The Barnhurst's: Perfect Timing

When my parents called to set up a time to come out for a visit I didn't realize just how perfectly timed their visit would be. We set the date and the next Sunday the Bishop made a visit and asked me to be the Relief Society President. I had two weeks to ponder on who to call as counselors and wait for Mom and Dad to come. I'll just say it was the easiest fasting I've ever done, my nervous stomach didn't want food! Mom is the current RS president in her ward, for the 4th time, so I was very eager for two weeks with her and my Dad's advice.

They came the day after Dan left for a business trip. Dan left his car at BWI so my parents could drive it home. After a very unfortunate mishap involving my dad running over his new mac notebook in his briefcase and then the breaks going out... they safely made it to Monrovia.
They spent the next day with old army friends in Virginia and then spent the next week and a half with us. We kept them very busy. Between helping watch the kids while I started with meetings and visits for my new calling, going to the temple, enjoying the Fall weather, picking apples and canning 8 jars of apples sauce, yummy pies to eat, going to the pumpkin patch with the kids, a White House tour, and a trip to upstate New York, the time flew by. And I didn't do the dishes once in those 2 weeks!

Picking Apples

The day we originally planned to go to Summer's Farm we showed up with half the state of Maryland already there. We quickly changed our plans and ended up in Middletown to get some ice cream at the South Mountain Creamery. Lucky for us there were having a festival. A FREE festival. There was a blue grass band, a fun playing area, face painting, ice cream and pop corn, and we even got to shake cream to make our very own butter. And to top it off, Grandma and Grandpa treated us to Chic-fi-la!

White House Tour: My good friend, Cara Gilbert, now works for the man whose name shall not be spoken in this home. Okay, not really. She works for Harry Reed. Her connections of working at the White House got us a tour!!! Abby and Clara were too young to go but Jake and Tess loved getting out of school to go to the President's home with Grandma and Grandpa. I laughed when as we pulled out of our driveway Tess reminded Dan to "be nice to the president" if he saw him, something our neighbor Tara had told her to do! We left at 8am and made it just in time for our 10a.m. tour. Surprisingly as we walked through the east wing we were all filled with deep respect for those men who have served there. The decor was elegant and rich with history. Paintings of past presidents and wives, the green room where I could picture a huge Christmas tree in the middle, the china room, ect. The Secret Service agents in each room answered any questions and told us history from each room. My favorite part was seeing the fireplace where John Adams words were engraved. A letter was found that he had written to Abigail, part of which is now referred to as the White House Prayer: "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof." -John Adams, 1800

After our tour we met up with Cara and a sister missionary from NY, Cristy Meiners who has been working for MPR in D.C., for lunch. It was a really fun and perfect day. I felt well, the weather was beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the company of my family and friends.

We kept our promise to the kids to go to a pumpkin patch, Gavers Farm is a favorite. We were one of about 3 families there and the kids had a blast!

The second Sunday mom and dad were here was the Primary Sacrament Program. Mom and Dad got up early and picked up Cara from Shady Grove Metro so she could join us for the day. I just have to say that Jacob, Tess, and Abby did such a great job. They had their parts memorized and courageously made me one proud Mama. I enjoyed sitting on the stage with my CTR5 kids, my class hasn't had a new teacher sustained yet, and sang with them.