Look At The Cuteness!!! Look At It!!!

It is always a blessing to be able to go home even if it's only for a week. My last visit home consisted of shopping, playing with the nephew, going to the temple, playing with the nephew, attending one of my best friend's weddings, and playing with the nephew.
See the theme? I played with the nephew a lot. I regret nothing! He has gotten so big! Last time I saw him all he was able to do is cry at me and poop his pants. Don't get me wrong. He still does that but he can play now! It is so fun! I've never seen a happier little guy. His giggle makes you all happy and giggly too! He's happy even when his aunt who is clumsy in all things baby tries to put his diaper on backwards. In my defense, he started rolling and I just grabbed. It's not my fault that the diaper happened to be backwards.
Oh! And the kid can eat! You have to stop feeding him because he won't stop eating. I think he totally fits into the family food dynamic. Except his mother unit gets upset when he has half a can of soda. In me and Corki's defense, he ended up wearing half of it.
Ok, enough of my bragging and excuse making. Here are some pictures of the kid. Seriously, look at all the cuteness! Look at it, I say!

He didn't know what to do with me when I got in the car.

It took me half the car ride home to get the kid to smile. I only got one after I started undoing the car seat straps.

Great Grandpa "teaching" the kid to walk.

It was okay with him because he got to be closer to the puppies.

Not that the puppies stayed away.

The kid has a soda addiction. He fits right in with the family.

Hurry finish! Mom just walked in!

Good thing Grandma had a birthday. We like cake!

Most importantly we like frosting. Must of learned that from Grandpa.

Our favorite toy is Monkey. Aunt Jessie did good choosing that one out. In fact all the favorite toys are the ones Aunt Jessie bought. Favorite aunt? I believe so.

We tend to tackle Monkey most days.

Mmmm... Corn. Or maybe it's the butter left on the corn?

Aunt Corki is the favorite other than Grandma. I'm going to have to learn the Froggy song for when she's on her mission.

I love that he is cuddler.

He also likes some air time,...

...kisses...

...and horsey rides.

Helping Aunt Corki with the laundry.

I think he's just going along for the ride.

Tigger is the new favorite toy. I think the kid doubled his toy count with this trip home.

He LOVES his books! Totally related to his Grandma and Aunts.

Sometimes you can't turn the pages fast enough for the kid. Kind of like you can't feed him fast enough.

We like Grandma a little bit.

The one and only time he decided to like Great Grandma the whole time we were there.

I don't know who was more worn out. Grandma or Conrad?

Our little card shark "helping" Aunt Corki.

Mmmm... Black Cherry.

Almost had it.

In the airport waiting for our flights. Fortunately for his mom, Aunt Jessie flew out last.

Unfortunately, he was upset leaving Aunt Jessie at the gate. Don't worry, Conrad. I'm coming to your house for Thanksgiving.

Good thing Aunt Jessie has some mad pipette skills in the absence of the sippy cup.

Think he likes soda?

 It was awesome being home but it was even more awesome being able to go to my friend Robert's wedding! I'm so happy for him and Maegan! Way to go, buddy!
It was also awesome because I was able to go the temple with Corki when she received her endowment. My whole family was able to go. It was so cool being in the temple with all of my sisters! It would have been even better if Navar could have come.

I love my family and it was so good to spend time with them! Now to leave you with some more cuteness. This proves that me and the kid were friends by the time I left. It's amazing the power of bribery.

Yes, I can get the kid to giggle on demand. Awesome super power, right?

2 Years Later

It was on a Tuesday that a very significant and special event occurred in my life. April 6, 2010 was the day I received my endowment. I can't believe it has been two years already! I've been able to go at least once a month since that day including each yearly anniversary.

I love the DC temple! It is the second most beautiful temple in my book! First being Idaho Falls, of course. But how could you not fall in love with this temple? Seriously, look at it! It is so beautiful with all the green trees and the tulips!

Yesterday, I found myself in the temple for a ward initiatory assignment and I couldn't help reflecting upon all the blessings I have received from attending the temple in the last couple of years. The temple always provides a refuge from the world for me. It is truly a place of peace. No matter what is going on in my life, I can enter the temple and leave my worries/stresses at the door. And as a grad student, a few hours of peace, comfort, and freedom from worry are blessings I can not even begin to express my gratitude for. It has also granted me the perspective I've needed when it's time to make decisions or if I'm struggling to understand a gospel principle. Sometimes I go just to get the feeling of being close to Heavenly Father and Christ. I have even made friends by going to the temple. Sam, you will always be my 'temple buddy' even though you now have your eternal temple buddy. Thanks for always being willing to go with me when we were first endowed, Sam!
I love the temple and the blessings that come from it. Perhaps the biggest blessing has been the ability to go with my family. I even got to be one of the escorts when my sister, Brittany went through. Every time I go to the temple I feel like I'm home, which is a wonderful blessing being so far away from family.
The temple is amazing! They are truly beacons to the world. One of my favorite quotes is by President Monson:
"In its gleaming glory, the temple seems to beckon to each who views its splendor, 'Come! Come to the house of the Lord. Here is found rest for the weary and peace for the soul'... The [temple] prepares all who enter to return homeward- homeward to heaven, homeward to family, homeward to God."

The temple is definitely a beacon especially the DC temple. One of my favorite things is that you can see it as you're driving up the 495 from Baltimore to get there. You're surrounded by trees and then, Bam! There's the temple. It's a glorious thing!

Who gets lost while using a GPS?

On Friday, I went to the temple with my friend, Brinton. Brinton lives in Alexandria and my GPS takes me straight through the National Mall to get to the temple from there. And for those of you who don't know, the National Mall is not the ideal place to drive through on a Friday at 6pm. It took us around an hour and a half. It was totally worth it because it was an awesome session and Brinton took some awesome pictures (as seen above).
Our ordeal in getting to the temple gave us the motivation that we needed to try and take the beltway back to Alexandria. I'm not quite sure how we did it but we took a round about way to get back on the road we used to get there. But the GPS wasn't going to give us the way we used to get there on the way back once we were on this road. It had us turn into this tunnel that put us on a highway that had some road construction and the poorest marked exits in the dark. We missed four or five of our exits and turns. Operation See If We Can Back Faster had completely failed. We left the temple about 10:15pm and didn't get to Brinton's house until a few minutes before midnight. At least Brinton doesn't make fun of my driving.
Lessons learned: sometimes a fail safe route is best, GPS's lie, I now know where the Iwo Jima monument is, and if I'm hanging out with someone who criticizes my driving we're going to take public transportation.
Good thing I learned this lesson as my friend Ryan was getting into town. It will be public transportation for us while he is here. Thank Heavens!