DC Wrap Up . . .

Josh's competition in DC went great. The BYU teams were very successful. Both teams advanced to the semifinals and since they were the only two teams left representing the prosecution, one of them was guaranteed a spot in the final round. Josh's team didn't get that spot, but the other BYU team ended up winning first place. The competition had 24 teams participating from many prestigious law schools. Everyone on the BYU team was excited about their success in the competition, and it was great to have their hard work pay off.
Both teams and the judges from the final round (BYU on the left): With all of their winning in the competition, the team didn't end up with a ton of time for sightseeing, but they did manage to get out some. It stayed cold for the first few days, and it was absolutely freezing when Josh went to see the capitol and the Supreme Court.

As you might imagine, a group of law students was excited spend some time inside of the Supreme Court. They also got to spend some time admiring the Library of Congress.

Josh also got to spend a little bit of time in the American History Smithsonian Museum where he got to see a great exhibit on President Lincoln (that's the President's top hat). Though not as historically significant, he also got to see the painting of Stephen Colbert that hangs near the bathrooms on the fifth floor.

Speaking of Colbert, the group also dropped by the offices of Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who was featured on the Report a little while back. Josh was surprised with how easy it was to find the representative's office and how friendly the members of his staff were. The group got a tour of the capital building with one of the interns. They ventured into the tunnels under the capitol and got to see some of the cooler things in the capitol building.

One of Josh's favorites from the last trip to DC was the old Supreme Court room in the capitol. He snapped a couple pictures of the dark, windowless courtroom this time.

Trying to make sure they saw the DC essentials, the group also swung by the National Archives to see the copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It's pretty amazing to think of how much these documents have influenced in the last 200 years.

While there wasn't much time during the day, Josh also braved the cold a few times to get some pictures of the monuments at night.

On Sunday, the group slipped into the first part of church where the Hyatt's attend, and that afternoon Josh got to go back for a little visit with everyone.

That day was Emma's birthday, so it was lots of fun to be there. But Josh is pretty sure it's always a party at the Hyatt house . . .

On the last day, Josh got to visit the branch of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum that is located out by the Dulles airport. It was awesome . . .

As much fun as the trip was, the best part was coming home. Six days is a pretty long time to be away . . .