Playing Catch-Up: D.C. to Philly to New York to Philly

If a week long adventure to California wasn't enough to make my December exciting, I threw in a trip to the east coast to visit family and secure my visa for Ecuador to make things really exciting.
My trip started off in D.C. where after waiting at the Ecuadorian Consulate for three hours to get my visa, I was able to roam happily around the best parts of D.C. My self guided tour began with the White House, circled around the entire National Mall, took a little detour into the Holocaust museum and ended up at the Capitol where I jumped in for the last tour of the day. I was grateful to have the help of my wonderful cousin Eli who picked me up from the airport, took me out to dinner, and dropped me at the bus station at the end of the day.

After a fun-filled day in D.C. I climbed on a bus and headed to Philly. My sister Chelsi lives there and she was kind enough to let me come and explore the wonderful historic streets of our nation's birthplace. We spent a couple of days just hanging out and exploring the little town Bluebell, just outside of Philly, where she lives. We then took a last minute trip up to New York City. It was wonderful to see NYC in the midst of a warm spell in December. It gave us a change to visit the beautiful Manhattan temple as well as comfortably explore the city with four little children tagging along without the trouble of snow. We tried to just hit the main sites close to us because we didn't have a ton of time, but all of them were well worth it and I can't wait to go back and explore more.

After exploring the crowded streets of NYC for two days, it was nice to get back to the slightly smaller Philadelphia. I got the chance to see some of my favorite historical places for the first time as well as taste my first true Philly-Cheese-Steak Sandwich. It felt like a heart-attack waiting to happen, but I think it was well worth it. 

With all of the adventures and new places I got to see, the best part of the trip was still getting to spend time with my cute little nieces and nephews. I miss them, but it sure is fun when I get to see them in sporadic times throughout the year and witness how fast they change and grow.

After my month of adventures around the country, I bravely set off to the Mexico MTC for my mission. If you want to read details about my five months as a Missionary, you can see my mission blog here, or go to the link "Mission Experiences" at the top of my blog. Most of the gaps between December 2013 and June 2014 will be detailed there. 

Now on to more current things...