eatin in texas

once again everything is bigger in texas even the food. we went to cici's pizza cafe where its an all you can eat pizza, pasta, and salad.  we really wanted to check out golden correl but its 30min away and spencer was on call so we had to stay within 15min of the hospital at all times.

little ms q who never ate as a baby now has an amazing appetite and will eat like a bottomless pit! 

both the twins love pizza just like their mama!

cy being silly with a chocolate brownie for dessert! YUM

we went to the cracker barrel to celebrate amandas birthday!  (did i mention they make waffles in the shape of the state of texas here!) 

so as you can see we ate a lot, and played a lot.  but when there are 13people in one small house cooking and cleaning up takes all day, and we would have to eat in shifts. 

playin' around and a little work

what can i say, i have a thing for cute bums!! there are a million play grounds around here!

we have found a couple really close to our house, but we can only going to them before 10am otherwise its way too hot!

the twiners! look how big they are. 

people keep thinking they are 2 1/2 or 3 because they are so tall.

telling secrets and making a plan to drive their mama crazy!....and in fact aunt amanda taught TT that word and now she uses all the time, and in the proper usage.  they both are talking and mimicking like CRAZY.  the other day while shopping at walmart (of course) 2 big black ladies walked by and one of them said, "oh Lordy!" and then Quincy said "oh Lordy!" the rest of the day i'm in trouble!

so in case you didn't believe it...here is the proof one of the very 

many water towers of temple texas.

Here is the hospital spence works at.  its huge, and is the biggest hospital in 

about 1 1/2hr drive radius.  its the one of the main things that is keeping this small town alive.

spence and i and our 7 children...can you imagine. i don't know how my parents ever survived!

at spencer's desk.

the exam chair where cy got his stitches, in spences' brand new clinic(it just opened in June) 

its an amazing clinic and has top of the line everything...

best friends these kids are!  it has been so fun having all the cousins be together!  the twins keep running around the house yelling out names, 'cy, taylor, Reese, grandma, jojo, roo,'. yesterday Tenley asked where is cy? i said, utah, she said extremely dramatic voice NO! i said i know, that's how i feel too.

cats, birds, ANIMALS Galore!

everything really is BIGGER in texas!  and if you don't believe all the signs that say so, then hang out a day or two and something will catch your eye....

like this cat show we found...they had a gym full of cats waiting to be judged and we were able to walk around seeing all the cats!

this is the cat Q and i picked out for spence to get us....we'll see if he ever lets us have one!

the cat show was a little....interesting but the kids loved all the cats and it was something

none of us had done before...only in texas.

Jo who was our tour director also found this amazing....yet dirty pet store in temple. they actually let you hold the birds, mice, bunnies...and anything else.

TT who loves birds couldn't get enough of all the birds

I even tried to be brave and hold a bird...so crazy....but again only in texas will the local mom and pops pet store let your wild kids hold the animals.

splashin' around

more pics of our awesome time with all our cousins!

Cy guy is amazing he spent 10days with 11 women! by the end of the trip he did say he was tired of being the only boy, but he sure is the best brother to all the cousins!

they have a great water park here in texas with a lazy river, splash pad and slides.  We loaded up the kids to go for the day.  despite the fact that we had honestly only been there 5min and Cy hit his head and was bleeding everywhere....he had to leave and go to see spence at the hospital and get stitches.  (he was really brave and a good sport about not being able to swim) spence did a good  job stitchin him up, and removing the stitches.  Cy really is the man.

i love this picture, TT is so excited, she always has the best reactions!

the GiGi's were really good sports too! swing at the park, and reading while we swam.  they never missed a moment of fun!

Ms becca is all grown up!  so cute and she looks like a little indian because she is so tan!

it was so nice to see her and M-ba-G-ba, we miss our other twins!

2wks in texas.

we have official arrived in texas, and this is what we have been up to for the past 2wks.  my sister jo made us plans and we toured the city together doing all sorts of wild thing's.  my favorite was the cat show, definitely checked off the bucket list, and the hair cuts.

Tuesday: arrived in Austin airport: greeted by spence and kemps with crickets

Wednesday: walmart, hung pictures, movie "brave" rainy weather

Thursday: splash pad, playground, pet store, library

Friday: lions junctions swim park, Cy got stitches

Saturday: 5krun, Cat show, dance off, dress up, ate at cici pizza

Sunday: church, lions park, spencer's work

Monday: walmart hair cuts, railroad museum, chick-fil-a, swimming pool in back yard

Tuesday: IKEA kids eat free, airport for GiGi's, cracker barrell

Wednesday: Full house, 6 adults 7kids, lions park, the mall

Thursday: jo to the airport...boohoo, lions swim park with podiatry dept, big slide

Friday: splash pad, play ground, chick-fil-a

Saturday: 5krun, yard sales(now we finally have 4 dinner chairs, all different colors but they wk), shopping, dinner

Sunday: manda to the airport....boohooo, church, texas roadhouse, park, bachelorette finale

Monday: GiGi's to the airport....boohooo

last of utah summer

it wouldn't be summer if there wasn't corn on the cob.  the twins love it, of course its loaded with butter, but its still fun to see them eat it like grown ups.

the spanish fork splash pad is amazing. the girls love running laps around it, its hard to capture all their fun because they are running everywhere.

my brother jason from NYC came to visit for a week and some how i didn't get one picture with him, not a single one.  but we had fun, swimming, eating and playing games. 

this was the last day in utah before we trekked our way across the country to texas.  

we had very sad good-byes in the provo airport.  pappy came to drop us off and send us on our way.  and the girls didn't want to leave him.  he said, ' i know it will be awhile before i see you again, but just remember your pappy loves you'. i cried in front of everyone at the ticket counter.

i just didn't want to leave, i didn't want to leave where i know its safe, and loving,

and warm, and ok.  where i know that the girls and i are taken care of, and i have constant back-up and an emergency contact that is family, not just a neighbor or someone in the ward.

i'm still adjusting to the fact that home will now be in texas, and so is tenley.  yesterday was a hard day for all of us, and i told tenley lets go swimming and she said, 'go home, i want go home.'

i looked at her and said me too, but this is our home now...

pappy has already called and checked on us each day, and making sure we hold hands, take field trips, and don't whine.  i have loved and absolutely cherished the time we have spent with my parents.  i hope that we can have more time with them after texas.  its so special to be so close to family.  i miss them all so much.

the airport ride was perfect.  after we all settled down from saying good-bye to pappy the twins did great.  Ms Q sat in her sit all by herself the whole flight (pretty brave for a 2yr old and first flight) and Ms T kept me company and sat on my lap. we had treats and books, and coloring supplies, i even borrowed a dvd player, but the girls wanted to people watch and have a good time with their cousins.  (the girls still don't get movies and if they watch a show its signing time, 

and i'm grateful that they aren't movie hungry yet)

Jo and her 3kids flew with us to texas to have a summer vacation and to help me with the girls and to get settled in.  we have been here for 3days and i'm so glad that spence came first and unpacked us.  i don't know how i would have unpacked us all with 2, 2yr olds running around.  the house he rented for us is great!!  except the first day jo kept asking me where the cups are or the towels, and i had to laugh and say, i have no idea, i haven't been here before!  kinda funny to not know where anything is your own house.:) but i'm so glad he had time to put it all together for us.

 my sister amanda and her twins also flew in from south carolina to do a mini reunion with all of us. 

we will have a super fun week together exploring the new house and our new town.  7 kids and 3 adults and we aren't in utah any more so we keep getting weird looks like why on earth do we have so many young kids.

so here is to a good reunion with amanda, and a new start in texas.  spence and i have been married for 5yrs and we have moved 4times and had 3 new starts...

baptism and celebration

 my sweet niece mckena got baptized this month, it was really nice to be able to be apart of her special day. my brother josh did an amazing job, he is an amazing dad and has such a strong testimony and spirit.  i cried a little because the spirit was so strong, and little tenley so sweet

looked up at me and said, "sad, don't cry, don't cry" but they were tears of joy and love. 

 josh and the special lady, they matched and it wasn't even planned.

 afterwards we had lunch at the church, and the twins had a great time running around with all their  wild cousins.  

 it is a brown tradition that when the grandkids choose to get baptized we get them a special gift from all of us.  mckena chose this special, rock star bike.  

here are pappy and grandma giving her the bike. 

 also in true brown fashion we had a family reunion with my brother jason and we did a talent show and dance off.  the girls love dancing!! this years theme was 'momma mia'

preston is so talented and played his trumpet for us! he is so talented, he might even preform the national anthem at the owls game this summer.

 tired cousins after dancing all night!!

JULY

We are really trying to soak up as much fun with our cousin as we can before we move next monday.  we have had several adventures and more are to come

 i feel bad for who ever has to sit between the twins in the car...sometimes they can get a little grabby, but reese is great with them.

 i now most kids say their kids are monkeys...but seriously this little gal is the next gymnist.

 provo balloon festival. i have never been but jo takes her kids every year. the girls thought it was really awesome.  especially because there was a pig balloon.

 

we are havin so much fun, we don't want summer in utah to end.

adventures

 a couple weeks ago, spence packed up all our stuff and headed east to our new home in texas. 

he moved everything and has unpacked us and got us all settled there.  he started his residency in temple texas, at the scott and white hospital.

us girls have stayed in utah so i could finish up working, and to visit with my brother who will be here from NY.  so we moved to elk ridge with my parents and have been having little adventures to fill up our days without our papa.

 the girls love parks, they love ducks, and they love the swings.

cutest bums in  the whole world.

and last week we were lucky enough to meet up with annie and her kids at the farm.

the girls got licked by the baby cows YUCK!