AUSTRALIA!!!

Well, folks, I am in Australia right now and have no pictures downloaded on this laptop. I promise to download some here when I get them home. So far, I have pet kangaroos, held a koala, snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef, gone to the Brisbane Temple, and walked around downtown Brisbane. Still to come: Zoo and Fraser Island. I love the Aussie style! People here are so nice and laid back! Very refreshing! Well, toodles for now!

Light Rail and Museum!

Some friends and I rode the light rail into downtown Phoenix to have dinner and go to the free night at the art museum.

Christmas and Birthday

A special time of year...

This is a family tradition...making gingerbread houses. Not the kind that come pre-cooked and cut out for $9.96 at Wal-Mart, this is the real thing! Therefore human error must be taken into account when constructing the structure...which sometimes leads to roofs sliding off, walls caving in, etc. Adds to the challenge! This is me and my sister and one of my adorable nieces keeping the tradition alive!

This is what I got for Christmas...not the AR-15, silly, the 9mm held in my left hand above! Nothing like a little outing with the brothers!

Somehow, I became old...pretty weird. Most of my friends were out of town for my birthday, as usual because of the date, but I still had fun with the friends that did come!

Free ice cream at Red Robin!What kind of person gives someone a 2 pound sausage as a birthday gift??? This answers the question: My home teacher, Hyrum! "Gee, Merilee, when I saw this enormous sausage on the shelf in the Christmas clearance aisle, I thought of YOU!" Thanks, Hyrum, I feel loved!

Virginia and DC

I love green foliage!

Fall leaves! I love it!

The Declaration of Independence...one of the most sacred documents in existence, outside of scripture. Inspiring. Magical. Made it possible for me to worship according to the dictates of my own conscience. Inspired. Motivating. Please remember the vision that the Founding Fathers had and try to live according to it. Please do not let my country become corrupt...

This document means so much to me, too, as does the Bill of Rights which is not pictured here. These documents also guarantee me certain rights: religious freedom, no illegal searches or seizures, my right to bear arms, my right to a trial by the jury of my peers--if I ever need it. I thank my Lord and God for these inspired documents!

Thomas Jefferson's gettaway retreat. I guess so many people came to tour Monticello that it nearly became an inn! So Jefferson had this built to escape from time to time.

Me and Padmini at the home of Thomas Jefferson, one of my newly discovered heroes. He was an absolutely amazing person--not perfect--but amazing, especially for the time in which he lived. Look on the back of a nickel and you will see this house!

The view of a hill fron Monticello. Jefferson purchased the hill. I guess we have similar taste in hills.

This is me eating some grapes from the farm at Monticello.

For any native Arizonans out there, these are called leaves, and they change color in the fall.

Why do I live in Arizona???

This is the McLean home in Appomattox Courthouse (town) where Lee surrendered to Grant and ended the Civil War.

Bridge across the James River

We played "Clue" in person for FHE. I was the killer, and yes, I used nun-chucks...

This is part of Padmini's campus. I'm so jealous!

We got to go to the LAST session of the day, whew, we made it! Beautiful!

Washington Monument with the flag...stunning!

This is the Natural Bridge, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Pretty sweet!

Me and Padmini

See the little dots below the bridge? Those are people.

This is the "reading room" at the Library of Congress. My mom got to tour this place when we lived in Virginia when I was in high school...lucky!

Me and Sara on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Wahsington Monument is in the background on the Mall.

Inside the Library of Congress. It's second in beauty only to the temple.

Padmini and me in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

Adventures in DC!

Well, I spent all day Saturday touring around Washington DC with my friends Sara and Padmini. We began with viewing the White House from a distance, but then we got moved out by some security guys (hot ones, I might add!) because there must have been some important people coming along soon or something...
We ate lunch in Union Station and saw some monuments and memorials...Lincoln, WWII, Washington, etc. I did not, however, get to see the "sacred documents" (Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights) because they shut the line down at 4:30pm. The tour book said the Archives Building closed at 5:30pm, but it did not say the line shut down at 4:30, so we saved it until last. I was LIVID! I really, really, really wanted to see the documents! I felt like writing a letter letting the "Official Tour Book" people know that it needed to be published in the book that the line closed at 4:30! We may try to go see it Friday if the traffic agrees with us. The "sacred documents" are important to me because of what they symbolize. I love this country and I don't like the direction it is sometimes headed. I think we should go back to the original view that the Founding Fathers had for our country. Anyway, I'm having fun and am now in a town in central VA. Red brick houses, (some of them VERY large) leaves beginning to change colors, foliage on the ground, green hills, and water are all around and are very rejuvenating! Why don't I live here yet? Two reasons: Grad school will be done in two years, and I have a new church calling. That's all that is keeping me in AZ.
Well, I've blabbed enough! I will post more pics when I get home.

Fry Bread and Friends

Our ward got together to make and eat fry bread. Here is a picture after the food was eaten!

My friend Steve stopped by for a bit last night. He lives in Chicago and goes to school there.












Here we are touching (or trying to touch) our toes! He did get to his toes that night, by the way. :) He is a lot of fun to hang out with---makes me laugh. I love good friends...

This first picture is...well, the sign says it all! It's the Wind Caves hike which isn't really all that long, but it has quite an incline. This second picture is a hike to South Mountain. Michael took both of these picutures! :)