Saying Goodbye to LaGrange

On Thursday, January 22, 2009, we tearfully left our friends in LaGrange. We have made so many lifelong friendships in LaGrange. We love y'all! We were there a few days short of eleven months. LaGrange and all of our friends there will forever be in our hearts. Thanks for the memories. We are currently back in Chattanooga. Who knows for how long, but we are glad to be here! Here are some pictures of our sad goodbyes!

This is the cake that Taylor decorated for us! *kisses*

All of the Hale's minus Paw, plus Shelby!

Lynn, Andrea, Tony and Joe

Miss Bonnie, Caden's Surrogate Grandma

Trip Summary and Some Favorite Photos

This has been a great Christmas trip. Many dreams came true and things were seen that we never thought possible. Chase said it best this week. Coy asked if next year for Christmas, he could have a dirtbike. Chase said, "You would rather have something that breaks than make a memory?" It makes driving a total of 30+ hours with three kids all worth it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the week:

Christmas Trip - Last Day

This morning, we got packed up and headed out to Arlington National Cemetary to see "The Changing of the Guards" at the Tomb of the Unknown. WOW! What a moment in our lives. It was really cool! Of course, you can't visit Arlington without visiting former president, JFK and Jackie. We just didn't have the energy to trek up the hill to see Bobby. We'll catch him next time!

I am blogging on the road. We will be back in Chattanooga in about 2 hours. We will be home tomorrow!

Christmas Trip - Day 4

The unblogged about day! Poor Philly! It was a great city. We definitely want to spend more time there!

We went into Philadelphia with Liz and family. We saw the US Mint, The US Supreme Court from 1791 - 1800 and the Liberty Bell. We also went to the Art Museum and allowed the kids to run up the steps like Rocky did! The plan was to visit Independence Hall, but they only allow 2500 visitors a day and oddly, the max visitors was achieved at Noon, so no visit for us.

The US Mint was cool. The kids were kind of bored. The highlight for them was seeing pennies being made. Sorry, the US Mint allows no photography. If you visit Philadelphia, make sure you see visit the Mint. It was a very informative self-guided tour and set up very nicely.

I can't even tell you how cool it was to see the Liberty Bell. For me it is way on the top of the list of things to do before I die! It was maginficent!

Christmas Trip - Day 8

January 2, 2009 was an exciting day. We got to tour the White House. Talk about hallowed ground. To see some of the items that have been in the White House for years was amazing. Paintings and photos of presidents past and present, the painting of George Washington, the only item left from the original occupance in the 1800s. It was rescued from the fire by Dolly Madison. Two hundred years old was this painting. Just amazing! We talked for some time to one of the Secret Service. He was very informative and was probably the highlight of our White House visit. We are very sad we didn't see George or Laura!

We rushed back to our hotel to retreive personal items. You aren't allowed to take anything into the White House. We had an appointment with the Capital Building! Whoa! It was the coolest! The architecture is amazing, we all know that. You have to see the Rotunda. The Statue of Liberty, off of her pedestal, can stand in the Rotunda. Our presidents are laid in state here:

This is the spot where George Washington was to be buried in a tomb. He decided to be buried at Mount Vernon instead.

This is where the Old Supreme Court met:

From there, we hailed a taxi and off to see monuments and memorials. We saw many, but here a few pictures:

Christmas Trip - Day 7

I know I missed Day 4. I'll get back to it. Dunno what happened, but hey, I have been sleep deprived, so . . .

Anyway, day 7 consisted of Caden and I sleeping in . . .slightly. Joe, Coy and Chase headed downtown to the Holocaust Museum. Coy and I had studied, quite extensively the Holocaust, but Caden was under the suggested age to visit. They said it was a great museum. They each got passports from a victim of the Holocaust. Chase's victim survived, Joe's and Coy's were killed in a gas chamber. Both were about 4 years old. What a sad time in history.

Caden and I met up with them and we hit the National Archives. We saw the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Emmancipation Proclamation, the Lousiana Purchase and scores of other important documents. The Declaration of Independence is written on sheep skin, which is very durable. The reason it is so fragile is the ink. It is water-based therefore, very delicate!

Following the National Archives, we headed off to The National Air and Space Museum. Not so much my thing and we were too tired to really get into it all. The boys enjoyed looking at all the planes. We went into a skylab and the cockpit of an airplane. We saw the Wright Brothers plane, the first to fly a controlled flight. We took off for dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Christmas Trip - Day 6

Today was a great first day in DC. Much was accomplished and we are pooped out! We had tickets to go into the Washington Monument, a must do if you come to DC. It was totally cool!

We visited the National Museum of American History. We saw the Gettysburg Address draft written by Abraham Lincoln himself. Laura Bush lent it to the museum for a few weeks. It is usually kept in Lincoln's bedroom in the White House. White House visitors do not have access to this room, so it is typically not on display. Today was it's last day on display. So glad we got to see it, but no pictures! They NMAH is also houses the Star Spangled Banner. This is the actual flag the inspired Francis Scott Key to write our National Anthem. It was flying during the attack in Baltimore in the midst of the War of 1812. When the battle was over, Key looked up to see our flag proudly waving. It was amazing! Definitely something you have to do when you visit DC. We also weren't able to take pictures there!

The American Museum of Natural History was awesome. Definitely something Caden enjoyed. On display were every animal or skull you could possibly dream of. He had a blast. Below are pictures of a Giant Great White jaws and a Giant Squid.