Zoo Day!

Yesterday we went to the Memphis Zoo. We had so much fun! If you come on a Tuesday after 2:00 pm it is free! So of course we took advantage of such a great opportunity. We thought that it would be crowded, but there was hardly anyone was there at all. We even had a nice little overcast for part of the day which helped take the edge off of the Sauna we live in.

Some of the highlights were watching the polar bears swim through the water. That was Hyrum's favorite! They have a place where there are windows so you can see the polar bears below water.

The sea lion show was also a big hit. The sea lions' could sure do a lot of tricks.

Some other places that Hyrum liked were the elephants, the meerkats, rhino, tigers, and lizards. Hyrum also really enjoyed the fishes and the snakes.

I would have to say some of his favorite animals were the hippos, the giraffes and the zebras. I think that has to do a lot with the fact that we recently rented for him Madagascar which he really liked ( those three animals are some of the main characters).

Also, there was a farm area that he really enjoyed. They have a museum where there is information about the animals and what life would be like on a farm. Hyrum really liked the buttons that you could push to make the animals sounds.

While we were in the farm area we saw many animals. Hyrum loved how the goat came straight up to him and allowed him to pet him for a good amount of time. He also loved the cows and the horses.

Of course, we as Hyrum parents are suckers for him. There was a train going around the farm area that you could buy tickets and ride. Of course, we got some tickets so Hyrum could ride it. He loved it!

As we were leaving, we stopped to take pictures with the wooden animals that line the entrance of the zoo. Hyrum loved standing by the big wooden animals.

The babies did really well for how long we were at the zoo. They seemed really content to look at everything that was going on. There was many new things that they have not ever seen before.

We really enjoyed doing this last adventure before Brandon starts orientation to school tomorrow. Hyrum, in case you couldn't tell from my post, absolutely loved the zoo and kept saying wow the whole time we were there. It was such a fun day!

Alas, many pictures from our latest adventure so once again, a picture album!


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Our House

We took some pictures of our home today now that it is somewhat cleaned and organized. When we were looking for an apartment to rent in Memphis, we saw that it was the same price to rent a 3 bedroom home as it was to rent a 3 bedroom apartment. So we decided to do the home and give the kids a backyard to play in and also give us some more storage space. We have enjoyed the home despite some of the things we have had to fight for (ie. broken dishwasher, broken oven, inadequate cooling system, leaky faucets, etc.). The house is alot bigger than any other place we have lived and we have a double garage, yeah!!! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Front View

Entryway with dining room to the left and bathroom to the right.

Dining room with living room and kitchen on the other side

Living Room (Dont ming the toys everywhere)

Kitchen

Fish Bathroom (For Hyrum)

Backyard

Downtown Memphis!

Yesterday, Brandon and I decided that after we have spent these past few weeks unpacking that it was time to have fun! We went to downtown Memphis and enjoyed spending time together.

Our first stop was the Peabody Hotel. At 11:00 everyday, they lay out a red carpet from an elevator leading to the beautiful fountain in the middle of the hotel. Music begins and out march five or so ducks out of the elevator following the red carpet to the fountain. They spend the day leisurely floating in the fountain until 5:00. At 5:00 the music once again begins and then the ducks march back to the elevator.

Hyrum was mesmerized by the ducks. Brandon held Hyrum up on his shoulders so he could get a good look. When we finally put Hyrum down you could tell he was really excited since he started to run in circles around the ducks.

After we left the Peabody, we decided that we would walk around and see what we could find. We found the Orpheum

A Beautiful Fountain
As well as many other interesting sites. Also while we were wwalking around, Hyrum noticed that trollies which he lovingly referred to as trains came around about every ten minutes or so. Checking the prices we realized that since it was the lunch hour it only cost 50 cents per person to ride the trolly. So Brandon lovingly volunteer to walk behind with the babies while Hyrum and I got to ride the purple trolley. He loved it! He thought it was so cool!



The babies loved looking at everything and were very content just to be pushed in their stroller. We then went to Denny's for a quick lunch. Then on our way home we stopped by Brandon's school.


It was such a fun day. We really enjoyed spending time together eventhough it was really, really hot!

9 Month Check-up!

Eventhough the babies are 10 months old (can you believe they are that old already?) I thought I would post about their 9 month check-up. They came in weighing:

Ben: 18lbs 11 oz and 27 1/2 inches long

Emily: 16 lbs 5 oz and 25 1/2 inches long.

(I don't know why, but all my really cute pictures of her turn out blurry)

Ben still weighs more then Emily by about 2 lbs. They are still on the very small side for their age, which is what we expected them to be until they are around two years old. Emily is in the 9th percentile for weight and 3rd percentile for length. Ben is in the 18th percentile for weight and the 15th percentile for height.

The doctor said that he is pleased with how healthy and strong they are. He is a little worried about how far they are behind developmentally, but they have made much progress since we moved to Tennesse. May be there is something in the water? We are going to get them set-up with an occupational thereapist here to make sure we are doing everything we can to help them develop the way they should.

Both of them are rolling like crazy all over the place. They can get to one spot to another across the room in a matter of seconds. They are sitting up for brief periods (2 minutes or so) without support. They both will put weight on their legs.

They are pretty excited to see one another. Ben gets especially excited to see his sister. They are always trying to roll over one another to get where they need to go. They are developing quite the personalities and they are so fun to have in our family.

HOT, HOT HOT!

Ever since we have been in Tennessee it has been so HOT! The last week or so we have been hitting triple digits and not just plain old 100 degrees. Yesterday it got up to 106 and not to mention the lovely humidity here that makes a huge difference in how it feels when your outside. It doesn't help that our place doesn't get below 85 during the day on the bottom level and the upper level has to be a few degrees higher. The babies wake-up from their naps and they are sweating like crazy!

Anyways, so yesterday in the evening when it was still around 95 degrees outside Brandon decided to water the lawn. Hyrum of course wanted to be with dad and when I went out to check on them Hyrum was drenched from head to toe from running in the sprinklers. He was loving it! We decided to bring the babies out to enjoy the somewhat cooler weather. They enjoyed being outside and watching him run around.

After awhile of running in the sprinkler, Hyrum asked if we could fill up the swimming pool that we have. We obliged him and filled it up. By this time, his diaper was so full due to the water so we thought why not take it off and let him just be free. He was loving it! Our lawn has a slope so the little pool had a deep end and a shallow end. So we decided that since the babies were sweating that they wouldn't mind a quick dip in the pool. So we took off their diaper (it has been so hot that we have only been putting them in onesies and a diaper) and let them have a cool dip.

The babies had so much fun playing in the water. Their little legs were just a kicking; especially Ben. They enjoyed it quite a bit until Hyrum's splashes got a little too much for them.

It was such a fun evening and we really enjoyed ourselves; even though Brandon and I were dripping with sweat the whole time. The kids loved a cool refresh and we loved spending time with them.

Leaving Utah!

On July 28th we moved out of our apartment and on July 29th after Church Brandon and my dad started the LONG trek from Utah to Memphis. It was a very long drive especially with Brandon and my dad not feeling good. They were able to enjoy a stop at Liberty Jail on their long journey. Below are pictures of the BIG yellow truck before they left.

My mom and I flew out with the kids August 1st. Let me tell you that was an adventure. Hyrum loved being able to ride on teh airplanes. They had to bump our seats around a little bit since you can't have two people on the same row with lap baby due to safety guidlines. One of the flights they had Hyrum's seat seperated from everyone else. Luckily there were people willing to switch so Hyrum wouldn't be by himself. The babies did really well and were content to eat, being held and playing with toys. I was extrememly blessed to be sitting by people on the air plane who were more then willing to hold a baby. The only problem that we really had was as we were landing in Memphis when Hyrum couldn't get his ears to pop. I had treats for him to eat to try and get them to pop, but he wouldn't eat them. It could have been a lot worst so I am very grateful for how well the flight went.

Through it all, we made it to Memphis!

Here we are at the Memphis airport. The day was so crazy I only got these two pictures.

We were so grateful to have my parents, and Brandon's sister Lorri help us move!

Please check my other recent posts! I had much to catch up on! Thanks for reading!

Big, Blue, and Beautiful!!

I just wanted to let you all know we finally got a new van! Our last one died back in May and we were borrowing one of my parents car until right before we left to come to Memphis. We got a dark blue Dodge Caravan. I love it! I love the Stow-n-go as well as the rear air. We are very fortunate to get a new car. Hyrum will tell you that it is his new blue van. He is loves to go and sit in his seat in his new blue van.

Guess Who...

I got my first tooth July 21st (the first out of the twins)


I love to roll and roll


I love to read books


I love to play with my big brother


I got my second tooth the day I flew to Tennesse


I love to eat anything I can find; especially paper


I love to stand to get a better look around (with help of course)


I love to get kisses in my neck


I am my daddy's little princess!

Guess who... It's Emmy

Going Away Party!

My parents were nice enough to throw us a gowing away party with our family. It was held July 22nd. It was so nice to see everyone one last time before we left. We have definetly been blessed with a great family and are grateful for their example and love they have shown us. Here are the pictures from the party!
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Riding on Papa's Boat!

On July 21st we went out for a ride on Papa's big green boat! We had so much fun!!
Hyrum wasn't quite sure of it at first, but seemed to really enjoy sitting in the front with Millie and holding up the flag with Sean. He also enjoyed the delicious treats grandma packed for the trip. Hyrum also talked about the boat for days afterwards saying how fast he went in Papa's big green boat.

The babies seemed to enjoy it as well; in fact they were asleep when we pulled into the harbor. They looked so cute in their little life jackets! Ben had his arms stretched out as if to hold on to something for the wild ride. Emily had a look on her face as if she didn't know what to think.

After we rode around for a bit in the boat we all got out for a quick dip. Both the babies (we only got one out at a time) and Hyrum really enjoyed swimming in the water. Brandon tried his hand at wakeboarding and got sssooo close to getting up. We all thought he did a great job for his first time.

I also decided to try water skiing. I had not water skiied for five years and I was suprised that I was able to get up.

Overall, we had a blast and we really enjoyed our time out on the lake.

Thanks Papa!
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