GOULD'S HOUSE

Yesterday we went with Rhonda and Oscar to the National Zoo. This is a great zoo! Especially for kids. If any of you want to come visit we will take you. I got very few pictures of the kids faces as they were way to engrossed to look at the camera :) These are a few of their favorites. The garoolas (as Abby calls them) were a big hit. They were really close and pretty cool to see.

They also have a kids farm with several farm animals...donkeys, cows, alpacas, goats, pigs, ect. They were watching the cows and the alpacas here.

The other exhibit that I really liked :). Were the giant Panda bears. The are really beautiful animals.


By the time we got home we were both exhausted! It was a fun adventure. I've decided Abby and I need to become more adventurous and go see and do more up in DC. I think I've got the train thing down. Driving is still a little scary at times. Mostly because I usually don't really know where I am going, but it's getting better. :)

I love having trees in our yard, but we are quickly realizing how much work it brings!!! Abby and I spent the morning raking up leaves. Well I gathered them, she scattered them. :)


The temptation is just too great to leave a pile of leaves in a pile and not jump in and throw them everywhere. We raked up 13 big piles! I still have 5 more to bag and send out with the trash tomorrow. It has taken quite a while as several piles had to be gathered more than once :)

We have had an exciting weekend around here. One of my roommates from North Park was in DC this weekend to run the Marine Corps Marathon. On Friday Abby and I took the train from Fredericksburg to down town DC and met up with Pam and another friend, Britt. We walked the mall and visited the Natural History Smithsonian. I was a little nervous about taking this adventure with her by myself, but she did great and we had a great time.

We got to the train station and Abby was so happy. She was jumping up and down saying hello to all of the groggy commuters. She told everyone "The choo choo train is coming! I soooo excited!" It was very cute.


The train ride is about and 1hr and 20minutes. She sat like this most of the time saying "look mommy trees, look cars, look water, look a dinosaur" she has an active imagination i guess :)

Pam, Abby, and I in front of the elephant in the Natural History Smithsonian.

On Sunday David and I went up to meet my friend Britt (also from school) and few others to cheer Pam on in her 26.2 mile run. We had a lot of fun cheering and were able to see her in a couple of spots. This is near the finish line.

Pam, somwhere around mile 17-18.

The other exciting event of the weekend is purchasing a new car. We finally did away (happily i might add) with the Kia. I didn't realize how stressful car shopping can be, but I am happy with our purchase.

I guess that's all the excitement for now. I'm trying to be a bit better about updating our blog so we shall see how that goes..... :)

Last weekend we went with all the Maloneys to Belvadere Farms. They have all kinds of stuff for the kids, food, cider, slides, corn mazes, animals, and a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where you can pick your very own pumpkin. We had a great day. I love fall.


One of the kid slides. They have them for big kids too, but i won't show you any of those pictures...:)

Umm Swine Flu?


Abby loved the animals and has absolutely no fear.
David, Sharon, Alli, and I went through the corn maze. They give you flags to wave in case you get lost. It's a good thing we chose the easiest one.

Abby's first pony ride. She liked it a lot and held on tight!

I think we are headed into fall. Its getting almost cold at night and cooler during the days. We live in the woods and are surrounded by trees so all of our trees are beginning to turn colors and fall. One of our projects is to clear out some of our back yard (wooded area) so we have a bit more room to play. Its been fun being outside, but its a lot of work (more for David than me :)) We are also settling in to our new house nicely. There are still boxes here and there, but they are diminishing by the week. David took a quick trip over to TN last week to finish up the album his Dad and he have been working on with Phil Keaggy. It's been such a neat opportunity for him to be able to work on this with his dad and Phil. He also was able to surprise Helen, Jasen, and all the kids and was there for Helen's birthday. I have been busy with work and getting together with new and old friends. Here are some of our recent pictures....

Our very cute, now potty-trained, little girl.

Abby and I were able to get together with Rhonda (Lundamo) and Oscar the other day. I know Rhonda from Ketchikan and even worked with her mom at the hospital. They are now stationed in the DC area. Not the best picture of Abby, but the kids had fun playing together.

David and Abby playing with one of the bags we were using for leaves. Although this one seems to have legs. :)


Abby thought it was very funny that daddy fit in the bag too. Although not quite as easily as she did.


Our back yard project. David has done a good job of clearing out all the leaves and stuff this far back our next goal is to get rid of some of the smaller shrubs and trees back there. We'll let you know how it turns out.

We are planning a few fun fall outings and hope to have some visitors in the next few months as well. Hope you are all enjoying some fall weather.

It's been awhile since we've posted anything.  We've had a busy last few months.  David had a job offer in DC so three weeks later we were on our way.  Currently we are staying with my family in Fredericksburg but will be moving into our own home next week.  We've been here for a total of three weeks.  David has started working and is getting the hang of commuting and DC life.  I started a part time job last week at a small community hospital in OB and Abby has been having lots of fun with our houseful of people.  Matthew Powney has been here for the past few weeks and we've also had a visit from my Aunt Sherry and cousin Jacey.  There's also the permanent residents of my parents house: mom, dad, Sharon, Allison, and Buddy.  Sydney and Buddy had a rough start, but I think they've finally developed a truce.  Here are a few recent pictures...

We took a quick trip to Florida last week. We drove down to Sebring on Wed. On Friday night we went down to Naples to stay the weekend. David's birthday was on Saturday and we had a great day on the beach. That night we took him out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which was very yummy! Sunday we went to Kevin's church and then spent the rest of our time back in Sebring. It was a very fun and relaxing time. Here are a few of our beach pictures....


The water was very exciting and we had to watch her pretty closely as she has absolutely no fear of it and just goes on out! She got nocked down by the waves and went under a couple of times, but went straight back out for more.

Abby had a blast in the sand and loved the seashells too!

David and Jenn on the beach...Happy Birthday David!

Well Tennessee summer has arrived. It is pretty steadily in the 80's and getting more humid by the day. We've been finding some fun warm weather things to do though. We've been spending more time at the Wickerts in the sprinkler and kiddie pool in the backyard and going to the playground. I think we are going to have to invest in waterbabies sunscreen as I have to almost bathe Abby in it every time we go out. :)


We've been swimming a lot more in the pool at our new apartment. We have two to chose from which is really nice. Above is Abby and David. She loves the water and is sometimes a little scary as she has no fear of it.

Jasen and Adam. The Wickerts all came down and spent the day last week. All the kids went swimming and had a blast.

Three tired cousins having a snack after swimming and a nap.




Another fun spot we've found is at a big shopping area near our house. In the center they have a big fountain and all the kids can play in it. Abby loves it. There's also a Starbucks right next to it so we can sit and drink coffee while she plays. I love it too!

Here is a little video of Phil Keaggy on the Brian Mason radio show here in Nashville talking about the new album. A cut from the album has just finished playing when they begin to talk. I have the sound file of the whole thing but I'm not sure how to put sound files on blogger. Check my facebook, I'll try and put it up there.