our trip to the east

The first weekend in October, {Cody, myself, Cody's brother and his wife},  made a trip out to Washington DC to visit Cody's sister and her family who have taken up residency in Arlington, VA. We flew out Friday morning and spent the next few days loving life!  Gosh, I miss those guy so much!!

We spent some time hitting up the hot spots and touring:
Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Roosevelt Memorial
MLK Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Korean War Memorial
White House

We also visited:
Holocaust Museum
Mount Vernon

One evening we did some shopping and had amazing pizza in:
Old Town Alexandria

Walking the streets of DC is not for the faint of heart. Especially when you are with these guys, who were always on a mission. A fast mission. This was typically the distance they kept from those of us who walked at a bit of a slower pace ;)

But the most memorable times of our trip were the times when we were all together around the table--and the hysterical laughter, where memories were made :)

As amazing as it is to visit and see them, I just can't describe to you how difficult it is to say goodbye. Jamie asked me if I still think about them being out there or if it has just become the "norm"......and I can say for me, over a year later, I still think about it every.single.day.  I don't know what it is, but there is something that is so difficult for me to accept that they are thousands of miles away. And I'll be honest (because I already told her), I hate it!   Don't get me wrong...I know this has nothing to do with me and I am thrilled they are fulfilling dreams of their own, but it is still very difficult for me.

And if that isn't difficult enough, I can't tell you how much I missed my own kids while we were gone.  We did not bring them with this trip because we still can't seem to wrap our minds around the logistics of what goes into bringing 3 young, needy, children across the county with only 2 adults. Some day we will make the trip as a family, we just couldn't do it this time. It felt wonderful to have a break and although I knew the kids were being WELL cared for (thanks Grandma Deb), I missed them like crazy!

...until next time Larson's