St Louis here we come

Silly time in the car

She thinks this neck pillow is so funny...
for some reason  =)

Taylor drove us most of the trip out here

Nabraska shot..wish I got more! It was a pretty drive
 (other than a few spots...like Wyoming)

We're here!  We stuffed what remained of our belongings after 2 yard sales and KSL sales into Jana's RAV and our little Stratus and left Thursday, August 11th at about 2 pm and got here Sunday around 11 am. We took it nice and easy, stopping every few hours to feed Nelli and let her stretch out.  Most of the time we didn't mind the break either.  Jana is an angel! She helped us so much!  She did a marathon of driving for sure- driving 7 days strait.

We explored the city a little this past week. Here are a few pictures of the Arch, the Union Train Station (Taylor is a train fanatic these days...for those who don't already know).  Nelli was a trooper as we explored.  She would smile and talk(babble) to the people on the Metro (the train that gets you around the city). 

Farewell Pool Party

(L-R) Tyler, Ali, and Thayne, Dallas, Jessica, and Kayla, Taylor,
 Jacqueline, Sammy and DJ, and our little Nelli

Poor Thayne, the water was soo cold.

Kayla Marie  =)

We had a BBQ/pool party with some of our friends in Provo...oh, we miss you already!  Jacqueline is graduated (woohoo), Maggie is off to her internship for the World Wide Women for Heath Organization, and now were in St Louis. 

Southwick Reunion-Yellowstone

Nelli found the rocks when we were loading the car.  I think it's so funny that she pulled her arm out of her strap, which wasn't on tight, and tipped the carseat to reach them :)

We caravaned with Ty, Ali, and Thayne.  This is Devils Creek Reservior, in Idaho, where we stopped to have lunch and change the poopy babies.  Ty put Thayne's feet in the cold water at Ali's bidding and Thayne squeeled...Ali thought it was a good trick :)

Taylor was so excited to see a Bison.

We went to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat play at the local West Yellowstone Playhouse, which they made pretty funny.  There was a super chunky guy that play various parts throughout the performance.  The best was him playing Jacob's wife, Rachel.  It was great to be with family (Jason was checked out finishing his PhD dissertation, so we didn't interact much with him, understandably). We had fun sitting in the hot tub, driving through part of the park, checking out the gift shops, etc. I even ran into my Uncle Willy and Aunt Rita at church there and a friend from high school, Danele Neil.

Veterans Memorial Pool

Donna and David, Me and Nelli (running buddies)

SLC Trip

We loved going up to spend time with Miriam(Mimi), Jon, and Ruth in Salt Lake (wish Mackey was there when we went)!  Nelli had so much fun playing in Aunt Mimi's apartment and liked, ok loved, her first taste of Granny Smith Apple that she let her try.  It was fun to see Mimi pregnant, it brings out a softer side in us as women. We went for a walk in the park and talked for hours.  I'm so glad we got to spend some time with them before our big move to St Louis.

Tanner Reunion

All strawberry popsicle-not the best for a baby's intestines...poor thing had a burnt bum the next day.  Glad we had Desitin!
  

Cousins Becca and Ethan at their new house in Pason

Happy 4th!

Cousin Rachel when she stayed at our house for the night.

Cousin Alex

Lisa's Dad took the Tanners on a water skiing trip a few days before our family reunion.  It was a blast!  This is me wake boarding!  Taylor, Nelli, Mom, Sam, Esther, James, Lisa, Rachel, and Alex all went.  Sam and James were tearing it up out there on the wake board and Nelli had fun eating the red sand and playing with her cousins in her floater. 

My First Post-Pregnancy Race

BYU put on a 5K race for the Cure for Cancer and I ran it with my running buddy, Donna Ridge.  She has a chill personality until you get her in the race.  You'd think she was a football coach or something :).  I ran faster than I thought I could and it made me want to work on speed in my workout schedule from now on.  It's so fun to have somone to run with every morning...and great motivation to get out of bed.  I really enjoy her optimism and faith.  We have some good cnversations on the gospel, our challenges as new moms and how to deal with them better.  She is always very encouraging and hopeful.  I'll miss her when we move in a few months for Grad school.  We started running at 10 am, then after a few months moved it to 6.  I'm learning to really love the early morning breeze wisping through my hair. Another perk is Taylor gets a little Nelli time while I'm out.