Roos 'n' More

On our last day with Grandpa and Grandma, 

we experienced this treasure.

We have a local zoo called Roos 'n'  More, that is SUCH a unique place!

We were greeted at the door by baby Boomer, a wallaroo.  

We each got to hold him.  Wow.  

At how many zoos do you get to do that?

In the background is a bearcat.  

I've never even heard of that before!

His name is Frito

because he smells like Fritos.

Wierd.

But true.

I smelled him myself. 

 Then on to the boa constrictor.

Everyone who wanted to got to hold him too.  

That was not all of us.

I do not remember his name. 

 Toucan next.  

His beak was light and hollow, and his tongue was like a feather.  

He wanted to eat my bracelet.

 We were there on Nov. 2nd, and were told that this goat had wanted to dress up like a devil for Halloween, so they let it. Devil or no, Sage needed a snuggle.

(They also "let" the zebra dress up like a tiger.  

He was orange.  

How fun is that?!)

 I don't actually remember if this was a wallaroo, a kangaroo, or a wallaby, 

but WOW!  We got to pet it!

 Eden took a minute to warm up to the monkey-love,

but he was so playful, he was hard to resist.

 And he could not resist Lexi's headband!

 Chad thought Grandpa had quite the hair accessory!

 

The monkey loved to play "My Rocks!"  

All of my kids scooped up piles of rocks, and then he would try to steal them.

Last stop:  Samuel fed the sloth a bunch of grapes one by one by skewering them on a 

porcupine quill he's acquired earlier in the day.

What an outing!  

I had no idea we had such a COOL place so close!

I'm so glad we went!

Cold and Hot

 I'm still catching up on Mom and Dad's visit.  

We did so many fun things, and took so many pictures!

Grandpa, on two seperate nights, bundled up with the kids 

and spent the night in the play house.  

Brrr!  

He gets the official Grandpa of the year award!  

I was content to just sneak out with Grandma and get a picture!

 After the night in the cold, we needed to heat the kids back up

(not to mention Grandpa!),

so we headed to the Valley of Fire.

 Chad took Lily on a little adventure.

 That hole was tricky to get to.  

Most of us eventually made it up there, with a little help from Chad, 

but it made me nervous!

 

 Family photo!

 

 Grandma and Grandpa!

 And one parting shot ;)  

We saw this monster crossing the road as we were leaving the park.  

We only held up traffic a little so we could get the picture.  

Then the "traffic" decided to get out and take pictures too.  

I know tarantulas live here, 

but we rarely see them.  

Neato.  

More Lovely Time with Grandpa and Grandma

This is of two Fridays ago(October 29th).

We've been so busy having adventures, 

I have a lot to catch up on!

My regular camera died after one picture this day, 

so I had to use my phone.  

I had recently downloaded an app that 

makes your photos look old fashioned.  

I LOVE what it does.  

We drove the atvs to Red Rock.  

I hadn't been there since before I had children!

I had completely forgotten that there is such a gorgeous place so close!

(There are mountain sheep in the picture above, if you look closely)

 It was quite an adventure getting there.  

Here we are waiting for Chad to get back 

from closing gates behind us.  

(Thanks Doug and Sim, for letting us short-cut through!)

 We are just about ready to cross over the rail road bridge.

 "Cactus!"

 "I'm tough."

 She handled the 4-wheeler so well all day, though she said, 

"My thumb got a little tired."

 This was a scary section, 

and Grandpa had to try a few times to make it up the hill. 

 Here are the sheep again. 

There were TEN in the herd!  

And there was one more male that was not allowed 

to join in mountain sheep games.  

Rudolph would understand.

Our picnic spot.  Soft sand in the shade.

The kids enjoyed it so much.

We headed home!  I think this is my signature shot of Chad.  

"From across a crowded Rhino..."  

We had so much fun, and a I'm so glad my parents' visit

gave us the excuse to go! 

We so enjoyed their company.  

They are awesome grandparents!

It was an absolutely gorgeous, perfect day! 

Halloween

 My parents came out for our Halloween weekend.  

We started out with scary stories on the trampoline with Grandpa.

 Then to the elementary Halloween Parade we went.

 Lily, waiting her turn to strut her stuff. 

 Grandma entertained the spectators.

That afternoon was Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary party, 

and that evening, (Saturday) we went Trunk-or-Treating.

This is Gary, as, of course, a dinosaur, 

in case you couldn't tell who it was.

 

Here's some more of the gang;

Tinkerbell, Vampire, Teenager, (Wooooo, scary!)dino reprise.

Eden and Samuel, the Gypsy and the Jedi.

Grandpa and the baby, who was supposed to be at home sleeping, 

but couldn't bare to miss out on the fun!

Grandpa and Grandma Lewis's 65th Anniversary Party

 Just a few highlights of the day:

In true Uncle Bob style, we had two lambs, a pig, and an entire steer spitted and roasted for the occasion.

 There was a cooking contest for pie, salsa, beans, and bbq sauce. 

There was entertainment.  

Two songs were written and performed for the occasion, 

a poem was recited, 

and of course, Grandpa's favorite, 

"Strawberry Roan", by Sawyer.

 There was a greased pole to climb.  

Lily was base for this group of boy cousins.

 Then, Lexi was base for this group of girls.

 Then I was supposed to make it to the top for this group of guys.  

This is as far as I got.

At least my toes were pointed.

 Then the same group tried again, 

this time, with our tough monkey Jacob, 

who made it to the top!!!

 Who needs a greased pole when you've got Grandpa! 

 What do we do with all these leftovers?

And the reason for all the fuss.

Grandma and Grandpa, we love you!