Days with the Dorans

Ali is standing up on the left.  So we knew there was a possibility that Great-Nan would pass during Ali's trip to DC and I wanted her still to go to DC. We decided to wait to have the funeral until she returned since Al said she wanted to be there. Ali (unlike Joey or any other teenager in the world) is not huge at taking pictures and posting them (or sending them to her mother). Thankfully her friends DO post so I have something for this blog post!  Ali did send me this picture and said the Holocaust museum was the part of the trip that stuck with her the most. Unfortunately some of her classmates were a bit disrespectful there (and other parts of the trip) but sadly that tone seems to be more accepted during the current leadership of the country. I was SOOO proud of her when I heard that she stuck up for a gay friend who was being picked on by some boys. My quiet Ali knows when to make her voice heard. Gosh, I'm proud of her!!!! Here are some other pictures tha...

When Joe had the opportunity to go to DC with his school it was a no-brainer for us... he was GOING~ but he was a bit nervous. With the current culture the way it is (shootings- etc) he was nervous, but he had a GREAT time and thanked me later for making him get out of that comfort zone! I had to drop him off at school by 4am (which seemed insane and of course I didn't sleep at all the night before). He was rooming with Dom but had other friends going too. I was so thankful for cell phones so that he could send me pictures and updates on how he was! He roomed with three other guys and it sounded like they had a great time. What an amazing experience he had. He sent me many awesome pics of monuments but since you can see pictures of them online- I chose to post the pics just of him. I couldn't believe they got SNOW (and lots of it!!!). He packed a new hoodie (that he said was warmer than a winter coat), a hat and gloves but no boots. He's not a fan of the perso...