GREAT EVENT IN WASHINGTON DC!!

Jordan Faux, Esq.
 

Jordan is my first-born son. When he was born, Kurt was finishing up his undergraduate degree in English at Brigham Young University- Hawaii Campus. We were barely married 9 months when he was born. Wait a minute. Stop counting. Jordan was born 5 weeks early. His brother, Leland was born 10 months later. Stop counting again. He was born 7 weeks early. 

Anyway.

Jordan was a wonderful baby. He was rumbly-tumbly and spoke early. He said "Cah bye-bye" as he pointed to my papa's car when he was barely 10 months old. Now he can say all sorts of things.

Jordan graduated with a degree in Biology from BYU in Provo, Utah. He loves insects. I don't think he got any encouragement from me regarding that matter. In fact, I KNOW I did not encourage any love for insects under any circumstances. But I do know that we all love to talk, analyze and ponder out loud many, many diverse subjects---from the Vietnam War to vegetables we'd like to experiment cooking with, from the mathematical meaning of the word "outcome" to the merits of knowing who the seven dwarfs are or even from our thoughts regarding the nature of Deity to how our obsession with pop culture can lead to the end of civilization. 

Jordan was born exactly 250 years after the birth of George Washington. Of course that means that they share the same integrity of character. Is that a coincidence? Nope. Also it is not a coincidence that on May 16, Jordan graduated from George Washington University with a Juris Doctorate in Law. We are so proud of him. But more than his academic accomplishments, we are so proud of the kind of man he is. He is kind, well-mannered (except when he is with us and then resorts to joining in with our boorishness...), sensitive to others and puts his family on the top of his list. He is a wonderful son and brother...and now, husband. 

Enjoy some of our pictures taken last weekend in Washington DC as we celebrated Jordan's fabulous weekend.

Jordan and da parents. Doesn't he look so officially dashing?

This is a photo of the cover of the official commencement event program/booklet.

This is the vantage point from where we were sitting. Awesome. We could watch Jordan and also see what the speakers do behind their backs. The speaker for this afternoon's event was Mary Schapiro, Obama's pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission and fellow George Washington Law School alumni. She is on the cover of Time Magazine. The morning event speaker was Michelle Obama. We decided to skip that and take the sacrament instead. We were happy we did because the Sunday meeting in Jordan's ward was outstanding.

Rose and Jordan standing in front of George Washington. There was a line just to take a pose with him and there was a lady who wanted to take command of that line. Needless to say, I pretended she wasn't there.

I took a photo of Jordan's diploma which I had on my lap. I thought that was clever of me since I took the picture blindly.

I would say that it was raining pleasantly on this day when we went to the Washington DC LDS Temple. It was SPECTACULAR. I cannot even begin to describe how the beautiful white Italian marble glistened against the humid air and how the gold leafed spires seemed to reflected the cleanest, purest light. It was a Monday morning so the temple was closed and no one was around so we got to take a lot of pictures. I think this is the most beautiful temple I've ever seen and I wouldn't mind it if my daughters decide to get married here. (!)

Of course, Kurt had to insist on visiting Arlington Cemetery. I have to agree that it was beautiful there. The head stones all faced east and were arranged perfectly in rows. Here I am with Jordan and Rose who were so game about driving around with us. They were such good and fun company.

In front of President John F. Kennedy's and Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis' graves. Behind me is the proverbial eternal flame. Their still-born son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy and another baby who they lost in a miscarriage are buried by their sides.

Kurt and Christie in the rain. Awesome.

Faux & Faux Law

Two of our sons follow in their father's footsteps. And I have to say, all three are of the same ilk in disposition and core values. What a privilege to have sons like them! I thought the world would be so much more awesome if there were more people as kind, generous and unselfish as these three men.

Clicking on the photo above will allow one to see it in a larger format. In fact, click one more time and it gets even bigger. That's me and Kurt in front of George Washington's beautiful house overlooking the Potomac River in Mount Vernon, Virginia. In walking along the paths and also the interior of his house, one can feel a most reverent spirit. I have a feeling that Washington was one of the greatest men that ever walked the earth. I need to learn more about him.

It rained all day on our last day together. I was wearing my favorite pair of shoes. They were SO comfortable--soft leather, just the right heel height, perfect colour (avocado) and ever so cute. Well, after traipsing on puddles of water and mud, the interior dye began to run. So I had orange feet. I thought it was hilarious. They are all dried and good as new now. Thank goodness. I am referring to the shoes, not my feet. Though my feet are also now dry, clean and good as new.