Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Last week I not only returned from the below mentioned family vaca, but I also moved my little sister down to UofA. Let me tell you, it was weird to put her in a dorm. It reminded me about how I felt four years ago and how far I've come since then. But the weirdest part is the fact that her dorm room looked almost exactly like mine did, it kinda freaked me out. It's so exicting to see her go off to college and start a process that I've already finished (in fact, I recieved my diploma in the mail today, w00t!). It's exactly like we switched places and now I'm here with the crew and she's gone off to do her own thing. The best part though is reclaiming my room, which is a lot bigger than any of the ones I had in Tucson so I get to decorate it super cute style and have fun with that. Also, we shaved her cat, which makes life that much better (no more hair everywhere)...

Dancing Through Life

My family went on a vacation about a week ago and it truly was fantastic. We were able to go to Washington, D.C., Philidelphia, New York, and Boston. They each had some good parts but overall Boston was the best looking/cleanest/seemed-to-be-friendly city. Although I would highly recommend not going in the summer because even though we Arizonan's have it hot we do not have the humidity. I decided that hell must be humid because there is nothing so awful. In D.C. I got burned to a crisp because we just had a day and so I spent it with my mom looking at the memorials and outside things instead of going into a museum. Then in Philidelphia the Art Museum is one of the coolest I've ever been to because of the design of their exhibits. And Isaac ran up the stairs like Rocky, which I didn't actually see, but I heard about it.

In New York we went to see Wicked on Broadway and I fell in love with that show just like every other person who's ever seen it. I haven't really stopped listening to the soundtrack since. Even my brother Ben was impressed and he's not easily impressable ("I'm Ben, I like invented being cool"). And we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which I had never gone to before. It's really quite amazing how reverant it feels in those places. Finally, we walked the Freedom Trail in Boston. Well, we didn't really walk it because by that point we were all pooped out and just wanted to ride a bus, but it's close to the same thing. Overall, a great trip and a chance to spend some quality time with my fam. The following pictures are definitely not even close to how many I took, it's just the select best of, if you want a full picture album go to my facebook page where I should be putting them up in a few days. Also, the order I saw all these things is from bottom to top I just didn't want to spend time rearranging them.

My mom, Isaac, and Ben on a battleship in the Boston harbor.

This picture is for Megan, I saw/heard him playing on the Boston Commons and immediately thought of you...

Here's Ben trying to stretch in front of a cool fountain, and Isaac stepped in just as I took the picture. I think it looks pretty sweet though because Ben seems to be some kind of tiny person.

OH! and we saw famous people in one of the Boston grave yards! These are two of the main people from the new Fox show Glee.

This is one of the many public parks in Boston (and it seems that every park has a fountain that people can splash in, I think that's great!) Here are my Dad, Isaac, and Ben in a movie-type shot (think walking into the sunset).

Isaac inside the main building on Ellis Island.

Isaac and Ben eating at Pat's Steak, one of two original homes of the Philly Cheese-steak (Pat's and Geno's both claim they invented it, and are located right across the street from each other).

Emma, Ben, Mom, and Isaac inside a Macy's in Philidelphia. Above them is the largest working Organ in the world. We listened to the concert and it was beautiful.

Mom, Dad (what a dork), and Emma (covering her face) in my Dad's bachelor pad in Philly (not really, it's his apartment but he's working there for a few years so it's cheaper then a hotel).

Inside the Philidelphia Art Museum they recreated actual rooms of ancient architecture, also, unlike most museums, they let you take as many pictures as you want.

A D.C. metro stop, pretty cool coffered ceilings.

Emma, Ben, and Isaac in front of the Washington Monument, we were able to go up to the top.

The mosaic ceiling of the Library of Congress, the whole building is beautiful.

Home Again, Home Again, Lickety-Split.

I never thought that I would move home after I left four years ago, but here I am. I'll probably write about all the craziness that happens here in the future but for now I'm actually excited to be here. I really enjoy spending time with my family and have found that reconnecting with my old friends is not as daunting as I imagined it would be. Anyway, last night I hung-out with my old YW's leader and her husband, Jeanette and Jim, and the crew, which is a tradition for many years and had a blast. One hilarious thing Jim said (keep in mind he's in his late 50's early 60's), "The only thing harder than getting up at my age is getting up and not passing gas at the same time." Hahaha! He's an amazing guy who is always recalling his rocker days (he's a drummer and still rocks out with his band). Anyway, after dinner last night with the family (fast sunday= enchiladas) we all sat around and most of the boys fell asleep:

From left to right: Ben, Jacob, Isaac, Dad (Don)

My mom and I thought it was a cool looking arrangement but I don't know if that transfered to film. So, there's your Elspeth-fix for a bit... hope you can last until the next one.