Day at work with dad

Lillie wanted to see what dad did at work.  She had a blast.  She wants to go to work with daddy all the time.  She may have gotten a false sense of what work is all about, since as you can see below, she played with her dolls, and played on her iPad.

Hello to a new car

The Mazda CX7.  We love it so far.  We've never had an SUV, and we wanted to get something that had AWD and would handle well in the snow.  The dealer gave us a good deal on it, $1500 less than the asking price.  We are still a little skeptical, but happy so far.  It drives well.

Farewell to a great car

Last week, I got rear ended as I was driving into work.  I am okay, but the car did not fair so well.  The person who rear ended the car said that her foot slipped from the brake peddle to the gas peddle and reamed the car into another car in front.  Everyone was fine, only my car was damaged the most.  The insurance company deemed the car a total lost.  We are getting $2000 for the value of the car.  We might get a little more as we are asking the insurance to add the cost of some recent repairs we made.  So we are in the market for a new car.  

We have had our Honda Accord since 1993 when Kim's mom surprised her with a brand spanking new car.  The car travelled across the ocean when we got married and we've had it for 20 years.  I guess it was time anyway to get another car.  

Thank you green car for all the years you gave us!

Family shot

Thought you would enjoy a picture of us at a recent wedding reception for a friend's daughter.

And another shot the long way.

The setting was along the Chesapeake.  The weather was absolutely perfect for an August night!

First day of third grade for Lillie!!!

Our Lillie is a third grader today.  We had a fun summer, but it is back to the rigors of school!!

The day before school started, they had a "meet and greet".  Lillie was excited to meet her teacher, Mrs. Boggs.

Lillie had a great first day.  She deserved a treat at the ice cream shop!  She is so sweet!

July 24-27, 2013 Palmyra Youth Conference

All of our bishops came.  These are just two of the great bishops we have.  Bishop Isaacson and Bishop Slade.

This is Joseph Smith's first home...where he read the scripture in James that encouraged him to pray, where he was visited by the Angel Moroni, and where he grew in stature and testimony.

Below is the frame house where the Smith family moved after living in their first log house for 7 years.  Here was where Joseph brought the golden plates and hid them as he started to translate them.  He was persecuted much while living here.

Sister Denyer from our stake fed over 200 people for three days!!  The food was great, frito chili pies, and Hawaiian Haystacks to name a few.

It's July 18 and this marks 16 years of marriage for us

Just can't believe its been 16 years already.  We've never been happier, stronger and more in sync with each other, than we are today.  We've certainly been blessed all these years.  We celebrated at one of the best Japanese restaurants in DC.  Makoto.  It is pricey, but worth every penny, as long as you don't do it very often.  Below are some pictures of our evening.  We dropped Lillie off at a friends house and we really enjoyed ourselves.

The restaurant is a tiny little place in the heart of Georgetown in DC.

It's as if we stepped back into Tokyo.

First course was greens with bonito flakes and quail egg.

Second course was eggplant (top left), grilled peppers in miso sauce (lower left), clams (top right) carpaccio in dashi (lower right).

Sashimi course.

Chilled fuji apples with cucumber gel as a palette cleanser.

 Soft shell crab fried in rice cracker with sea salts.

Misoyaki butterfish.

Steak.

Shabu shabu course.

Sushi course.

Everything was so great, but the best part was the company of course!