Washington DC

Today at five o'clock in the morning Dad,Mom,Jamie and I had to get so we could all get ready to go to the church. So we all piled into Tightsqueeze car and went to church except that we made a little detour so we could get a twelve pack of doughnuts at Doughnut Connection. So we got to the church on time, got on the "luxury" bus that was taking to Washington DC. I got stuck sitting in the back of the bus with a boy (whose name I don't know). This boy was quite a few years older than me and his butt took up half of my seat and all of his. So I was squished in the corner listening to my CD player. Once they guy driving the bus started it up and driving all the little kids squealed and the slightly older ones started running up and down the isle to see how they could walk while the bus was moving. Another thing they experimented with was the bathroom in the very back of the bus. EVERY like two minutes a kid would go in there just to stand in there to see how it felt. Anyway, after a while things settled down. The "normal" trouble makers all sat in the back and of course the father that thinks that kids will actually listen to him when he talks very low and quite who tries to make those trouble makers stop what they are doing. Since we were riding in a "luxury" bus there was no belt buckle and you could stand up while the bus was moving so when I got tired of sitting next to the boy with the big butt I got up and walked a little. Finally after two whole hours of baby screaming and children yelling we made it to DC. The first place we walked to was the statues near the Reflection Pool. The statues were green like moss because of how they rust. After that we walked the Botanical Gardens. Let me say that I haven't been so amazed with plants in my life.
Like there was a whole room that had a array of Rainforest plants and trees,and I am not talking shrubs and pots either, The whole room looked like a Rainforest!!!!I think we spent at least an hour there.Then we walked on the steps of the Capitol Building. The view was like on the TV except better!!! After that we walked to The Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is so wicked awesome!!! Like the whole building is made of marble and the best artwork I have EVER seen in my life. They had murals that depicted good and bad leadership,beautiful stonework and mosaic pictures.
When we went into the Library I was awestruck if my jaw to the floor it would have. There us like three different levels of JUST books. Every single type of Dictionary,Thresaurs,Adventure,Action,Mystery.One bad thing is,is that the "special" librarian's can look at them except if you get some kind of designated pass apon which you can read a book in their one of a many reading rooms. By the time we finished up the tour we were all VERY hungry so we took a tunnel underneath the Jefferson Building to the Madison Building where we went upstairs and got a very yummy lunch at the Cafeteria. I had chicken nuggets with bbq sauce,mozzarella sticks,chicken with rice,mashed potatoes,broccoli soup and Red Gatorade. It was muy delishioso!!! When we were finished with lunch we went to American Indian museum. What stunk was that we couldn't bring our drinks in there so we had to throw them away but o well. We didn't really look and read a lot of the stuff there because we were in a rush to get to the Air & Space museum. After the American Indian museum we walked very fastly to Air & Space museum. Air & Space is another "jaw dropping" museum. It had actual rockets standing up,Air tropghies,a simulation airplane and an Imax Dome Space 3-d. It was so kool!!! After an hour we more hurriedly went to the Smithsonian Castle. The only reason we went there was because my Dad wanted to see the architecture. Behind the castle was a Zen like garden with circles overlapping circles on a bridge over the pond. Then we had to go back to the Nature museum so get back on our bus. So for an hour I did everything without shoes on inside the bus because my feet hurt so bad!!! Sixty minutes later we went to a Burger King while some other went to McDonald's. I got Chicken Whopper,it tasted ok. Thirty minutes later we were back on the road. The last few minutes were bad because 1. The two girls behind me were like "can you lower your music?" but I wasn't sure if they ment my singing or my music so i jsut said "Sorry!" anmd turned it down a few notches 2.A lady was talking to another lady and I said "excuse me "but she didn't moved so I tried to squeeze by her but we bumped butts and the the lady said "Excuse you" I said "Sorry!" 3.After bumping butts with a lady I knocked my hand on the back of a guy's head and of course I said 'sorry". By then it was time to get all of our stuff off the bus and go home except for us because we had to stay for a business meeting at church. I just played the Piano in the sanctuary. Then finally we all went home!!!

Dirt,Dirt,Glorious Dirt

Normally on Saturdays I would be watching tv,riding my bike or reading but today was different. Today I had the "privilege" of messing around in the dirt. Mark,Dad and I went in Mark's truck to rent a road-a-tiller from Home Depo. So we went to Home Depo (which is a few minutes away) and rented the biggest tiller in the whole place. Then my Dad did the paper work for it while Mark got his truck to the rental part Home Depo. Maybe after two or three minutes we went outside where Mark's truck was parked. Then they guy showed Dad how to work the Road-a-tiller.After a short time we got some ramps to roll the road-a-tiller in the truck. Soon after we all went back home and unloaded it and Dad went to work on tilling up our whole side yard so we could plant Canna Lilies there. All I really did was watch Dad,pick up roots and stones,pick up trash out of the yard and shove dirt back into the correct spot. Maybe after an hour some wicked dark clouds started coming up,then I felt a drop of rain fall on me. I yelled to Dad that is was gonna rain but he kept going. Soon it was PORING down rain and when you turned the right way rain got right in your eyeball and also managed to pelt you very hard. The person that I am,was dancing in the middles of the yard enjoying all of the glorious rain. Yet while I was laughing and having fun Mark is standing there like a toad on a log and my Dad is still tilling the dirt. Anyway, the torrential down poor lasted at least ten minutes,then it slowed down a lot and the sun peeked through the clouds but now the wind was blowing. Now I don't know about you but man when my cloths are soaking wet I don't like getting a nice breeze to make me cold. So I went in Tan Van and listened to Hilary Duff's "Someone's Watching Over Me" song about five times. By then I was a little dry. I worked a little more and went to take a shower,which felt VERY good and it relaxed my aching muscles.

Gommie B. And G-Dad's 50ith Wedding Anniversary

Last Saturday was my Mom's Mom and Dad's 50ith Anniversary. When we got to the church everything was mostly set up because Mom,Dad and Jamie had done most of the prep work the night before. We were the only people there except the catorers. We did last minute stuff and then we went back to the house to get dressed up. When we got there I remembered that we had some window chalk downstairs,so I asked Dad if I could use it and he said "Yes". So I hurried downstairs and got it and went in the car port and wrote "Just Married 50 Years" in blue on the back windshield. Then I got dressed in my 50is attire. My outfit was made up of white KEDs,white socks,black capris,white shirt,white sweater and a pink scarf that I put around my neck. I was so glad my cousin Rebekah on my Dad's side of the family wasn't going to be there cause if she was she would have mocked me for the rest of my adolescent and adult life!!! By this time Dad had already gone with G-Dad in Buggie(The car I wrote "Just Married 50 Years" on) to pick up Gommie from the nursing Home. Maybe after twenty minutes we went back to the church where we met up with Uncle Kirk,Aunt Sonya,Chelsea,Lauren and Caroline who were all dressed up in the same outfit as I was except Lauren and Caroline were both wearing poodle skirts and Kirk who had his hair slicked back and had a white shirt on with his black pants rolled up. When I stepped into the area where they were serving food my stomach started growling. The three level-white-iced cake was on a round table. Next to that was three more rectangular tables holding meatballs, small chicken salad sandwitchs,soft mints,apples with some kind of dip and vegetables with ranch dressing. Then another round table held the punch bowl with glasses. After you passed the tables you came to a door on the left led to,two rooms with memorabilia like TONS of photo albums and a slide show. The second room held a lot of old stuff from when G-Dad was in the army,the snacks G-Dad ate a lot when he was a teenager like moon pies and Pepsi with salted nuts in it etc.. It was so wicked awesome!!! Anyway after a while Dad turned on the 50is music like "Shout","Sixteen Candles" and many other ones. Aunt Sonya started dancing,boy that was VERY embarrassing!!! Even more embarrassing than that was when Aunt Sonya started dance with Uncle Kyle (who is my Dad's brother) in the middle of the floor. When that happened I was like "I do NOT know those people". Then all the kids where assigned jobs, mine was cutting the cake,Lauren was helping me,Chelsea served people punch,Caroline stood around the whole time looking cute,Jamie did the video camera and annoyed me and Mark took pictures. After a while people started coming and filling up the room and talking. The whole time seemed to go by very fast. I bet I cut over a hundred slices of cake!!! Anyway after the party ended all of us helped put stuff away and in the car. I rode in Aunt Sonya's and Uncle Kirk's car because Tan Van was very full of stuff.So they dropped Jamie and I off at G-Dad's house along with Chelsea. My Mom took our orders and went to McDonald's. It took a very long time. Anyway the adults got to go to Rock-ola Cafe while we were stuck at home.All three of us watched TV,played on the computer and watched more TV. By then it was eleven o'clock. FINALLY the adults back and got Chelsea and Jamie and I watched more TV. A little later I went to bed.

Escape Hamsters, Lumberjacks,Dance rehearsal & Great Books

Yesterday after Sunday School and helping in the Nursery I cleaned out Beatrice's cage and put Beatrice herself in her exercise ball.Well her exercise ball has been broken a little bit for a quite a while but not that bad. Some how Beatrice managed to pop off the opening and escape. When I opened my door to see that the top had popped off I started freaking out and wondering where she could have hidden. I looked around my room and found her in between my Piano and the wall. So I started tapping the floor and Beatrice came out. Right when she came all the way out I grabbed her and put Beatrice in her fresh cage with no treat because she ran away. Then I watched a little TV. Before Small group I had to go to Dance rehearsal. My class's dance is in act three. It ALWAYS takes FOREVER to get to our dance because they have to go through all of the pantomime scenes etc... Well we all found out that two of my friends from my class are dancing in Pointe right before we go on so they are going to have to change VERY fast!!! So Mr. Chris said he was going to teach us some choreography next Dance rehearsal to give them time to change. Then I went to Small Group and went home. My Dad was at Mr. R's house cutting down one tree but then that led to cutting down eleven. So I rode my bike while my Mom walked and we went to Mr.R's house. When we got there I saw my Dad and Mr. R cutting down a tree for their neighbor. I happened to glance in the back yard and they both cut down many trees so that the neighbors backyard would be bigger. Mark Aaron drove up with his truck and they put the logs they had cut into big chunks into the back so that when we went to G-Dad's house we could burn them when it got cold outside. So after they finished Dad said he HAD to take a shower before we ate at the R's house so I drove my bike and my Dad drove the car back home. I waited for Dad to finish his shower and then he came downstairs with a head as red as a tomato because he didn't wear a hat OR sunscreen. The loving daughter that I am, I was the one to put aloe vera on his sun burn. Then Dad and I went back to the R's house where Jamie and Mom were already there. We all ate ham,green beans,rice and for desert cookies. Then Dad,Mrs. R and Mr. R talked a lot about what happened while cutting down trees and some other stuff. After about an hour my Dad started looking VERY tired so we went home. I changed into my Pj's and read up to chapter thirty in my "Cape Refuge" book by Terri Blackstock. I HIGHLY recommend this book to any adult or teenager. It has been really good so far. Another good book is "Eli" by Bill Meyers, which is about if Jesus came back in this day in age instead of thousands of years ago.

Indiana Annie and Jamie Jones

This morning at about nine o'clock I heard my Dad and Jamie talking about something. In my half sleepiness I asked my Dad what they were talking about. Dad said "Mom will show you what we are talking about downstairs". So I hobbled downstairs and asked Mom and she showed me some Dutch tiles Dad got from a yard sale.Mom also said that Dad wanted us to go in the "tunnel" to find some tiles that he put in there a couple years ago. Well when we opened the "tunnel" and shone the flash light in there was this dead mouse looking thing. I asked my Dad what it was and he said it wasn't a dead mouse because it had been there since we moved here. I still think it is a dead mouse. I covered "it" with a rag and kept crawling. My dad said we would give Jamie and I a prize if we found the Dutch tiles. Well after searching for about an hour in a cold,hard floored,claustrophobic "tunnel" we gave up. It was nearly impossible to find one little stack of tiles in many boxes Mom let us have our prize.Mom said to go outside on the front porch to get it. When I looked I saw two bikes; the light blue one being mine and the dark blue being Jamie's. Both bikes go up to eighteen speed and have brakes on the handle bars. The one thing I will have to get used to is using the hand brake instead of just rotating my pedals backward because I have never had a gear bike. I am so happy now I can ride outside on a bike that actually fits me and get my stamina up so I won't be so tired from being outside all day when I go to M-Fuge in the Summer with my Youth Group!!!