Welcome Home Jesse

I don't have any of the official pictures of Jesse at the airport, but I did take this one when he came to visit us yesterday. Isn't he handsome? Everyone agrees that he's grown; physically and of course spiritually.

The evening of his return was awesome! After returning home from the airport, Jesse shared his testimony of the restored gospel. It was emotional and strengthening to see my little brother so engrossed and in love with the gospel. I know he will miss the people of New Zealand and I'm sure they will miss him.

We are glad to have you home Jesse. We love you!

Happy #1 Owen!

Owen, I hope you know that even though you are far, we are all thinking of you on this special day of yours. You are the big 1!

We hope you are having a fabulous time on this one-year-old day, that your parents are giving you lots of attention, and you'd better get to eat as much cake as you want.

I wish we could be there to see it! We love you Owen and wish you the happiest birthday a one-year-old could ever have!

(I always think of the mother on a baby's 1st birthday because it is the year mark from carrying your sweet baby. Talai, one year ago you brought life to this sweet little boy and one year ago your life was changed forever. May his life continue to brighten yours for many more birthdays to come!)

My Election Night in Washington DC

Election night, something that I had been looking forward to for the past two years. I spent the evening at one of my friend's home down in Pentagon City. We ordered pizza and watched all of the new channels at once, literally. My friend had a huge projector screen and we were able to segment each news channel on the huge screen so that we could watch CNN, FOX, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and many other major news sources, including Comedy Central. Unfortunately I missed the actual moment when Obama was crowned the winner because I had fallen asleep and awoke only to hear McCain concede and then we hitched a ride to the metro, which is where my election night really began.

As we were sitting on the train, a bunch of students flooded the train chanting "Obama, Obama, Obama," and "Yes We Can". It was pretty cool to see everyone so charged up. When we jumped off the metro we saw hundreds of people running as fast as they could for the White House and I couldn't but help but run with them. We ran and chanted, sang, and danced in the middle of Washington DC. Cars were honking, many had pots and pans, other were shaking champagne all over, others were break dancing. When we finally reached the White House we saw thousands and thousands of people running around crazed over the elected president, Mr. Obama. I grabbed my friend Ashley and hoisted her on my shoulders so that that she could snap pictures and videos for me. I am not sure if I will ever see more people that energized over one person, it was amazing to watch and experience. It was a very memorable night for me and for many, many more.

P.S.- My hat goes off to Mr. Obama for chasing his dream and making it happen--it shows that the American dream is alive and well and can be fulfilled if one just believes and works hard enough.

Peeps, Places, and Passions

As I was running back to my apartment near Georgetown from an early morning food market, I was feeling a little selfish... I always do when I feel like I have had some amazing experiences or discovered a place or person that helps me to grow in my knowledge and understanding. So, to help shake my selfishness here is a list of experiences, people, and places that have really shaped my experience here in Washington, DC.

--Going to the Court of Appeals, or the second most powerful court of the land, and meeting with Chief Judge Griffith

--Running along the lit up memorials in the national mall

--Eating pancakes at Eastern Market with friends from the Barlow and DC 2nd

--Learning from my supervisors, Steve Richards and Jozsef Szmaolvi (I’m not sure if I spelt that right—in fact I’m sure I misspelled his name) and people that my supervisors have introduced me to

--Learning about clean energy technology and clean energy programs

--Sitting down with people who are passionate about politics and foreign policy

--Taking running tours of Washington DC

--Interviewing professional lawyers, executives, chairman of different organizations, company executives, and graduate students

--Traveling the Eastern seaboard

--Eating at and enjoying Georgetown

--Having time to plan for post graduation

--Reduced load of homework and assigned reading so that I can work on projects and read books that I choose to read

--The opportunity to meet and talk to new people almost every second of the day

--Starting brand new… new city, new people, new ward, new work place… it’s a beautiful thing to start over again, it has pushed me to lengthen my stride

--Solidifying some of my political views

--Choosing the path of my passions

--Room to breathe and dream again

forgive the short details, but if you're interested in learning more about some of these experiences then please give me a call!

my morning

Jon's out hunting for the weekend with his Dad and brothers. I admit I was a bit saddened about him being gone all Friday night and Saturday but once I made my mind up to make the most of my time alone with the kiddos, I've been fine.

I rented "Tarzan" for the girls last night (they've never seen it - what a shame!) and we ate porporn and enjoyed the movie. They went to bed very well for me and by 9:30 I had the night to myself. I watched "Baby Mama", another film I hadn't seen, and enjoyed being snuggled up in my doubled fleece blanket on the couch (minus the annoying remarks from my husband about what a chick flick the movie was). Quite nice actually.

At about 3:00 this morning, I welcomed a warm visitor into my bed. Eliza never does this, but I didn't complain. To be honest I needed the comfort as well as she did because I was hearing noises throughout the house. She snuggled in next to me and I was glad for the extra warmth.

This morning I opened my eyes to Sydney's face about 2 centimeters from my face. It must have been her raspy breathing that woke me. I looked at my watch. Hmmm, 8:30. Good time to wake up.


I decided to make bran muffins. While I stirred and measured, Sydney enjoyed a bowl of Corn Pops. In her words, "Mommy, I want Corn Maze cereal" (must be the corn maze we went through last week). Cute.


Eliza slumbered out of bed. I loved her wobbly walk as she made it to the kitchen barstool. Her choice of cereal: Frosted Mini Wheats, minus the milk-she likes it on the side. By then my muffins were out of the oven. Hmmm . . . they smelled heavenly and remind me of my mother-in-law (only they're better when she makes them). Eliza pushed her bowl of dry cereal away and asked, "Mommy, can I have one of those?". Pleased the she wanted one of the muffins, I buttered one up and she ate the whole thing. I ate one too. Actually, I ate 2 with a glass of orange juice.

Sydney got into the pantry and lined up these things on the table. It kept her busy. She also kept talking into her arm saying, "Hello to star command, are you there?". She's been a little obsessed with "Toy Story" lately. Pretty funny. Oh, and she also asked, "Mommy, do you want a Doctor Pecker for breakfast?". Ha ha.


Meanwhile, Wesley has been sleeping and I'd better slip into the shower so I can be perfectly ready for his morning arrival.

Pleasant Surprises

I'm not sure how often my family reads my blog, so from time to time I have decided to post a few posts on our family blog. Here's my most recent entry:

Pleasant Surprises
I've come to like the term "pleasant surprises". Many surprises come to us, some welcome and others we wish had never reared their ugly head. I think we can probably name a few surprises we've all had in the last few weeks or months... as of late I have felt very fortunate, and have been pleasantly surprised numerous times since I have made my stay in Washington DC.

The Johansen's--The Johansen family encompasses my sister Talai, her husband Aaron, and their child Owen. I came out here a couple of weeks before I began my internship and was able to spend some time with the Johansens. While I was growing-up my sister and I were always pretty close, and would trade secrets from time to time, but with her marriage and move to the East Coast it has been harder to maintain the relationship we enjoyed (and maybe at times despised (since then I've grown-up a little bit)) while growing-up. Those two weeks, and the dinner outings with Talai, Aaron, and Owen has endeared a level of love and friendship I may have not have experienced otherwise. The time that I've been able to spend with them has given me a stronger love for Talai, a deeper respect for Aaron, and a heart that melts when Owen smiles at me (I'm still trying to get him to laugh for me).

My Roommate, Jim Bird--I didn't really think much about who I was going to room with, mostly because I feel like I'm so laid back and can get along with anyone, but when I learned that Jim is a journal writer, scripture reader, fashionable dresser, hip-hop lover, country lover, and ladies man I knew that I was in for a great semester.

The City--I've visited a lot of cities, but I have never lived in one, and in the past I always said that I couldn't live in a city--living in DC has proved me wrong. I love the city. I love the arts here. I love taking the public transportation, mostly because I get to meet new people almost every day or I can dig into a book or newspaper without worrying about driving off the road, for me it's one way to unwind. I have come to love the city life so much that I am now looking for jobs in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, and San Francisco.

Honorable Mentions: Apple dumplings, Steak and cheese, Aunt Shauna and Uncle Dave, Uncle Chad and Aunt Tracy, running along the Potomac, finance, the humidity, watching couples walk hand in hand on the river trail, updates on the BYU game from Tanille, and sharing what means the most to me with others.

Happy Birthday Colby

We can't fail to wish Colby a Happy birthday on the family blog, now could we? I (Talai) already did my own personal tribute to him on my blog and here is a snippet.

Besides my husband, I don’t know of anyone who gives hugs as great as Colby. As soon as he sees you he picks you up in a big bear hug as though he has not seen you in years (and because we live so far away from each other sometimes it feels this way…sigh). He smiles from ear to ear probably about 90% of the time, only stopping to sleep. Growing up he often replied to questions like, “Colbers, how’s it goin?” by saying, “sweeeeet” or, “yaaaaaaa,” and all other questions were answered with, “right on,” and, “you know it!”

After Colby returned from his mission he still held his laid back attitude, but he had suddenly become my brother who can turn even a dull story into something colorful or make any day into a party by dressing up in wild clothes or dancing crazily around a room. And, I can’t fail to mention that Colby's health is in, aaa humm, stellar condition (can we trade abs so I can have those six packs?)

Love you Colbers!