Scrapbook pages from Washington D.C. trip, part 1

Before I show you the scrapbook pages, I'd like to acknowledge that today is Veterans Day and to thank all veterans for their service.  I doubt many read this blog, so please extend my thanks to the veteran of your choice.  :)

I'd also like to talk a bit about Vietnam veterans.  Both my father and stepfather served in Vietnam, but it was rarely talked about while I was growing up.  I asked my mother about it recently, and she said it was probably because there was a stigma surrounding the Vietnam War.  Soldiers returned home one or two at a time, and there was no fanfare or celebration.  They kind of skulked home, and many were treated poorly when they got there.  That was ridiculous, of course, because there were so many who were drafted and didn't have the option of not going to war.  I don't want to start a debate about whether or not the Vietnam War was worth fighting.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is the men (and women) who went and came back (or didn't).

There seems to be a big push in recent years to thank veterans for their service.  This is a great thing, but the Vietnam vets still feel the stigma from time to time.  My stepfather, John, has started wearing a "Vietnam Veteran" hat, and he said that in the South most people expressed their gratitude, but at home in Illinois, no one says a thing.  There's even someone John has chatted with at the grocery store practically every week who blatantly ignored John when he saw the hat.

So, if you see someone with a hat or shirt or something that says he served in Vietnam, please take a moment to shake his hand and thank him.  I bet you'll make his day.

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Now on to a happier topic.  Last month my husband and I went to Washington D.C.  If you've never been, I highly recommend it.  The architecture is beautiful, the memorials are stunning, and you'll hear a lot of foreign languages from the hundreds of visitors everywhere you go.  It truly made me proud to be an American, and I think we all need a dose of that from time to time.

We're still scrapping our trip, but I do have a few pages to show you.  Steve made this first set.  It shows some of the buildings we loved as well as a few statues and a marker on the Points of Light walk.

Click the pictures if you'd like to see bigger versions of them.

I made the second set of pages.  I cheated and did my title and most of the journaling on the computer, but I think it fits well with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial:

Isn't that memorial beautiful!  The day was gorgeous, too.

Check back for more pages as we get them done!