My wife Annette and the kids are spending the month of June with her family in Texas, so this was the first (and hopefully last) Father's Day spent away from the kids. It was a complete drag, but I did get phone calls throughout the day, and these photos of my beautiful children Connor, 6; Chloe, 3; and Caleb, 2.

Last Saturday I was in Texas on my way back to Vegas, ans sho this video fo Chloe & Caleb in the back yard at their Nanna and Pawpaw's house. Sure is green there in he summertime!

While in DC, we had the chance to see several friends. We stayed with Annette's cousin Trey (picture in previous post) and were able to visit with him and see him in his office at Capitol Hill. We were able to have lunch with one of our dear friends from Green Valley, Pat Norman. Pat works in DC a good part of the year during the week, then flies back to Henderson on the weekends. I traveled with Pat and her huband Ellis on a missionary trip to Thailand about three years ago. They both think Connor is something else, and make it a point to see him and talk with on Sundays.
We spent Thursday night with Andrianna and Kelly Dunbar. Andrianna is a dear friend who was in my church in Tucson. She met her husband Kelly at Baylor, and they have been married for five years. It was an added treat that her mom and dad, Jon and Renee, came into town, and I was able to visit with them. Connor played Guitar Hero for Kelly half the night, and Kelly was great to encourage Connor while I talked with the Heidens. It's a great blessing to have friends and family in different cities, and to be able to visit while on vacation.

Last Thursday Connor and I went to the Capitol building to meet our Nevada Senators, Harry Reid and John Ensign. Each Thursday when the Senate is in session, our Senators have a meeting time/ breakfast with Nevada residents. Annette's cousin Trey Hicks, who we stayed with during the week, works for Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, so he took us to our meeting.
It was packed in the LBJ room of the senate, and so Connor and I tried to find a corner of the room where he could eat his donut in peace. We went to the far corner of the room, and it just happened to be where Senator Reid was. He came over, chatted with us, asked about our church, and Connor let him know he was a volunteer greeter at the church, meaning he wasn't paid. Senator Reid thought that was pretty good, and when we went to get an official picture with the Senators, he relayed Connor's comments to Senator Ensign.
Afterwards, we left Capitol Hill and traveled to the White House for a tour. We saw the East Wing, and really enjoyed it.
We then went back to the Capitol (I needed to get my camera, which you can't take to the White House, from Trey). We went to Trey's office, and Connor struck up a long conversation with one of the office managers, Mary, who has worked for as number of different senators in her career. COnnor and I explored the capitol building some more,and spent a little time riding the underground trains. We had passes, but I don't know for sure if we should have been riding the train reserved for the Senators, but nobody kicked us out or anything. :) We had a great day.

When we arrived in DC a week ago last Monday night, one of my favorite people in the whole world, Andrianna (Heiden) Dunbar picked us up at the airport. Andrianna was in my youth choir at Mountain View Baptist in Tucson, and through the years she and her family have become such dear friends. She drove us to the Lincoln Memorial, and we walked around the Viet Nam Memorial and to one of Connor's favorites, the Albert Einstein statue. Afterwards, we went to dinner in the Eastern Market area- a great first night in DC.

Last Tuesday night we went to see the Washington Nationals play the Cincinnati Reds. The game was delayed by rain for two hours (you don't ever see that happen in Phoenix!).We met a really nice ticket taker during the rain delay who "upgraded" my $5 nose bleed tickets to the front row along the First base line.

The Nationals mascot is Screech, the Eagle.

During the middle of the 4th inning, they have the "Running of the Presidents" or something like that. Guys dressed up with oversize heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, race for a winner. Abe Lincoln had some wheels this night, for sure, and won by a landslide. Here's Connor high-fiving George Washington...
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgfHfXmaFWK6GPnNRqjvN2GRzqpkgw9TO1X6qxMxjjzlkZWZ0hhxwZyH-zljIXI7EtcAQpeKEUh92XfgScZugyHgNbyJhyphenhyphenm4e7__jz8HC-aQyFsJsUSiZnU0f1L685V5hwHqx/s1600-h/June2009+009.jpg">

Here's the first of several photos from our Washington DC trip...
Last Tuesday Connor and I took a tour of the Capitol building, courtesy of our Congresswoman, Dina Titus. She was so very nice to allow us in to her office, and visit with us for several minutes. Funny, but she's about the first person I've seen that rendered Connor speechless- he was uncharacteristically un-talkative to her! We were so appreciative of her time, and for arranging not only a tour of the Capitol, but also a tour of the White House last Thursday.

We had a blast, and I'll be posting photos from our trip over the next several days...

Connor and I just completed our first Father-son trip, a week in Washington DC. I will be posting many photos from our adventures, but I do want you to know that I don't neglect my other two kids! :) Chloe is my sweet baby girl sent from heaven, and Caleb is my joy and answer to prayer. The only difference is, Connor loves the camera, where Chloe and Caleb don't. It is pulling teeth to get Caleb, especially, to pose. So here is my current favorite photo of a kid I can't wait to get to know better, my baby bootie Caleb.
That's a million dollar smile!