Mount Vernon

One of my parents’ Christmas gifts to Heather and me was a one-day extravaganza at Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home. We have wanted to go there anyone for quite some time; everyone we’ve talked to has raved about how interesting and fun it is. So, a few Saturdays back, we went.

We got there in the afternoon and, after watching an introductory movie on the life of George Washington, toured the house. In December, all three floors of the home is open during tours, versus only having the lower two floors open the rest of the year. After the house tour, we explored the Learning Museum, which is located right next to the house. The museum was awesome: it had a lot of interactive displays and mini-movies to engage the kids and lots of interesting things for adults, too. Heather and I watched one movie about the Revolutionary War in which during the winter scenes, snow falls from the theatre ceiling and during the battle scenes, the chairs all shake when the cannons are fired.

After the movies, Heather and I ate a late lunch at the Mt. Vernon Inn. By the time we were done, it was time to head back for the candlelight tour of the house. Though we’d already done the house tour during the day, the candlelight tour also has a lot of actors dressed up as characters from Washington’s time, like Martha Washington, the Washington’s niece, and a few of his friends. Each character had a different story to tell, and each story gave a unique insight into Washington’s life. After the tour, Heather and I looked around the grounds and then we went to the greenhouse for some 18th century dancing. The actors showed everyone how to do a few steps in a simple routine, and then they asked for volunteers to do the routine with them. Heather really wanted to, so we volunteered, and then we totally rocked the dance floor – 18th century style rocking, anyway.

Handel's Messiah

Heather and I have been a little swamped by all of the holiday rush, so in our usual fashion, we have been a little delinquent in updating our blog. But seeing as I have a few days off, I thought I would quickly try to make a few updates.

To start, I want to boast about my amazing wife for a bit. Our stake every few years puts on a performance of certain portions of Handel’s “Messiah.” The stake asks for volunteers, who try out, and then, if they make the cuts, they have about 8 practices before the performance.

Well, as those who have heard Heather’s voice already know, Heather made the choir. She practiced very diligently for a number of weeks (but she didn’t really need to; she’s amazing). Finally came the performance. Besides having a live choir, there was also a live orchestra. The performance sounded really amazing. There were about 15-20 choir performances and roughly 8 solo performances (the soloists were semi-professional singers, so they sounded very good). It was an amazing show, and Heather sounded fantastic.

You should all ask Heather to sing for you when you come and visit next. She loves personal performances.

Is that Heather, or is it ...

As Heather was getting ready for church today, she noticed that when we put her hair up in a certain fashion and wore her glasses, she looked somewhat like a certain contemporary political figure. Can you guess who?

Halloween

I enjoy dressing up in a costume and getting into the Halloween spirit just like the next man. What I generally do not look forward to each year is having to think up a costume and then going out and either buying or making it. This year was no exception, and since Heather was too busy to give it much thought beforehand, we put off finding a costume until a half hour or so before our ward party.

Despite our procrastination, we came up with a pretty decent costume this year, if I do say so myself. Heather pulled out an old 40's swinger's dress she used to wear when she'd go swing dancing in high school. She represented the 40's/50's time era. I had an old, maroon suit that would be right at home on the Lawrence Welk show left to me by my grandpa. Adding a gag-gift shirt I had to the ensemble, I represented the 70's. Together, we were a "generation gap." Not bad for absolute last-minute scrambling, right?

So that's how we went to our ward Halloween party. The only glitch in our plan was that my grandpa's suit pants were a little loose on me. Since I didn't have any suspenders and there were no belt loops, I had to hold up my pants the entire time with one hand. Oh well. It was almost the perfect plan.

Heather's 5k

Since the start of school, Heather has been participating in her elementary school's cross country group. They've been practicing twice a week for the past two months. All the practice was leading up to this past weekend's 5k run. She and about 12 or so elementary students, her principal, and a few other teachers all made the run. Although I didn't run, I still got a decent workout trying to stay warm in the frigid morning air cheering them on.



The warm-up stretch.


The pre-run group cheer.






And the finish!

Shenandoah Valley - Old Rag Mountain

Last year, Heather and I were totally lame and didn't do anything to enjoy the spectacular autumns here on the east coast. We were determined not to repeat that mistake again. So this year, we decided to go to one of Virginia's most scenic spots: Shenandoah Valley National Park. After doing some research, we found out that Old Rag is the hike with the best views. And even though it was a bit more crowded than we liked, it was a great hike.

Even though not all the leaves were in full color, some trees had started to turn bright yellow, red, and orange. It was beautiful.


Old Rag is the highest mountain in the area, so the views are pretty stunning.






A little over 1 mile of the 7.5 mile hike is what is called a "rock scramble." It's not quite full-on rock climbing, but it did entail scrambling up, down, and around small-house-sized boulders. Naturally, we loved this part.








Here's us at the top.


Heather's making her "pretty face." Isn't it cute!




The hike is one large loop. The section on the way down was much less exciting compared to the rock scramble on the way up, but it was still very pretty.