What's it gonna be?

So after much anticipation, we finally found out what we are having.

(Drum roll please!)

It's a boy! Neither Brandon or I were surprised--we've both felt like it was a boy the entire time, but we're still very excited! Half way there to baby!

A week in DC! And Brandon's birthday!

For three weeks, Brandon interviewed on campus with law firms in order to get an internship for the summer. A week later, we went to DC so Brandon could interview some more, and Felicia could stay at a nice hotel and do touristy stuff. The result was very little free time for Brandon (there's so much schmoozing to do!), a great deal of free time for Felicia (there's so much to see!), and rain almost everyday. And it was also Brandon's birthday.

Here's the view of the Capitol Building from our hotel.


During some rare free time, Brandon and I wandered around a bit and saw the Old Post Office (Hi Ben Franklin!) and Ford's Theater...which was closed.


Brandon happened to run into one of his old coworkers from BYU, who is doing an internship in DC. He invited us over for dinner and we had some exceptional steaks. Room service couldn't have done better.


While Brandon was busy interviewing, Felicia visited a different Smithsonian every day. (Tip for all you tourists: if you're going to eat at a Smithsonian, go to the National Museum of the American Indian. Among other things, they serve elk and buffalo.)

Brandon's 26th birthday was on Wednesday; however, he had two back-to-back interviews and then a firm reception, so there was limited partying. By the time Brandon got back to the hotel, he was pretty much exhausted.


Brandon didn't have any interviews on Friday, so we were able to do some touristy stuff together while trying to dodge the rain. Our plan to go to the Washington Monument was foiled when we learned all the tickets for the day were gone. (Tip for tourists: get tickets early! They start giving them out at 8:30 am. We got there at about 11.)

Here's the view of the Washington Monument from the Smithsonians.


We then headed to the Natural History Smithsonian so Brandon could see the dinosaurs, and ended our touring with a trip to the International Spy Museum. Our last night in town, we went to a Lebanese restaurant with our good buddy Baxter. Brandon and I had never had Lebanese before, but we recommend it!

While figuring out where to dine, Brandon gave his synopsis of our crazy week.

Dyal Parents come for a visit--for less than 48 hours!

Although a super short visit, we were excited to have our first visit from any family since moving to Boston--courtesy of the Dyal parents. Of course, we had typical Boston weather their entire time here, but we didn't let it stop us from having a rip roaring good time!

Mom and Dad and I checked out the USS Constitution, as well as the USS Cassin Young. After an afternoon of war ships, hot chocolate, and Coldstone milkshakes, we called it a day and went back to Cambridge for dinner with Brandon.


For their second (and final) day in MA, we went to Lexington and Concord to see the Revolutionary War sites--the Minutemen memorial and the Old North Bridge, to name a few. We also had a fabulous dinner at the Colonial Inn. Mmmmm for Indian Pudding!


For their next visit, we're hoping that we'll actually make it to the Freedom Trail and possibly see some sunshine. Come back soon!

Puzzle and Squirrel

As we were cleaning out our camera's memory, we came across the following:

I recently finished a 1000-piece puzzle. It took about a week and sat in the middle of the living room floor until it was finished. Let's just say I have all sorts of time lately.


And then there's this video. We thought it was funny.

Behold the Squirrel!