The twins first birthday!

Emma and Taylor celebrated thier first birthday on Thursday. Mandy and mom made them mini cupcakes and they really liked the frosting. The girls don't do so well with anything that has texture so the actual cake part of the cupcake didn't go so well. It was a really emotional day for everyone seeing as no one thought this day would come. Mandy recently took the girls to the cardiologist and got some really good news. Emma had an artery that was too small to function when they were first born. This affected the blood flow, making Taylor side of the heart work harder. Well, this artery has grown to functional/normal size and their heart is just as strong as any other one year old. The doctor also told Mandy that they make an artificial heart for babies now. So, they could get on a transplant list and once they get a heart, they would put the real heart in one baby and an artificial heart in the other. This would buy time until another heart becomes available. Plus, to top it all off, the international cardiologist convention is in Scottsdale this February. The best doctors in the world will be able to look at the twins situation and see what can be done. It is hard not to think things are coming together perfectly for these girls.

Phoenix Mercury

Parker and I had the chance to go to game four of the WNBA playoffs. It was awesome!!! The Mercury won by one point in the final minute and took the series to five games. The crowd was crazy, I couldn't believe how loud it would get. This was our first WNBA game and we were very suprised at how awesome it was. We ended up getting some really good seats and we plan on seeing a few more games next season.

In the last picture you can see a guy with a purplish blue colored hat on. It's Karl Malone! His daughter plays for the Detroit Shock (she's a decent player) and he was here to cheer her on. We couldn't help taking a picture of him.

80's Night

Mandy and Tor's ward had an eighty's dance so, Mandy and I took the opportunity to go crazy! We hit up a thrift store and found our lovely outfits. The dance was a blast! Parker busted out his Michael Jackson moves and I well, I broke out my old stake dance moves. All in all, we all had a great time and I'm quite sure Mandy and I won the best costume awards!

Phoenix Zoo

The day after arriving in Phoenix someone had the crazy idea to go to the zoo. The zoo is always fun but, in the hot heat it was unbearable. We took the train ride and then walked to see 4 or 5 different animals. After that, we were all too tired to see anything else.

Paige and Cole ready for the train ride.


Drew standing on a fence.


Daniel playing in the water, giving us a muscle man pose.


Blythe and Paige on the carousel.


Cole was playing in the water park and got too wet to ride the carousel. He had to have dry clothes to ride so, Mandy stripped him down and made a lava-lava out of a blanket for him. TOO FUNNY! "....that was my low" Sorry it's sideways, I can't seem to fix that!

The Drive to Phoenix

We made it! It was a tough 26 hours in the car but we finaly made it into 110+ heat. The cats did wonderful (as you can see from the picutres below), they slept a solid 24 of the 26 hours. We did the drive over 2 and a half days and arrived traffic ticket free. We are excited to be in Phoenix!!!

Some random gal in Oklahoma. When I think of Oklahoma I totaly picture a girl in this type of outfit. Totaly fitting for the one stop we made in Oklahoma. I would say it's an added bonus that she caught me taking the picture and waved!


Welcome to New Mexico, I missed the sign into Arizona...oops.


MJ sleeping with his brush....loves that brush.


Are there words for this picture????


Little Pistol taking a snooze.

Caden's Arm

A few weeks ago, Caden (our cousin,11) took a nasty fall and broke his arm. He had been hanging out with Parker and I all day. Then, after he was home for just a few hours, he broke his left arm. He was riding on a caster board or, as some call it, a rip stick. It's a skate board with only two wheels. It is so cool to see him ride it, I tried to ride it several times and failed miserably. I will do my best to put a video up of him riding the caster board.

Twins

Here are a few updated pictures of the twins. These are quite recent.





Whats that spell? Happy! This was the first part of a happy b-day card they made for grandpa and grandma Lybbert....too funny!

BlackSmith

Here are a few pictures from the blacksmith.

The sign in the fire.



The Elder giving us the tour.



Taylor with his new prized horseshoe. The blasksmith giving us the tour made this for Taylor's birthday.



My new praire diamond next to my wedding ring. When the Saints were to be married and didn't have money for a ring, this is what they used. It is the nail used to put in horseshoes curved to fit a finger.

The Nauvoo Neighbor

These are some pictures from the print shop that was owned and operated by John Taylor.

This sign was just behind the print shop.



This is how small the letters were that they combined to make words.



A better picture of the letter.



The "Lower Case" letters placed in their boxes, they had an "Upper Case" as well. This is where both upper and lower case letters got thier name.



A model of a full page in the newspaper.

John Taylor's Home

Here are a few pictures of John Taylor's home.

Just outside the home



This is John's orginal shaving stand.



Part of their living room.



This little horse belonged to one of John's sons. His little boy cried and cried about having to leave the horse behind so, John Taylor went back and got it for him.

Browning Guns

We had the chance to take a tour of Browning Guns, their family wee pioneers in gun making. We got to walk through the home and the gun shop where they gave us a demonstration on how they made guns.

Outside the Gun Shop



An original Pistol made by Browning



The view from the backyard of the home/gun shop



An early model of a machine gun



The crew outside the Shop

Joseph Smith's Home and Cemetary

We were able to see the home and burial plot of Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma. It was a beautiful place in Nauvoo. I wish the church owned the home and cemetary but, unfortunately it is owned by the Community of Christ.

A plaque next to the three graves.



The graves of Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma.



The view to the right of the graves.



A plaque with all the names of those buried in the Smith Family Cemetery.



Joseph and Emma's home.