!

I've always seen pictures of this and I was finally able to see it in person!!! Scott thought he was being so funny!!!!:)

Scott and I were also able to go to the temple!!! I have to say that the DC Temple is the biggest temple I've ever been in!!! WOW!!! It is incredible!!!!! It's about a 20 minute drive from our house!

So far, we haven't had one boring weekend. It's also so nice to get together with my family on Saturdays! It's so nice to spend time together.

Toothpaste on the Mirror

I HAVE to share this story I read in the Ensign the other day. I touched me. It gave an intense desire to be more positive in my home with my family. The little things that sometimes get to me, don't really matter. Why do we tend to get caught up in the "small things" of our daily routines sometimes? I hope this article helps you see what I'm talking about. My goal this week--NOT to get frustrated by the "small things". I hope I can do it! (By the way, totally random...Brielle is potty trained!!! We did it! She had quite a few accidents throughout the week but by Friday she finally got it!!!!! Finally!!! I'm so happy, I can't believe my little girl is getting to be such a big girl, she is such a joy!)






Bryce R. Petersen, “Toothpaste on the Mirror,” Ensign, Sep 2008, 23

Small things have a way of growing large when we dwell on them.

I learned some very good lessons from Mom and Dad, but the best one I ever learned was about six months after Dad died.
Toward the end of my parents’ lives, there were times they really didn’t get along very well. Dad was not active in the Church, and Mom was impatient with him. They seemed to wear on each other’s nerves some of the time. The arguments weren’t really serious, but I always felt pressured to take sides, a position I didn’t like.
Small offenses have a way of growing large when we dwell on them. One of Mom’s common complaints was that Dad splashed toothpaste on the mirror when he brushed his teeth and would never clean it off. It drove her crazy, and she couldn’t let it go. I tried to explain that in the grand scheme of life, toothpaste on the mirror wasn’t a very big thing. She wasn’t mollified. I wished they could get along better, that they could overlook small things and not be so critical of each other and be more forgiving, but that didn’t happen very often.
Dad died in the spring of 1991. It was a time of grief, especially for Mom. She realized after he was gone that she missed him more than she had anticipated. It was lonesome living alone in that big house; her partner of 62 years was gone. She started talking about him more frequently.
As the days turned to weeks and then to months, I visited Mom daily. During one visit her eyes turned watery as she told me of a mistake that she regretted. She reminded me of the toothpaste and how adamant she had been that he was slothful in neglecting to clean up his mess. She had been so angry over such a small thing.
Mom admitted that on the first cleaning day after Dad died, there was toothpaste on the mirror. She cleaned the mirror, but on the second cleaning day, there was more toothpaste on the mirror. The same thing happened on the third and fourth cleaning days as well.
Mom realized that she had blamed Dad for the toothpaste on the mirror for many years, but it had been both of them splashing toothpaste. She felt terrible that for years she had been so upset about such a small thing. She freely admitted that her anger had hurt her much worse than it had affected Dad.
I learned from this experience the need for forgiveness and tolerance in our relationships, and I honestly try to be more forgiving in my own. It seems such a waste of time to fret about small offenses. There are more important things to worry about than toothpaste on the mirror.

Brielle can count in Spanish!!!

My sister taught Brielle how to count in Spanish! I love how she says "cuato" instead of cuatro with the r. I think it's so neat that she learned so quickly and it makes me feel very guilty that I haven't been persistent enough to teach her Spanish. I think I will be more now that I've seen how well she responded to my sister teaching her!!!

Response to your comments...

Wow! I love people with opinions!!!! Thank you for sharing! Don't worry K about the anonymous person, I know who it is and I respect this person's opinions and he always makes me think and see the other side of the coin. I completely respect what everyone has shared. I'm glad I have friends and family who have opinions and share them and think about the world around them. I think that is great!!!!:) Out of all of the comments I have to say that my good friend Mike's comment summarizes what I think a lot of us have expressed. (Mike, I hope you don't' mind me putting your comment in this post--I just think it is sooo good!)

" I was excited to read your comments and the comments of others on your blog. It was nice to hear someone who has such excitement regarding the election and voting. I wish that I could share such excitement. It is like watching a young child who still believes in Christmas. Politicians from both parties attempt to establish a persona that will appeal to the most voters. They read talks that are written by professional writers, and tell the public what they want to hear. They take polls through companies like Western Watts and then repeat what we want to hear as often as they can. The democratic convention and both conventions, for that matter, were like watching or listening to the Miss America contest—with less cleavage. Both parties are going to fix the energy crisis, cure cancer, cure AIDS, or end world hunger. Both parties claim to understand the common man, both parties are supposedly going to lower taxis and both parties claim that the other party is only catering to special interest groups. In truth both parties are pandering to special interest groups. I am from Idaho, the land of Larry Craig. Larry is the senator who stood up to the big politicians for Idaho’s interests, the man who fought for small town values. He is also the man who was arrested for soliciting sex in an airport bathroom stall. I wish I was more optimistic in our future. I wish that good honest people who actually wanted to create positive change where running for office—and I wish that I still believed in Santa Clause."

If only there was a person who would lead us righteously in every way and we knew for a fact that they were not misleading us in any way. But there isn't and we just have to work with what we have and go with what we think is right for each of us. By the way, I saw Sara Palin give her speech last night and I thought she is a very capable woman. I never really questioned whether she was capable or not, it just didn't seem to me like I could identify with her (I may have judged her too harshly before actually getting to know her, I tend to do that sometimes in my life!!!:):) But after listening to her speech I thought her stance on a lot of issues was right on and I liked what she said about the elite in Washington, she's not there to make friends with lobbyist and special interest groups, etc, but to really do what's right for the people of this country. I like her and may be what we need is a woman like her in Washington to straighten all of those men up!!!!:):) ha ha ha!!!!! :):):):):) (I love what she said about selling the jet plane on ebay!!! That's great!)

This is going to be a hard decision my friends!!!! I hope we can all be happy with our decision!!! I guess that is all that really matters, as long as we think that we are voting for the "better" person, I think we can call it good!!! And just pray to Heavenly Father that they will make righteous and intelligent decisions for this country!!!:) I guess if we do our part with our own selves and our families and try to make good citizens out of our children, we can hope for a better day! I have to say though that I was impressed with everyone's ideas and opinions. Thanks for sharing with me what you think and not be afraid to speak up your opinions. We don't all have to agree with one another, that is one of the wonderful rights that we have in this country. We can speak what we think and don't get in trouble!!! I also think that an intelligent, respectful conversation, where we can exchange ideas helps us shape our own ideas and not be so closed minded. Thanks for the AWESOME conversation!!!!:)

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN CLOSED ON BOTH OF THESE SECTIONS :):):):) THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR OPINIONS!!! I read every single one of them!!!

My Beef with Sara Palin and John McCain

I love politics. I've always been interested in politics and I've never been afraid to talk about it. I know people say "don't talk about politics or religion" but I love a good conversation about both. Without a question politics and morals are linked in every way and therefore a controversial issue. I have been particularly interested in this presidential election because I will be able to vote this year!!!!! Yay!!!! As you all know by now, John McCain picked Sara Palin (governor of Alaska) to be his V.P. and Obama picked Joe Biden (senator from Delaware and he also tried to run for president in this election, all of the democratic debates that I watched I always thought he was right on in a lot of issues). I had no clue who Sara Palin was, to be honest. After googling her, I found that she is a very accomplished woman politically, she's married and has 5 children (the youngest is just a few months old). Her oldest daughter is only 17 years old and is pregnant and "plans" to marry the father.

Now, I hope you don't find what I'm going to say discriminating or critical against women in politics and careers because I think women are every bit capable of finding success doing anything they want to do. I'm a huge supporter of women getting an education and I have found deep satisfaction in my (short) career as a teacher (that hopefully is not over). However, I also strongly believe that "no success will ever compensate for failure in the home". I'm not sure if I find the 17 year old daughter being pregnant a complete failure, after all we can't expect our children to make good choices all the time and I have no clue what type of parent Mrs. Palin is. BUT (and this is where the BIG but comes) being the vice president of the United States is not a job where you can pick your hours and work 2 or 3 hours a day, (it's not even an 8 to 5 kind of job) and then go home to care for your family and actually be there for them. Unless you are superwoman (and you have more than 24 hours in one day)--and if that is possible please tell me what you're taking, what you're doing or what planet you live in--because in my world I had a hard enough time working 3 hours a day and caring for my young children. In my humble opinion, there is NO WAY you can give 100% to a full-time career and motherhood, but then again that is just Denisse talking. If she gets elected, someone else will raise her children. That is the simple truth. (Like someone else has been raising her children throughout her political career). Some may say it is really none of my business and it really isn't. But that fact totally changes the way I feel about voting republican. They say they are pro-life but if you are going to bring children into this world then give them what they are "entitled" to, and that is "to be reared by a father and a mother" (as hard as it might be sometimes). Again, in my opinion, the answer to ALL of our social problems (teen pregnancy, drug abuse, children not reading well and therefore not succeding in school, crime, etc, etc, etc) lies in the home, in the family. Of course there are times when you are there with your children trying the best you can and they make mistakes, but then at least I as a parent will have peace of mind knowing that I tried the very best that I could.

The other issue I have is with McCain. Did McCain pick a woman as his V.P for the heck of strategy or did he really think about it and decided that this is what is best for the United States??? I think he is just competing against Obama. It is all about strategy right now. The question I keep asking myself is, "If I vote republican, am I just voting because they "supposedly" have similar moral values as I do? and is that all that really should matter when you vote?" And of course McCain picking Palin for his V.P. is not the only thing I disagree with in McCain's platform, there's other ones like his stand on the war, education, economic reform, etc, etc. Yeah, we know what Obama's stand is on abortion, I'm against it. That is the ONLY issue that bothers me about him. I think he is exceptional and I don't believe in all the right winged emails that I get trashing him. I have been to his website and I have read every single stand on the issues and I agree with him on most of them. There is another website that you can visit http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/engage08/selectacandidate/ and it will give you a bunch of issues and you choose the one you agree with. When you are done, it will tell you who you agreed with on most of the issues. Anyway, I wish I was better educated in some of the issues. I do have strong opinions about a lot of them. But at the end of the day I'm going to go with the person I agree with on most of the issues and also with my gut! I'm interested in knowing what you think. If you can tell me something that will change my mind about McCain/Palin I want to know. I may be opening a can of worms, but it's ok...I'm all for a good conversation. :)