Washington, DC

About a month ago, Tony and I were able to take a trip to Washington, DC. The school sent him there for a special education conference, and since his flight, hotel, and food were all paid for, and we had enough credit card points to pay for my flight, I decided to tag along. We have always wanted to go there, and this was just such a great opportunity!

Since he was going to be in conference most of the day for three days, we decided to go a couple days early so we would have time to see more things. (Of course, you need a couple WEEKS to really see DC, so we had to prioritize.)

We flew in on a Saturday evening, and some friends of ours who are serving a mission there came and picked us up from the metro. They fed us dinner and then drove us to the temple.

The temple was spectacular, definitely one of the most impressive temples. We got there when it was still light, and then got to see it after dark when we came back out. We stayed the night with our friends and attended church meetings with them the next day, getting to hear some wonderful conversion stories from people who had recently joined the church. After church, they fed us lunch and took us to the metro stop so we could ride to our hotel.

After checking into our hotel, we went into DC for some sight seeing. We went to Arlington Cemetery, where we saw the changing of the guard, and then we toured the memorials--Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII, and Washington. By then it was late, and we headed back to the hotel.

Arlington Cemetery

Washington Monument (taken from WWII Memorial)Monday was our big sight-seeing day. We saw the Holocaust Museum, toured the Capitol, and went to the Museum of American History. We weren't able to get a White House tour, but we did walk over to it and see it from the outside. We then rode the metro to Chinatown, where we ate and then got out of there as quickly as we could. That place was honestly SCARY. We got back to National Harbor (where our hotel was) in time to take a walk along the river (our hotel was right on the Potomac) and see the sights in that area.

The Capitol

Our Hotel: The Gaylord NationalOn Tuesday, Tony had his conference and I headed back to the Holocaust Museum and American History Museum. There is just so much to see in both of those and I loved getting to go back and see more! Some of the exhibits in the American History museum were just so interesting. I took forever in them, having to read every single word and look at every artifact.

That evening, Tony and I took a water taxi up and across the Potomac River to Alexandria, VA, which is a cute old town.

Wednesday morning, I went on a run back to Alexandria, crossing the river on a bridge, which was really cool! About an 8-mile run, but so fun. Tony went to class again, and I headed back into DC to see the Botanic Gardens and the Museum of Natural History. Both were really interesting and completely different from the things I had seen the previous day. Then Tony and I met up at Ford's Theatre, which was closed--BUMMER! We headed instead to the National Archives. It was amazing to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, an Bill of Rights. We then found a fish market and tried out the local seafood and then went to the Memorials we hadn't hit on Sunday--Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Korean War. All very cool.

Botanic Gardens

Fish MarketThursday was Tony's last day at the conference. I just relaxed at the hotel that day, which was nice. I enjoyed the fitness room and hot tub. I was going to spend some time outside reading as well, but it was pouring rain that day. But the hotel was amazing!

In the Atrium at our hotel
Washington, DC is definitely a place I would like to visit again. There is just so much to see, and we really just scratched the surface. It was an incredible experience to stand where the great leaders of our nation have stood and to learn on-site about the incredible history of this great country, led by divine inspiration and protected by divine intervention. It was truly an amazing experience (and I love the fact that we spend less than $400 total!)

An Upgrade

Almost six and a half years ago, we were given a dining set. It has served us well. It is incredibly sturdy (we're the third generation to use it!), has had enough chairs for us, and can extend really long with a couple leaves.
But I've never really liked it. I'm just not a fan of the ranch-style table and chairs, and the chairs don't really look that great anyway. A couple of them were (partially) stripped at one time and never re-finished. And there are only four of them, so with Mariah's little toddler chair, we had met the max it could hold without buying more chairs, which of course would not match.

So, after years of contemplating, I started looking around a few months ago. I finally narrowed in on the style I wanted, and then finally bit the bullet and paid the money (the most difficult part for me). And I am THRILLED!!! I can hardly believe that this dining set is actually in my house. It seats seven as is (with three on the bench), and has a leaf enclosed in the table to extend it. We hope to buy two more chairs sometime in the next year or so to seat nine. (The lighting in this photo is really gross, but you still get the idea.)

And lest any of you are worried about how much I love this set--I do still love my children more. (But right now it feels pretty close!)

Latest DIY Project

I just finished this cute little kids picnic table this week.

I just love this website, and plan to build a more things from it. I had never built anything before, and although the stuff I've built has not been perfect (I feel like, as a beginner, I'm entitled to a few flaws in my projects), it has all turned out pretty well. And it's a lot of fun!

Teichert Family Weekend

The weekend of April 10th, we were able to spend Saturday night and Sunday with my family. We stayed the night with Tami and Casey in Star Valley, where the kids had a great time playing and having a sleepover with Tel, Kimball, and Owen.

The next day after church, we headed on to Rexburg to attend Sedona's baby blessing. We got there a little early and had a wild time at Vi and Austin's apartment. We had fun holding Sedona,

beating on Tyson,and just having fun! (Love the happy faces in this pic.)
The blessing was beautiful, the food was incredible, and it was so much fun to visit with family. My parents now have 7 cute grandkids!

Connor's Room

Connor's room has transformed very slowly over the past month or so. Once Mylie moved out last fall, he decided that he just wasn't into the little cowboy/cowgirl theme and wanted a sports bedroom. It is finally finished! I was able to do it with very little expense, since we kept the wall color and color scheme the same. Just a few new decor items, and viola--my sporty little guy has his dream bedroom.

This fun gallery was created with a clearance clock ($5), some $2 frames, and Connor's favorite pictures cut from Sports Illustrated.

Connor wanted a trophy shelf, so we just did a simple one and kept his name letters from the room already.
I took his toy box that I had painted red and stenciled cute little cowboy boots and hats onto when he was a baby--stripped it, repainted and used some wallies to turn it into a sports box where he keeps all his sports equipment.

For a final touch, I used my limited sewing skills to sew this fun little window valance.

Spring Cleaning???

Is raking or shoveling deer poop included in your spring cleaning? Since we have a herd of deer that sleeps on our lawn all winter long, we don't even have a square foot of grass that is free from the evidence.Good thing we have such a wonderful helper!

Oh, how we love this cute little poop scooper!!

March . . . is it really already the 20th?!?

March is really getting away from me. Maybe because I've been out of town for so much of it. Here's a little rundown.


The first weekend in March, Tony and Connor headed to Cody for regional basketball for Tony's team, and Mylie and I went to Casper for the weekend to watch my little sisters, Olivia and Tessa, play in their state tournament. We met up with Tami, Violet, and their adorable babies and all spent the weekend together. Mylie loved the swimming, the shopping, and the baby holding, and endured the basketball games. She even paid enough attention to know who was winning at various points in the games.

Mom and Daughter weekend

The cute babies that came with us: Sedona (Violet's) . . .

and Owen (Tami's).

Cokeville had an outstanding tournament and ended up winning it all! I was so excited for them! Now all my sisters have won a state championship in basketball. (I'm allowed to brag about others, right?)

Coach (Dad) and Scorebook keeper (Mom)

Crazy Tessa--This girl had an outstanding game in the semi-final, scoring 18 of the team's 32 points, including 4 critical three-pointers. Guess all the years of summer shooting paid off when it mattered most!

Livi shooting free throws in the championship game. She's a senior this year, and she sure went out with a bang, scoring 22 points in her final game and getting the state title to go with it!

Proud dad with his baby girls. He has now coached 6 state championship basketball teams.

The following Wednesday after school, we loaded up the van and headed back to Casper--this time to watch the 3A/4A state basketball tournament with our whole family. I didn't take any pictures there, but all three kids had a great time. They loved staying in the hotel for three nights, spending just a little time in the mall, eating the "special" treats and things I brought along, eating out once a day, going to the park, going swimming THREE TIMES, and going to 12 basketball games over the three days. They were all so good. Even Mariah does great in the gym. As I realized that she had just endured 12 games in three days, I started wondering how many basketball games she had been to in her life. She was priviledged to be born just in time for basketball season and so she has now had three seasons and I estimate . . . . about 90 games! Crazy, I know. I can't even begin to figure out how many games Connor has been to--most likely over 300.

We got home late last Saturday night from that trip, and acquired three extra children early Sunday morning, who stayed with us until yesterday morning while their parents were on vacation. My sister-in-law, Angela's, kids are really comfortable at our house, and the kids get along great, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. All except for the fact that I was gone for two days in the middle of that for choir tour with the high school choir. I play the piano for the group and volunteered myself to babysit before I knew when the tour was. Oops! But Tony picked up the slack, taking a personal day to stay home from school, getting them all to bed at night, and then having them all ready in the morning to go to another of his sister's house for the day. How I love that man! He is amazing.

Last night, we finally just relaxed a bit, enjoying some good food (tortilla soup--yum!) and some college basketball. Whew! And now I'm not planning to leave town for a good couple of weeks. Although life is busy at times, I wouldn't have it any other way. And finally, to end this post, a typical couple of minutes in the Micheli home for those who are interested. (Connor doing something extreme, Mylie coloring, Mariah being silly, Mom looking busy, and Dad enjoying it all.)