Washington DC Temple Christmas Lights

We went to the Washington DC Temple on Christmas Eve and expected it to be pretty empty. There were actually lots of people and cars there to see the lights display, and also walk through the Visitor's Center to look at the nativities and other items from around the world. 

Life-sized nativity outside, with music playing and voice-over reading Luke 2.

Pretty stained-glass windows on corner of Temple.

Camel by the nativity.

This was one of two trees with dolls from around the world. Amazing and really neat to see the different dolls. ( Tried, but couldn't find an Italian doll....)

This room displayed nativities or creches from around the world - amazing. Some were made of wood, some stone, some clay, some fabric/wool. 

I really liked this one from Italy - very unique. 

A very meaningful and wonderful Christmas eve activity!

American Girl

Savannah received a gift card to American Girl for Christmas this year.  She was so anxious to go to the store, so we went the next day.  She loved walking around and looking at each doll and their accessories.  The store spans two floors of the mall!  So she had plenty to look at.  In the end, she found the perfect doll for her.

Company Holiday Party

This year is the first time that the company that I have worked for has invited the entire family for the Christmas party.  

They had two parties (in the same hotel).  The kids had their very own party with dinner, face-painting, a magician, Santa, balloon tying, cookie decorating, and individual presents for each child.

The adults had a nice party with good food overlooking the White House, Washington Memorial and other federal buildings.

The company even had special promo codes setup on Uber for free rides to and from the party.  Every detail was thought of.

Christmas Tradition Opening Presents

We have continued our tradition of distributing the presents for the kids throughout the month of December.  Then on Christmas day, there is one gift under the tree that says:
To: Everyone
From: Heavenly Father

Inside are pictures of Jesus.

This leads us into a discussion as a family about the true meaning of Christmas.

So in the meantime, the kids love opening one or two presents a week and each of the presents is played with for at least one week.



Notice that Savannah is wearing a coat at the same time Carson is in shorts and a t-shirt.

School Room

Our Little Angel

The children in our church are acting out the Nativity.  Here's Savannah at the practice:

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Fairfax, VA

Shorty after moving to the DC area, we learned that there are actually two Smithsonian Air and Space Museums.  One in DC and one in Fairfax, VA.

On Saturday, we went to the Virginia one.  It was impressive!  They had hands on science displays and many of the most significant planes in US and World history.







Angela below the massive space shuttle Discovery.



The space shuttle Discovery.







A science demonstration about hearing, balance, and air pressure in space.





The Enola Gay, which dropped the Atomic bombs on Japan in WWII.



This X-35B can land vertically.



This SR-71 was amazing.  When they delivered it to the Museum, it flew from California to Virginia in just over an hour.  They say it had 2.5 miles of film that it would carry (which they would then have to develop afterwards).



This engine is together, then when you press a button, it splits in half and starts to rotate so you can see all of the pieces moving.