JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- The community service and involvement of a Camp Lejeune family received national recognition when they were named Military Family of the Year in Washington D.C. this week.

The Mormon family of Marine Corps Sgt. Dennis Leanes, who is with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines and his wife Kristy, and children Jordan, Syvannah, Bethany, Marrisa, Emily and Karianne, took an expense-paid trip to Washington this week after being named Marine Family of the Year in a national poll conducted by the National Military Family Association.

"This is actually the fifth year that we've had the Military Family award, but we decided to expand the award to celebrate one military family from each of the seven services," said Michelle Joyner, the communications director for NFMA. The services recognized were the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The families selected were chosen from more than 500 nominations, said Bailey Toombs, public relations associate with NMFA.

All the families came to the nation's capital Monday, Oct. 26, to participate in a program of events coordinated by NFMA. These included a tour of the C.I.A. Museum and the White House, and for most families, visits with the senators and members of congress who represented them.

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