Zoo Lights

Three of my Valiants read the entire Book of Mormon during the year 2008!  They got to choose the reward, so we went to dinner at the Olive Garden last week and then to Zoo Lights:

Hwy 203 opened around 1:30 pm or so, so we were able to keep our date and get out of town  =)

Most of the animal exhibits were closed, but we did hear the penguins . . . in the dark ;)  The flash helped us see them:

Maggie & Livi posing in the kiddie land log:

Some of the aquarium part was open.  We saw a Dogfish Shark that kept putting its snout up out of the water:

Chameleon lights - the fly and the chameleon's tongue would flash around to look like it was in motion to catch and eat the fly:  

A wide view of the Zoo:

Bry came with us too, but she refused to be in any photos =(  We brought hot cocoa and then on our way home we got ice cream!

Brady & Keaton at Point Defiance Zoo in 2000 posing in the shark jaw!  Time flies - enjoy your kids when they're little =)

hApPy ThAnKsGiViNg

It was a day of birds ;)  We saw a variety of them today, a few different species of wild birds, woodpeckers, blue jays and TWO hummingbirds!  I haven't seen that many birds in our yard since September.  Did they sense I was cooking their cousin for dinner?

This is our Thanksgiving feast, most of it was prepared from scratch:

If it's in yellow, then it was homemade: brined Turkey, gravy, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, salad, roasted cauliflower, caramelized onions, corn, bread, veggies, dip, salami, cheese, jello, pumpkin pie, ice cream & whipping cream.

Will share recipes, just ask and I'll send it to you!  Everything was yummy - it's all about starting with a great recipe =)