The Party!

After the solemn afternoon, it was time to celebrate! The pictures pretty much say it all.

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Part of History

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As you can see, we had a truly incredible time in Washington, D.C. Gabby stayed with our parents (THANK YOU!!) and we partied like Barack Stars! We started off at the Washington Monument Jan 18th for the Concert of ONE--Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Patti LaBelle, and U2. It was giant love fest. We were packed in like sardines, but nobody seemed to mind.

January 19th--We celebrated Martin Luther King Day with my boss, Senator Harry Reid at his lunch for Nevadans.

January 20th, Inauguration Day! We woke up EARLY and put on the thermal underwear to truck down to the Capitol for the big moment. I have never seen so many people in one area in my life--but everyone was so happy to be there and the unity was palpable. It felt like the whole world was celebrating.

One of my favorite passages from Obama's Address:

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

I feel so blessed to be part of the historic moment and so inspired to continue to participate in our government. There are times where I am cynical--I have been in the "business" of politics for a long time, but this feels different. Even if you don't agree with all of Obama's policies, his campaign has shown that we can make a difference when we work together. As they say--Obama's slogan is "Yes WE Can."

Off Like A Herd of Turtles!

Tomorrow I am off to our NATION'S CAPITAL where 2 million people will be crowding the city I once lived in to see history and I am thrilled to be a part of it. But I can guarantee it will be one large herd of VERY COLD turtles. I plan to post some pics while I am out there to my FACEBOOK account--hopefully you all are my friends :).

BTW--on a totally unrelated topic and if you didn't already know--NIE IS BACK!

Jones Winter Olympics 2008

The day after my family Christmas we piled into the car bright and early to get over to Utah to celebrate Christmas #2 with Justin's side of the family. Our timely start turned into quite the adventure as we--and when I say we I really mean JUSTIN--ran out of gas about a mile from Cedar City. A nice couple picked Justin up while Gabby and I waited in a freezing car. He returned with some gas and some profuse apologies, but the car decided not to start. So we sat in the same freezing car for another 45 minutes waiting for AAA to come give us a jump. Twelve--yes 12 hours later we arrived at our destination.

Once in Salt Lake though, we wasted no time. Justin's family rolled out the red carpet for us. We first hit the Nutcracker, complete with a Sugar Plum Fairy backstage party after the ballet ended. The event sealed the deal for Gabby and she now wants to be a prima ballerina when she grows up.

Day 2 of our Jones Winter Olympics included a morning of sledding and an afternoon of ice skating with a dose of hot chocolate and a nice nap!

Did we stop there you ask? NO--we decided to go skiing/snowboarding (Me on skis and Justin on a board). Gabby hit ski school and had a ball with "Fancy Nancy," her instructor. I don't think Justin could have been more proud of his little snow bunnies.

I have to say, looking back at December, we really packed everything possible into one month. I'm not sure if I would do it that way again, but we did have a wonderful time. Come on--snorkeling AND skiing in the space of a couple weeks--Joie de vivre!