A Visit from our Newest Cousin (and her parents :-)

Cute Little Zoey- 4 1/2 months old!

In the wee hours of morning this past March 23rd, Adam and I received a phone call that his sister, Laura had given birth to her first baby. We were thrilled to find out that they had a baby girl! They didn't know she was a girl until she was born but we had already had our ultrasound and knew our baby was a girl. We were so excited that our little girl would have a cousin her age to play with! That was 4 months ago and this past weekend our little girls were finally able to meet! Kevin, Laura and Zoey flew in on Thursday night (a little later than planned due to airline issues) and we spent the weekend having lots of fun!
Friday morning dawned and the kids first order of business was to FORCE :-) Uncle Kevin into making another movie. The last time he was here he made "The Flipped Around Fairy Tale". The kids had such fun doing it they could hardly wait for him to come back and make another one. ALL DAY LONG, Kevin and the kids worked on their newest film. Kevin was probably completely worn out by days end but didn't complain a bit. The kids had a blast and we all can't wait to see the finished product. (We'll be sure to post it once its finished!) Laura and I hung out, watched some of the filming, held our babies and visited! When Adam came home the adults and babies went out for a yummy dinner and then came home to watch a movie but ended up crashing early instead (such fun us oldies are)!

Saturday dawned and after Spencer's football practice we loaded up the cars and headed down to Colorado Springs to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We had never been there before but had heard great things about it. The zoo did not disappoint as many of the animals were out front and center to entertain us. Our favorites were the Gorillas, the Grizzly Bears and the Mountain Lions! SOOOOOO cool!

Our first family photo (sort of-Avery is in the stroller) outside the Zoo

"Lovely" Laura, Kevin (Zoey in the stroller) - outside the zoo

Annie and the Wallaby
Laura, Adam and the kids- the view from the zoo was amazing1

Adam and Lovely! - Who woulda though these two would get along so great in their adult years. As the story goes, Adam caused endless torment for Laura by teasing her constantly when they were growing up! :-)

Annie feeding the Giraffe's- This zoo is sooooo cool cause you get so close to the Giraffes that you can pet and feed them!

One of the Giraffes coming in for a cracker. (see the hand in the bottom left corner holding the cracker?)

That evening we came home where our friends Kevin and Athena and their 2 kids came over for a bar-b-que. Kevin was one of Adam's best friends in HS as well as one of the groomsmen at our wedding and Adam was one at his. He and his family moved here a few years ago. We don't see them often enough so it was fun to have them over and for Laura to catch up with them too.

On Sunday we all got up for church and then came home for a fun afternoon of playing games and having visitors come to meet Avery.

Avery and Uncle Kevin

Avery and Auntie Laura

Lovely, Me and our baby Girls!

Avery's first day at church

Such a CUTE baby! :-)

Cute Cousins! - Laura had a hard time believing that Zoey had ever been as small as Avery and I'm having a hard time believing Avery will ever be as big as Zoey!

After a yummy dinner Adam gave the kids fathers blessings as school started the next day. I am so grateful that Adam holds the priesthood and can bless our children. Each of them look forward to school and having a blessing from dad helps them start the year off with confidence and excitement.

Once the kids were all in bed, the four adults had a rousing :-) game of Trivial Pursuit! It was close but in the end Adam and I beat the PhD student and the smarty pants :-)! The most surprising part was that I even answered a few of the questions correctly. (Anyone who knows me knows that Trivial Pursuit is not my favorite game, mostly because I don't know anything!)

Kevin, Lovely and Zoey left our house early this morning. We were all sad to see them go. As much as we love living where we do, it is hard that we are not close to our family. We LOVE having visitors but it makes us miss them even more after they leave!

Thanks for coming Lovely, Kevin and Zoey. We love you and miss you already!!!!