The Minnesota Zoo

We checked tickets out of the library to the Minnesota Zoo, so Alisha and I went. We saw all kinds of animals, half of it was closed because of winter, but there was still plenty to see. We started with the Minnesota trail, it is a nice little walk through all the wildlife you would find in Minnesota. Here is a taste of it...

coyotes...

bald eagles...

and some of the nastiest fish I have ever seen. (it really is no wonder that I don't care for being in fish infested water.)

Then we walked the tropical path...

Here we saw alligators...
Monkeys...

I mean monkeys... (sorry my bad)

and a large fish aquarium... (please note Grace and Kate)

Then we ended our trip at the ocean stuff...

dolphins (hard to tell, I know, they were just so excited to see us that they wouldn't hold still.)
BIG sharks... (another reason for the water phobia)

Some pretty awesome sea horses...And Tanner was trying desperately to touch the sting rays, but not the leopard sharks in the small pool. He finally succeeded.

Happy Valentines day soon, Happy Birthday to Morgan and Jennie this week! And, it will be above freezing for the next week! Goodbye to some of this snow! Have a nice weekend!

Kate's Birthday Party

My baby had her first birthday party, I know, it was almost two weeks ago... Tanner was so excited, he helped me blow up balloons and plaster the walls with flowers. It was fun, we had a few little girls over and wore princess crowns, decorated cupcakes, and played. We also munched on her favorite snacks... applesauce, animal crackers, goldfish, nilla waffers, yogurts, fruit snacks, and juice boxes.

Her Nana and Grandma gave her this little kitchen... both kids love it. Tanner gave her some cute little pots and pans (even though she got some for Christmas from Grandma, and the kitchen came with some... needless to say, we have lots of pots and pans. At least it is one less things for kids to fight over.)

We gave her friends these sunglasses in their thanks-for-coming-to-the-party goody bags. She loves them.

Tanner even got in on the goods. A package arrived from Nana after the party that had goodies for everyone.

Kate blowing out her candles...

And just because she is cute and I need to capture it...

I apologize for not being caught up on all of our adventures, but I will get around to it... just hang in there... in the mean time, have a nice day and pray for warmth.

Dear Grandma and Dear Sam...

Happy Birthday the other day Grandma! You are the greatest grandma these kids could ask for! And the nicest mother and mother-in-law ever. We love you! and miss you too!

Love, Us

and Sam,

Happy Birthday to you too! You are my favorite brother, just don't tell Andy. Actually, don't mention it at all, because he kinda thinks the same thing. Congratulations on getting older, I find that it is the easiest thing that life asks of you. So I hope the next year is kind to you and that you find yourself another year older when February comes around again.

Love, Us
p.s. Thanks for being a great uncle to these yahoos!

Guess who is 2!!!

To our dearest Kate...

We think you are great.

Happy Birthday!!!

Love,
Mom, Dad, and Tanner

Happy Birthday Ali!

Dear Ali,

You are cool. Have a lovely day. I hope you do something momentous to welcome in the new decade!

Love, Us

A birthday party, a ski day, and a trip home...

While home, you know... the other one, we had a birthday party for the four cutest kids on the planet (I am somewhat partial). It was fun, we went to Arctic Circle to play on the toys and have a lime ricky or two, then we had cupcakes and presents. Who can complain about that?

Please look closely in the above picture, and take note of Violet's drinking methods...

Here is a closeup...

I love it. She drinks out of the side of her mouth so that she can still see what is going on. Clever girl.

Here is Kate loving on her frosting. She only eats the frosting no matter what it is, toaster struddle, cinnamon roll, cupcake... you get the idea. She has a serious sweet tooth that comes from her dad, who got it from his dad and a double whammy from his grandpas...

The Cute Kids on the Block (did you catch that? My sisters and I loved NKOTB when we were younger, so much that my dear mother took us to their concert and all I have to say is "Joey... Joey..." sidenote, Jonathan was my favorite, so that wasn't me... but I know who it was!)

We also went skiing a few times. Cory and I were able to sneak off twice on our own, then he with my brothers, and took Tanner snowboarding once (no pictures because I didn't go) and we took him skiing when M came up. This was our last run, he was just goofing around.

Tanner and I on the chair lift...

Pop and Grandpa were watching the kids for us down in the ski school, so Cory, Ali, and I took a few runs. When we got back, Teresa was watching the kids because Grandpa forgot he was watching the kids while Pop went out to take a run. He called halfway home to let Teresa know he forgot. Too funny. It's cool though, because Teresa is another mother that I have known my whole life. When we came in, they were running the office. A stapler was the phone, and they were putting post-it notes all over everything with notes on them. Then I had to settle an arguement about whether paleontologists dig up dinosaur bones or teach about them. I said they do both. Ali and me...

Cory and Tanner...
The deer in the area are getting out of control... on the way home they were in the fields like cows, hundreds I tell you, this herd was on the side of the road this wasn't even zoomed. They just stare at you like "What are you looking at?" and the are big...

We flew back in the afternoon and had the play area to ourselves for a while. Then we went and ate and had ice cream. The kids did well on the flight back, fortunately, Kate slept the majority of the long flight both directions. It was very nice of her.

Well, things that are not pictured, I was able to get together with my friends from high school for an evening. Thanks Jennie! It was nice to see them. We never see eachother anymore, we all live in three states, and the two in the same state are on opposite sides of the state, so it takes planning and effort to all be together, so thanks for taking the time out girls! We were able to meet up with Matt and Elyssa for lunch, good to see you guys too! I am sorry to all the friends I had meant to see, but didn't, sorry, sorry, sorry...

and Congrats to Andy, my little brother, for getting his Eagle Scout while we were home. It was fun to have cousins and grandparents over for dinner before. Nice to see you all as well! And thanks to Uncle Scott for taking pictures while we were there because none of us thought to bring a camera! And it was nice to meet their exchange student, Veronica, from Rome. She is cool. Congrats Em on that cute baby. And Jared and Brielle on their cute baby.

We saw Tangled, I loved it. My mom and I took Tanner and Kate, but Kate didn't even make it through the trailers before I called Cory to come and get her, he was pretty much driving past the theatre on his way home from Targhee with my brothers, so it worked out well.

I don't know what else we did, I can't remember, but we had fun, and thanks to everyone who hung out with us and to our families for letting us stay so long, and to Sam and Preston for giving up their rooms for us!

Enjoy your Friday! There is only one left this month can you believe that? Stay tuned, we have entered birthday season! Speaking of which...

Happy Birthday to Brad the other day, sorry I didn't get you anything!

Happy Birthday to Carla yesterday, we love you!

and Happy Birthday to Neecie tomorrow! We miss you!

Until next time!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

We are home from being home, strange how home can be in so many places, huh?

Well, before we left, we visited Macy's in downtown Minneapolis. They had a fun little display called "A Day in the Life of an Elf", you walked though and they had little mechanical displays that moved around. My favorite was this one called flight school. The reindeer moved up and down. I thought it was funny.

Then we visited Santa, and I think Macy's will be our only Santa from now on. I understand why it inspired a movie. They were so good about it, the kids went into a room to meet him, the other people waited outside, and Tanner was so enchanted by him. They let him stay and talk to him for about 5 minutes, and Tanner explained that we would be gone and asked if he could find us at Nana's house in Idaho. It was really sweet, I was surprised that he was so comfortable with him. Anyway, it was a great experience for him. Kate was just grumpy the whole time, oh well.

This is Tanner's graham cracker house, we hot glued it together because I didn't have enough powdered sugar, so the frosting is really runny, I guess it is a warm Christmas for this house...

Then we left early (really early) the next morning... Kate didn't want to be up yet, but at least there was a McDonald's next to out gate and the guy gave her a little toy when I only bought an apple juice.

The kids did really well traveling, I was relieved, along with every other person on the flight.

Tanner and Kate gave an impromptu performance on Christmas Eve...

They are so talented...

Christmas morning was great, Tanner was very happy that Santa found us.

Here is one of his favorite presents...

and Kate playing with boxes instead of hers... notice the swimming suit she had to wear for the occasion, although it is inside out and upside down...

Tyler took Tanner out for a ride one day...
Then we had New Years!!!! Cheers!

Well, I will get to the rest of our adventure next time, but I am sure you are tired of looking at my pictures and I am tired of putting them on here. So until then, I hope life treats you well, and thanks for stopping by!