A Capitol Fourth!

Missionaries for Life in Our Lady of Guadalupe's chapel, patroness of the unborn!

Well celebrating the 4th of July in Washington DC yesterday was pretty amazing. We had the day off work, and began the day at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in northern DC...which is BEAUTIFUL.They have 70 chapels lining the Basilica, each one to a different title of Mary. Each chapel is so ornate and in the style of the Marian apparition it honors. SO cool. This was my 3rd time seeing the Basilica, but it was still amazing.

The Basilica right after Mass ended. So many people!! Such a beautiful Church!!

They had the closing mass for the National Fortnight for Freedom campaign to pray for the protection of religious liberty in regards to the HHS mandate. The Basilica was PACKED with people--luckily we got there just in time to still snag a seat because mass was 2 hours long. Very moving to see so many people devoted to the free practice of their faith.





Then we metro'ed back to the National Mall area, and got PotBelly's sandwiches for lunch. At around 5 we headed to Capitol Hill to get a seat for the concert, which started at 8. This was the "A Capitol Fourth" concert that gets broadcasted on PBS. We were sitting ON the Capitol lawn... we had to keep reminding ourselves that this was not your everyday occurrence. The concert, which only lasted from 8-9:10, had quite the lineup of performers, including: Tom Bergeron as MC (host of America's Funniest Home Videos), Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara (Broadway stars), Josh Turner (country singer), Kool & The Gang, Mercedes from Glee, Megan Hilty from Smash, Javier Colon, Phillip Phillips (winner of the past American Idol, loved him!), John Williams (composer of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and much more!), and The National Symphony Orchestra.

Left: Bringing the 3-1-4 to DC! (Leslie, Chris and me--the STL interns); Right: "Look at me I'm at the Capitol!!!"

So that was pretty neat. 

And then the fireworks! Which went off over the Washington Monument. I must confess that the fireworks did not blow me away, as you would expect fireworks at the Capitol of the United States on the Fourth of July to do. I couldn't even hear them which is my favorite part! (because they were on the other end of the Mall). Still, it was pretty cool to be there.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!

Bonus picture! The night before July 4th, the Missionaries got together at Lindsey's house to barbeque and watch a movie. We went to the grocery store to get food and Ruben found this sweet cookie cake. Born in the USA, y'all!