Winters at Hogle Zoo

My brother in law Roy gave our family a season pass to the Hogle Zoo for Christmas, so we wanted to go and use it. I love going to the Hogle Zoo in the winter. I remember as a kid going to Hogle Zoo during the winter. We would always see the elephants and the giraffes and whatever else was out at the time(the polar bear before its death, the hippo before they sold it, and a variety of others). There are many advantages to attending a zoo during the cold, snowy winter months. First and most obvious there is NO one there. I love this!! You don't have to jockey position with others to get a view of the animals. You get front row parking; no mile hikes before you even enter the gates of the zoo. No stroller congestion. I have a large double side by side plus a stroller for Makayla, stroller congestion levels are crucial to a good time. Secondly, you don't have to spend zillions of hours there because you can breeze through everything so quickly or as slowly as you like. Third, my kids don't want to get out of their strollers because they are nice and bundled and warm in their lovely strollers. This is a particular bonus for me because I don't have to carry or chase or pickup anyone. Lastly, if you pick a relatively warm day there are many animals out. We saw just about all of them. You brace yourself for just seeing the snakes and lizards but you are pleasantly surprised when the elephants, lynx, leopards, and many of the other animals are out. We had a great day. Some of our highlights were: the oldest monkey on earth making friends with Justin. He came over and touched Justin's hand through the glass and seemed to want to tell Justin his life story but Justin doesn't speak monkey so they were at an impasse. The baby giraffe was so cute I think she is about a month and a half old. The baby monkey sleeping with the mommy monkey. The male giraffe drinking the female's pee like it was a drinking fountain. It was actually one of the grossest things I have ever witnessed. Another highlight was one of the howler monkeys singing so the entire zoo could hear. It was so much fun and it was a reminder as to why I still love the zoo in the winter. Try it you will like it but don't spread the word then people will be there and where does that leave me with stroller congestion and long walks to the zoo.

Ode to Justin

This time of year is always a little crazy for us. We have Christmas, our anniversary, New Years, and Justin's birthday. All with in just 2 weeks of each other. So as you know we had a great Christmas. A fantastic 7th year anniversary. A wonderful New Years (even though I hate new years eve). And a fun birthday for my hot 32 year old!! I know people never believe me when I say how old he is. They say he looks way too young which is true but sometimes I wonder if it because he is so youthful at heart.
Ode to My Justin
(okay not so much an ode but hey I think you are great!)
There are many reasons I love you and think life is great with you.
You are funny, kind, and friendly to everyone.
You are an awesome dad and a fantastic husband.
Did I mention you are hot and have the best legs I have ever seen.
Your eyes are amazing and you have a sparkling personality.

You are an incredibly hard worker so that I can play hard.
You are lots of fun to be with too.
However, you can't do the robot like Brittany but you do have some awesome white guy moves.
Well I love you and hope you had a great 32nd birthday!

Christmas

So I am finally getting to post about Christmas it has been a little busy as of late. I feel like I haven't been home for a week.

We kicked off Christmas on Sunday with the classic Starnes Christmas Eve. We had an awesome dinner Prime Rib of course with the classic mint dessert my favorite. We then had the annual talent show and chimes. Makayla memorized a poem and was awesome. I think that I just said it about 20 times and she had it memorized by just hearing it. The boys did their ho ho ho for their talent it was pretty cute. We read Christmas stories and the story of Christ's birth. We then put them to bed and hung out and played games. It was a fun night because I love the classic Starnes Christmas Eve. It reminds me of growing up I can't wait until next year the kids are old enough to reenact the Christmas Story :)!!
The actual Christmas Eve was fun. We fondued with Justin's family. We got completely stuffed! We opened the Christmas pj's. The kids were really cute. They opened a gift from Justin's aunt Leanne and Norman. They gave the kids tooth brushes and toothpaste. It was just what they needed and I have never seen three kids get so excited over oral hygiene. It was a nice evening with the Pitcher Clan.
Justin and I went home and finished setting up the house for Santa. We listened to Christmas music and sipped on our Martinelli's and got things all together. We went to bed and I just couldn't wait for the morning to see how the kids reacted. So I had a dream about Santa eating our delicious candy cane cookies (another of my favorite) and drinking milk. At that moment I woke up and remembered we forgot to put the milk out oops (Mak specifically asked that I do that so it had to be done). I get out of bed at 1:00am to put the milk out. I go back to bed and at 5:00am I wake up to check on everything. Everyone's still sleeping, Santa had arrived, and all was well. Back to bed I go. At 6:00am I am awake and waiting for the kids to wake up this is their normal arising time. However, not a child is stirring only an excited mom. Instead of waiting and doing nothing I begin to get the food for our big brunch ready. Finally the kids wake up at 7:00 this is serious sleeping in for my kids. They now have to wait for me to finish my food prep and sit on the stairs. It was so fun to see them come in. They were excited about their bikes. The kids had a great time opening the presents well Makayla doing the majority of opening. The boys just wanted to sit on the bikes and open presents. The boys high light presents had to be the shake cars that Makayla gave them. Makayla's highlight had to be all the baby doll stuff she got along with her new favorite baby. After present time we had a brunch at our house with some friends and family. I really enjoyed having everyone over and making all the yummy food. And the rest of the day was a food fest. We went to my parents opened more presents and ate yummy turkey sandwiches with all the fixin's. The boys played with their helicopters (the big boys). We went to Justin's parents and opened more presents and ate more food. It was a day wrapped in shiny paper filled with tons of food. Wow we were really spoiled by our families this year! Pics to come I am slow on the down load!