January Happenings

I'm not sure where January went, but here's what we've been up to around our place.

We rang in the new year with some awesome Texas weather. It was almost 70 degrees on New Years Day. So we decided to get out and enjoy the nice weather and start our new years resolutions of getting in shape on the right foot. We have loved biking as a family and have really gotten into it the last year. So we decided to go on a little afternoon ride. It was beautiful and felt so good to get out and ride again. I think Andrew enjoyed it just as much as we did.

I truly can't believe that Stephen and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this month. We had a sweet friend come and watch Andrew so we could slip away to the temple together. It was a wonderful night followed by ice cream. I think dates to the temple are my favorite, because it seems that nowadays we just take turns going with the other person staying home with Andrew.

I love the temple, especially all lit up at night. 

We decided to check off another item on our Texas bucket list this month. About an hour and half from our home is a outdoor wild animal park called Fossil Rim. We had heard lots about it and have really wanted to go. We had another nice Saturday with the weather in the 60's and we decided to just jump in the car and go.

It was absolutely perfect. The sun was out and it was warm enough to have the windows down in the car the entire time and feel the warmth of the sunshine. All the animals were enjoying the nice day too. They were out and about and very active. It made for a wonderful day to visit. We took tons of pictures, but I will just post a few of my favorites. 

Andrew thought it was pretty special that we'd let him sit on our laps while we drove through the park. 

Daddy was even nice enough to let Andrew help him in the drivers seat. Now Andrew wants to "drive" the car all the time!

He loved seeing the Animals up close. At first it was a little intimidating, but then he'd lean his head out the window and say in his cute little 2 year old voice. "Hi. How you doin'?" 

They had a pretty cool petting zoo in the middle of the park where you could park stop and get out of your car and walk around. Andrew loved petting the goats, and the huge tortoises. But I think mostly he loved just getting out and walking of course.

A nice day for a yummy picnic lunch outside 

The goats were pretty easy going as tons of little kids came up to pet them. 

The animal that scared us the most was definitely the ostrich. They would stick their head right inside the car with their long neck looking for food. We ended up rolling our window up because they scared us so much. Didn't want to loose a finger or Andrew a hand...those birds are huge! 

The animal I loved the most, was seeing the beautiful giraffes up close. They would come right up next to our car. They had the longest eyelashes especially as they looked down upon us through our sun roof. Their black tongues were interesting, but they were so majestic, curious and gentle animals. 

They had so many interesting animals from around the world.  Some were definitely more friendly than others. I loved petting the zebras from our car, but Stephen almost got a kiss from this friendly guy. 

The best thing about Texas in January is that it does get cold (20-30 degrees or so) BUT you know that it doesn't last long. Then you'll have a few nice days in the 60's. Then it's right back to being cold again. So I guess our goals was to get out on the nice days and enjoy some family time together. Mission accomplished!