“Mormon Night” at the Atlanta Braves Game

Frank and Kevin (a friend visiting from Las Vegas)...at the Braves game.

Kevin (back) with PJ, Ashley and Liz before they saw Dale Murphy at the Braves pre-game "Meet 'n Greet.".

Frank and Ashley with Dale Murphy!! Don't you hate it when you get a photo op like this and the shot is blurry!! There was some guy there taking the photos for them (with our camera) and he didn't know what he was doing...arggghhh!

Kevin and Dale Murphy...

PJ, Liz and Dale Murphy...

Liz getting her shirt (actually Frank's shirt) signed by Dale Murphy. He's such a nice guy! Poor guy though...he used to play in Atlanta, but has lived in arid Utah for many years (I believe) and his body isn't used to the humidity anymore :-(....

Ashley getting her hat signed by Dale Murphy.

Lining up the Mormons for a PARADE on Turner Field!!! They were invited from all around the area.

Waiting in line to be in the "Mormon Parade."

Cute Ashley waiting for the parade...

Kevin waiting to be in the parade...

Ashley, "Are we STILL waiting in line to be in the parade?"

Liz and PJ waiting in line to be in the "Mormon Parade."

Frank in all his giddiness. Can you imagine being a DIE HARD Braves fan and getting to do all of this??? I was so happy for him!

PJ, "I can't wait in this humidity!! My hair!!!"

Getting ready to come out of "The Tunnel" into the stadium.

Let the parade begin...Frank getting to walk Turner Field in the "Mormon Parade."

The Braves Dugout

Frank in front of the Braves Dugout

Braves Dugout

Braves Dugout

They work VERY hard on that field before the game starts.

The tomahawk...

Some sportscaster guy getting people ready for the game.

The JumboTron. Check out the Videos below to see the family on the JumboTron.

Kevin mocking the people that thought they had it good because they had front row seats! Suckers!!! ;-)

The Stadium...and the Chick-fil-a cow...

PJ, "My hair!" Frank, "Is this awesome, or what?!"

The Field...real grass...

Kevin making a catch...

Frank and Kevin making a dual catch...

The Players Warming Up

Braves players warming up...I think...

 

This is the view from our seats. There were a few times that we thought the ball might come our way...but no such luck...

The view of the JumboTron from our seats.

Beautiful Liz....being all sporty...

Watching the game (LtoR): Megan, Donovan, PJ, Kevin, Frank, my empty seat, Mikayla, Ashley & Liz.

Watching the game (LtoR): Megan, Donovan, PJ, Kevin, Frank, my empty seat, Mikayla, Ashley & Liz.

Watching the game (LtoR): Megan, Donovan, PJ, Kevin, Frank, my empty seat, Mikayla, Ashley & Liz.

Above:  This is Liz in line waiting to start the parade. It’s just silly, but you get a good look at her big, beautiful eyes!

Above:  Ever see a line of Mormons? Ok, me too. But this one is waiting to parade around Turner Field at a Braves Game…see, you’ve never see THAT, right?

Above:  In this video Frank is telling us that they are waiting for the “parade” to start and they are about to go out the tunnel onto the field.

Above:  This video was taken when they first entered Turner Field for the “Mormon Parade.” They got to see themselves on the JumboTron…which is way cool! The rest of us were very jealous!

Above:  This was taken while they were out on Turner Field for the “Mormon Parade.”

Above: In this video you get to see the pre-game preparations for a Braves game. You also get to see Frank’s perma-grin as he gets to walk the field of his beloved Braves.

Above:  The first section you see in this video is where our seats were. That is Ashley asking if it is real grass. This is still during pre-game events.

Above:  In this video you can see Frank “catching” a “fly ball” right at the wall in the outfield at a Braves game. Ok, it was pre-game, and there was no ball…but still…how cool is that???

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 1

On July 5th we left for a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C.   We saw all the “BIG STUFF” in two full days of running from one site to another.  That wouldn’t have been quite as difficult if the East Coast hadn’t been experiencing a significant HEAT WAVE at the time and most of the “running” was done outside. 

It was 103 degrees our first day there (and 100 the 2nd day).  Our friends in Las Vegas will scoff at that seemingly “low” temp.  However…the humidity was also around 100% at the time.  This makes for  a most UNBEARABLE experience.  I’ll never forget walking from the Lincoln Memorial over to the White House in those conditions.  Uggghhhh!  We actually left a tour of the Capitol building midway through in order to make it to the other end of the Washington Mall for our elevator ride up the Washington Memorial (we got our tickets early in the morning for a 4:30 tour)…we did that in 15 minutes, riding Metro part of the way…and running in the heat (can you see all 8 of us running like maniacs?)…crazy, but worth it!

But, despite that one large challenge…we had a most excellent adventure in the country’s capital.  We made a lot of memories.

I don’t want to be negative, but I will mention two big observations we made while we were there:

1.  The Washington Mall is in horrible shape.  The grass is brown and unkempt, and everything looks very undesirable.  I know all that upkeep costs, but it doesn’t present a very “shiny” image for our country.

2.  People in Washington D.C. aren’t very nice.  We have lived in “The South” for the past two years now…and I think we have already started to take “Southern Hospitality” for granted.  I remember when we first moved to Georgia from Las Vegas…we were in awe at how truly nice everyone was…like the cashier at the grocery store, or a person on the street that you needed to get directions from, or the people that wave at you in your car even though they have no clue who you are.  We realized, after we stepped out of our “Southern Bubble” that we have let that become something that we expect instead of appreciate.  We will try to do better now .

Yeah...the 12 hours of torture was over...we had arrived!

We stayed in Arlington, Virginia...

We stayed at the Hilton near the airport in Arlington.

We got all day Metro (subway) Tickets and rode the train from the hotel into the city and also used it to get to different places in the city. That in and of itself was an adventure.

Mikayla, Frank and Megan on the Metro.

Our very first stop was at the Arlington National Cemetery. Here is a quote from the official website for the cemetery: "Arlington Mansion and 200 acres of ground immediately surrounding it were designated officially as a military cemetery June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. More than 300,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery. Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the American Revolution through the Iraq and Afghanistan. Pre-Civil War dead were reinterred after 1900."

It was a very humbling experience to be there. To find out more about the cemetery you can go to: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/

 

 

We were privileged to watch the "Changing of the Guards" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. See our VIDEOs below.

 

The senior officer was checking the gun of the replacement soldier in the official ceremony.

 

 

I don't know if they do this every time, but the wreath that was in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was changed out after the changing of the guards. This particular one was contributed by the Daughters of the Revolution. They had a few older ladies there to be a part of that ceremony.

After we watched the changing of the guards we got in line (luckily in the shade) for the next Shuttle to take us back to the Visitor's Center. We had quite a wait as a funeral procession was keeping the shuttle from getting to us (remember it was 103 degrees at this point). While we were waiting an ambulance and a fire truck arrived with lights flashing. We never heard for sure, but we assumed someone had collapsed from the heat.

 

After we were done at the Cemetery, we got on the Metro and headed right into the heart of DC. One of the first things we did was find 1111 Constitution Way. What, you say you haven't heard of that address??!! That would be the official IRS headquarters. ;-)

Our next stop was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

I thought my Utah friends would like this...a piece of Sandstone from Moab sits in the Smithsonian...how cool is that?

Does this look familiar to you? Remember the movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"?

AND...for my Arizona friends. Did you know that right in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, they have a couple of pieces of Petrified Wood from none other than HOLBROOK, Arizona? That's where I spent my first 9 years of life. Another "cool thing" on the trip!

And...it's the family "on the Mall"...Washington Mall, that is. That's the Capitol Building in the background.

And agin...this time with Shayne...hey, I want to be in the pictures sometimes too ;-).

This is the family standing in front of a museum on our way to the National Air and Space Museum. We kind of hoped we would get some respite from the heat by the water. You wouldn't believe how many bottles of water we went through in those two days.

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 1 – Initial Announcement

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 2 – Checking the Gun

ABOVE:  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 3 – New Soldier Takes Over

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 2

More photos of our Trip to Washington, D.C., in the early part of July 2010.

Here I took a picture of PJ taking a picture inside the National Air and Space Museum.

Can you see that Liz is blushing?? She wanted to take a picture with the fire hose because she has a thing for firefighters. So, she looks at me and raises her eyebrows twice but a boy passing by thought she was "making eyes" at him...and I caught the ensuing embarrassment ;-).

Donovan with his head in the clouds...

...touring a partial airplane. The kids were very thirsty and tired at this point. Don't let their smiles fool you ;-).

Frank

Ashley with Amelia Earhart

On the Metro again: Ashley, PJ, Frank and Megan

Sitting in the Metro station...waiting for a train.

We were back in the heat hiking from the National Air and Space Museum down to the Lincoln Memorial (a very long distance...even when it's not 103 degrees).

The Washington Monument. We thought it was ironic that they were advertising and getting ready for a big Mexico celebration on the Washington Mall.

 

The Washington Monument

And the family at the Washington Monument!

We got past the Washington Monument and still had quite a ways to go to get to the Lincoln Memorial (in the background).

PJ and a squirrel...they were NOT afraid of people. This was taken on our very long walk from the National Air and Space Museum down to the Lincoln Memorial. Again...103 degrees + humidity...some of us weren't sure we were going to make it.

Hahahahahaha....

Frank and Shayne in front of the Reflecting Pond with the Washington Monument in the background.

Getting ready to visit the Lincoln Memorial...

Walking up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...

This is Donovan "Posing" in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking back at the Washington Monument (reflecting pond in between).

This was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking back at the Washington Monument.

And, finally, we got our turn to take a picture in front of Lincoln (he didn't say anything).

The Lincoln Memorial

After our visit to the Lincoln Memorial...getting ready to see the Vietnam Memorial and then hike over to The White House.

ABOVE:  Trip to Washington DC – Motorcade

While we were getting tickets to go up in the Washington Monument, we witnessed this Motorcade. Liz swears she saw Obama sitting in one of the SUVs with the window down…but I’m pretty sure she was mistaken .

The part that I didn’t get on tape was something that happened right before the cars started coming down the road. One of the police officers that was supposed to get the road blocked off so the motorcade could go through started going balastic.

We didn’t know what he was doing at first…but it turns out there was a taxi sitting on the side of the road right in front of us that shouldn’t have been there…they were probably waiting for someone that was running up to get their free tickets to the Washington Monument. The police officer started yelling at them to move their vehicle. They were not hearing him or not paying attention. So he ran over and started banging on the trunk of the taxi yelling, “MOVE THIS VEHICLE!!!!”

I can see why he was being so intense because the motorcade was on it’s way and he hadn’t done his job securing the area…but it was pretty intense. I wish I had gotten THAT on video . Lucky for him the taxi drove off just in time for the motorcade to arrive.

ABOVE:  Washington DC Trip: Playing “Ninja” while waiting for the Metro

I know this video is a little dark…but I love it. During our trip to Washington DC we rode the Metro from our Hotel in Arlington over into DC and then getting from place to place in the city.

This video shows the kids playing the game “Ninja” in the underground Metro station while we were waiting for our train.

I guess Ninja has been around for a while, but I have just become acquainted with it. It seems to be a big crazy right now. It’s a weird game…but the kids love it.

2010 Trip to Washington DC – 3

And even more photos of our Trip to Washington, D.C., in the early part of July 2010….

We were so hot and we took advantage of the few sprinklers that we found.

This was our visit to the Vietnam Memorial. Frank's dad is a Vietnam Vet.

More Vietnam Memorial...

Donovan was really hot and was trying to shade his head and face...so he used this pamphlet to make a "hat."

Liz helping Donovan with his hat on the way to the White House.

Yeah...we survived the VERY HOT walk from the Lincoln Memorial over to the White House.

Liz (17) in front of the White House...

Megan (15) in front of the White House...

Frank and Shayne in front of the White House...

And...the WHITE HOUSE!! I didn't realize we would be so far away from it. You always see shots from right there on TV, but it's very different standing out there than I had imagined.

Can you see the security guy on the top of the White House?

That's us riding the escalator up out of the Metro (subway). This picture isn't a good representation of this...but we learned very quickly that when you are on an escalator in DC, you "GET OVER TO THE RIGHT!!!" People are on the move and want to get wherever the heck they are going. You had better get out of their way. So, you leave the left side open for people that don't have time to wait and we learned to be single-file on the Right-hand side of the escalator.

Yeah! We made it to the grounds of the Capitol Building!!!

My only regret about our visit to the Capitol building is that we never made it around to the front of the building to look out over the mall and stand where the little bill sang, "I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill..." :-)

LtoR: Megan (15), Frank, Shayne, Donovan (9), Ashley (11), Liz (17), PJ (12), Mikayla (14).

Did you know Philo T. Farnsworth, the Father of Television, was a Mormon?? His statue is in the Capitol Building where you line up for the tours.

The Rotunda of the Capitol

Our tour guide was kind of on the boring side. She was also not very friendly. Right before we got started, I tapped her on the shoulder to ask her a question and she jumped and turned around and looked at me like I had just violated her somehow. I'm thinking she has issues. This was take right before we ditched the tour to make it back to the Washington Monument for our tour up the elevator.

COOL! This was taken from atop the Washington Monument. Can you see the White House?

Another picture taken from atop the Washington Monument. This is looking down upon Constitution Avenue. The second building up on the right-hand-side is the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Right across the street from that (to the left) is 1111 Constitution Way -- the Ultimate IRS building!!! ;-)

This was taken from atop the Washington Monument looking toward the Capitol Building. Doesn't the Washington Mall look in bad repair? If you were looking in the opposite direction you would see the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pond.

This is a little stage off to the side of the Washington Monument...I'm not sure why it is there. That's Donovan posing on the stage.

One more picture in front of 1111 Constitution Way...the IRS Building...

The last night we were there we were able to drive to the north area of the DC Metro area...up into Maryland...where the Washington DC Temple is located. It is absolutely gorgeous and the grounds are beautiful. Here are the kids in front of the temple before we went into the Visitor's Center.

And the family in front of the temple by the Visitor's Center.

We were there later in the evening and it got dark before we left. Check out the video of the temple as seen from the freeway below.

The LDS Washington DC Temple – - at Night

I have always heard stories of how magnificent the Washington DC Temple looks as you drive up on it on the freeway at night.

I video-taped it as we were driving up on it on the 495 freeway…and I was very excited to witness it for myself.  It was just as amazing as they said it would be!

ABOVE:  David Williams – Washington DC Temple Video Display

Soon after we entered the Visitor’s Center at the temple, Megan called me over to a Video Display that she had been looking at. There on the video was David Williams, a friend in our ward back in Georgia. He was talking about the Book of Mormon.

He told us later that it had been done several years earlier and he didn’t realize they were still using it there. It was such a cool thing to see him on there!

4th of July BBQ & Fireworks!!

We had a fun 4th of July this year!  We had a BBQ at our house and invited The Jacksons over (Frank’s sister and her family), The Horners (our neighbors), their Grandson Ben,  and the 5 full-time missionaries serving in our ward.

After we ate we also had a fun game of baseball and later we did fireworks up in the cul-de-sac.  It was a great day.

Picking Teams: "Ooh, ooh...Pick me!!" Picking Teams

Frank pitching

Liz up to bat

Sandi up to bat

PJ pitching

Elder Campbell "posing" - 1

Elder Campbell "posing" - 2

Megan and Liz

Time for Fireworks!!

The Fireworks Crew: Bobbie, Yvette & Savannah (neighbors) joined us for the fireworks.

 

 

 

Larry, Sandi, Mikayla (back), Liz & Megan

Bobbie, Frank and Glenn

Megan

Lighting sparklers?

Clean-up time...

Veronica Visits from Vegas

We were honored to have Veronica R. fly out to see us for a week in June.  She is a family friend from our days in Las Vegas.  She just graduated from High School and was ready to head out and see the world…and the Noldens .  We had fun with her…she mostly hung out with Liz and her friends, but we did make it down to Atlanta for a tour of the CNN Center.  None of us realized until that time that she had a thing for Anderosn Cooper…hmmm….

The CNN Building in downtown ATL...

V and Liz in downtown ATL...

...getting ready for the tour...(LtoR: Mikayla, PJ, Ashley, Veronica, Liz & Megan)

...inside the CNN Center...

We got to "meet" a few personalities while we were there. This is Robin Meade from "Morning Express with Robin Meade."

Liz and Robin Meade...they are both full of style :-)

V and her man...Anderson Cooper...

Liz and Anderson Cooper

Liz, Ashley, PJ & Megan with Anderson Cooper

 

Liz and Larry King...just 2 days before he announced his retirement from CNN...

PJ and Larry

Liz and V trying on the Anchor Seat...

This is at the Olympic Park in downtown ATL...it is just outside the CNN headquarters. There were a bunch of kids having fun in the water. It was BLAZING HOT!

 

Trip to Brunswick 1: Coast Guard Beach

We took a trip to Brunswick, Georgia, over Memorial Day Weekend.  The main reason for the trip was to celebrate the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Frank’s parents.  All three of their children were there with them to help them celebrate.  It was a fun weekend.

The first thing we did though was go to the beach:

This is the best place to swim on St. Simons Island.

Mikayla eating her lunch on the beach...

Da crew

Lynn and Marc (Frank's brother). They live in Brunswick and can go to the beach whenever...so they didn't come to swim.

Larry (Frank's sister's husband) - Is that a smile, Larry??

Hannah (niece)...she's sooo cute!

Megan and Mikayla just hanging out in the water.

Jesse (nephew), Seth (nephew) and Ashley enjoying the sun and sand...

Megan

Ashley

Sandi (Frank's sister) with Hannah (niece)

Donovan, PJ & Megan - trying to figure out skim-boarding...

Swimming in the Ocean – May 2010  – Coast Guard Beach 360

2010 Spring – Misc. Happenings 1

It seems like there is always SOOOO much going on!!!  Here is just a little snippet of some of what we have been up to lately.

Megan and Mikayla's Mia Maid (church) class recently had a "Mermaid Party" at the Kimble home. Mikayla is in the middle and Megan is on the far right.

Donovan is active in Cub Scouting and is currently working on earning his Bear. This is him at a recent Pack Meeting doing a skit with his fellow scouts. Donovan is second from the right.

In order to get ready for Young Women camp in the summer, the girls from our ward (church) recently participated in a hike. Campers are required to do hikes of different lengths depending on how many years they have been going to camp. This year we all did the 5 mile hike together. You can see Mikayla and Megan in there (front, left), but Liz was trying to jump in the back and ended up not being in the picture.

The girls getting ready to start...

 

Our Stake (church) recently held a 5K in order to gather food for local food banks. The entry fee was 10 cans of food. It rained a little bit, but it was a great event overall. It was such a beautiful setting as well.

Our Stake President's son won the race.

 

 

Megan at the pavillion...during the race.

Frank is enjoying his new duties at work as "The Big Cheese." ;-) He is currently serving as an Area Director and travels to a bunch of offices that are under him. Here he is in Cleveland, Ohio...they even made him a sign :-).

Frank and more of his "peeps." :-)

Frank and coworkers.

When Frank travels, he gets to see a lot of cool things...Shayne is very jealous :-). Recently he was in Washington D.C. and got to do a session at the LDS Temple there. It is a gorgeous temple!

More of the Washington DC Temple.

Frank also had a recent week in Baltimore, Maryland (actually, the same trip as the DC Temple excursion...it's not far from there). He really fell in love with that city.

More of Baltimore, MD.

More of Baltimore, MD.

More of Baltimore, MD.

Donovan, who used to be painfully shy, is coming out of shell these days. Even so, this is a side of Donovan that most of you won't see :-). He's a pretty funny guy. He recently had to do a report on Abraham Lincoln at school and he had this costume for the oral report. See the VIDEO of him below attempting the Gettysburg Address.

More of Donovan as Abraham Lincoln.

Donovan does Abraham Lincoln 1 (5/10)

Donovan does Abraham Lincoln 2 (5/10)

So, I guess most people learned the Gettysburg Address as this:   ”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

We have a debate in our house about that sentence…because I swear I learned it in high school as “forefathers” instead of just “fathers.”  My kids are learning it as “fathers.”   I did read that there are about 5 versions of the Gettysburg Address.  Did anyone else learn the Gettysburg Address saying “our FOREFATHERS”???  Just curious…it could just be my faulty memory…

Run from Hunger 2010:  “Alex Wins the Race!”  She was just pretending…she hadn’t run the whole race .

Check out more photos from the RUN FROM HUNGER on Facebook:  CLICK HERE

2010 Spring – Misc. Happenings 2

Here are some more happenings from late Spring 2010:

Megan won the 9th Grade Academic Achievement Award at her high school at the end of the school year. She had straight A's again... She is the one in the red skirt.

Liz won the 11th Grade Journalism Award at the end of the school year. She was the Chief Photographer for her high school newspaper. She is the one in the white skirt in the middle.

This is what kids can do when they are grounded from TV and anything else electronic :-). It was so nice to see them focusing their energies on something creative.

Ashley has been taking a gymnastics class. This was the day of her exhibition to show what she had learned. You can see her off to the left in a blue shirt doing flips. See the video at the end of this post.

I don't really agree with this. They gave everyone that participated a trophy. They called it a competition, even though it was just an exhibition. Lame.

This is Ashley getting her photo op for getting the participation trophy.

This is PJ and a Smart Car (at 6 Flags). He REALLY wants to get a Smart Car when he can drive (he's only 12 now). I'm thinking he may change his mind before then, but for right now he is obsessed with them.

This is PJ attending the Scouting "Campout of the Century. The Scouting Program is 100 years old this year. He's the 2nd one from the left. He really enjoys the scouting experience.

We got a larger crate for Sophie ($16 bucks at a yard sale - I KNOW, awesome, huh?). The kids think it's a lot of fun too.

I recently took Liz dress shopping and Donovan tagged along. They both had a lot of fun trying on the "Church Hats."

Aren't they cute?!

Go Donovan...

Yeah, work it... ;-).

Ashley – Gymnastics Exhibition – May 2010

Random Video Array – from the past…

Here is a random array of videos that I have not included on the Blog in the past.  Enjoy ….

NOTE:  You can make a video much bigger by clicking on the arrow icon in the bottom right corner of the video.

Grandpa Slade doing Dutch Oven Cooking  – This was on the Blue Mountain at one of the campgrounds above Monticello.  Grandpa Slade makes THE best dutch oven potatoes, fried chicken and biscuits!!!  He is the master.

Donovan: “I’ve got a Duffel Bag”  -  WOW, what talent, huh?  He wrote that himself .

Elder Hunter beating up PJ   – We love Elder Hunter.  This was at a Pioneer Day Party at our ward building in the Summer of 2009.

Donovan Riding the 4-Wheeler 2009 – This was taken in our backyard.  We had a dip that we couldn’t easily take the 4-wheelers through, so we filled it with dirt and made it pass-able.  This was Donovan taking the first “dip.”  I love the little girl scream at the end.

The Contraption – I was so impressed by the ingenuity of the kids in creating this contraption.  I love it when they get outside and create things…except for the mess, of course.

Water Show at the Bellagio – There’s nothing better than watching the Bellagio Water Show on a hot night in Vegas.