We regularly take walks as a family at Shelby Farms. The trail is a little less than 3 miles. Emmy has been riding that trail in her stroller for all of her life. Shelby Farms has a herd of buffalo that graze near the trail every once in a while. Today we caught group of them on our walk. Emmy was captivated. It was almost like being at the zoo!
We took a red-eye from Salt Lake to Atlanta, arriving in Atlanta at about 6:30 am on my birthday. Emmy didn't sleep at all the entire flight. She wasn't fussy either, she was just awake. Conveniently for her, as soon as we got off the plane, she decided to take a nap in her stroller while we headed for our next flight to Memphis. We got home and crashed. When we woke up we decided to spend my b-day afternoon at the zoo! My favorite place! And my birthday was on a Tuesday this year, so it was free! A birthday miracle! Emmy liked watching the elephants today.
We took a stroll through cat county and the panther was laying out prominently on his log. Usually he is tucked away and hard to see. Another birthday miracle!
My parents sent me a UT Southwestern t-shirt. Should I wear it on my first day to work?
I was mostly just glad to have gotten home in a timely manner on my birthday. We didn't have any delays or hold-ups. I'm also grateful that we celebrated my birthday at the lake house, too.
Well, it has been about two weeks since I graduated, and we set a date for our move. We will be heading to Texas in less than a month! My fellowship doesn't start until August, so we are taking advantage and going on vacation! We had a family get-together in California and spent a week at Jake's family's lake house. It was awesome.
We flew to Las Vegas where Jake picked us up and drove us into the California desert. There, in the middle of nowhere/the Mojave Desert, is Newberry Springs, and a man-made lake that the Tarabildas have a house on. Let the vacation commence! Also, just to preface the rest of the post, there were over 500 pictures taken on this trip, so I cut that way down, but these pictures are not in chronological order by any means.
Emmy was so fun to observe on this trip. She absolutely loved wearing a life vest. She absolutely loved going on the pontoon. She absolutely loved riding on the speed boat. She absolutely loved being outside. She absolutely loved kayaking and paddle-boarding with Mommy. She absolutely HATED being in the water. It was baffling. She couldn't get enough of every single thing to do, short of actually touching the water. In her defense, the water was very cold. She was a cutie, though.
And I am not kidding about the life vest. Very few pictures exist from the trip of her without it on. She even wanted to wear it inside, and would get a little cranky if we tried to take it off of her. Cory very promptly established a rule that Emmy could not go on the deck or a boat without a vest. Little did we know, Emmy was way ahead of us in the safety department.
Emmy also really loved playing on the pontoon when it was docked. We could set her up in the captain's chair and she was content to sit there and pretend to sail the open water.
Emmy also loved anytime Cohen was involved in anything. Cohen and Jake were twinning with the backwards caps, and it seriously wasn't long before Emmy tried to weasel her way in there to get a turn driving the party barge.
Cohen isn't quite big enough yet to really be able to play with Emmy, but there was still plenty of interaction, and Emmy learned to be gentle with the baby and give him hugs and kisses.
Just two cousins hanging out at the lake house. I wonder what they will think of these pictures in twenty years.
I am just throwing this in here to prove that Cohen not only thinks I am funny, but clearly loves me even when I haven't showered in two days...
Yeah me and Cohen are pretty tight. He actually spent the least amount of time with me, which makes a lot of sense with Mom and Dad, grandparents, and aunts all around as well, but we didn't need a lot of time for the bond to strengthen. Cohen aka DJ CJ aka DJ Coco knows where we stand. It goes without saying.
While not inside or on the water, we played some lawn games. Ladder golf and badminton mostly. Buzz brought along Myles, who she has been dating. I guess I was the last one to finally meet him. It feels nice that they were "dying to get my approval", according to some sources, and "couldn't feel settled until I was okay with the whole idea." I mean it's flattering, but live your life people. Everything doesn't revolve around me. No, but really, Myles was my badminton partner against Jake and Coach Tarabilda (Jake's dad) and Myles won the match for us by sacrificing his body numerous times. That grass was sharp!
We weren't just boating on the water. At least once a day we got out there on some kayaks or paddle boards. There was a tandem kayak that we enjoyed the first day.
Emmy also rode on Mom's paddle board with her while Dad kayaked. Fun fact: I only capsized getting out of that thing once, and it was my first time, so just give it a rest.
Despite what you might think about me, I actually know nothing about boats and water sports. So when I say we also did things with the "speed boat", I just mean the boat that goes faster than the pontoon. I don't actually know what constitutes a speed boat and a regular boat. I will also say, that my natural inclination is to avoid being outside in nature, because nature is trying to kill me, but I didn't want to look like a loser to Jake, who is VERY excited about outdoor activities. Luckily he had Myles there, who also was VERY excited about all the nature. It's not that I didn't enjoy tubing. I did. But also in a very real sense, if I wouldn't have tubed, or done anything on the boat, my vacation would not have been worse. So, there is that. I just really want Jake to like me though, and I am afraid he won't want to be my friend if I don't do everything he wants to do. I would have played ladder golf and badminton all day, for the record.
Jake taught me the whole "tube on your knees" technique.
Jake and Myles really like jumping back and forth between the tubes...I didn't get it. I did think it was kind of fun, though, to try to hold on to the tube when I tipped over and see how long the boat would drag me before my arms were ripped from their sockets. You can see me perfecting that technique if you look closely in the picture below.
I was glad Cory got out there to tube with Anna. She is pregnant, she isn't dying people! Coach Tarabilda aka Captain Tarabilda aka Jake's dad made sure not to go too fast for them, but they acted like they were going over tsunami waves. Emmy kept waving to Cory and repeating "Hi." over and over again.
In fact, Emmy loved riding in the boat any time someone went out to tube/ski/board. It got to the point that she cried if the boat left without her. She had to be on that boat, but when she was, she never looked like she was having that great a time. Just a hard stare with a slight grimace. I think she liked being a part of the group, though. She has really become sensitive to the FOMO. That means "fear of missing out" for everyone that isn't super cool. Cory had to explain that to me. Poor Emmy, but someone was usually very willing to hold her while boating, like Aunt Sarah!
Or Grandma. Grandma always likes being with Emmy! Buzz was behind the camera so much that this is one of the few pictures of her on the trip.
When the sun set, we ate good food together and enjoyed the view. Saturday night we even celebrated my upcoming birthday with burgers and bratwurst. It was delicious.
It was also a perfect time in the evenings to show off all of Emmy's tricks. She recently started going to nursery and has loved learning hand motions with songs. It is awesome to see her not only mimic the gestures, but remember them later and do them at the semi-correct time. I consider myself a pretty rational person, so I think I can say without any bias that she is a genius.
The evenings were also spent watching Angels games, and I learned a lot of Coach Tarabilda-isms.
All in all it was an awesome family vacation. Thanks to the Tarabildas for opening up their lake house to us. We actually weren't going to be able to fly home from Las Vegas, so we drove back up to Provo with Anna, Jake, and Cohen. The six of us made pretty good time in the suburban with two babies. We spent less than a day there, but it was fun to be back. We went downtown to see the new City Center Temple, and snapped a picture. We left on a red-eye flight and would arrive back in Memphis on my birthday!
Whoever reads this blog is probably tired of me mentioning how Cory finds free stuff for us to do, but she just won't stop finding new things! Once again, she found a really cool family outing for us to do at no cost. We visited the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, which was free this Saturday. The name gives it away, but it is an art gallery and gardens.
The current exhibit dealt with the French impressionism. I couldn't take any pictures, but it was nice, and reminded me of going to the Museum of Art at BYU.
There was also a room full of porcelain figurines with lots of explanations. I read a lot of them. I remember none of them.
The gardens were also impressive. It was peaceful, and we enjoyed strolling around the grounds.
I think some people actually come here to see all of the plants, with the little signs and their Latin names, but we just walked by an thought they were pretty flowers.
It must take a lot of upkeep.
We also think they were setting up for a wedding. So if you love these pictures, consider booking with Dixon. But seriously, it was a nice morning and something we probably never would have done without Cory using her powers of investigation to find fun family experiences.
Graduation was over, but my parents stayed for Mother's Day and a couple of days after. We tried out The Arcade Restaurant for breakfast downtown. I guess Elvis used to eat there. Emmy didn't think it was anything special.
We also took my parents to check out the Bass Pro pyramid. Emmy had a good time watching Mommy shoot some tin cans off a railing.
Emmy was all smiles with Gigi and Big Daddy.
It was nice treat to have Gigi with us for Mother's Day. Emmy gave her big hugs and kisses to celebrate. We love you Gigi!
Grandma Paula wasn't with us, but we still thought about her and how much she means to our family. Here is Emmy and Buzz having fun looking for grizzly bears. This picture is from back in September. There are more recent ones, but I am a zoo fanatic, so any chance I have to plug the Memphis Zoo, I take. We love you Grandma!
Emmy also made a present for Mom in nursery at church. It was a picture of her in a card. She is so sweet, but her little bruise on her forehead makes us sad.
We love grandmas, but Emmy and I especially love Mommy! I love my girls, and am so proud of the mother that Cory is to Emmy. I can't wait for the baby to get here in November to add to the bunch. We love you Mommy!
Graduation Day! The day has finally come to end my experience as a student of The University of Memphis. I was glad to do it with so many people I care about. Obviously my cohort was a huge support to me. We became good friends, and I will be sad to say goodbye when we move to Dallas. Here we are waiting in the tunnel before the processional. Our hoods were forest green.
Here we are in the program. I am at the very bottom left.
We were actually some of the very first to walk in, and some of the very first to walk across the stage. Cory, Emmy, Gigi Page, Big Daddy Mike, and Grandpa Wayne were all in the stands to watch me receive my diploma.
It was nice to walk at the very beginning, but it wasn't so nice to sit and wait while all the undergrad people walked. It was a two and a half hour ceremony and I was done with my part in the first 20 minutes. It gave me some perspective thinking about how I felt two years ago graduating from BYU. The graduate students probably were bored stiff while I was walking across the stage. You just have to keep reminding yourself that each person walking across the stage represents a lot of time and work, so it is obviously important to them.
We all posed with each other and the faculty before breaking up for the last time to go find our families in the crowd.
A few times during the ceremony I would turn around to look up at my family. Emmy waved sometimes. When I got up to where they were sitting she gave me a big hug.
The graduation was at FedEx Forum, where the Grizzlies play, so we headed out front to get some pictures. Here I am with the real MVP, Cory! Thanks for all your support in taking care of me and Emmy. I was gone a lot of nights and you kept everything running smoothly. I love you!
Emmy was so cute in her little dress and bow. This is probably my favorite picture from the day. The rest of the post will mostly be pictures.
The family.
This is what my hood looked like from behind.
I was glad my Mom and Dad could be there, as well.
Grandpa Wayne also came up from Texas.
Emmy was over pictures pretty quickly. After sitting in the arena for so long, I don't blame her. Gigi helped calm her down.
Afterwards we headed for some Memphis BBQ. I also ran over to campus with my dad to take some pictures. Here I am with Tom, the Memphis mascot, in front of the student center.
Robison Hall is where I spent most of my time on campus. It is the School of Public Health, and all but three of my classes were in this building.
This is the Administration Building.
There is a huge Ramesses II statue on campus, too. I almost never was on that side of campus, but I figured I would get a picture. Memphis is named after an ancient Egyptian city, and was the capital of the Old Kingdom. Also, the university doesn't really have anything else Egyptian about it that I ever saw, which makes the statue more random.
Now these tiger statues are not random and are all over campus. The university had 100 of them commissioned for the 100 year anniversary of the founding. Each one represents a different year and is painted uniquely.
I had an amazing experience at the University of Memphis. Go Tigers Go!
