Washington D.C. trip of a lifetime!

Mia Love (first republican black woman elected to congress) was sworn into office on January 6, and she invited her close friends and family to come join in on the activities they had planned around the swearing-in ceremony. Mia, Heidi and Jessica have been my running friends for years, so of course we had to go on a run the first morning we were there. We ran the national monument mall, which was quite surreal. 

It was cold and windy!

The Lincoln Memorial was my favorite.

Standing on the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech.

Having a Forrest Gump moment.

The capital under construction.

After our run we had lunch at the Founding Farmers, my now favorite restaurant. Yum!

We also had to run by Mia's new office and new apartment. So cool!

Mia had to leave after lunch, so Heidi and I ran over to the Library of Congress. I felt like I was in the movie National Treasure ;) Heidi was on a mission to see the first edition Book of Mormon that Abraham Lincoln supposedly had checked out for nine months.

You could spend DAYS in every building looking at all of the art and architecture, but sadly we only had a couple hours to spend here. These quotes were my favorite part of the library.

That evening we were invited to a special dinner followed by a night bus tour of D.C. 

yuuuum

Governor Herbert, Mia Love, Congressman (forget his name), and Senator Mike Lee.

Hanging out with Mike Lee on the bus.

During the bus tour, we stopped at the Air Force Memorial (above), Pentagon Memorial, and Iwo Jima Memorial.

Pentagon Memorial.

Iwo Jima Memorial

The next morning, Heidi and I spent some time in the rare books section of the Library of Congress. When the historian found out we were Mormon, he brought out a few rare books that he knew we would like to see. We could have spent all day there.

We had to get a library card before we could look at any books.

Book Of Commandments that was saved by two young girls who hid it under their skirts after the printing press was burned down.

First edition Book of Mormon. The most requested book at the library of congress :)

We had to rush from the library to Mia's office so we could watch the swearing-in ceremony. Before the ceremony, Paul Ryan stopped by, as well as Elder Rasband of the Seventy, who personally brought Mia a copy of Lucy Mack Smith's (Joseph Smith's mother) Bible for the ceremony.

Hanging out with Mia's staff. Mike Squires grew up in my parent's ward and now works for Mia.

After the ceremony, Mia arranged for a tour of the Capital. Our tour guide was Congressman Rob Bishop, a former history teacher from Utah.

I missed the part where he explained how a statue of Brigham Young ended up in the rotunda of the Capital, but here he is.

So much detail to see!

This is considered the center of Washington D.C.

We loved the Founding Farmers so much we went back there for dinner :)

We were walking back to our hotel after dinner and look who's house we walked right past! The White House :)

Some gym torture the following morning before catching our flight back home. To sum up, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am so grateful for the experience. But 3 days in D.C. is not even close to long enough! I want to go back again when I can spend at least two weeks there!