Zoo... for free

There is a miniature zoo outside of Reno that offers free zoo day the first Monday of the month. Because I am thrifty (okay just plain cheap) this prospect really appeals to me. My friend Kate was planning on going with her parents and kids and sil (sister-in-law). It just so happened that my mom was watching my brother and sil's kids this particular Monday so I convinced them to come along. It was also my other sil's birthday and she was, that very day, moving to Reno thus I asked if she and my bil and new little niece aka Xiana's bff wanted to join us too. Interestingly enough they already had plans in the works to peruse this little teeny tiny zoo so it was a party. And less you should think my mom was bribing this starving deer, let me assure you that there was a serious shortage of party favors resulting in improvisation. It. was. funny. And Ammon (nephew in the background) was not the only one laughing. And this creature chewed on my mom's shirt the entire time we were in the petting area.
Aunt Ali who is spending the summer here in Sparks. It is wonderful to have her here.... and Xiana LOVES her.
I always have to get at least one shot in to prove I too was in attendance.
Cousins! Xiana loves all her cousins dearly. A reoccurring question in her repertoire is, "are my cousins coming?" and "where are my cousins?" Sometimes she even lists them name by name asking where each individual cousin is which is no small feat considering she now has 22 cousins with one on the way.
We were so lucky we arrived at the lions and tigers right at feeding time. Xiana was utterly impressed with the whole chickens being thrown to the cats. She also, though flinching at the time, thought the lioness's roar was really special.
This was the liger's cage and that was really fun to explain to the kids. Ligers are absolutely beautiful and seemingly healthy though they cannot reproduce.
You can't tell from the picture, but the tiger on the right is missing its tail. The employees explained that the tiger used to be in a cage next to the lioness. One day, the tiger let its tail slip through the chain link fence. The lioness, possessive, jealous, and fearfully strong, kept it. The end. Amazing right?
"Yook at the baby goat mommy, can I feed it? Will it bite me?" The tiny little baby goats were the cutest things ever. However, their horns were extremely intimidating and after reading a bit about them, yes, they most certainly will bite and buck and gouge etc.
We had a great time cut short by million mile per hour winds. Still, for a free day at the zoo only 15 minutes out of town... I shall return.

A much needed break from the house

The first two weeks of married life were spent painting, painting, and painting some more. Suffice it to say I will blog about the house some day... possibly when we are done with the house in 2012, but for now, trust me when I say that I needed a break! Brian's weekend with Ekco couldn't have been more perfectly timed. I was getting so sucked up into working on the house I was becoming an irritable ogre and I didn't even realize it until... we got to Battle Mountain and I took a deep breath. It was wonderful. I could not work on the house. I did not have any grading to do. So we just plain enjoyed ourselves, played, hiked, and had a great time.
Ali was back from Cedar City so she went exploring with us and even Tim and Brittany joined in on the fun. It is so wonderful out in the mountains behind Brian's parent's house. I know I say this all the time, but it truly is wonderful to be able to get out of the city and enjoy the outdoors. It was so soothing and calming and forced me to remember that there are much more important things in this world than whether or not the 20 foot ceiling has proper coverage.
As usual there was an old tractor. We rarely go out when we don't find some old type of machinery.
And an old mining contraption with superman flexing his muscles up at the top. I didn't take a picture of it, but I shot one of Brian's rifles and I hit my target perfectly and it was fun!
Grandma came too!!!
We just walked around and Ali took the kids up and down the hills which they appreciated.
And, also as usual, Brian played around on Tim's bike and Xiana insisted that she get a ride on the motorcycle. Actually, it's kind of funny but Brian has a nice motorcycle and Xiana has never ridden it and I have no pictures of it. He never rides it, but every time we are out of town he rides Tim's.... go figure:) I guess the streets just aren't the same as the mountains.
Ekco and Xiana played on top of this hill for a long time giggling and enjoying each other. They are such good sisters and it makes me very happy!
Hunter needed in on the action too.
No trip would be complete without some trampoline time.
They are so cute!!

Rehearsal dinner

Brian was pretty adamant that we have a rehearsal dinner. I thought that was just added stress, but as it turns out, this was a crucial night. It was so important to have some time to spend with family before the wedding. The day of we scarcely got to talk to each other. Also, it provided an opportunity for our families to get better acquainted with one another. Plus, the food was to die for. Brian's brothers grilled the steaks and chicken and they were perfection.
After we ate... the room was transformed. Literally!
Practicing :)
Matt spent hours on the basketball hoop. I will be honest. I was frightened as I watched him wrap purple around it. I decided that I didn't care what it looked like and I was not going to look again. I envisioned a terrible eye sore so imagine my surprise when Mark said, "how are you liking the basketball hoop?" I looked up bracing myself and was shocked to find it had turned out beautiful. It was a very nice touch to a simple decor.
We also got a sneak peak into the song our sisters performed which was excellent because it provided me an opportunity to get teary eyed minus spectators and mascara.

Getting ready...

I couldn't resist including these gems of the wedding.... the girls helped me get ready.
Then they twirled as all girls should do when wearing princess dresses.

And these are my behind the scenes girls.
the true test of the dress was whether or not I could pick up Xiana. It passed.

Mini Moon

Brian cleverly dubbed our quick getaway that is not quite a honeymoon, but also not just a trip our "mini moon." So, here you have it.... We stayed up at Tahoe compliments of Tyler and Kate. There was a really neat lodge dog named Kona.... she was very nice. Due to special dietary needs there were signs stating that you should not feed her. You could, however, give her carrots. I'm not making this up. But, back to the mini... this lodge was oh-so-amazing and if you ever get to stay in Tahoe you should look up the Fireside lodge because it was cozy, quaint, family owned and run, and extraordinarily authentic. For starters, they have a vintage game room with skee ball and air hockey. Plus, they have a movie library where you get to borrow movies. Fun right? They also have a private therapy hot tub that was amazing (especially after our massages). The icing on the cake however, consists of three things 1: homemade cookies in your room; 2: wine and cheese hour (despite the fact that we didn't indulge in the wine, Brian enjoyed the cheese and meats and crackers and I still think this is just such a genius idea) and 3: drum roll please.... a bon fire with all the fixings for smores set out for you to indulge in to your heart's content.... completely amazing. But wait, there's more. When we checked in they told us there was complimentary breakfast. Little did we know...
It consisted of a waffle bar with little ramekins of waffle batter and machines and about 15 luxurious toppings to put on said waffles. It was so much fun. I ate two.
So did Brian.
I love when you go places that the owners run because you can see and feel that it's a labor of love. They actually care about their guests and concern themselves with the little details. If you look up the word "quaint" in the dictionary I am quite certain you will find a picture of this lodge.
We went out and hiked a bit and the location was right next to Emerald Bay and Fallen Leaf lake. We couldn't hike the latter due to the 5 feet of snow still resting on the trail.
But we made it to Eagle Falls which was also beautiful.
Lone little coyote.
We drove around and admired the marvelous homes up around the lake and fantasized about owning/ visiting one some day.
Emerald Bay... too cold to swim yet, but summer might be here in the next 3 months.
Don't we just look so married here?



The way the water cut the snow was breathtaking.
And there was a steady stream of melt off rushing down.

The mountains were also beautiful. It was too short, but it was wonderful to get away. We really enjoyed ourselves and also caught up on some much needed relaxation. We dined out and watched movies and drove around. It was special.

And I forgot to mention that we had the entire place to ourselves... literally. Everybody had left after the weekend and we were all alone. Super fun!
When we arrived on Sunday it was Spring. When we left on Tues it was winter. Big surprise.