A great week

The day after my little brother left on his Mormon mission to Philadelphia, I cried in front of my editor and lost my appetite completely. I had never felt that blue before and have not since.

So seeing Al (he was technically still Elder Maughan) for the first time in two years was so great. He's not so different and seemed a little more mature (only a little, though, Al).

We traveled up to meet him and my parents, who flew out to pick him up. We had so much fun seeing the good and the really bad of Philly, meeting some of the awesome people he taught and served, eating fabulous food and touring a little bit around D.C. with my fam. Don't tell Mrs. Obray from my AP United States History class, but I really didn't know what the Liberty Bell was when I went to visit it. I did pass my AP history test though, so there.
Here is a completely abandoned building with graffiti all over it. The letters on the side said, "bone thugs 4ever" (wink, wink to those who saw it). I took this photo to show how most of the area in Philadelphia in which my brother served, looked. Unfortunately, I didn't get more photos of some of the places we went. At one point I was sure we weren't in the U.S. anymore, but in a third-world country across the ocean. I have never seen anything like it. Apparently Philly is surrounded on all sides by miles of slums. In Al's apartment building, the elder before him found a murdered body in the elevator and another elder saw a murdered body being wheeled down the hallway. Surprisingly, Al was never mugged (most elders he knew were) and he said he was never scared (Apparently he picked up lying on his mission; he also said walking around in high-90-degree heat plus 100 percent humidity in his church clothes didn't bother him).
The Smurf car my parents rented and the amazing city hall in the distance.
Against my brothers' wishes, we went to Geno's cheese steaks while he and my parents visited an elder in the hospital. I guess the cheese steaks at Geno's are not up to par with Al's tastebuds, though it is a tourist favorite (trap, as Al calls it). We think the food would have been good had we been able to taste it. Unfortunately, we put some of the hot sauce on it and couldn't feel or taste anything for the rest of the night.

All you need is LOVE... and a fat policeman in your photo.
I'm not even sure what river this is, but the Philadelphia Museum of Art (think Rocky steps) is behind us.
Looking down on the museum from the top of city hall in Philadelphia.

Feeling the brotherly love in the city of brotherly love. Don't be alarmed by the orange fuzzy thing on the left-hand side of my photo. Most of my childhood photos have my mom's fingers in them. ;)
Al's favorite Philly cheese steak. It was delicious. And it was in Delaware.
Ryan in a rare moment of reflection.
Where to get Al's favorite Philly cheese steak sandwich.
We went to Ocean City en route to Salisbury, Md., another place where Al taught the gospel.
My favorite thing about Ocean City was a new (to me, at least) treat called "water ice" (pronounced "wataeyes."). To my relief, there is a water ice joint in Alexandria!My 'rents at Mount Vernon.Fam at Mount Vernon.
Ryan played in a basketball tournament in downtown Washington Saturday and we went and watched a couple of games. His team ended up finishing in the top twelve (there were around 96? teams) but the tournament was canceled when it started to rain. We are sure his Crystal City Ward team would have taken the tourney! lol.
I have a new appreciation for sports photographers. I couldn't get a photo with both Ryan and the ball in it.
If you look really hard, you can see Ryan dribbling the ball.Pulling Ethan faces at the National Cathedral.Sitting in the Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral.
A black squirrel. Very rare. I know, it looks brown in the photo. It's black though, I promise.
Aren't we just soooo cute?
My mom is hoping to have her backyard look like the Bishop's Garden by some time next year.
Ethan and Uncle Rob.Al at the World War II Memorial. This is right before my camera battery died. I'm sure you are all devastated that you won't see any more photos of my awesome week. ;-)

Thanks Mom and Dad, for the awesome trip and for visiting us way out here. Thanks for waiting to go home Al, so you could hang with us for a few days! We love you and are so proud of you!