Monkeyin' around for FREE!

We started out our San Diego trip with a guy from my parents ward giving us free tickets to the zoo and bus passes for the tour whoo hoo!

we headed for the monkey's first...

then onto the hippo's...
and of course a stop at that bronze hippo, I think I have one of me at every age sitting on that thing!

Ali thought the Panda's were cool.

but really wanted to see the elephants.

we stopped for some shade...

and wouldn't ya know it, she found herself an elephant!

but was much more impressed...

(look closely)

by the real thing!

then we headed for the arctic...we even got to see the polar bears at snack time right up at an open gate as their trainers fed them peanut butter! We were way to fascinated to be snapping pictures though.

then it was off to the "pride" of the zoo...get it?

this guy was amazing.

and Justin got some pretty amazing shots.

he was looking right at us!

overall it was a FABULOUS day, made all the more fabulous by the fact that it was FREE!

It was a great way to start of our trip 'o fun.

and did I mention ali was strollerless tha whole time...ah the freedom of kiddo's old enough to walk and actually keep up!

my "peeps"

Easter Sunday came bright and early due to the fact that our ward begins at 9am.

so the Easter bunny came and dropped some stuff off in our closet and then came back while we were at church to hide all the eggs and fill all our baskets.

(we had to fill cole in on the fact that he came early and dropped stuff off to moms and dads so he didn't have to carry it all because cole caught a glimpse of his Easter loot while we were getting ready for church. good thing dad know all the in's and out's of how the Easter bunny operates...few)

the night before we dyed eggs and left them on our kitchen counter, so when we came back from church the Easter bunny had placed all the good where we left our eggs.

not only goodies were found but a letter from the Easter bunny himself signed peter cotton tail to be exact. It was all about the real reason for Easter, our Savior, and it also explained how special their mommy is...which made mommy cry...that Easter bunny sure knows how to melt a mama's heart.

then it was picture time...I insisted on one good one before we tore into the loot.

easier said than done.




ali's weird eyes-closed-smile,




stoic poses,



shy faces (yeah right little miss)


and sheer admiration of big brothers...all made getting a great one difficult.

and of course the longer it took...the more "are we done yet?" looks we got.

and then they were just done, and I have to give them credit, they had incredible restraint against the lure of those baskets for longer than we could have hoped for.

so finally it was time to break into the goods and break out the happy dance!

which lasted a few moments, 'cause this was really exciting stuff!

the baskets were filled with games for cole, and a rapuzel doll and tinker bell movie for ali.

cole also got a movie and ali rocked some bunny ears.

I think she pulls it off.

then it was Easter egg hunt time...they were masters at this!

they found those eggs so fast they had time to stop and smell the roses.

how cute is this? the nursery kids made "centerpieces" at church (cutest leaders ever huh?)

after our family festivities we headed over to the dunlavy's for some yummy Easter dinner!

where we...

played with these people, and their parents.

(I love this picture on so many levels...it is hilarious to me)

ali was spoiled (as was I) with duct tape creations by Maddy,
(she was much more into this than she looks)

and cole played with his future football teammate max.

it was a ridiculous amount of fun and deliciousness all rolled into one.

what a great way to spend a special day.

how grateful we are for our Saviors sacrifice that made it so we can live with our loved ones eternally.

"we're going on a vacation!"

a few weeks ago (conference weekend) cole and ali came down from upstairs with their bags packed. cole announced that they were going on a vacation. I looked in his backpack to see what he had decided to pack. He had his PJ's and some toys he couldn't imagine leaving town without. ali was wearing her PJ's already so she just needed to pack toys in her bag apparently. Justin walked in the door just in time to see all of this happening. He asked cole what they were doing,

"we're going on a vacation!"

"oh where are you going?"

"on an airplane"

"oh, how are you going to pay for an airplane ticket?"

"I have money!" and he proceeded to pull out a handful of quarters, nickles, and dimes he had previously packed.

Justin said "well, I guess you are all ready, go ahead."

cole had this adorable look of "really!?" pasted across his face. and they headed out the door. Ali just kept saying the whole time, "we are going on vacation!"

she had fully believed her brother from the moment he brought up the idea that she was indeed going on vacation with her big brother.

so they headed out. little did they know daddy followed them the entire way. they walked around the neighborhood, but as much as they tried to avoid it they eventually came to a spot where a street had to be crossed. they stood frozen. after a few minutes Justin showed himself and asked what they were doing.

"we are waiting for someone to hold our hand so we can cross the street."

he had to try so hard not to bust out laughing at the sheer cuteness.

after a moment cole turned and headed back down the sidewalk and ali followed. they got about 1/2 way down the sidewalk when justin called them to come back home, saying that mommy missed them. ali turned looked at dad, thought for a moment and turned her back on him to hurry and catch up with cole. stinker.

he eventually prodded them home. where we proceeded to have a talk about only going on vacations after mom and dad have given their permission. (to avoid future excursions on their own since we said yes this time.)
it was too cute. ali would follow cole anywhere and fully trusts that he will take care of her. and cole is a pretty adorable and convincing big bro, I would probably believe him too.

pit stop!

The city of St. George hosted a mini-indy and different business in the community purchased go-carts to both drive and sponsor. Enterprise decided to participate this year so a whole bunch of guys from the marketing dept at corporate came down to race and justin got in on the act too.

we went to watch on race day, which ended up being cold, rainy, and incredibly windy...but the kids still thought it was great fun to get to hang out with dad! in between one of the heats the kids got to play with the big kids toy.

I think this face is hilarious...he was so into it.

then dad hooked him up with some racing gear.

the teams were all supposed to have a theme. there was a dinner the night before and it was pretty fun to see everyone decked out. there were vikings, garden gnomes, and enterprise was 70's. Justin blew them all out of the water with his costume if I am being honest. He lucked out at DI with some awesome 70's apparel, but it was lenae who really hooked him up with the sun glasses, gold chain, and not pictured here but rocked at the dinner an amazingly awesome afro. the pants were bell bottoms and that red shirt had quite the collar.

bleedin' blue

we got a 'lil decked out one night 'o march madness...

we went over to our friends the lindell's to BBQ and watch some b-ball. we of course are true blue...jimmy and jen...not so much, but they put their feelings aside to enjoy a jimmer-fest.

no clue why I couldn't get this video to turn the right way...but it's totally worth bending your neck a bit!

the leprechaun strikes again!

on st. patricks day that pesky leprechaun broke in and left a rainbow trail to his treasure again!

cole and ali followed all the clues and collected lots of rainbow pieces. even buzz lightyear helped that tricky leprechaun.

after all the clues had been uncovered...

they finally found the

pot 'o gold(en chocolate)...

which was awesome.

another reason we LOVE st. george

is because we get to go to places like this...( p.s. check out cole's feet in the photo above...they are huge! he is growing out of shoes like crazy!)

with our family for a quick day trip...

or with friends from out of town.

Justin's friend Sterling and his cute girlfriend and her son joined us on this trip out to Zion. Sterling and Justin came here years ago together on a trip out from michigan...a lot has changed since those teen years!

cole found a way to fish...with a stick.

and when that got old he trudged straight through the water.

ali threw rocks...

and some more rocks...

played in the sand...

and made faces that daddy loved...

it was a fun trip! Come again soon guys!