Showing posts with label Jacob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacob. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

a new zoo

03 28 13_giraffe eye

Well, not really a new zoo… but new to us!  We’ve been to the Denver zoo, many many times, we’ve had memberships there a couple of years.  But over Sophie’s spring break I wanted to do something new!  So we drove to Colorado Springs to check out their zoo.  Big bonus that Cami came too and brought her girls!

 03 28 13_giraffe 5 03 28 13_giraffe w boy

Something really cool about this zoo was that you could feed the giraffes!  Maybe I’m the only one, but I’d never been this close to a giraffe before!  It was so cool!!  They really are very unusual looking animals, if you think about it.  We bought some over-priced romaine lettuce and joined in too!

03 28 13_soph giraffe 4 03 28 13_soph giraffe 6

Well, at least some of us did… Tessa is not so much of an animal lover, not up close anyway.  She was scared for Sophie’s life the entire time and cried for her to stop until she gave up and hid.  Of course I laughed at her! Just kidding, I just look like I’m laughing in this picture, more of a horse face really. He he he…

03 28 13_tess hiding from giraffe 03 28 13_jess jacob

The giraffes were the highlight of the trip for me, but if Dan’s with me next time I’d dare do the sky ride with the girls.  They even have a petting zoo, a train, and the sky ride!  Pretty cool huh?  Oh and it’s up on the side of a mountain, which makes for some beautiful scenery and views, but it is a hilly walk. ;)

03 28 13_elephant 03 28 13_lily tess sophie emma 2

Did I mention their cousin Lily came too?  This zoo is halfway between both of our houses so we got to meet Cami and her girls there!  That made it an extra special treat.

03 28 13_tess glasses 2 03 28 13_soph lily

Here are the kids (so nice of them to line up by height huh? my great grandpa Bay would be so proud!) looking at the meerkats.  Jacob especially like the meerkats, he called them “cute mouses!” he laughed at their quick movements.

03 28 13_emma, jacob, lily, tess 03 28 13_meerkats

Sophie likes statues…

03 28 13_soph bear 03 28 13_soph elephant 2

They also had a neat play area for the kids.  I love how social Sophie is, she never has been shy and she hasn’t changed now that she’s older, sometimes she’ll ask me first, she’ll say something like “Mom could that boy/girl be my friend do you think?”  I tell her absolutely!  Go ask them if they want to play.  And she doesn’t hesitate in the least, she goes right up and tells people her name and asks them to play a game with her.  Sophie’s our social butterfly.

 03 28 13_soph mushroom 03 28 13_soph tess giraffe statue 2 

Tess had been asking to go down the slide for about 45 min (when we passed it the first time) before we finally stopped to play.

03 28 13_tess slide 3 03 28 13_tess slide

03 28 13_soph tess lily airplane 03 28 13_soph tess

Sophie and Tessa acting like monkeys in the monkey house!  Tessa especially likes to climb and is such a strong little thing, she is regularly impressing us with her athleticism. 

03 28 13_soph tess monkey house 2  03 28 13_tess jacob jess soph

We made our way over to the train, I think Jacob was the most excited about it, he’s boy alright and therefore loves trains!

 03 28 13_train 6 03 28 13_train 8 03 28 13_train 11 03 28 13_tess soph lily

It was a fun day, and I’m sure we’ll be back to “the new zoo” again!

I also wanted to tack on a few random photos to finish off March:

This group of women I had the pleasure of working out with every Thursday morning for the last year (or so??).  Chelsea (in the middle with the pink pants) was kind enough to choreograph dances and lead us in Zumba work outs in the church while we let our kids run around the gym, play with nursery toys, and/or watch a movie.  It was a lot of fun and I miss it!  I’ve NEVER been a dancer, like NEVER, I am a wall flower at dances and have been since my first dance in middle school so it was out of my comfort zone but, as I said, I ended up really enjoying it!  There is something therapeutic and really enjoyable about dancing, I guess that’s why people have danced to celebrate for centuries.  From L to R: Me, Lindsay, Liz, Natalie, Amy, Chelsea, Amanda, Rachel, and Debbie.  The other photo below is one of Dan’s favorite things, though it’s not a newly acquired taste. ;)  He loves playing Halo, especially with his brothers.

03 21 13_zumba 2 03 23 13_dan matt gaming

Silly Jacob… he loves to play in the toilet!  So gross.  We try to keep the bathroom doors closed, but every once in awhile I find a toy in there.  He also really enjoys using the rolling pin to roll out dough, this particular night we were making individual pizzas for dinner.  I think he could keep rolling forever if I let him.

03 22 13_dog in toilet 03 22 13_jacob pizza

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Over the river and through the woods… our post-Cmas visit to Utah

12 26 12_snowy mountain

It was a cold snowy drive but we arrived at my parents’ house the evening of Dec 26th.  There were a lot of wonderful people I love there waiting for us, so that was awesome!

 12 26 12_dan jason jack w their baby boys 12 26 12_jenny's gingerbread house 

We got to meet Mikey for the first time, he’d proposed to my sister Joni the day before!!  He seemed a little nervous to meet our big Mormon family, but I don’t know why? j/k :)  Mikey was very nice, and I look forward to getting to know him better, my sister Joni is one very special girl and deserves the best!

12 26 12_joni and mikey 12 26 12_tess gma

The next day we did a sort of “mock” Christmas morning, that came out wrong… we pretended it was Christmas morning again.

 12 27 12_openning gifts 12 27 12_soph excited 2

Can you believe all of this stocking my mom Santa had to fill!!  They went down both sides of this railing.

12 27 12_stockings 2 12 27 12_stockings 5

Then we reenacted the nativity…

12 27 12_dean elliott 12 27 12_dad shephard 212 27 12_dean shephard 2 12 27 12_elliott tess soph dressed up12 27 12_jason as joseph 12 27 12_josh soph 212 27 12_tess 12 27 12_soph snowman frame

And some other pictures from the morning I wanted to include, just a lot of playing, hanging out and laughing!  Except for Jacob, who was very cranky and sick… :(

12 27 12_soph grandpa 2 12 27 12_jane jess12 27 12_jane 12 27 12_joni jane12 27 12_logan and sydney 2 12 27 12_poor Jacob so sick12 27 12_soph jamison 2 12 27 12_tess syd lip gloss

Next up was matching outfit pictures of the cousins (and a few necessary adults) on the sectional! Of course it quickly turned into mayhem…

12 27 12_cousins 3 12 27 12_cousins 4 12 27 12_cousins all over 12 27 12_cousins crying

This is my talented brother Jonathan, working on a painting for my house!  Isn’t he awesome?  I can’t wait to get it on the wall!!  Because our walls are bare!  My mom did a craft with the kids, making picture frames to keep their new cousin photo in.

12 27 12_0284 12 27 12_gma soph syd 212 27 12_james dean snow

Then there was sledding in the front yard!

 12 27 12_soph sled12 27 12_tess sled

I know what you’re thinking… How much can she cram in 1 post???  Well, there’s more!!!!!!!  Here’s some pictures from our visit to Josh and Meg’s house one morning.

12-28-12_dan-soph-gma-laugh_thumb1 12-28-12_dean_thumb112-28-12_elliott-laugh_thumb1 12-28-12_family-on-joshs-couch_thumb12-28-12_gma-elliott-crop_thumb1 12-28-12_jacob-jane_thumb1

Cute little Jamison and Jacob, tried to share the bacon, but it was hard!  One of Jacob’s nick names is “little handsome,” I think it’s obvious why!

12-28-12_jacob-logan_thumb 12-28-12_jacob_thumb12-28-12_jane-gma-reading-2_thumb 12-28-12_jane-horse_thumb

I asked Dan to take a couple pictures of me and Jenny, who despite the way her coat is puffing out in the photo is looking very thin and fit!  She is getting super strong and ripped doing her crazy cross-fit stuff.  And I just threw in all of the pictures Dan took of me in those 2 min he had the camera… because, as we all know, it’s hard to get pictures of yourself!  This may be all we get this year! j/k

12-28-12_jenny-jess_thumb1 12-28-12_jess-jacob_thumb112-28-12_jess-jenny_thumb1 12-28-12_logan-5_thumb12-28-12_nicole-elliott-jason_thumb1 12-28-12_soph-gma_thumb1 

Ok, ok, ok, I guess that’s enough for 1 post. :)  Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty more where that came from, but you already know that. ;)