Our First Update from Memphis

We have now been in Memphis for three weeks, and have found that life is a little different here in the south. IT IS HOT! The heat index has been 100+ almost every day we have been here so far, and we find ourselves sopping wet just walking from the front door to the car. We seem to have a few large, unwanted pets here...the cockroaches seem to favor us! But because of the humidity it is really pretty here. Everything is so green and beautiful! And we get to see fireflies for the first time, which is really cool. The people are awesome here, everyone we have met has been so friendly and fun. Our ward is small, and about half of the people are from Memphis and half are from Mississippi. You can definitely tell some differences in the way things are done in the church and most of the ward is converts, but it is really cool to be out of the Rexburg bubble and to be right in the middle of the mission field. And the food...oh the food...it's like nothing we have ever experienced! Southern cooking is the best thing imaginable. The ribs, the BBQ pork, the fried chicken, the catfish... I'm not sure that we have ever loved food more!

We have been able to do a little bit of sight seeing while we've been here. My sister Jenny spent a few days with us, and while she was here we were able to go to the Missippi River, downtown Memphis, Beale Street, the Peabody Hotel (and see the Peabody ducks), among other things. Blaine and I went downtown today, and walked the skybridge across the river over to Mud Island River Park. They have an exact scale model of the river that you can walk along, and a little water park area. That was a lot of fun!

As for a few updates on us...Blaine is working hard for the University of Memphis CERI (Center for Earthquake Research Institution). He has his very own office and is busy analyzing data for them. Hailey is getting so big! She will be six months old this week, I can hardly believe it. She is now sitting up by herself and rolls and scoots around. She is eating a little bit of food now which she loves. And she is always talking and laughing! She is so much fun to have around...it would be very boring here without her :) And as for myself, I am playing the stay at home mom role. Just keeping busy trying to keep up with Hailey, doing some indexing now (which I really like), reading and drawing a little bit. We are enjoying our time and our experience here, but are excited to get back home to Rexburg, as we have both become a little homesick for it. Hopefully more updates to follow shortly!