Goodbye, Tennessee!

We had such a great stay in Tennessee. It was hard to say goodbye to our family out there. We are glad to be back with Daddy though. We wish he could have come too. Here's a few more pictures of our stay.

Robbie and Grandma built this out of Tinkertoys.
Robbie and Grandpa with Elly, the dog. Robbie took a while to warm up to the dog, but by the end he was able to pet her, take her out on a leash, and feed her food all by himself.
Robbie with my brother, Uncle Cameron, Aunt Candis, Caleb and Cayli. My other brother, Jonathan and his wife Camilla came to visit too, but I never had my camera out when they were over :-(
the grandkids waiting for cookies to come out of the oven
the grandkids playing with their new Slinky from Uncle Bryce, my dad's brother. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a fabulous visit. We had so much fun and can't wait to see you again!

Gatlinburg, TN

One day we went out to Gatlinburg, TN to Ripley's Aquarium. It was a great day with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Natalie.

Robbie and Grandma in front of some fish from the Amazon.

Robbie with Grandma and Grandpa
being Grandpa's friend..Robbie wanted to follow him and hold his hand everywhere.
inside a tunnel in the fish tank
Aunt Natalie, Robbie and Grandma checking out the seahorses.
The aquarium had this moving walkway through an underwater tunnel with all sorts of fish, sharks, and turtles. Sorry this isn't a very clear picture.
Robbie and Mommy touching an armored fish.
Robbie crawling through the penguin tank.
Robbie with the stingrays and a shark.

We saw the diver feeding the stingrays.
After the aquarium we went to the outlets nearby, and Robbie enjoyed riding this horse.
Ride 'em Cowboy!

Grandma's House

Here's a few things we've been doing around the house....

Filling the bird feeder with Grandma. It's been cool to see all the blue jays, cardinals, and squirrels that come to eat.

The other night my sister, Natalie had a voice recital. While I didn't get any pictures of her actually singing...this is after her performance. She did really well!

And finally....today it snowed! Robbie and I went to the mailbox...just to walk in the snow!

Mayfield Dairy

On Wednesday the 19th, we went to Athens, TN to tour the Mayfield Dairy.

Robbie, Cayli, and Caleb with Maggie, their mascot.

On the tour...the tour guide asked if Robbie and Caleb were twins;-)

In the theater, ready for the movie.

Robbie and Cayli milking a cow.

On the tour we got to see how they made the different sizes of carton and put milk in the cartons.

Knoxville, Tennesee

Well, Robbie and I made a trip to Tennessee to visit my family. We've been here a little while, but I haven't had a chance to update the blog. Here's our arrival...

We were met by Grandma, Aunt Natalie, Uncle Cameron, Aunt Candis, Cayli, and Caleb.

instant friends

at Grandma's house after the airport

Robbie's loved having cousins to play with. A few days after we were here, we went to the playground just behind Cayli and Caleb's house to play.

Puzzles

Robbie loves to put puzzles together. He got a few for Christmas, including this one. Once before he put it away in frustration, but today, he sat down and put it together all by himself! I was glad he tried it again and was successful!

Speller

Robbie continues to surprise us with his knowledge and creativity. The other night after he was done coloring, he arranged the crayons to spell a new word. He has loved the word "free" for quite a while now. He has just started to notice word families and has found "free"s sibling "tree". He noticed that "tree" was similar to "free" last month with all of the Christmas tree signs around. I think it's so interesting how kids will pick up on things and show us what they know at the most random times.

Our Sunbeam

With the new year came a new Sunbeam at our house. Robbie had his first Sunday in Junior Primary and really loved it. His teacher came up to me after class and with the most sincere look on her face said, "He is such a good boy!" I don't think I will ever tire of hearing compliments about my child. Robbie loved singing time, especially when they sang the "Hello" song to him. He felt pretty special.

Here he is with his new scriptures. The Primary Presidency gave each child in our Primary a triple combo in a scripture tote for Christmas.
the proud parents
23 weeks