Auctions and Such

Since we arrived in Missouri we have heard a lot about the auctions around here. Auctions are a big deal in this place. They have one every weekend at the McMain Auction House:

After going to this auction I have decided that Kirksville is a great place for hoarders. There were boxes and boxes of what I would classify as worthless but people were bidding on it. They really follow the motto, one man's junk is another man's treasure. This place was packed full of all kinds of things: furniture, creepy dolls, coins, costume jewelry, TVs, dishes...the list goes on and on. I don't know how they kept track of everything.
Our favorite were the auctioneers themselves. These men were talented.

We didn't see anything that we wanted to bid on but I had fun and Tanner seemed to enjoy it; Mariah was bored. But if bored means sleep and not tears then we're ok with that!

Oh Laughter...

Mariah is a somewhat serious child. Tanner believes she is a "somber child" like in Mormon chapter 1 verse 2. Yes, Mariah will be just like the prophet Mormon. When it is just Tanner and I though, she is so smiley and happy. But right when we whip out the camera she becomes stone faced, or I mean, somber. So that is why I was so pleased to catch this on camera...

Yes, we know it's upside down. But we were so giddy and excited we didn't have time to think of little trivialities like the angle of the camera. 

Missourians, thats us! 

That's right, we are now sweltering in the great state of Missouri. Tanner will be going to medical school at AT Still University also known as Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. I've been quite clingy these last couple weeks because I know in no time at all he will basically be living on campus. I try to not think about it too much.
It's been fun to move to a place so different from what I know. Here are some of the big differences:

• The screaming monkeys...at least that's what the cicadas in the trees sound like. Tanner disagrees, but I just tell him his imagination isn't big enough. 
• The Culture-I love listening to the true-blue locals talk, it's great.
• Hot, hot, hot!!! Not only is it roasting, it is also humid. That is a whole new thing for me. I'm dealing with it though; I just never leave the house. Just kidding. 
• No mountains. We've only been here a week and I'm already missing them. To be honest, I was missing the mountains when we got to Kansas. I never realized how much I love them.

Something I didn't expect were our neighbors...we share our duplex with members and two other neighbors are members. All students at KCOM! It has been great. There are several other members within walking distance as well. It's like a more grown up version of Rexburg. Maybe not to that extreme but pretty close. So we have already attended three game nights and one dinner invite in the time we have been here. We like these people. 


I'm already failing in the picture taking department. I'm still kicking myself for missing the great picture of the three Johnson girls standing in the window watching us drive up for dinner. It was so cute. I need to jump on opportunities like that! I'll get better I promise. 
But just to prove that I do take pictures every once and a while here are some at Thousand Hills State Park: 

This place is beautiful and only five minutes from our house! We went for family home evening but we didn't stay for very long because there were a lot of bugs and we forgot our bug spray, whoops.  But we are already planning to go back, maybe when it isn't so toasty. 


We love it here and are excited to learn more about this beautiful state. 

Grandma Camp

My mom LOVES being a grandma. I'm pretty sure she only put up with us kids so that she could be a grandma (that may be a stretch, but I wonder sometimes). After her first grandchild (Little Miss Elise), she has been dreaming of grandma camp. Every year she plans on kidnapping her grandchildren for a week so the parents can have a little vacation. As of now only Elise is old enough to do that so my mom is going to have to wait a couple years. But she decided it wouldn't hurt to do one anyway. So my cousins and Tanner's niece had grandma camp!

My mom is amazing! Of course she couldn't have done it without my little sister Emily and cousin Makayl. They were so helpful. This is what the three days were full of: spray paint shirts, bubbles, kites, s'mores, panning for gold, story-time, movies in the barn, sleeping out in the barn, self-portraits (can't think of a better thing to call those cut-outs on the barn wall), necklaces, stepping stones...there was more. She kept those kids so busy and they had so much fun. After the spray paint shirts were done Jace announced that he would be wearing his new shirt to the reception that night (his sister Chelsea's). I got a kick out of that. Needless to say, I am excited for the Grandma camps in the future. 

The 4th

Well this month is going by way too quickly, so yes I do realize that it is already the middle of July but I don't want it to already be the middle of July. Therefore, I will tell you all about the beginning of the month, in the hopes things will slow down just a little. Wishful thinking I know. 

We had a marvelous Fourth of July. Mainly thanks to Brittany and my mom. Brittany was the mastermind behind fireworks and Tanner was kind enough to pick them out: 

Why are men so obsessed with fire? 

My mother always tries to have an entry in the parade in Austin each year. Austin parades are pretty unique: they only last about five minutes and there are usually an average of ten to fifteen entries each year. But that doesn't stop my family from doing something great! 

The float was a big hit. It was pulled by a Semi and there were probably almost twenty people on it. All through the parade my dad kept blowing the horn much to the dismay of Mariah and Trey. They would just recover from the last blast when he would sound off again. Needless to say there was a lot of puckering and crying going on. After we covered their ears they were okay with it. Besides that it was great fun! 

It was blazing hot so we thought it would be a good day for Mariah's first swim. I was so paranoid she would get sunburnt I coated her in sunscreen multiple times throughout the day. It didn't mix too well in her hair...

But I think she liked the pool. She wasn't smiling...but she isn't afraid to let us know when she doesn't like something by screaming and she wasn't doing that either. So we just decided she was okay with it. Now I need to get her a cute little swimming suit! 

We finished up the night with Tanner's sister Tiesha and her family coming and enjoying fireworks. It was a wonderful way to end our time in Nevada. We're going to miss that dusty desolate place. 

Mariah Jeanne's Blessing

Mariah was blessed on Father's Day. We thought that was pretty special. I'm so grateful Tanner is a worthy Priesthood holder who can receive revelation for our family. The blessing was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong there. It was neat to have her blessed in the same branch that I was blessed in. So many men who have been such a big part of my life were able to be in the circle. 

And she actually was pretty happy during the blessing. She only fussed a little right towards the end. We just love that little girl so much! Tanner's parents were able to come as well. It had been a long time since we had seen them so that was really fun. Mariah was able to have both Grandpas in the circle for the blessing which is pretty neat considering how far apart the Grandpas live.  

It was such a wonderful day! We love this little girl so much and are excited to see her grow and mature. 

Welcome!

It's true...we have jumped on the band wagon of blogging. There are several reasons why we have made this life-changing decision. I will list them:

• I am a horrible journal keeper. Hopefully I will be better at recording our life happenings through this blog than I am in my journal. Plus if our house were to burn down and we were to lose all of our worldly possessions, I would still have this cute little blog of family memories. 
• I love hearing about friends and family and maybe if I keep updating this blog it will inspire others to do the same with their own...cough cough...Amanda. 
• We do fun things from time to time; Tanner and I just aren't very good at documenting our adventures through photos. Maybe through this blog I will remember to grab the camera and actually take pictures because seriously, we all know how boring a post is without at least one photo.
• We will be moving to Kirksville, Missouri in a week (Yay Medical School!) and will then be many miles from any family. Hopefully this blog will lessen the pain and the reality of being so dad-blasted far from all family. 
• We have been asked several times if we had a blog by friends and family...this is for all of you.

Is it crazy to say that I'm kind of nervous about this? I never realized how difficult blogging really is. So I'm sure there will be many times where the pictures will end up huge or teeny or my type will be impossible to read. But hopefully you'll just bear with me as I learn the art of blogging.

Also, If you aren't obsessed with Mariah and could care less what she has been up to I wouldn't suggest you read this blog. I can say with full confidence that she will make up a large part of our posts because she is just too darn cute not to.

If you disagree, you are a cold cold individual and I pity you.