Zoobilee Zoo

The Memphis Zoo is really nice. We got to go as the Terry's guests and even got free Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream as we watched the apes and a little train ride. How cool is that? We had a fun day. Luke seemed excited to be there, although I'm not sure he actually saw any of the animals. Oh, and it's hot here by the way.




this is our little preview of china - we just bought tickets to Beijing last night!

7 month photo shoot

Luke has been so cute I can't even stand it. He's a really fun age right now. He's started to bust a move any time there is music playing with a beat and he especially loves my rendition of "zipadeedoda" (aren't kids the best). He loves splashing in the bathtub and pool and he LOVES eating. It's funniest when he's super hungry - he'll open his mouth so wide that he'll start to shake. I should really try to capture that on film. This guy is the coolest.

and for the record - he weighs 21 lbs at 7 months.

Monumental Occasion

Joey got his very first paycheck on Friday. I've never been married to someone who makes money before. I gotta say it's pretty neat. :-) So, instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars to do dental work, I guess he gets paid now? What a concept. Way to go Joey!

MEMPHIS!!!

We love it here.
and we're soakin wet to prove it.

So, we went on a neat adventure to
mud island river park.
It's a model of
the mississippi river.
a real, geographically correct model
that you can wade
and splash in
It ends here at the gulf of mexico.

piano man

6 month old baby is subjected to parent's shananigans

Luke has been a real traveling champ in his 6th month. He's been to New York, back to Maryland, then to Utah and back to Maryland and final desination: Tennessee - all in one month. Through all the packing and moving he's managed to keep his parents happy by being super, super cute. Here's the proof:


Trying on Maryanne's pre-school graduation cap while we take a rest from moving the Macdonald's in to their beautiful new home in Long Island on June 4th. We sure miss them.


Hanging at the Malmborg's cabin in Bear Lake - getting ready for our Sunday walk.


Enjoying his very FIRST bite of solids (rice cereal) on June 17th, 2008 in Huntsville, UT. A big day for Lukey. Since then, he's added spinach, sweet potatoes, peas and carrots to his solid food portfolio (and 2 vanilla wafers and some apple juice a neighbor snuck him when we weren't looking)


Meeting new Utah friends Truman Lee (3 days older) and Simon Parnell. (5 months younger)


Not to brag or anything but it's pretty apparent where Luke and Truman get their good looks. (It was so dang fun catching up with this here T-bone)


Uncle Chad proudly displays his catch of the day. Nice thunder thighs Luke! This is the day of my niece's wedding at the Salt Lake Temple. Lots of family. Really fun day.


Taking first dip in a pool on June 25th. (Chad & Wendy's luxurious pool). Turns out he LOVES pools and we've been in many since. We met up with the Woods, Malmborgs, Wilsons and Songers and reminisced the old days.


Subjecting Luke to the Songer Family Reunion Waterslide. My dad & brothers build one every year always a little bigger and better. This year was a blast. I think Luke will enjoy it much more in the years to come. Too bad we don't have footage of Joey going down on his feet - or Lissa flying through the air and landing on her stomach half-way down the slide. fearless, those guys.


Helping his pare-pares move. "what IS all this stuff! jeesh!"


The 3 of us in the Penske driving to our new home in Tennessee.


Finally, after 16 hours of driving we arrive in memphis and he gets to cool off in our new neighbor's pool. He was such an amazing traveler. 16 hours of driving and he cried for 5 minutes. What a kid!


First Kiss


Truly, he's had quite the effect on the Memphian ladies. This is darling Aiden - daughter of our new friends the Terrys.


Cute


Cute


And cute.

UTAH

and a few more fun pictures...


The Hale sisters...I wonder which one is not blood related. hmmmm.



Katie Pulsipher marries Jeff Brown.


Dance picture? Leah Wood's wedding? I can't remember


This was our group date dance shot. Funny, I probably do have a high school dance photo with these guys in it - just minus a few children.


Our dear Spencer. We got to meet up with Spencer, Brenley and Eden Burton. What a special treat. They are awesome.

All is well, all is well...

So, we decided since we had everything all packed up and our renters needed to move in - we should just leave and figure it out on the way. So, we drove away heading to Tennessee trying to be excited about our new life but having no idea what we were going to do. To make a long story short - we ended up contacting the seller and asked if we could rent for a month until Joey got a paystub and then close on the house at the end of the month. The seller was cool with it and we ended up moving in as planned and will just close a little later. PHEW! So, we're moved in and love Tennessee so far. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. More later.

frustrated

well, the penske truck is all packed and we're sitting in an empty house in maryland. (oh how I love this house!) we're ready to go ... but no house to move to. joey is suppose to start his job on july 7th and we were suppose to leave early this morning to start our trek to tennessee but we still haven't been able to get a loan! (oh don't worry that we were able to get a loan when Joey was a DENTAL STUDENT but can't when he's a DENTIST - that doesn't make much sense to me... especially since it's a cheaper house) I guess it's because it's not a guaranteed salary and he doesn't have any paystubs yet, so in this new "wont-give-ya-a-loan" market, it makes it a little tricky. we've got a few options left to try that will hopefully work but for now it's just us in an empty house eating pizza on the livingroom floor.

but all frustrations aside, it's hard to say goodbye to this house. we've put so much work into it and now that we're leaving and cleaning and putting some finishing touches on it - it looks even better. even though our new house will have more room and be about 50 years newer - I will miss this old house and fighting over the bathroom sink in our tiny bathroom.

well, please just pray for us that we'll be able to get a house. we sure would like to have a place to live.

p.s. we just got back from a 3 week vacation in Utah - we had a blast. someday soon I'll get some pictures posted. stay tuned ...