Our Saturday began with a long drive to Tappahannock,
Virginia. There we attended a senior
missionary activity. It was great
fun. We always love to be around the
other seniors and to be inspired by the stories of their work. Each senior couple shared a short spiritual
thought, and they were all very inspiring and strengthening. Then we headed
south to meet our daughter Anne and Rex, Leah, Alex, Brenna, Eli and Zach on
their drive to our home. It was great fun
because we surprised the children. We
parked at a McDonalds and texted Anne our exact location. Then
Anne and Rex just drove into the parking lot next to us. The grandkids were so surprised! Then we got to drive back
home with them and have a nice visit in the car. Even though it was late everyone talked all
the way home because we were all excited to see each other. We had a quick tour of the apartment – it doesn’t
take long for a 2 bedroom place – and figured out how to bed everyone down in
our small home. It was tight but we
worked it all out. And the apartment was
alive with the sound of happy children.
On Sunday we got to take all of the Billings to
our ward here, the Quantico Ward. Things
were made a bit tricky by a flat tire on their van that we discovered as we were
loading up for church. But we made two
trips, got everyone to church, and things worked out fine. It was so nice to have them meet some of the
folks we have told them about. Everyone
was very nice to all the Billings. Each
one of the kids had a good time at Nursery/Primary/Young Womens. After
a quick lunch at home most of us drove to Manassas. Lezlie stayed home with Zach, partially
because he was sound asleep taking a nap but also becaus we only had one
van. Everyone enjoyed walking around the
beautiful fields at Manassas. But they
were also respectful in that they knew it was a battleground. We saw a movie and read all about the two
Civil War battles that took place at Manassas.
Alex and Rex read every single historical sign. It was great for eveyone to learn about
history and see some of the background of the Civil War. In the evening we had a pumpkin bread baking
frenzy. Lezlie and Anne, with the help
of Leah, Alex, Brenna, Eli and Zach, made about 40 loaves of pumpkin bread,
wrapped them in saran wrap, tied a ribbon around each, and added a Thanksgiving
spiritual message to every one. It was
quite a production. They did a great
job. Here are the grandkids helping with the bread.
Monday morning could have been a disaster. But it was not. Actually things worked out quite well. We were able to pick up the Billings’
repaired van tire at 7am and get it onto the car by about 7:45am. Rex had a dental issue that was troubling
him, so we walked into the dentist that Lezlie and I go to at 8am when it
opened. They welcomed Rex as if he were
an established patient and told him they could see him within the hour. By 9:15am Rex’s dental issue was fixed and
shortly thereafter we were headed for our visit to the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
MD. It was a gorgeous day for late
November, up in the 60s. We had a
wonderful visit. Rex loved the history,
the grandkids loved all the statues and monuments, and Anne loved hearing my
stories of being a midshipman. We saw the
chapel, museum, Bancroft Hall, the midshipman store, the midshipmen's noon meal formation, the dining hall, and the 7th
wing where I lived for 3 years. It was a
great visit, and I was proud and happy to show off my alma mater to family
members. Who knows, maybe someday one
of the grandkids will go there. All of
them have seen USNA now. The pictures are Zach inside a cannon, the grandkids at the Class of 73 bench, and us watching the midshipmen at noon meal formation. After an
unbelievably quick drive home through Wash DC traffic we went to a nearby
seafood restaurant located on the Potomac River. Everyone got to try some local crab and everyone
seemed to enjoy it. We had to do an
urgent missionary visit after that. A
dog who belonged to one of our dear friends at the Quantico Ward died in the morning. This man lives alone and his dog had been
with him almost 14 years. So we really
wanted to go see him and provide some comfort since we understood what he was
going through because of our dog background.
So the Billings family went home and we went for a visit. He cried in our arms as he talked about his
sweet little dog. It was kind of a sad
ending to an otherwise joyful day. He will get lots of support and comfort from
the ward, though, and we know he will be okay eventually. When we returned home we had a Family home
evening with our family about teamwork.
We then used teamwork to make trail mix to take with us on our future
excursions.
We were lucky that an Officer Candidate School
(OCS) graduation parade took place while Anne’s family was here. We loaded up early Tuesday morning and
arrived at the base just before the parade started. All of the grandkids were impressed by the
marching marines, the excellent band, and the loud cannons. It was quite a spectacle for them. After the parade we got to greet several of
the marines that we had befriended at our weekly services, and it was such a
joy to see them on this important day in their lives. We got several hugs and many thank yous,
which all helped Anne and Rex get a better understanding of what we do
here. Next we toured the Marine Corps
Museum, and everyone really loved it. It
was great to see the grandkids learning so much about our country’s history and
about the marines. It just so happened
that we were still there when the OCS commissioning ceremony took place. So we all got to hear the new 2nd
Lieutenants from OCS sing the Marine Hymn.
It was very cool. Next we
traveled back onto the base and showed the family our Navy Marine Corps Relief
Society offices, which is where we spend a lot of time volunteering. It was fun to show them where we work and introduce
them to our friends there. Then we split
up into two groups and delivered about 30 loaves of pumpkin bread with a
Thanksgiving spiritual message to almost all of our marine families. The kids really enjoyed it especially since
they had helped prepare the loaves of bread.
It gave them a small insight into one of the things we do here on our
mission. We ended the night with our TBS
family home evening. It was a small group
but it went well. We had a lesson on
gratitude and the kids helped by holding up pictures about the lesson and
reading scriptures that were written on the back. Since Zach can’t read we had him hold up a
picture of Marine Captain Herrera, an injured marine whom we discussed in the
lesson. Zach was just supposed to say, “This
is Captain Herrera.” But Zach likes to
pretend he is reading. When he heard the
other kids read scriptures he pretended like he was reading scriptures. So he said, “Behold Captain Herrera….” and then made up some words that sounded like
scriptures to him. He stopped and started about 5 times, and each time he would
say, “Behold Captain Herrera.” It was
quite funny and cute in a very innocent way.
The kids seemed to enjoy the family home evening, and it also helped all
of the Billings see a little bit of what we do here. It was a long, tiring day, but it was also a wonderful
day. These photos show us greeting some
of our marines at the OCS graduation parade.
We had planned to go to Washington DC today,
Wednesday, and Mt Vernon on Thanksgiving Day.
But the weather forecast called for rain, snow, and cold wind. So at the last minute we switched our plans
and went to Mt Vernon instead. We were
lucky to be able to do so because we had tickets for Mt Vernon as well as
things in DC. But we successfully switched
everything around. It worked out really
well. The bad weather kept the crowds
small at Mt Vernon. We did not have to
spend too much time outside, and luckily there was a lull in the rain when we
were out. And we spent a long time in
the excellent museum. The grandkids had
a ball at the there with the many videos and hands on exhibits. It turned out really well and we were so glad
we could visit George Washington’s home.
Even though the restaurant there, the Mt Vernon Inn, was supposedly full
we were able to get a table for lunch.
We had a great meal and fun time there too (see picture). To start the holiday season we watched Elf
that night after we got home from Mt Vernon.
It was great!
Thanksgiving Day is an excellent day to tour
Washington DC. There was very little
traffic and we found things quiet downtown.
We were able to park right near the mall and see even more things than
planned. We first found a parking spot
near the Lincoln Monument and got to walk around it for a few minutes. It is always spectacular. We even got some picture without a bunch of
other people in the background. We then had a great drive around the National
Mall so that we could see most of the monuments and famous building. While Rex and I parked the cars everyone else
got to tour the National Art Gallery, which they enjoyed. Next we saw the National Museum of Natural
History. Everyone’s favorite area was
the gem stones. We loved the diamonds,
rubies and gold. And the ladies and
girls really loved the fantastic jewelry.
After a good lunch at the museum cafeteria we went on to the National
Museum of American History. Our favorite
exhibit there was the original Star Spangled Banner. Eli, our 6 year old grandson who loves
patriotic songs, sang the Star Spangled Banner while looking at the flag. It was very touching. We also enjoyed the Presidents exhibit,
especially the first lady’s dresses and the president’s timeline. We finally made our way across the mall to
the Washington Monument. Anne had
reserved tickets for us, and we got to step onto the elevator almost
immediately after we arrived. It was
spectacular. We had a clear day to see
the view, and we really enjoyed it. We
could see from the Reagan Airport to the Capital Building and way out into the Potomac
River. We finally made the long trek
back to the car, detouring right past the White House for a good view of
that. We had an easy drive home with
almost no traffic. We then enjoyed a
turkey breast we had cooked all day in the crock pot. Rex was even able to stream the Seahawks
football game, so we wound down the night watching a little football. It was a long and tiring day, but boy was it
fun.
For the last day of Billings’ visit we toured Colonial
Williamsburg. Even though we had a
mini-crisis because I forgot the tickets, we got it all straightened out and
had an impressive tour of Williamsburg.
Some of the grandkids’ favorites were the blacksmith, the tailor, the
jewelry maker, and the gun smith. They
really enjoyed asking the historical actors questions. We had an excellent lunch at one of the old
time inns, and some got to tour the Governors Palace. The kids got to try out some colonial era
games too. Although it was a bit cold,
we did have a clear and dry day. We all
really enjoyed Williamsburg and learned a lot about colonial times. We all spent the night in a hotel nearby and
had a nice evening just relaxing in our hotel rooms.
After a quick breakfast Saturday morning and lots of packing up
the Billings headed south for Houston and we headed north for Woodbridge. It was sad to say goodbye, but we have much
missionary work yet to do in our remaining three months. So after a long, quiet drive home we spent
time putting things away and regrouping to get ready for our weeks’ activities. The apartment seemed sadly quiet after having
two extra adults and four energetic children here all week. It was a wonderful, wonderful visit. We are so grateful to Anne, Rex, Leah, Alex,
Brenna, Eli and Zach for all the energy, time and resources they spent to come
here and visit us. We loved every minute
of it!