O Christmas tree

New York Public Library

Rockefeller Center

Fiesta Texas, San Antonio

The National Christmas Tree at the White House

Empire State Building

Plaza Hotel, NY

Union Station, Washington DC

Mini tree, our apartment

Bigger tree, our apartment

Merry Christmas!!!

Deep in the heart of Texas

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad and his side of the family down in Boerne, TX. I was so sad when we had to leave. I love love love Texas, and my Granny's house is one of my favorite places to be. It was fun showing Tom all the places I used to play as a kid and reliving my childhood by feeding the cows, exploring the property, eating sweets at Granny's house, and going to the peak. We also went into San Antonio and ate at Pancho's (always the BEST sopapillas and tortillas), visited the Alamo and river walk, and rode the rides at Fiesta Texas. Oh yeah, and Tom got to experience his first deer hunt. He, my dad and I all squeezed into one blind and sat there in the wee hours of the morning, very still, in the freezing cold.  After too much coaching from my dad and I, Tom took a shot and got his little 8 pointer. And of course he had dear gutting 101 afterwards from my dad and grandpa.  I could go on forever about how awesome the Texas hill country and the Whiting family are, so I better just stop now.  God bless Texas!

Dad and Tom tracking the deer

Grandpa showing Tom the property from the top of the peak

The beautiful view from Granny's deck

I'm grateful for everyone that we got to spend Thanksgiving with: Granny, Grandpa Allen, Dad, Sharon & fam, Uncle Lee, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Toby, Aunt Amy, Uncle Pete & kids and the rest of the extended family. Love you all and can't wait for the next Whiting reunion!!

Happy Halloween

We didn't get a single trick or treater! I bought candy, left our porch light on, and even put a flashlight in our jack-o-lantern.  I knew we wouldn't, but I secretly hoped that if I went out and bought the candy and placed our pumpkin just right, then children in cute costumes would come. I guess nobody wanted to follow the dark creepy sidewalk around the back of the house and down to the basement. Now what to do with all this extra candy..

Oh..ooooh...

..getting closer..

..got it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

How much does Priscilla weigh?

General Conference rocks

Every October and April The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has its annual and semi-annual general conference. There are four, two-hour sessions of speakers that speak on lots of different gospel topics. General Conference is a much anticipated event by Mormons for many reasons: We get to listen to the prophet and president of our church, Thomas S. Monson, speak to the church as a whole. We get to hear spiritual and uplifting talks from the general authorities and other leaders of our church. We get to hear of any new temples being built and other church announcements. And, thanks to wonderful technology, we get to stay in our pajamas and watch/listen from the comfort of our couches while munching on our favorite snacks.

I say "we get to" because I really think it's a privilege to have a modern day prophet guiding us and telling us what God wants us to hear. This is a blessing that anyone can have! It's so easy to read and listen to the talks with a tap of your finger in the Gospel Library app, or the click of a mouse on lds.org.  I'm grateful to be a member of a church that has found ways to use technology and media for good. I've been reviewing the Saturday morning session recently so here's two I particularly liked. I'd encourage you to listen to them (they're only 15 minutes each, tops) or read them if you get a chance.

1. Of Regrets and Resolutions by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (2nd counselor to President Monson) Ok, you need to watch this one so you can enjoy Elder Uchtdorf's awesome accent and feel his love. He is so positive, upbeat, and a great example to me of being grateful for what we have and living in the moment.

2. "Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also" by Elder Shayne M. Bowen. This one made me cry. Elder Bowen's story of his little boy Tyson was heartrending but so powerful to me. The gospel message that families and loved ones can be together not only in this life, but in the next is comforting. I know it's true.

All the talks from October 2012 can be found here: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/10?lang=eng

Playing hostess for a week

Our place was hopping last week. We had not one, but TWO different guests.

First my madre came to visit and I had lots of fun showing her around the big city. I was so proud of her for finding her way from BWI Airport to Union Station without having to call me for help at all.  Seeing her and talking and just enjoying her company was the perfect way to spend my Columbus day weekend.  What's Columbus day you ask? Oh just the day that our government decided to celebrate Columbus "discovering" America, which translates into PAID HOLIDAY! Thank you Christopher.

Here's some of the things we did in pictures. First I took her out to eat falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop in Adams Morgan, and we finished the night off with a stroll through Georgetown to get a famous DC cupcake. Or two. And the best part was that we didn't even have to wait in line!

The next day my mom was MIA. But then the NEXT day we did a tour of the Capitol building and got to wear cool headphones.  We also went to the Old Post Office building and climbed to the top of the tower. It was an awesome view of the city in all four directions.

The inside of the Captiol Dome

Reagan - the good 'ol days

 

The Old Post Office



That buliding is where I work!

 And then of course we celebrated her birthday with none other than a death by chocolate cake from Costco. (that other person might have been the reason she was MIA for awhile)

Our second guest was Jason, one of Tom's best friends from college. He flew out here from Utah to do a 10-day hike through the Shenandoah Valley and see the pretty leaves changing colors. He flew in and stayed with us one night and then Tom drove him to Shenandoah the next morning, dropped him off on the side of the road and now we're hoping he's holding up on his Clif bars and Uncrustables.  We're looking forward to hanging out with him again this weekend.

So the point of this post: come visit us!! You can see cool historic sites and you might get a chocolate cake.

I'm an auntie!!

Meet Baby Liam, the newest member of the Whiting family and the most beautiful baby in the world. (I'm not biased) He was born right on his due date to Sharon and Leighton, weighing a healthy 8 lbs 5ounces. Pictures were stolen from Facebook.