Grandma Cathy comes back to Tennessee (Her 2nd Home)

Grandma Cathy came out to Tennessee on the 4th of July! She flew in that night around 6 pm.  We went to dinner at Texas Road House and then went to downtown Nashville to watch the fireworks.

Waiting for the fireworks to start

  I love this picture because it looks like Lauren is having a "lightbulb" moment.

 

This video is part of the finale.  I started recording this after about 15 seconds had already gone by.  No wonder Nashville is top 5 in the US for 4th of July fireworks.  AMAZING!!! Love this city!

The next few days we were busy touring the civil war sights, playing in rivers and going on river walks with Grandma.  This tree is just one example of the really awesome scenery that we have here in Tennessee.

 Franklin Hill Battle Site

 Capturing and letting go a caterpillar

We also went to the Tennessee Agriculural Center for Mule Days.  We were a little late getting there so we missed a few things that we did last year, but we still had fun. 

 Braken wanted to take some pictures on my camera and these two pictures are the ones he took.  This is how Braken see's the world and I love it!

 We went on a Mule Carriage ride.  This is the kids favorite part and this year they got to go a few times because the lines were short.

 We also went to the zoo.  I don't think Grandma Cathy can come to Tennessee without going to the Nashville zoo.  We take her everytime, because it is the kids favorite thing to do and we have a season pass, so its free...until we have to buy our next season pass.

 (2 days before Reese was born)

 Waiting for the bird show to start.

 Jailyn was selected from the audience to throw the bird some grapes.  She was so excited to be chosen.

 Love the huge flowers!

Grandma Cathy went back to Utah on July 13th just three days after Reese was born.  It was so hard to have her leave us (me) with a newborn and 4 kids.  I wasn't ready for her to go, but knew she needed to.  We love when Grandma comes to visit and can't wait to see her again in August for Reese's blessing.

A few more pics of my cute family!

Again, I haven't edited anything, but I do have some really cute kids so I usually don't have to do much anyways, just repair my picture taking inability.

 High, flyin Jailyn!

 I just think Braken is so darn handsome and I love his facial expressions!

 Beautiful princess Lauren

 Miss Andi, she has so much personality, but didn't want to show it off today!

 My handsome men! Love this Daddy/Son picture

 ...again I love Mr. B's expressions!

 Rich and  looking great!

 We went to the temple to walk around and it was locked up, but luckily I know somebody who can get us in!! ;)

This will likely be the last post before #5 arrives. So excited to meet her!!

Memorial Day 2013

This memorial day marked our 1 year anniversary of living in Tennessee.  We love the weather, the people and just being with each other. We decided to invite ourselves to Jill and Stephen Norris's house for Memorial day and we are so glad we did.  We had a blast.  Here are some of the pics that we took and some of the fun things we did.

Stopping at the space station rest stop just across the Bama border.

 We went boating at Beeswax creek/pond/lake/river...not sure.  It was really fun to be out on the water again and to be able to watch Rich enjoy his wakeboard again.  He really misses boating. 

 He got Mr. B out on the wakeboard for the first time and Braken loved it, once he was up.  The water here is so warm, it was Memorial Day weekend and the water was like lake powell. 

 Jailyn also went out with Rich on the board and we realized that she needs her own wakeboard, because she is ready to go.  She also did the kneeboard by herself!

 More pics:

LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!

 Applying a little sunscreen. :)

 There was a bass fishing tournament happening at Beeswax and all of the kids loved watching the huge bass being brought in to be weighed.  Between the Norris's and us we have 9 kids (10 by the end of this month) 8 girls and 2 boys.

 The weather was so perfect for boating that we all got fried!! We put on sunscreen but we didn't put enough on I guess. 

 Rich watching a movie with the 9 kids.

 On Sunday afternoon we decided that we wanted some watermelon so we started to cut it in half...with elastics!  It was really awesome and we plan to do it again while my mom is out here this week. 

 Enjoying the spoils of the elastic melon.

 On Memorial day we were back in Tennessee and headed to the River to catch some minnows, collect golf balls and go fishing. 

We usually don't fish at the river, but we were collecting minnows and clams when we saw these long, kindof creepy looking fish jumping in the water.  We recognized them from Bass Pro Shops fish tank.  They are called Alligator Gar.  They look like sticks with sharp jagged teeth.  We tried to catch one, but we only ... I only caught one little fish/minnow, only 4 inches long.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend and can't wait to visit the Norris's again!  We love Tennessee and miss our families in Utah like crazy.  Luckily for us, We will get to see both families this month and again in August and again in October and again in December.  We are so blessed to see our families so often.  

We aren't exactly sure why we need to be in Tennessee right now, but we do feel the blessed to be having the experiences that we couldn't get anywhere else.  We have met some amazing people, made great friends and learned a lot about true Christianity while living out here in the South.