This Halloween was a little different than we expected. I was out of town for an interview so we didn't get to spend it together (more on that in the next post). We had a whole family costume planned out with me as Peter Pan, Cory as Wendy, and Emmy as Tinkerbell. Maybe next year! Instead, Emmy donned her birthday Frida Kahlo costume and Cory was a ballerina. They were still the cutest! Cory took Emmy to the Trunk or Treat at Church, and they had a great time!
Cory made festive cupcakes for the party.
From the sounds of it, Emmy had a pretty good time trick or treating and playing some of the fun games they had for the kids. She even won some prizes!
After the party, Emmy continued to celebrate under Mommy and Daddy's bathroom sink.
I wish I could have been there, but I'm glad that they had a good time. We always know that Emmy has had enough when she sleeps through a changing. It feels good as a parent when your child sleeps soundly.
Halloween is next week and we realized that we never got a pumpkin! We heard from some friends about a local pumpkin patch so we decided to check it out. It was fun to take Emmy to pick out a pumpkin. She also loved riding in the cart with the one we picked out.
They had a plenty to choose from, and had a few games and even some rides for the kids. We didn't ride anything, but the atmosphere was fun.
Emmy was just tickled the entire time. She was so excited at one point that her shoes flew off.
It was fun to get into the Halloween spirit. We got home and carved the pumpkin to put on our porch. We named him Frankie.
The day after Emmy's birthday, there just so happened to be a Memphis football game, and that game just so happened to be the biggest of the season against Ole Miss, and my dad just so happened to still be in town, so we went! Memphis went into the game undefeated, and Ole Miss only had one loss, having been ranked #3 in the nation just a couple weeks earlier. It was a huge game.
Ole Miss is only about an hour from Memphis so the stadium was actually about half and half in terms of fans. Ole Miss fans were already talking trash before the game ever started. We were offered some alcohol from and Ole Miss kid and declined, which earned us a loud, "YEAH I'D BE SCARED TOO IF WE WERE PLAYING THE REBELS!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!! HOTTY TODDY!!! Dad and I learned for the first time that "hotty toddy" is not only a phrase Ole Miss fans say to each other in passing, but is also a war cry that they scream as loud as they can at any time for no apparent reason. There is even a song that goes with it, which they sang at least 50 times over the course of the game. We are generally nice people, but they made us absolutely hate Ole Miss by the end of the game.
It only got worse when the game started and Memphis went down 14-0 in the first quarter. Dad and I made a pact that if we were down by three touchdowns or more by halftime we would go home. WELL HOTTY TODDY IN YOUR FACE BECAUSE MEMPHIS NOT ONLY RALLIED, WE KICKED YOUR HOTTY TODDY BUTTS! Memphis went on a 37-10 run for the rest of the game, and slowly but surely, the "Hotty Toddy" chants got quieter and less frequent. It was a satisfying silence.
With the win, Memphis kept their undefeated season alive and got a lot of national attention for beating a ranked program from the SEC. Some of the fans even rushed the field afterward.
It was a fun game to be at, and was a perfect choice for our first experience in the Liberty Bowl!
Emmy survived one whole year with us as her parents, which is admirable, if not amazing. Our lives are so completely different with her in our lives that it is funny to remember what it was like before parenthood. Cory and I spent some of the free time during the day reminiscing and looking through pictures of the day Emmy was born and our stay in the hospital. She was so little and has grown so much! There wasn't much free time, though, because Cory was orchestrating an all-day full-blown birthday extravaganza. I should have known. Cory has a talent for creating memorable experiences for the family. We started off with birthday brunch at Perkins. Grandma Buzz, Big Daddy Mike, and Gigi Page were all in town to celebrate with us and joined us for brunch. While Emmy was down for her nap, we decorated for the party. We went for the Fiesta theme!
We had Emmy in a puebla dress and flower headband for the festivities. With nap time over it was time to start the party. It was just a small family party. We figured our apartment wasn't the space for a big bash. Cory made Emmy her birthday cake, and we eagerly awaited the traditional let-the-baby-tear-into-the-cake moment.
You can watch the video below and it will be like you were at the party! Emmy did not tear into the cake. She barely touched it, which Buzz accurately predicted.
Before she didn't really eat her cake, she blew out her candles! Watch below!
After cake, it was time to open presents. Cory bought tiny sombreros for all of us to wear, which was funny. We appreciate all the gifts for Emmy!
We had Mariachi music playing in the background as Emmy opened her presents. She would sometimes dance along to the music by shimmying her shoulders and clapping. She also got a rocking horse from Gigi and Big Daddy. It plays its own music and Emmy immediately started dancing to the little song coming from her pony. She isn't very good at balancing on the horse, yet, but she will get the hang of it.
Here is another video of Emmy opening some of her presents.
Most people would call it quits after that, but the party kept rocking! To end the night, we took Emmy to the Memphis Zoo for Zoo Boo! It was the first weekend of the Zoo Boo, where they transform the zoo for Halloween. Most of the animals were not out for exhibit, but they had games and candy stations to go trick or treating. For Emmy's costume we just threw on a scarf and gave her a uni-brow to tranform her into Frida Kahlo. People didn't seem to know who she was, except for every Hispanic woman we passed. Without fail, they all made a comment about how cute little Frida was.
We also went on a spooky hayride, which was not that spooky. There were just ghoulish decorations along the route, so no one was jumping out from hiding places, which usually is what is most scary to me. Big Daddy and Gigi were there to protect us and as you can see, even when taking a picture Emmy was keeping a look out just to make sure there were no surprises.
Later in the night, Emmy rode the train with Grandma Paula around the little farm and petting zoo. We saw some cows, horses, and sheep who hadn't gone to sleep, yet.
After the zoo, we went out for some Mexican food at our favorite place, El Mezcal! Emmy thought it was time for bed, though, because she fell asleep and slept through all of dinner. I guess she was so exhausted from all the partying! Cory did a great job making Emmy's first birthday the best of her entire life.
We feel so blessed to have Emmy in our family. Happy Birthday Emmy Rae!!! You are smart, strong, curious, adventurous, happy, silly, chubby, and the cutest one year old in our life. We love you baby girl.
Cory put together this montage of moments from the past year as a tribute to our first year with our Emmy Rae!
Emmy's birthday is next week and we will be hosting family for the special day. My parents actually came out a week early because Big Daddy Mike attended the MGMA Healthcare Conference in Nashville this year, so we tagged along and spent a few days in the Music City. The conference was being held in the Gaylord Opryland hotel, which is where we stayed. It was massive and felt almost like a miniature theme park.
One of the sections of the hotel was a huge shopping and eating area with restaurants and stores. It also had a man-made river flowing through it and boat rides you could enjoy. It had the feel of a little town, but it was all indoors.
We think Emmy loved taking it all in. There was always something to look at or observe. She also insisted that we let her try on some cowgirl hats. She couldn't really find one she liked, but we thought she was cute in all of them.
Here I am standing on the balcony of our room. Our window and balcony faced the inside of the hotel, which only was annoying when a guy walked down those stairs at 3:00 AM with music blaring on his phone. Overall, though, it was fun staying at the hotel.
Right next to the hotel is the Grand Ole Opry and a mall. When we weren't at the hotel, we went exploring over that way. In the mall there was an aquarium restaurant we tried one night. The food was good, but it was mostly interesting for Emmy to watch the fish swimming in the massive tank in the middle of the restaurant.
When my dad was done with his conference sessions, we went out to explore more of Nashville. We jumped on one of those trolley tours that takes you around the city on a guided tour. You can get off at any of the stops, but we just cruised through the whole thing so that we could see everything. Here is the Tennessee State Capitol building:
At the end of the tour, Cory and I walked a couple of blocks to the Goo Goo Cluster store. Goo Goo Clusters are delicious and Cory kind of became addicted to them on this trip. Once she saw the store, it was all over. We had to go inside. We watched some clusters being made and bought a box for the road. I also learned that Al Gore (from Tennessee), when he was vice president, would hand out Goo Goo clusters to kids at Halloween from the Vice President's mansion.
Speaking of elected officials. The state of Tennessee was home to the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. Just outside of Nashville is The Hermitage, his home, which has been turned into a historical landmark and museum. Andrew Jackson is also on the $20 bill. We thought we would see what Emmy would look like as President.
Cory couldn't resist either. She definitely has my vote.
The actual house and the grounds were very impressive, considering when it they were built. We got some of the headphones for the self-guided audio tour, so we could pick and choose things we wanted to learn more about.
Here is where General Jackson and his wife are buried out in the garden, along with Uncle Alfred, a slave who was freed but stayed at the Hermitage working for the family. There was a whole section about him in the audio tour, but I had a difficult time believing that Uncle Alfred's life and experience at the Hermitage was as romantic as the tour made it out to be.
We had a great time in Nashville and have Big Daddy Mike and Gigi Page to thank for that! They always made the effort when I was younger to take Lacey and me to fun places, and also to historical landmarks for educational experiences. In fact, it became a joke in the family that Dad would take a 100 mile detour if he saw a historical marker sign on a road trip. We are glad we could tag along in Nashville.
We are always on the lookout for free things to do in Memphis. This week we headed to Stax Records, also the home of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
It didn't look like much on the outside, but this was a really extensive museum. They had great exhibits. I recognized names like Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, both Stax Records artists, but most of the content of the museum was foreign to me. Even though we didn't know much about the artists, it still was really entertaining. Some of the highlights were a Soul Train dance floor and Isaac Hayes' restored 1972Cadillac El Dorado.
Cory has been fantastic about taking Emmy to the weekly story time at our public library. Every once in a while, they do special ones on Saturday that I can go to as well. This Saturday is was an international story time all about China. It was for the kids, but I was enthralled and learned a few things, too. Emmy was speaking in Chinese the whole time. No one could understand her.
We try to reinforce her love of reading at home, too. She loves turning the pages of the books that we read with her.
She loves reading by herself, as well. We didn't have the heart to tell her that she wasn't actually reading. Fake it 'til you make it!
With Emmy crawling, she has a lot more fun at the little play area at the mall. She will crawl all around that place, and today we watched her pull herself up onto her feet. She looked over at us like she was thinking about walking over to us. We kept calling to her, "Can you walk? Walk to us!"
We spent a lot of the summer visiting the zoo. We have mentioned before that it's free on Tuesdays, so it is a family favorite. Emmy is getting big enough to start to notice the animals, and it is fun to watch her watch them.
Cory likes going through Cat Country, and the elephants. I will admit, the big cats are pretty cool.
My favorite, though, has always been the apes. Gorillas have been my favorite animal for most of my life. The big male silverbacks exude coolness and power. This dude is super buff, like me.
This summer we have been taking Emmy to the pool for some fun in the sun. She has become quite the water baby. She floats around in her personal barge, complete with shaded hood. It is fun to watch her explore and discover what it is like to be in the water.
As soon as she is out of the floaty, I start playing with it. I thought I could sneak up on everyone using it as camouflage.
It is hot out here in Memphis, so we enjoy the family time keeping cool.
Here is a video from our YouTube channel of Emmy jumping into the pool. She is fearless!
Elder!!! My old mission companion, Tyler Sabey, and his wife, Emma, were driving through Memphis on their move to Georgia and stopped in for a visit. He is starting a PhD at The University of Georgia. Go Bulldogs!
It is always fun to see them and visit, even if we only got an afternoon together. Best of luck to the Sabeys as they start a new chapter in Georgia!
Soon after getting home from Wyoming, we were off on another adventure! We headed east to Knoxville, Tennessee for the weekend with our friends Steven & Katie Skovran and Jaimen & Cali Dixon. Steven is from Knoxville so we stayed a night at his parents house and then headed the next morning to Dollywood!
You may remember that we took Emmy to Disneyland earlier in the year, but this was going to be our first time having her at an amusement park for an entire day. We were a little worried we would have to leave early, but the day started out pretty well. She started to feel the excitement on the tram ride from the parking lot.
Dollywood was a lot bigger, and cooler, than we expected. It was a really nice park. There were fun rides, tons of awesome smelling food, neat stores, and cool Dolly Parton memorabilia. We were on the lookout for Dolly all day, but never found her. We did go through her tour bus, though.
Emmy was a trooper the whole day. We never had to leave, and she never fussed. We made sure to keep her hydrated and well fed, which was all she really needed for a happy day.
Steven was an expert on Dollywood, which I appreciate as a self-proclaimed expert on Disneyland. You need to know a park well to get the most out of it.
In the afternoon, when the heat was at its peak, Cory, Emmy and I broke off from the rest of the group and headed to the air-conditioned theater to watch a bubble show. Mostly we just wanted to escape the heat and rest, but the show ended up being spectacular. I didn't know you could do so many cool and entertaining things with bubbles.
The finale of the show was filling the whole place with bubbles. Emmy was LOVING it.
This sweet girl took a few naps throughout the day, which made us feel good. She would just quietly catch some zzz's without fussing.
The naps helped her have a happy disposition when she was awake!
I don't know if you have heard of Dippin' Dots. They have been the ice cream of the future for the past 20 years. They were necessary to keep the body temperatures at an optimal level.
From Dollywood we headed to a cabin we rented in the Smoky Mountains, where we were going to stay for a couple of nights.
It was a fun and rustic atmosphere.
The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out at the cabin and exploring Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. We heard Gatlinburg described as the Redneck Riviera. All I know is, Pigeon Forge should be crowned the Pancake House, Mini-Golf, Outdoor Go-Kart, Dinner Theater Capitol of the World. Gatlinburg had some of that stuff as well, but Pigeon Forge was on another level. We caught some of the live music while walking through Gatlinburg.
Steven requested eating dinner at Bubba Gump's, so we all headed there for some seafood and Forrest Gump movie trivia. I had never been to a Bubba Gump's that I know of, so it was a fun experience for us. We loved our trip to East Tennessee, and appreciate the invitation from our friends.
