Last weeks adventures...

We had a great time last week. Our soon to be sister-in-law and her little girl came to visit for a whole week. I would like to say she came to see just us, but I 'm sure that was not her main reason. Lol :)

The kids had a great time together from the park to feeding the ducks and turtles at the nature.

Beale street Memphis, TN

Corey and I have decided that we may have found the best BBQ place (and that is saying a lot since I'm from Kansas City). Its called Pigs: Pork with an attitude. It came in in the top three places for BBQ in Memphis BBQ festival. They have won many times and there is a reason. The best ribs and pulled pork. It makes my mouth water just thin king about it.

The pool opened this week. The kids were begging to go. We went a couple of times. The weather is warm, but the pool feels like a glass of really cold ice water. Of coarse that did not stop the kids. I watched from the sidelines in hopes for warmer water.

We also went to the Memphis Zoo with a good friend of the family, she pretty much is family- just a different last name. We had a great time at the zoo. Of coarse it was 92 and full of humidity. I was grateful that it was not raining.

The monkeys at the Memphis zoo are one of our favorite animals. The monkeys entertained us with all of their rope-swinging, flips, making faces at us. There was one monkey that liked to scare his audience. He would swing from rope to rope and at the last second splat against the window where someone was standing. Peyton loved watching this. He laughed so hard.

I tried numerous times to catch the monkey in action a his scare tactics. There were so many people and some one's noggin would end up blocking the camera. We are excited to make another trip to the zoo.

Late Bloomers

Last fall I planted tulips. I have waited and waited for them to bloom. The neighbors tulips bloomed and I continued to wait. I was worried that we would leave for the summer before the tulips bloomed. Sure enough the tulips did not bloom in time.

This week Corey went back to Utah for work for a couple of days. Of coarse the tulips were in bloom. Corey snagged a few photos for me. Hopefully next year the tulips will not be so stubborn and bloom on time.

Peyton the Pirate.... Ahgrrr!

This week we went to the library for some new books to read. One of the books we brought home is about pirates. Peyton is crazy over it. Yesterday, Peyton was a pirate.

He looked like a pirate, ate like a pirate, played swords like a pirate, talked like a pirate. He made is own treasure chest out of his shoe box. Then he put his jewels (jelly beans from the Easter bunny), gold (chocolate eggs with gold wrappings), Lighten McQueen car, and his sister's jewelry in it. Oh and the dollar his Dad gave him. He also carried around his pirate map. Peyton told me he was "Peyton the Pirate, Ahgrrrr!"

Annisten's Top 5

Sometimes its the look of death, a sly smile, or a giggle... Whatever the face or emotion, Annisten's favorite words stay the same.


5. Nope

4. Stop It

3. Don't

2. No

1. NOOOOOOOO!

A Long Stormy Night...

Our Apartment is furnished, which makes it nice for us. Moving furniture across country just for the summer would not be fun. The downside is... we never know what it will be like. For the most part the furniture isn't bad, except for our mattress in our bedroom. There is a huge sink hole. Several times a night Corey and I find ourselves squished uncomfortably in the middle of the bed. By morning we are have sore backs from the uncomfortable bed and feel tired because we wake up so many times a night. So I bought a memory foam topper. We were so excited to have a nice night of sleep. Well we were wrong....

Not long after drifting off to sleep, I was awoken to the lights flickering. I was so mad at Corey for turning on and off the lights. So I sad up in bed and was going to tell him all about it... When I looked over, he was out for the count and the room was dark. Talk about weird. Maybe I was dreaming. Just as I drifted back to sleep, it happened again. OK maybe not a dream. I nestle under my covers and then saw the flash again. A huge rumble of thunder. Followed by more thunder, and the flashes from the lightening filled up our entire room! I love rain and thunder. Perfect for a good night of sleep. Boy was I wrong.

Corey and I woke up numerous times throughout the night because the storm was so crazy. The thunder shook our three story apartment building and the wind was frightening. The rain pounded the building and flooded the area. The kids whimpered and wrestled in their sleep. They ended up in bed with us.

In the morning, everything was flooded. We were lucky and had no damage from the wind. A tornado actually was sighted 30 miles away from us. Corey and I were having flash backs from last year in Missouri and all the crazy storms. It was not that bad, but hopefully we don't have more of that bad weather business.

I snapped a picture of the flood water. They are not the best, but hopefully the amount of standing water can been. Later that day the water receded; I could see that the water was 5 to 10 feet lower! If we do not get a couple of sunny days before the next storm hits, there is going to be some serious flooding going on. So our much looked forward to night of sleep was long and restless. Hopefully tonight will be better.

Playgroup at the Park

On Tuesday the SUN shined all day long! Annisten and Peyton were thrilled, especially since today was playgroup at the park. Both of them were excited to play in the sunshine and meet new friends from our new ward.

Sad... there wasn't any kids were at the park. Peyton was really disappointed. I told him to go a head and play and have a good time anyway. After being at the park for half and hour, some families showed up. Peyton and Annisten were thrilled! They ran around the playground until their faces were beat red and could run no more.

I could not see Peyton and I was scanning the playground for him. There was a group of boys all standing around and Peyton was in the middle holding out his hand. When I went over to the group, Peyton told me that a was stung by a wasp. I asked him how it happened. He told me that he was made at it because he kept flying around really fast. So he tried to step on the wasp to get rid of it. Well of coarse that made the wasp mad.

Peyton is pretty proud of the small red dot on his had. He would tell me his hand still hurt every five minutes all afternoon. Acting it out as he narrated the story, Peyton told me the story over and over all day.

Moving South....

M... I... cricked letter... cricked letter... I... cricked letter... cricked letter... I ...humpback... humpback... I.....

When I was little, I remember learning that little saying in order to spell Mississippi right on a test at school. I never thought that I would really use the word much, let alone live there.

In the spring, we pack our cars and head to a new place for a alarm summer sales. This year Memphis, Tennessee is the place. The birth place of Rock-n-Role and the roots of Blues. Memphis isn't exactly the safest place to live because of all of the crime. Therefore we are living in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Just on the edge of the deep south. Where Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi all meet.


We made the long 3 day drive with two adults, two toddlers, two cars, and one puppy. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Actually it was not that bad. The kids do pretty well as long as we provided snacks, activities, movies, and run laps at ever pit stop. The puppy even did a good job on the long trip. Corey and I were glad to finally see the Welcome to Mississippi sign.
That night we stayed in a Hotel because our apartment was not ready yet. We finally moved in late the next night. Our apartments are nice and spacious with and have a touch of the South on the outside.

The kids have had a hard time adjusting to the life of an apartment. They are use to running and jumping all day long. We are on the third floor and the walls are paper thin. Even though they are not allowed to run and jump in the apartment, their everyday movement shakes the apartment. I feel bad for the kids because it has been a long week full of lots of changes and adjustments for them. It does not help that it has been raining cats and dogs and the kids are stuck inside.

I am running out of things to do in the house that are fun, but with minimal noise.


On Saturday the rain did not let up at all. Poor Corey and the guys were all out in the rain and wind. In the late afternoon the thunder stopped, but the rain did not stop. So I had Peyton and Annisten put on their rain coats and rain boots. The two of them had a blast splashing in the rain. Their faces beamed with excitement as they ran around.



















Our family went downtown Memphis on a Chevy Chase vacation (drive by all the sights without stopping). Corey and I wanted to do something, but it was pouring outside. Nobody wanted to get out of the car in the rain. We saw Graceland, home of Elvis Presley. The pyramid sports arena, and various sights of Memphis. The rain let up; so we went to the the Memphis Bluebirds baseball game.




The Bluebirds are a AAA league team that is the farm for the St. Louis Cardinals. We had a great time at the baseball game! We had really good seats and fowl balls were landing everywhere. The people sitting next to us caught a ball and gave it to Peyton. He was in shock and then a smile spread over his entire face. He has not put the ball down since the game. He carries it around with him everywhere. Even to bed! We had to leave the game early because it began to rain, and then pour; surprise, surprise.

The move....

We moved to Horn Lake, Mississippi this past week. I am really behind with the blogging scene. Hopefully things will be a lot calmer this week and I will be able to catch up. Then again... :)