Memorial Day Weekend Festivities!

We went to church for the first time since we've been here at Laura and James Van Biber's home. They live in a great townhome in Alexandria, VA. It took a little over an hour to get there, but it was a beautiful drive. At 11am, Blair, Laura and James' son, rang the bell for church to start. We sang a few hymns--another member, Andy Bullard from Oak Grove, was also there, and then James read some really neat Scriptures about forgiveness. It was really special! Then, Laura made a scrumptious meal--all organic and locally grown! We also went to the Farmer's Market that morning--they have one right by their house. It was amazing. The produce was so fresh and delightful to eat! After lunch, we just sat and talked, which gave us a sense of "normalcy" to be sitting and chatting amongst friends. Everyone has been so good to us here! It is so true that the bonds of Christ link us together in such a way that we become family.

We spent Memorial Day in DC. We went to the American History Museum and the Natural History Museum before we watched the parade. It was incredible! The museums were amazing, and we only touched the very surface of all there is to see in the area. Our realtor told us before we moved that we need to go somewhere every weekend and see something different and new--we're totally going to do this! We saw Abe Lincoln's top hat, a cuff with his blood on it from when he was shot, parts of the Berlin Wall--it was very bitter sweet, especially the parade, knowing that we are still at war. We can't wait to go back and see all the memorials! Thank you to our Dads--Roger (army) and Grant (navy), and our grandfathers (Bill Bennett--navy), for serving this amazing country! We are truly blessed to live in the USA!

It's hard to sum up all of the fantastic things we saw in a blog without writing a novel, so you're getting the shortened version. Cool things we saw:

*Dinosaur fossils--some sea turtles and other sea animals that had been excavated from Kansas
*Fantastic exhibits about the different presidents
*Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless the USA"
*The Bachelor, Andy Baldwin
*Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise
*Ernest Borgnine ...did you see him on Fox news? :) You'll laugh if you know what I'm talking about...
*The nurse who is known in the famous photo of "The Kiss in Times Square"
*The Truman Band from good ol' Independence, MO!
*Riding the redline Metro! I stepped in a huge wad of spit--GROSS!

So, that is that. Enjoy the pictures! This weekend, we are having church at our place and we're grilling out--kabobs! Pray for nice weather!!

Love to all and we are thinking and praying for you,

Lib and Dave p.s. I've been cooking a lot--made homemade pizza tonight! Feel free to send easy recipes to me! :)

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, A LOT took place this weekend, and I will be writing about most of it tomorrow.

*Sunday worship at Laura and James Van Biber's house. Wonderful!
*Farmer's Market--spectacular!
*DC for Memorial Day--parade, museums, and Josh and Jennifer!!! :)

Pics to come and a summary of the events. After spending time with great friends, we're really beginning to feel more at home here. So much more to come!

Hope you all had a GREAT 3 day weekend!

Goodbye Uptown Boutique--Hello, Beso Boutique!

www.besoboutique.com

This is my new favorite boutique and it's only minutes, about 5, away from our house! I know David won't be excited, but I am! AHHH, it was SO nice going in there and experiencing a great boutique again! They have everything from home decor to baby items. I just had to share this incredibly exciting news! ;) LOL! You know me!

Love,
Libby

Pictures from our last night in KC--enjoy! We miss you all!

David's final decision:

The cake was just okay. I made a golden yellow cake with lemon pudding and cool whip on top. It stays in the refrigerator so it stays cool. He did still have two big pieces!

For memorial day, I'm going to make an ice cream cake:

You need:
a couple boxes of ice cream sandwiches--vanilla and chocolate flavored.
Cool whip-one tub of regular flavor and one tub of strawberry flavor.
chocolate syrup
2 snickers bars

You line a pan/dish with the vanilla flavored ice cream sandwiches. Then, you put the strawberry cool whip on top of the sandwiches. After this, you drizzle the chocolate syrup over the cool whip and sprinkle bits of snickers on top, too. Now, you want to repeat this process with the chocolate flavored sandwiches on top of the strawberry cool whip--then, more topping, and you're done. Freeze.

YUM!

This and that....and, what you've all been waiting for, PICTURES!

*Four, yes, four auto claims positions have opened up at the SF Operations Center in Frederick--please keep that in prayer! Initially, they had told us that nothing would be open until late summer/early fall--God knows BEST!!
*David is in Charlottesville, WV and is loving the city! He will be traveling A LOT--playing a lot of golf, etc. with the agents. :) He is really liking it--meeting lots of new people and learning a TON! Please remember him in prayer also!
*I've seen 2 hummingbirds now! :)
*No orioles yet, but there are these gray birds with black heads and orange butts that seem to love the oranges I've been putting out. I'm not sure what kind of bird they are??
*Charlie has several new friends in the "hood"--Phoebe, Bijou...they're kind of snotty. :)
*I love cleaning hardwood floors--they're a cinch to clean!
*Yes, I've been doing the laundry and all of the cooking!! Wow, I know! It's been fun!
*The weather has been simply gorgeous every day. Charlie and I walk every day and he thoroughly looks forward to our walks! (right now he's sitting on the top of the chair looking out the window--so sweet.)
*I am truly excited about the outlet mall that is in Hagerstown, MD--about 20 minutes from here--YAY!
*I want to start making my own jewelry soon--they offer free classes at a store near here. I figure that I will probably enjoy that more than knitting. I really haven't been around town much since we've been here b/c I get lost so easily! Ah, my sense of direction is terrible!
*I baked a cake for David today--golden yellow--then, I'm poking holes in it and filling it with lemon pudding and putting it in the fridge so it's nice and cool--great summer dessert! I'll let you all know if he likes it.

Much love,

Libby and David p.s. hope you enjoyed the pictures!