A FUN vacation!

Sammie, Isaiah, Ike, Joel, Gary and Josiah in front of the Capital.

The Echenbachs and Closes in New York City.....

We journeyed north to Washington, DC and NEW YORK CITY for a quick vacation before Gary had to start training. We drove ten hours to Washington DC and toured around for 1/2 a day. It was honoring to see some sights and symbols that mean so much to us. After studying American History it makes it all so real.

Sunday we took a 3 hour train ride to Penn Station in New York City. We met our friends the Eschenbachs from California. We had a FABULOUS time wandering the CITY with the 12 of us. We did a city tour and went to the top of the Empire State Building, the top of the Rockefeller Building, took a boat to the Statue of Liberty, a walk around Central Park and walked through Time Square. We took a taxi ride that was UNBELIEVABLE. The guy drove 50 miles an hour down the city streets swerving in and out of traffic. Those yellow ones really don't stop. I am glad we all survived that experience. We saw THE LION KING on Broadway for our 19th wedding anniversary. A SPECTACULAR show....all of us enjoyed that. For Joel's 17th Birthday we took a STRETCH limo to the Diner where Seinfeld always met Elaine, Kramer and George. It was exactly like the outside but different on the inside. I did a order a BIG salad. SO EXCITING for all of us. Gary and I went wondering and we just happened to walk up to the TONIGHT SHOW and on the outdoor stage PAUL MCCARTNEY performed for 30 minutes to the crowd on the street. It was AWESOME!! We also watched 3 morning shows being filmed, NBC, ABC and FOX News.

We road the train back to Union Station in DC and finished up a short self paced tour through several of the Smithsonian's. You could spend days in there. We walked the mall and even got to sit in on Congress as they were voting. The boys wanted to Ding Dong Ditch Obama's house but for some reason those guys in black suits and black glasses didn't like the idea.

We were honored to see Abraham Lincoln's memorial, the Ford Theatre, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the WWII Memorial and the Washington monument. Gary was able to get us tickets to go up the Washington Monument and we had a spectacular view from up there. What an honor to read the God honoring words of such humble and God fearing men. Honoring God was truly the focus of their hearts.

It will be a vacation we will treasure for a lifetime. Enjoy the photos.