Joel's Journey: DC!!!!!

Monday, August 13, 2012

DC!!!!!

*wedding photos on previous posts!!

On Friday after the wedding we had a day to do "something!" Some went to the county fair, and some of us went to DC!!!! Hosanna, Mercy, Terry and I took the more exciting option, Washington DC!! We got on the Metro, which was an adventure in itself!! Whizz ing through black underground tunnels at speeds to 79-80 mph, stopping at 11 stations until we arrived directly in front of the Smithsonian Institute!! The Smithsonian really was extra neat because we watched the movie "Night of the Museum" and they really thought some of the things in it might just come to life! Ha! We arrived in DC at 5pm soooo we had to make quick stops at each place! We zoomed through the museum, and then made our way (walking the whole way!!!) over to the White House!! It's just amazing to be at these historic places!! We then made our way to the National Monument, and Hosanna wanted to see Lincoln in his big chair!! We strolled downtown which I really liked and ate at a fun little restaurant "Chef Geoffs." we hadn't had any lunch so we were starving!! Surprisingly Mercy did really well walking the 7-9 miles we covered!! The lights around all the sights at dusk were stunning! It was a day I will never forget!! (I only wish I could have gone in all those cute shops downtown!!) hahah!!!!

Saturday we started our journey back home with a few sightseeing stops as well. I have to say Virginia is so beautiful! The mountains are just so majestic and breathtaking! We stopped at Fredricksburgh which was Terry's dream of a lifetime place to stop!! His hero is Jackson!!!! We saw and mercy sat on a remnant of the actual
stonewall at the Battle of Fredricksburgh!! Just to see photos of that era they had there and to think you were on the "spot." is so sereal!! So many places alongside the road that indicated much history of that time! We stopped at Monticello as well and hoped to tour Jefferson's home but they were very proud of the tour. $25 a piece!!!! Eeeeee!!! We drove through beautiful mountain scenery
and finally could drive no more.... hotel stop near Charleston Va. Sunday we drove 16 hours, two vehicles!! The third vehicle with Elijah and Micah stayed in Maryland for a few weeks of work!!

Now we are home!!! So so so glad to be here!!!! Busy day!!!

Thank you for all your sweet comments here and on fb!!! It's been fun to share it with you all!!

Our first wedding!!!!!! Yay!!!!

3 comments:

Teena said...: Just love it..... feel liike I traveled with all of you!

Beautiful!

Much love,
Teena; August 13, 2012 at 6:25 PM
Elizabeth said...: Those sunsets were so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your photos with us.; August 14, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Margaret (maggie) Kelley said...: It was all gorgeous!! I am so glad you had a good time!! You two are definately the most deserving parents!!!!; August 14, 2012 at 5:02 PM

Post a Comment

Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.