Easter 2013

Easter Egg Dying

Our New House!!!

Spent Spring Break (the boys and Scott all had the last week in March off) in Virginia--road trip to our new home! Gramma and Pappa meet us and watched the boys while Scott and I went house hunting...and we fell in love with this wonderful home! So blessed!

Dinners with friends

We're so lucky here, many AF friends, and the great thing is, when we get invited over for dinners, it's a huge treat for the kids too since they all get along so great! We'll definitely miss these families!

Flat Jess

A great friend of mine, Jessica Wyly, is doing a project for her teaching credential where she
"travels" to various states to explore the highlights.  We had a lot of fun with this I thought I'd share her letter and adventures in Montgomery:

Hello from Montgomery, Alabama!

I am truly enjoying my time with the Seigfried family in Montgomery, AL, and have learned a lot about the history!  There are few cities that have affected the flow of American history as much as the charming state capital city of Montgomery, Alabama.

I stood on the front portico of the state capitol building and look down Dexter Avenue and it was an awe inspiring experience.  Men and women who dramatically impacted the course of our nation did so within view of the capitol steps.

It was here that Jefferson Davis took the oath of office as President of the Confederate States of America. The capitol building in Montgomery was the first capitol of the Confederacy and the orders to open fire on Fort Sumter and inaugurate the Civil War were sent by telegraph from a building just down the hill.

I also got to visit the First White house of the Confederacy.  This was the home of Jefferson Davis and his family in 1861 when Montgomery was the capital city of the Confederacy.  Throughout the spring of 1861, the First White House of the Confederacy hosted sparkling receptions and events. Numerous writers of the time described the elegance and charm with which Mrs. Davis received guests and the house became the social center of the South. The house continued to function as the Southern White House until the end of May when the Davis family moved to Richmond, Virginia, which had become the new capital of the Confederacy.

This is also the city that holds the bus stop where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in 1955, sparking a movement that shook the nation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized within sight of the capitol at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, then served by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1965, one of the most powerful marches of the Civil Rights movement came up Dexter Avenue to the capitol. The marchers had come from Selma, joined by others along the way, to demand their right to vote from Governor George C. Wallace, then known for his "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" declaration.

The march on Montgomery is now commemorated by the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, a national park area. The trail incorporates U.S. Highway 80 from Selma to Montgomery and introduces visitors to the significance of the march and its impact on American culture.

Besides the history of Montgomery, I got to see some of the day-to-day things in the life of the Seigfried family.  I was lucky enough to go to Braden’s Montessori school and see how kids there learn math (turns out, Braden is very good at math and so am I!).  Most of the houses in the south are brick, and the Seigfried’s is no different.  Since this is the month of March, most fighter pilots in the USAF grow mustaches to commemorate General Olds, a fighter pilot who pushed all the rules, so that explains Scott’s mustache (though Stephannie and I agree mustaches are really yucky!).  

Love,

Flat Jess