blessed EaSteR?

i was such a good girl to have finished dying the eggs last thursday with the urchins> that helped tremendously. it was a little bit interesting since, little miss Gabby wants to help with everything. she's two you know? she can do everything now. she's so independent.


and i hate purple/violet but the kit came with it.


i had to give Gabby yet another cup of yogurt so she would stand still for a group shot and i had to just settle for this.



but this is what she does now, she has to check out what's being taken and wants to see her picture on the screen> and i'm very happy with that stage: i think it's pretty cute.



while we were gone for church, apparently The Easter Bunny was busy getting all the sugar laid nicely on the kitchen table. it was a riot when Gabby discovered it.





i was domestically motivated, just had to make these cupcakes.



it wasn't long after Gabby discovered these guys, she just had to dig her teeth in to this poor peep



we had a delicious meal and pies... and the meal was followed by egg hunting.





by then it was nearing 6:00 p.m. didn't matter because we're getting more light now. meaning spring is here and so is summer but we live in Montana, it still gets cold (and sometimes snow) that explains why the girls had jeans on with their easter dresses. and guess who didn't want their picture taken?



but these guys didn't mind.



despite of the chaotic world of this family of five, we did enjoy Easter: it was fabulous. hope y'all had a good one too.

Second day: as it was granted, we got to roam around inside the US Capitol> staff led of course. we got to the Senator's office ON TIME, then went through a tunnel leading to the Capitol building. right off the bat, this is what we encountered: The Statue of Freedom... she's the one you see on the top of the Capitol close up.



then a short joy ride going in to the building. such a cute little train.


it was so powerful, mind boggling, and there were so much to take in.
this right here was in the very middle of the building. it was considered "LUCKY" to touch the star, so it was worn down from people rubbing their feet on it. being the dork that i am, i couldn't resist rubbing my foot as well.



the Rotunda was stunning. in using my prime lens, i found it difficult to get a cool shot of the dome and i had to do it in segments:



there were spectacular paintings. one of the paintings done by John Trumbull that i thought was pretty amazing and rather amusing is this:


because you see, if i got it right, during the the signing of the Declaration of Independence, i guess there were so much rivalry between John Adams and Benjamin Franklin and if you look closely in the painting, i can't remember which one was which: Benjamin Franklin was stepping on John Adams' foot. interesting.



got a shot of The Car of History Clock:


magnificent chandeliers:


it was overwhelming. photo ops were endless. literally. i was smart enough to get an extra cartridge of 4GB before we left or i would not have been able to contain every shots i had in just that day.

two in a row... how about that?

we left on Saturday the 1st of March and came back Sunday the 9th. just in that matter of days, i had experienced the most awe inspiring trip from Washington DC and North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

we spent indefatigable 3 days in Washington DC. to the best of our ability we went to all 4 corners of DC while we were there. this has been a life long dream of mine to visit DC, and finally, after agonizing years, dreams do come true!

the trip to DC came as a bonus, as it turned out we had to stay there because of our airline ticket situations. prior to our date of departure, we contacted our Senator here in Montana and checked if we could squeeze ourselves to a hectic schedule to The US Capitol and the White House. in just a matter of days, we were granted to have a staff guided tour in the US Capitol but the White House was entirely questionable. however, the day before we left, we received an email from the Senator saying we can have the self guided tour in the White House. do i hear an echo? SELF GUIDED TOUR!?!?!? too good to be true? but it's true and... no, we weren't out of control either.

first day was spent in Smithsonian. got to see the
*Apollo 11;

here's the monkey that went to the Moon.



*the 1st plane;

... and remember the movie: "A Night in the Museum" with Ben Stiller? you know, the movie that was supposedly taken from there? we got to see that. uber coolio!!! the kids were in awe of the Dinosaur artifacts along with countless collections of God only knows. it RAWK!



*and multitudes of educational and historical facilities.

*i was able to touch the Washington Monument. i did a lot of "touching". i was totally your typical tourist





then Joe and i choose to go see the Holocaust museum and it was the most heart wrenching place i've been to. we went through inside a railcar in which the Jews suffered ( it was used to transport Jews from all over Europe to ghettos, concentrations camps and killing centers) and i opted to touch it, i swear you could feel it. seen the movie "Schindler's List"? if you haven't, you ought to. and could you believe that there are actually people who really believe that the Holocaust didn't take place?

unfortunately, no one was allowed to take photographs inside, and i don't think anyone could take it either. we got to the part where the "SHOES" were and all you could smell was the smell of leather. after seeing heap upon heap of shoes, you get a better understanding of the magnitude of it all: dead Jews. talk about unreal. this quote was written on the wall:

"We are the shoes, we are the last witnesses. We are shoes from grandchildren and grandfathers from Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam. And because we are only made of fabric and leather, and not of blood and flesh, each one of us avoided the Hellfire."

gazing at all of the horrifying displays, the gas chamber model, the authentic bunk beds, the disturbing images, reading countless testimonies was overwhelming...profoundly intense. i wanted to cry but i couldn't. i wanted to say something but i was speechless. all i could do was keep on moving in silence until we reached the exit.

and that's how we spent our first day.

Upon arriving home from a long trip to Washington DC, i waded through my emails and came across this wonderful news.

this doesn't happen everyday so, i am easily tickled and i am humbled and honored to be a part of this book.

the email went:




Thank you so much for submitting your layout to Scrapbook Trends Magazine! We appreciate your submission and would like to use one of your layouts for our upcoming Vacation Idea Book. The layout that we are interested in is attached.

Please send an email to (erased info) indicating whether or not you plan to send the layout.
If you are still able to make this layout available for publication:

Please place it in the mail by Monday March 10th, 2008 - Layouts received after Monday March 22nd, 2008 may not be published in the Vacation Idea Book, so please make sure we receive your layout before this date. Thank you!
Please be certain that the ideas on your layout are original and have not been published previously.
Please put your layout in its own protector, with your name, address, phone number and e-mail address on the back of the layout (Please do not abbreviate city names.)
Please do not send your layout in a flattened box as it is easily damaged during shipping and is difficult to open without damaging your layout!
Please avoid using a clear envelope that seals at the top to store your layout. These are difficult to open and remove your layout for photography.
Each layout must also have a complete list of products used. Copy-paste the form at the end of this letter into a word processing document, fill it out, delete any N/A items, print it out, then slip it into the protector of each layout you send.
Please list the brand of each product - layouts without a complete list of products cannot be used. We don't list adhesives; our apologies to those taking part in rewards programs.
In order to keep our magazine fresh for our readers, we would appreciate it if you would remove your layout from any online galleries. You are welcome to put it back up the month after it is published (in this case, July 1st, 2008). Thank you!
A confirmation email will be sent to you within about a week of your layout arriving to let you know we received it. Your layout will be returned to you after the issue has been printed along with scrapbooking products and two copies of the Vacation Idea Book as our thanks for sharing your talent.

Layouts should be mailed to (PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS):



Scrapbook Trends – Vacation

Attn: Holly

(erased info)


Thank you so much for sharing your talent and creativity with us!




Yup! i was needless to say beside myself.