Good-Bye Beehive State....Hello Volunteer State!

We are officially setting our sights to Johnson City, Tennessee on July 6th! In other words, we are moving to Tennessee. That's right, I can't believe after talking about moving to Tennessee (for nearly 2 years) the time has finally come. For those who are wondering why Tennessee? It's simple...Eastern Tennessee State University. Brandon will be studying for his Master's there. We are very excited for some new scenery, but sad to leave good friends and beloved family behind. I'm also pretty bummed that I'll have to miss the Jack Johnson concert in August. So, if anyone needs tickets there are 4 for sale. Don't worry, we will definitely be back for a visit or two. :)

Here are some fun facts about our future home state.

Fun Facts

• Nashville, Tennessee, is the country music capital of the world. The greatest stars of country music perform at Nashville's famous Grand Ole Opry.

• Each August, Memphis holds a citywide celebration honoring the King of Rock and Roll—Elvis Presley.

• President Andrew Jackson named Memphis after a city in Egypt.

• Each year the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is held as part of the Memphis in May International Festival. Lucky attendees can sample all kinds of succulent pork barbecue while the pitmasters duel it out in the "Super Bowl of Swine."

• Graceland, Elvis Presley's home and 14-acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee, was opened to the public in 1982.

• Dollywood is Dolly Parton's 125-acre theme park in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. It features rides, entertainment and craft demonstrations.

• The Smoky Mountain National Park is America's most visited national park. It is home to 30 species of salamanders and an estimated 1,600 black bears.

• Pat Summit, the longtime coach of the University of Tennessee women's basketball team, is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women's).

• The architect of Tennessee's State Capitol Building in Nashville, William Strickland, died during its construction. He is buried within the building's walls.

• Tennessee's state tree, the tulip poplar, can grow to be 200 feet tall. Pioneers used the tree in the construction of their homes and farms.

Happy 5th Anniversary!!!

Cousins

My sister Stephanie, her husband Justin and their little boy Jonathon are in town from Orlando this week. We were able to get together for a little KFC and some geese feeding down in Layton yesterday. The weather was super chilly, again a little unseasonal for this time of year but it was fun seeing everyone again.

Memorial Day Week-end Getaway

This post is long overdue. We took a trip up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park over Memorial Day week-end. I've been too lazy to download the pics and take the time to type out a blog for the last month. So....here's my blog about our trip. I've never been to Jackson or Yellowstone so I was pretty excited to see what the fuss was all about. Unfortunately the weather was rather unseasonal for this time of year. It rained almost the entire time we were up there, which made walking around the town not to pleasant. Anywhoo...we did spend a day driving around Yellowstone which is really scenic. We hit Old Faithful and then went up to Lower Falls. We saw our share of buffalo, caribou, and moose. I was hoping to see a bear or wolf, but no go. I guess we'll have to sneak up there again in the next month or two. I've posted some pics of our trip, it was nice to get out of town, but it was even nicer to get home and be able to sleep in my nice big bed. :) Enjoy.

Gymnastics Bungee Day!

I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought I would post some pics from Maddie's gymnastics class. I've been taking her to gymnastics since last August. At first she was really shy and couldn't even jump. Now she's all over the place and her favorite thing to do is jump on the couch, the bed, the grass, the ground, anywhere! It's fun watching the kids do their "warmups" and I love that her class is at an actual gym. I get nostalgic and reminisce about my limited time I had with gymnastics when I was younger. Sometimes I wonder who is having more fun, me or Maddie? I've definitely had as much fun if not more running around the gym and jumping on all the different tramps. I love the springboards and foam pit. Although she's not doing her roundoff back-handsprings (in due time right?) her pediatrician said that I am instilling a "healthy lifestyle" by getting her involved in physical activities. So, I guess I deserve a pat on the back for being a good Mommy.

Her class starts off with a 15 minute warmup and then we focus on one apparatus for 15 minutes. Then she gets to have "playtime" for the next 15 minutes. She usually bolts for the big trampoline and then makes her way over to the other equipment. Today we did the "bungee" which the more skilled gymnastics use to master flips. I'm tempted to ask Fred (coach) if I could try it one day, it looks like fun and Maddie has a blast.

Baby Farm Animal Day

Today Maddie and I went to the annual "Baby Farm Animal Day" at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. We got there bright and early and it was already packed with people and children of all ages. I tried to get Maddie to take advantage of the free pony rides, but she wasn't quite up to it. We then checked out the "Petting Zoo" and she was more afraid than anything in there. I think the idea of little baby cows walking around freaked her out. Anyways...we wandered around and as you can tell by the pics it was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and not a cloud in the sky. Some of the volunteers are dressed up like pioneers and Maddie kept saying "Little House on the Prairie". Yes, that's another show that we watch together from time to time. I'm gonna say her favorite part of the whole day was taking a ride on the covered wagon. We tried it out more than once. My favorite part was buying the best $4 kettle corn money could buy. Yum yum! I wish there would have been more baby animals there, but what was there was pretty neat. Little lambs, foals, calves, a piglet, and some baby goats. The whole experience made me want to go camping. But I totally looked forward to taking a hot bath when we got home to wash off all the dirt and animal funk off! :)

Stadium of Fire

As I've written in my past blogs Maddie is a huge Hannah Montana fan, kinda scary being that she is just over 2 years old. Back when Hannah Montana "aka Miley Cyrus" came in concert a few months ago Maddie was still oblivious to Hannah Montana. That was ok, because she was still too young to really get the whole "Hannah Montana" thing (not like she's much older now) anyways...I always thought it would have been nice to take her to a Hannah Montana concert in a few years, if she was still around. Well, low and behold Brandon told me that Hannah Montana was coming to Stadium of Fire! Holy cow! Here was our chance to take Maddie to see Hannah Montana. I know she probably wont grasp the whole concert thing, and not even remember it, but still I was pretty excited. Brandon and I are both closet Hannah Montana fans, it must be said. I'll belt out the tunes in the car and rock out with Maddie. I was little nervous that we may not be able to get tickets because from past articles about Hannah Montana it was obvious that tickets are gone within minutes. Well at 4:00 I got on the internet and waited for over an hour to be able to purchase our tickets. Well, the heavens parted and we were granted a miracle, yes we secured 3 tickets to Stadium of Fire to see Hannah Montana! Oh and the Blue Man Group will be there too which will be pretty cool. I've always wondered about those blue guys and what the fuss was all about. I just hope Maddie wont be in meltdown mode by the time the concert kicks off! I've always loved 4th of July and looked forward to it, but now I am seriously counting the days 'til July 4th! :)