Bridges Family Blog

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy Easter 2009

After church yesterday, our friends came over to enjoy the afternoon with us. We had a really tasty dinner (the BEST ham I have ever had) and then we had the boys search out some eggs in our backyard. The kids were so fun to watch - especially once we decided we had "recovered" all 30 eggs and let them just sit in the grass and eat their treats! Then we colored eggs and enjoyed a bowl of strawberries and ice cream! Yum! Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

Max searching out eggs!

Sweet Evan going to town on that plastic egg!

Julie took this picture - cool to have a black & white photo!

Easter morning ... fireman hat & more cars stickers!

Maxs' new pirate hat!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Open House

For the past two years, our ward along with the other two wards in our building have put on an Easter Open House. We change our cultural hall in to a small exhibit where we depict the Life of Christ and our beliefs. The event has been successful both years and many non-members / part-member families have come to learn more and even join the church. Much effort is given by many members and my part is to help contribute the pipe and drape from Freeman so that the booths are created. After 45 minutes with the exhibits, President and Sister Moody (Mission President of the Baltimore / Washington Mission) spoke briefly along with a choir number. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Refreshment table.

Family History / Temple Booth

Restoration Booth

Other Sheep I Have / Missionary work worldwide

The Atonement

Christ Teachings / Ministry on Earth

Birth of Christ

We Believe in Christ.

My handsome boys ... Mark helped in the We Believe in Christ Booth. Some of these pictures were taken early but, over all it was a great turn out.

A fantastic video was shown that is also available to view on YouTube. Click on the link below and it will take you to it. Amazing - how thankful I am for our Savior and His sacrifice for all of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

Thursday's DC Tour

Thursday morning started VERY early for us. We left the house around 6 am so that we could be down at the Capitol by 9 am. We took the metro down to the East Capitol stop and made our way over to the visitors center to pick up our tickets. We had a few challenges along the way with finding the NEW visitors center and getting our reserved tickets but in the end it all worked out. After the tour at the Capitol we took the underground tunnel over to the Library of Congress and walked around the public areas there. I did ask one of the workers how many people came to the library and asked to see the "Book of Presidents" from National Treasure! She gave a small laugh and said they had a few requests! Afterwards we walked and walked and walked and made our way to Air & Space Museum for lunch and a quick tour .... the White House ... the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, a glance over at the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, back past the Washington Monument and back to the Smithsonian metro stop. We walked so much .... we all decided we would have made lousy pioneers! Last summer my camera died as we entered the Capitol and again this year the same thing. We found batteries once we were at the Lincoln Memorial but Angela's camera held up until the Lincoln. So I'm sure we'll be sharing photo's but, after a long day of walking we came home, ate some leftovers and watched National Treasure .... which Mark pointed out is not a true historical movie but still fun to watch after seeing so many sights first hand!

Washington Monument

Nurses / Vietnam

Vietnam Memorial Wall

Lincoln Memorial

Enjoying some ice cream!

First shote before the camera died - Rotunda ceiling - Capitol.

National Zoo Day

Wednesday was our trip to the National Zoo. We went via the metro and kids loved taking the metro or "train" and had a great time exploring! Here are just a few shots from the day!

I can't remember exactly why Max is pouting - no doubt because we were leaving the zoo!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Take a Break Day!

Tuesday we decided to stay at home and take a break on driving and site seeing. The kids make butter cookies and had a great time frosting the cookies. Max mostly enjoyed eating the cookies that everyone elses frosted! Angela and the girls helped me with plates and also made some hats for a local shelter back home. Madison discovered that our Universe DVD collection and was thrilled to watch every episode! Mark was in heaven that his niece has such a passion for the learning about our universe! They could have had a marathon Universe DVD watching if it were not for the idea of visiting Washington and all the sites!

Madison working on the frosting.

Frosting creations in the making!

Yummy Easter Treats!

Makenah took some time to text & stay connected with her friends while she was drawing!

Angela made two hats while they were here to donate to a local shelter back at home!

Max also had to try on the hat as well!

Dalton's Birthday

Monday, April 6th was Dalton's 9th birthday. His request was to go to the Air & Space Museum so we took them to the one closest to Dulles Airport. Here we were able to see all the great planes, rockets, missiles, space shuttles, etc. We even took in an imax movie. Afterwards, Dalton got to go on one of the simulator rides that he will remember for a very long time! Once we got back home, Dalton's birthday dinner request was hot dogs, chocolate cake with blue frosting and a big #9 on his cake! Happy Birthday Dalton!

Cherry Blossoms!

Where have we been this past week you wonder? Well, Angela (Scott's wife) came for Spring break from Ohio with their kids, Makenah, Madison & Dalton! Truly, the question is where haven't we been to! This past Sunday, we made our way down to Washington with the goal of getting to the Jefferson to see the last peak day for the cherry blossoms! It was a long fun day and just about 1 million people had the same idea! Great minds think alike! Enjoy the photos!