Closing out the year...

MSW ugly sweater party!

Tater Bowl!  Aggies won!

"Man Cub" vs. "Himetime"

"Man Cub" in the lead...

maybe not

Himetime wins!  This kid is so stinkin' cute.  He would growl/ bare his teeth and then charge at James.  He was great at entertaining us while the Aggies were winning. 

For the last little bit...

Captain Jack needs his glasses to drive.  Last year, the Joker needed them too..

Jack with his pirate wench at the wholesome Trunk or Treat

Guess who took 10 years to vote?!

Special Brother voted!

Thanksgiving was great.  We (I) shared the cooking with some other couples and it was a fabulously fun day/night... To bad I brought the camera, but didn't take any pictures.  We also experienced my first Black Friday (really Thankgiving at 9 pm).  It was interesting...

Our 1st free Christmas tree... It's only been 3 years.

This semester has been very busy with class and my internship.  I'm about about a week away from finishing my 3rd semester (2nd to last baby!). One more to go!

State College

This is what we got to see on our drive through the state...  It's not the best picture but dang, it was peaceful to just admire.

James asked "Do you live in a forest?"...  This is the view from the balcony of the apartment

Can this agricultural school's creamery compare to Aggie Ice Cream?  It was dang good, but I still love my Aggie Blue Mint.

Meet the Winders...  We know Aaron and Whitney from USU.  It's a small world that they ended up 2 hours away from us.

This is the "Star Trek" building at PSU...  This is where Aaron spends his time since he is in a smarty-pants PhD program... Something about engineering and biology?  He was leading us to his lab where he is testing something (fMRI related?) on mice.

It was great to visit and we're looking forward to the next time we go.

"Special Brother" goes to D.C.

Here he is!  Well, "Speical Brother" hasn't made his entrance yet.  I'm glad we took pictures on this side of the White House because there were less people and no visible construction machinery.

"Special Brother" almost made an appearance here, but we thought that the docent taking the picture would of thought it was a do-over shot.

I just liked the building and I knew other family members would too.

The Washington Monument... It is closed due to last year's earthquake.  Even from the distance that we were at, anyone could see where pieces had been broken off.  We kept calling this monument the Cathedral of Learning of Washington D.C., because you can see it where ever you are located.

The Lincoln Memorial... Great view with the geese flying. 

Meow (but you have to say it Me-you, because that's how James says it to me when I'm whiny or one of us is in a not-so-fun situation).  It started to rain... and actually the rain wasn't too bad.  Every time we have traveled this summer it has been cloudy and stormy, which is only odd because this summer has been surprisingly dry.  It made walking around bareable because by DAY 3 it was sunny and HOT!...  I was also waiting for James to take a picture of the American flag with the Washington Monument.  The wind was not cooperating, hence why there is no picture present.

Us with Abe

Why the pic?  Don't you ever wonder if there are any payphones around anymore?  Well, apparently there are at our CHEAP hotel!  James says there wasn't even a dial tone.

This is the George Washington Masonic Memorial...  This is a pic from the Metro

The National Archives...  The movie "National Treasurer" made this trip a little disappointing.  It fooled up into thinking what it looked like inside.  It was still cool to see documents such as: 1 of the 4 Magna Carta(s), The Declaration of Independence (which is almost completely faded), the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, etc...

The Smithsonian Castle... I thought there was a museum inside, but it's really all the other surrounding buildings (museums)

This is the newest addition to the Smithsonian collection.  This building it the American Indian Museum.  You can't tell from the picture, but they did a great job mirroring the architecture of what we considered to be the landscape of Southern Utah and Arizona

Aww, the rain had passed...  Here we are in front of our Nation's Capital

Oh, and "Special Brother" finally decided to show up!

 We also visited Georgetown University or as our niece called Pitt, "a smart person school".  We drove up to the National Cathedral but when James asked if I wanted to go in, I said "no", because I knew that if we did a trip with my parents, it was a destination that they were most definitely going to want to see.  He said "to-shay".  We also went to see the Washington D.C. LDS Temple but I forgot that the temples are closed on Mondays, so so much for doing a session inside... next time.  I absolutely loved D.C.  I would move there in a heart-beat... Now, just to convince the hubby that it's not too expensive.

Escaping the heat...

The only time James opened up this textbook was for our trip to Gettysburg

Here are the Burrows reading aloud about the Battle of Gettysburg (because I didn't pay attention in Junior High)

Boot Camp

Special Brother came for the ride as well

At the National Cemetery, graves were laid in a circular pattern around the statue in the picture below.  The area was sectioned off by States and how my soldiers died in each State.  There were a lot of "Unknown" soldiers.

This is the memorial to the exact location of where Abraham Lincoln stood when he gave the "Gettysburg Address"

Here are some more unknown soldiers

Here we are on top of "Small Round Top".  It is a location where some of the Union (North) soldiers battled the Confederates (South).  It was a great hilltop that overlooked the open landscape of where the Confederates officially lost the battle which turned the whole war around for the Union.

Some friends decided to take the road trip with us: Mike & Stacee Burrow.  The weather definitely cooperated.  We have had such a hot summer without much rain and the one week it decided to actually rain, we were going site-seeing.  However, the rain stopped just in time for us to enjoy the outdoor scenery.  James, being the history buff that he is, is determined to come back next summer for July 1, 2, & 3 (when the battle took place).

This is Gavin.  He is such a cutie!  We took a trip awhile back for Memorial Day to Ohiopyle with the Sandbergs.  It's basically a place to venture down some white water rapids, do some hiking, or enjoy the natural landscape of a rock water slide.

Here is my "Edward"

Here is James riding down a mini slide

Here is Swen riding down the real slide.

...and James

Chelsea & Gavin

Gavin was OBSESSED with James and he had to follow the boys where ever they went.

The beautiful scenery

The Visitors...

What do you do when your flight gets delayed a day and you haven't slept?  Go dance the Cha Cha!  The Hein's came to visit us!

Kennywood!  We've heard some negative things about Kennywood, but it's a great amusement park and the price was incredibly fair.

I've come to accept "Special Brother" in my life.  It doesn't help that the statue brings him out of his shell.

I love downtown!

Can anyone ever get tired of this view?  It's actually what helps me stay sane while watching so much baseball.

The free gifts aren't bad either.

The Hein's representing Alpha Team.

 

Quinn was paid $5 by Cyndi to run around the bases with the rest of the kids in the park.  James and Pat tried to explain to him how cool it was and that not everyone gets the chance to do it.  Jame would do it in heartbeat if given the chance.  I'm sure it's a life long dream.

A lot of people have asked why there is a random tower next to a medical office.  To give what is a brief explanation:  It was once part of the Bellefield Presbyterian Church.  In the 1960's it merged with another church down the street and in 1985 everything was torn down except for the bell tower.  It has been sealed off and is no longer in use.  It's now part of what is called Bellefield Towers which stands next to what is part of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.  If you have heard me say that really long title that you may also be aware that this is where I have my next internship.

We had to show at least one area of where the new Batman movie was filmed.  This is the Mellon Institute which is part of Carnegie Mellon University.  It is a very grand building!

Re-enactment of the scene where Blane fights Batman

Here is another view that never gets old: My Cathedral of Learning.  As a reminder, it is the tallest educational building in the United States and it comes second to an educational building in Moscow, Russia.  There are 42 floors and originally it was meant to be 200 feet taller.  It might of happened if it wasn't built during the Great Depression.  I'm just grateful that I only walked down 23 floors during the bomb threats.

The "Commons Room"

I wish I could do that in my classes.

St. Paul's Cathedral.  My dad was obsessed with this church and so was Cyndi!

This church was nicknamed by us as Dracula's Castle.  It is a abandoned church in neighborhood of East Liberty.  James wants to renovate it and call it Dracula's Manor.