Try to ignore the storage all around and under.....this is what happens when we have no space. But I think it turned out great. Thanks Spencer you are the best! (we are going to try hanging his name on the underside so his cars won't cover up his name...any ideas on how we should do it?)
Chicken Nuggetts and Grean beans yummy yummy!
The Washington D.C. Temple is quite a sight. It is cleverly situated on a hill that overlooks the 495 beltway, so that when you are heading south it looks like you are going to drive right into it. We went to a ward primary activity a couple of weeks ago and then went with the Garners to the visitor center to watch the Joseph Smith movie. It was a very beautiful, but hot day and for me, it was nice to come in and sit in the waiting room and be surrounded by the beauty of the temple. It kind of felt like being home.
Just as we walked in, Logan started saying, "Jesus, Jesus!" and he and Matthew ran off to the Christ statue. I had to run to stop him from climbing up the pedistool to give the statue a hug... The Elders were happy to come along because the temple was technically out of their area and they got a chance to talk to some of the sisters that were serving there. We went into the movie and we were pretty much the only people in the huge theater. This was my second time seeing the movie, and I think I liked it better this time. I could definately feel the spirit and by the end of the movie, both Matthew and Logan were asleep. I was glad that we could go and see it with our friends.
The temple is such a special place. Whether we are in Hawaii, Utah or here in Maryland, it stands as a familiar beacon of light and a testimony of the restoration of truth. It is through the blessings of the temple that I get to be with my family forever, and some day, run with Logan up to Christ and we can give him a big hug together.
2 years ago this week, I was finishing up a 3 month internship here in Maryland. My dad flew into BWI to help me drive home. Amber had been keeping herself busy going to work and to birthing classes without me. We thought we had everything all planned out so that I would have plenty of time to come home, buy a crib and a car seat and get the house ready for the baby (because he wasn't due for another month). My dad and I drove 3 days straight to get home and the next day I had made plans to go to 7 peaks with my friends. Amber was going to go into work early and so she could be home early to go to her last appointment with the doctor before the due date. Amber woke up in the morning feeling kind of funny and she told me she didn't feel like going in, and I reminded her that the earlier she went in, the earlier she would be home. around lunch time, Amber called me and and told me she really was feeling strange and she decided to drive home. I told amber that we should call the doctor and move our appointment up so that we could find out what was going on, but Amber insisted that she was fine and that she just needed a hot shower. After the shower, I was beginning to get really worried. I told her that we should go to the doctors. He had told us to come in if anything was out of the ordinary. Armando, my friend, helped me give Amber a blessing and we headed out to the doctors. When we got there, it was business as usual. The high-school aged secretary made us sit and wait in the waiting room as if everything was normal until finally Amber was taken back to give a routine urine sample. No sooner had she shut the door, when I heard her yell, "Spencer get in here, I'm bleeding!" I found the doctor and he ran to the bathroom. The bathroom in this office faces the waiting room, and is hardly big enough for one person, So when Dr. Barry opened the door and started to check her out, the whole waiting room was watching. The Dr. could feel Logan's head and he turned to me and asked, "Do you want me to call an ambulance or do you want to drive yourselves to the hospital?" I said drive, and we were off. Bri, Amber's sister, was with us and it is a good thing cause I had no idea where the hospital was and Amber was in no condition to act as my navigator. We got to the hospital and we got the same treatment we had received at the doctor's office, the lady at the front desk gave me a hand full of papers and said, "have a seat and fill these out, and we'll be right with ya." I was thinking to myself, "She is going to have a baby right here on your desk if I fill these out lady!" Just as I was thinking that, a nurse came in and grabbed us and I dropped the papers, we went into a delivery room. The nurse came in and told us that we were going to have to wait for the Dr. to get in to deliver. They broke Amber's water and then things really started to speed up. We were totally unprepared and sent Bri to the apartment to get us some supplies. The nurse checked Amber again and decided things were progressing a little too fast so they gave her meds to slow her contractions down, then the epidural guy came in. I about passed out when I saw that needle... Finally the Dr. arrived and we started. The bad thing was, because of the drug they gave Amber to slow things down, her contractions were ineffective and Logan's heart rate started to drop. The Dr. made the decision to use the suction plunger to pull while Amber pushed and a couple minutes later, (two hours after we had arrived at the hospital) we were the proud new owners of Logan Glen Cottrell. August 22, 2005 5:57 P.M. UVRMC 7Lbs. 1oz. 18.5in.
Saturday we went on a drive to Chesapeake Bay and took the bikes..., and Logan of course. There is a little trail called the perimeter trail that went around the park and up against the bay. It was a little different than say, Hanauma Bay, but it was still very beautiful. Logan loved looking at the boats.
Just as we always do, we ran into a bunch of dogs, in fact this time it was a gaggle of dogs, big dogs that looked like they were racing dogs. Logan pet each of them and practiced his bark.
Next we played on the playground. Logan loves going down the slide...
At one point during our playtime, a moth landed on my head. Logan thought it was a butterfly and chased it all around the park.
What a cheese-ball
Here is the picture of our little OCD monster. He gets this look of utter disgust when his hands get dirty. What a fun day at the park. We are definitely going to make it back to Chesapeake Bay again. 
I got home on Sunday and cleaned up the house, picked up Amber and then we unpacked. Monday morning I started back at work and after being home for a few hours, I fell asleep on the floor and Logan thought that it would be fun to treat me like a jungle gym. 4 weeks without Logan was really hard on me. I did bring the web-cam with me so we did get to talk a couple of times, but after hanging up, I wondered if it would have been easier without the camera so I would not miss him so bad. When I picked Amber and Logan up from the Airport, Logan acted really excited and called out, "daddy!" I am not looking forward for 6 more weeks coming up in September. When Logan is as young as he is, 4 ~ 6 weeks is a big chunk of his life. Not really but this song reminds me of Hawaii and my month in Paradise. Hope you enjoy the tunes, I will post a slide show of the rest of the pictures when I get around to getting off my lazy bum. I can still blame it on jet lag...
Here we are on some of the lava formations, it looks like puddy. The lava rock was very light in weight and if you look closely at it is full of colors and bubbles, it looks kind of like burnt plastic.
What is amazing is how such a barren place is so full of life. There were times when the air was so full of sulfur that we could hardly breathe, and the heat and dry wind took the moisture from our mouths, and still we would find small patches of flowes and plants.
we followed the old flow of lava to the water's edge and were taken away by the overhanging cliffs. The waves would smash into the walls and send spray hundreds of feet to where we were standing. I felt like the ground was going to give out from underneath me.
About a mile hike from the waters edge there is a special area where natives carved images into the lava. There are figures of men and circles and animals and thousands of quarter sized holes where the natives would put part of a baby's umbilical cord to ensure long life.
We had a blast! I wish Amber were still here but only a few days more and we will be back home. I will post more pictures when I get the time.
Well, here we are at at the temple. It is really pretty, the fountains run down in steps from the temple and you can see the ocean from the entrance. We got there on a Wednesday night and so it was pretty quiet, we didn't think we were going to make the session, and it turned out that we were the session. The workers were all so nice and it was a wonderful experience.
If you were quiet and slow walking around the grounds, you can see these little geckos
The visitor center looked alot like the one in Salt Lake, there was even a Christ statue
Amber wrote: After a very long, traffic congested drive to the temple we made it in two hours. It was so frustrating but once we got there it was well worth it. We were the only couple and then one lady joined us. We were very welcomed and they were so glad to have us come. The spirit was strong and it was so peaceful. It is a small but pretty temple. The temple grounds are just so amazing. It was fun to have a night like that with Spencer. We are so blessed to have the church in our lives. It is amazing what a big difference it makes in our marriage to have a common ground like the gospel. I am so grateful for it. It was so nice to go to the temple. I love you Spencer.
