First Time Playing in the Snow

Taryn is such a good aunt. As long as it has nothing to do with diapers, she is willing to do anything for Tae.

Tuckered Out

Tae played so hard while we were at Grandma and Papa's. When Jon, Papa and Tae went to feed cows, she fell asleep standing up in the feed truck. Wish I had a picture. The next day she fell asleep watching a movie.We were joking that it was because it was a boring movie. Colton said they watched it for Senior Night when he graduated. Don't know who picked that one. So sorry Union Class of 2002!

Time in the Tub

We give Taelyn a bath nightly-not because she needs it, but because we do. It wears her out and she sleeps so much better. Plus, baths are so much fun.

"My country tis' of thee..."

I don't usually (in fact I don't think I have ever) post on the blog, however given the nature of the season I wanted to share a few thoughts...something I am very grateful for.

If you are reading this you are aware that Tamaran and Tae and I have been working with a wonderful family from Burma (formerly Myanmar). I had the wonderful opportunity to share not only my witness of the gospel but to baptise our friends the day after Thanksgiving.

The following Monday we were invited to thier home along with the Bishop and his wife to enjoy a dinner with them. We were it seems to be guests of honor. I have never seen such spread or a display of gratitude. We were invited to sit at their small table that had been filled with different types of sushi and some traditional entree's. They with some of their friends sat around us one serving, others making conversation, all insisting that they had already eaten or would eat later.

As we talked we discussed how they had come to be refugees in America and what it was like for them in Burma. Some things we were already aware of, others were new and helped me gain a different perspective on the "good ol' US of A".

Our friends are part of an ethnic group/state called chin. In their country the chin state is the only christian part of their land in a majority Buddhist country. Almost everyone who is chin is christian. Being in the minority has left them at something of a disadvantage. In their country They are relegated to the bottom most rung of society. Some are used as slaves or near slaves to the military, others required to work in the dangerous jade and ruby mines, some are farmers, and any who try to flee to neighboring Thailand run the risk of being hunted down and killed by the current military establishement, provided they don't drown first trying to take a shortcut on an overloaded refugee smuggling boat .

Once in Thailand or Malaysia, where there are refugee camps, they can apply to go to an asylum country, countries like America who are willing to open their doors to the displaced.

" My country tis of thee.." part 2

As I thought of all the things this family and their friends had gone through to get to America I was truly surprised to see such optimism and happiness. They are some of the happiest people I have ever met.

As we were discussing the trials one of them mentioned how happy they were to be here where they do not have to worry about a corrupt dictator. Some one said how nice it was to have a good goverment. The bishops wife laughed a little and said " yeah right ".

When I heard that I thought about Tamaran and I getting married and moving to Salt Lake. We had no papers to take with us, as we changed counties there were no military check points and we were not required to bribe anyone to keep from being thrown in jail or worse killed and tossed in the woods. It was and is remarkable to me that here in america we worry about poor wages, higher taxes, illegal immigration, a President we may not agree with, nationalized healthcare, when will social security run out. These are our big concerns. The general fall out for these things being taxes that are a little higher, a car we have to drive a little longer, maybe a smaller house, or oweing the doctor or hospital some money for a while until we get our medical bills paid off. Three years from now We will choose who our next president will be. Less than one year from now we will decide who gets to go to congress, or the senate. There is no risk of General Gates leading the military down the streets of D.C. to take up residence in the whitehouse, or having our senate and congress dissolved under martial law. We may have to go with out for christmas but we will not have to sit in the fetal position for three days hoping that the boat we are on can handle the next wave, and this after selling every single posession we have to pay some one to smuggle us into a foriegn country.
At this time of year I am grateful to be an American, and whatever he may be I am grateful for our President and representatives, they are just that, OURS! Merry Christmas.

Saturday Baptisms

Jon, our Burmese family, and Sisters Dodge, Ahern, and Evans

(and the smudge Taelyn left on my camera lens)

I honestly don't know what to say. I just can't find the words. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we have had to get to know this family.

RS Cooking Class 9

We had another cooking class last week. We focused on Thanksgiving Desserts.

I did a quick demo on my mom's Pumpkin Pie Cake, which is already posted on my blog. [As a side note: the Pretzel Salad and the Pumpkin Pie Cake are holiday traditions in my fam.]

In addition, Jen taught Tarheel Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Better Pecan Toffee Pumpkin Pie. I'm a huge fan of the Tarheel Pie and we will be making it as part of our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Butter Pie Crust
2 1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 c chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
6-12 Tbsp ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt. Add butter cubes. Pulse in processor or mix with hands until coarse meal forms. Gradually blend in enough ice water to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half. Form into 2 balls, flatten into discs, wrap each in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight. Makes 2 crusts, either 2 bottom crusts or a bottom and a top crust.

Tarheel Pie
1 c chocolate chips
1 stick butter, melted (and still warm)
1 c chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
9" unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter and chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Blend all remaining ingredients, then stir in chocolate mixture. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream

Perfect Pumpkin Pie
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin
3/4 c (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375. Spray 9" diameter deep-dish glass pie dish with nonstick spray. Roll out dough on floured surface to 13" round. Transfer to prepared dish. Fold edges under and crimp, forming high border. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans [for weight]. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until edges are light golden, pressing crust with back of fork if bubbles form, about 7 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Reposition oven rack to center.

Puree pumpkin in processor. Mix in next 6 ingredients. Add eggs 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition. Gradually add cream, processing, just until blended. Process 5 seconds longer.

Pour filling into warm crust. Bake until edges are puffed and center is set, about 1 hour. Cool completely on rack. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Butter Pecan Toffee Pumpkin Pie
Perfect Pumpkin Pie filling (recipe above)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 c pecan halves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp water
1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars (such as Skor or Heath)

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pecan halves, brown sugar, and water; stir until sugar forms glossy coating over pecans, about 4 minutes. Transfer to sheet of foil; cool. Chop 1/3 c pecans and combine with 1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars. Sprinkle over baked crust. Pour in Perfect Pumpkin Pie filling; bake and cool as directed. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. cover; chill. Sprinkle 1/4 c toffee bits or chopped toffee bars around edge of pie. Garnish with remaining pecans.

RS Cooking Class 5 recipes

For those of you with reader, I've fixed the column mess on the ingredients for Jon's recipes.

RS Cooking Class 5

I still have a few classes I haven't posted. I'll get to it eventually!

Jon actually taught this one (back on the 1st of October). I appreciate him being willing to do this. Unfortunately I was watching Taelyn and couldn't really help. I did try to keep him mindful of the time every chance I got.

These recipes are Jon originals. Getting him to measure everything out so I could write down a recipe was like pulling teeth. If anyone ever does try any of these, I would be very interested in your feedback.

Stuffed Pork Chops

½ tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp rosemary
5 pork chops
2 tsp water
¼ cup craisins
2 tsp olive oil
½ cup diced green onions
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ box PORK Stovetop Stuffing
1 Granny Smith apple

Heat garlic and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add rosemary and cook until mixture smells roasted. Brown both sides of pork chops in mixture. Set pork chops aside.

Plump craisins by putting 2 tsp water and craisins in microwave for 30 seconds and set aside. Grate apple and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp. olive oil, green onions, and pecans in frying pan until it smells roasted. Remove from heat and add stuffing, craisins and apple. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Cut pork chops to form pocket (Note: can also cut down side and hold together with toothpick, if needed). Stuff stuffing mixture into pork chops. Place pork chops on a pan and broil for 7-10 minutes (until top quits juicing). Turn pork chops over and broil for an additional 7-10 minutes.

Highly recommend serving with sauce recipe below.

Sauce (optional)

¼ c craisins
2 tsp water
3 tsp olive oil
½ tsp minced garlic
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 dashes nutmeg
2 dashes cinnamon
1 Tbsp brown sugar
½ Tbsp water
1 cup apple sauce

Dice craisins. Place in microwave safe container and plump by adding 2 tsp water and microwaving for 30 seconds. Set aside.

In frying pan, heat olive oil and garlic until smells roasted. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar and water. Stirring constantly, heat until caramelized (be careful not to burn it). Add craisins and applesauce. Serve with or over pork chops.

Santa Fe Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2 cans Rotel Tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp minced garlic
chili powder (if desired)
1 ½ cups black beans
1 cup corn
1 ½ cups prepared rice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
5-7 chicken breasts

Completely drain moisture off of tomatoes into a separate container and set juice aside. Spread tomatoes in an oven safe pan, and broil until most of the moisture is gone (~10 minutes). When done, they will look dried out and there will be no remaining moisture on the bottom of the pan. Jon claims this condenses the flavors.

*In a frying pan, cook olive oil, garlic and a few dashes of chili powder (optional-to increase spiciness) until smells roasted. Add a few spoonfuls of broiled tomatoes and tomato juice that was set aside. Drain moisture off of black beans into sauce. Cook for one minute and remove from heat.

In separate bowl, combine black beans, broiled tomatoes, corn, rice, salt, and pepper. Add additional salt and pepper, to taste, if needed.

Cut chicken breasts to form pocket (Note: can also cut down side and hold together with toothpick, if needed). Stuff stuffing mixture into chicken breasts.

Pour sauce in pan and place stuffed chicken breasts in sauce (ugly side up J). Broil. Watch closely-whenever chicken begins to look dry, use spoon to drizzle sauce over chicken. Repeat drizzling until chicken breasts have broiled 8-10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over. Repeat drizzling process until 2nd side broils for 8-10 minutes (or until chicken is completely cooked).

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.

Santa Fe Stuffed Portabella (an adaptation of the recipe above)
Broil tomatoes, as described above. Remove stems from mushrooms, dice stems, and set stems aside. When sautéing garlic and olive oil, *as described above*, sauté cap side of mushrooms for 1 ½ minutes, then set mushrooms aside. Finish sauce and rice stuffing, from recipe above. Add diced stems to rice stuffing. Stuff mushrooms and broil mushrooms in sauce for 5 minutes, drizzling sauce, as described above. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with cheese.

A Busy Missionary Week & Good News That Follows

Last week was a very busy missionary week. As I mentioned before, we have sisters missionaries in our area. We have been helping them teach two families in our ward. Last week we actually went out with them four nights. Three of those, we saw both families; the other we took one of the families to temple square.

It kept us busy. In fact, Taelyn got so used to going out to see the sisters every night that when we left the house last night she started signing 'missionary'. We had to explain that we weren't going to see the sisters.

Anyway, I had a message from the sisters this morning when I checked my phone. One of the families committed to be baptized and set a date. It was the best news and totally transformed my lousy morning.

What a wonderful day!

Why So Many Posts in One Day?

I talked to Terri on Sunday night. She is a dear friend that I met and taught on my mission. She really does deserve her own post. I need to make time to write it all down. For now, we'll just say that she got to know my parents over the phone while I was in North Carolina. She even asked my dad if he would baptize her when my parents came to get me at the end of my mission. She has been adopted into my family.

Anyway, Terri informed me that I hadn't posted any pictures of Taelyn lately and I needed to fix that. I appreciate the reminder. My goal is to not need to be reminded again. At least not for a few months, anyway.

Cinderella

She helps cook:

She helps do laundry:

And she cleans up most of her own messes:

We think we'll keep her.

This Post is for Grandma

I'm sorry for doing this photo dump, but Grandma Connie hasn't seen Tae for over a month. Actually not too sorry. I do love looking at pictures of her. And her dad doesn't get to see them unless I post them. So here they are. Enjoy!

Halloween

So I'm slow in getting these up, but I totally have an excuse! I forgot to take pictures, my fault, and I was waiting for the pictures from the Stake Trunk-or-Treat to be posted.

We had planned on being Rainbow Brite, her Sprite 'Twink', and Murky Dismal.

Tae and I wore our costumes on Friday so we could Trick-or-Treat at my work. I had intended to do Jon's costume and put the finishing touches on Tae and my costumes on Saturday. It didn't happen. Here is what we ended up with. Tae was not thrilled to take pictures, but the second one isn't too bad.

Instead of finishing our costumes, we did a last minute runaround to gather up teeth, face paint and material for hooded capes for a family that lives just around the corner from us. The kids sure had a blast and it made the mad dash and quick sewing job totally worth it.

I wasn't going to post this last picture. It is not at all flattering...but it does give a better idea of what Tae and I looked like. We were just wrapping up the Trick-or-Treating at my work on Friday. My rainbow belt was falling apart from carrying her, and I had taken my sleeves off because it was too hot...but you get the idea.

Prepping for the RS Cooking Class Tonight

We are making rolls tonight. For the first time, we are holding it at my house. Prep consisted of cleaning, baking, and cleaning again. The clean up afterward wouldn't have been nearly as bad if I had remembered that my mom's roll dough recipe is ALREADY DOUBLED!!

I knew that she always doubles her recipe. I was excited that my new Bosch would hold a doubled batch (my old mixer didn't). Then I doubled her already doubled recipe. Note to self: my new Bosch does not hold a quadrupled batch! Tae cried when liquid flour/water mess started seeping out around the lid, all over the counter top, down the front of the dishwasher, and onto the step stool she was standing on. She loves to help cook, but she is a clean freak and momma is a messy cook-especially when I do stupid things like this. The situation got worse when I found out that I had enough flour for a doubled recipe-or even a tripled recipe-but not for a doubled-double batch.

To make a long story slightly shorter, like happens all-too-often around here, Jon swooped in and saved the day. He left his meeting and ran to the store to get me flour (and powdered milk, shortening and sugar because my massive amount of dough used every bit we had and I need more for tonight). He then came home and stayed up with me until 1:00 a.m. baking and cleaning. When all was said and done, we found out that a quadrupled batch of roll dough makes: 30 basic dinner rolls, 16 croissants, 12 lucky clovers, 6 fan-tans, 6 clover leafs (or is it leaves? I really don't know on this one), and a large loaf of bread that we made in a desperate attempt to get rid of the last of the dough.

RS Cooking Class 3

So this happened back on the 10th of September, and I'm just now getting around to posting the recipe. I wish I had an excuse, but I really don't.

One of the reasons I started this class is because there was a lot of interest in learning to make K's bread. For our 3rd class, that is what we did. Wouldn't you know it, K and I were the only ones in attendance. Goes to show you never really know if anybody is going to show up.

I did learn some tips from K that I never knew. If you place plastic wrap over your dough when letting it rise, it actually helps the yeast. Also, if you like a crispier crust, remove bread from pan immediately after baking; if you like a softer crust, leave it in the pan to cool.

Basic White Bread

1/2 c low-fat milk
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 c warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5-6 c all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. DO NOT let it boil! Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour. Mix about 1 minute. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 2 minutes or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into rectangle, approx. 9x14 inches. Starting at a short end, roll dough tightly and pinch dough to seal seam. Pinch ends and turn under, then place, seam side down in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

[K rolls hers out because that is what the recipe says. I'm not a fan of the extra work, so I just formed it the way my mom does basic dinner rolls, except on a much larger scale.]

I DID JINX US!

In one of Monday's posts, I mentioned how it had been a whole month since Taelyn bit someone at daycare. I followed it with a quick hope that I didn't jinx us. Guess I totally did, because Tae bit somebody again yesterday. Now our count starts all over.

Day one without biting.

ASL and Speech Development

We have been teaching Tae a few signs. She has quite a few down: bath, cereal, cracker, help, hungry, fish, milk, more, shoe, sleep, thank you, water, cute, please.

Some people say that it slows speech development; others say it progresses it. Both are backed by studies. My opinion? Either way, I love her being able to tell me what she wants and my being able to understand.

Honestly, I do think it has slowed down her attempts to communicate verbally. Why work on saying it when mom already knows what you want. At the same time, it has been interesting to see the development take place. The first sign she learned was cracker. Now she says it. Granted, you may not recognize 'ckh-a-ckh-r' for what it is, but we sure do. Now that she can say it, she refuses to sign it. Additionally, I keep forgetting to look up the signs for some of her favorite foods (peach, pear, pineapple, etc). Because we haven't shown her the sign, she attempts to copy our speech pattern for the word. So would she be attempting to talk more if she didn't have the signing to fall back on? Probably. Would I be able to understand what she was trying to communicate? I doubt it (right now peach and peanut sound exactly the same). I do love how confident she is in signing. Interestingly enough, I think that confidence has passed on to her verbal skills.

Anyway. For those who may be contemplating teaching your infant/toddler sign language, here are my thoughts. In my researching the topic, there are varying ages that 'they' recommend beginning. (I know, I know. Who are 'they' and why are 'they' saying it.) We tried starting at 8 months. Nothing happened. I continued to try, off and on, for the next few months. Still nothing. It wasn't until after she turned one that she took off. Now I can show her a sign 3-4 times and she has it down.

Something to keep in mind is that often an infant/toddler will sign a word incorrectly. That is fine. You should be looking for repetition of the sign to determine what they are trying to communicate. As you figure out their signs, continue to sign it correctly to them. They will correct their signs as they get older and their coordination increases.

I could go off on this topic, more than I already have, but these are the basics according to me. Any questions or thoughts on the topic? No, I don't really expect any replies to that question, but secretly I am hoping.

What's been going on at our house?

I really do feel bad about the lack of posts lately. So much has happened-and yet...nothing has really happened.

Tae got stomach flu a week and a half ago. It was our first throw-up experience with her. It was awful. She got sick twice before we put her to bed. We had an emergency bath and changing of her bedding before we went to bed. She woke up choking on and coughing up phlegm 4 times during the night. When I called my boss the next morning to let him know I was staying home with her, I had reached the point of desperation. I said, "Scott, you're a dad that has been through this. What do I do?!" 5 minutes later, his wife called me. We were finally able to get her to hold down Pedialyte.

We had a RS retreat up at the Heber Valley Girls Camp. It was a one-night campout thing. My parents were going to baby-sit because Jon had been asked to come as one of the Priesthood leaders. Unfortunately, that fell at the tail end of Tae's 24-hour flu. Jon stayed home with her and I went up for a few hours. Other than the snow on the ground and the freezing cold wind, it was rather enjoyable. Secretly I was glad I had to go home. I'm not sure I ever would have gotten warm enough to actually fall asleep.

Last weekend was the ASCE-YMF BBQ. Lot of acronyms, I know. American Society of Civil Engineers-Younger Member Forum. It is the professional organization for Civil Engineers under the age of 35. There was actually a huge turnout. We ate dinner, carved pumpkins, fed ducks, chased Taelyn, and missed the officer elections (we were feeding ducks). Kind of sad considering I was running for Treasurer. All positions were uncontested-so it wasn't too big a deal.

That is about it. OH! Except for the fact that it has been 1 whole month since Taelyn has bit someone at daycare! Sad as it may be, I feel like it is Christmas every time I go to pick her up and there isn't a slip telling me she bit someone. It's like it has been Christmas for a whole month! In her defense, she never used to bite...until she was bitten first. Hopefully we are passed that phase...and hopefully I didn't just jinx it.

What's been going on in our ward?

There are two things that I really want to blog about.

The first is the family that taught the last RS cooking class. They are from Micronesia. The daughter served a mission in England, so she serves as a translator. I think I have figured out the family relations there, but am not really sure how to explain it. The mom and dad have two married daughters and a single son. I believe their nephew lives with them, as well as the brother of their son-in-law. Anyway, the reason I post about this family is because we attended the baptism of their nephew's wife (they had gotten married earlier that same day). It was so sweet and simple. The talks were in their native language and the daughter translated. The following day the nephew's wife was confirmed. Because it was fast and testimony meeting, several of the family members then bore their testimonies. We heard from the father, the girl that had just been baptized, one of the son-in-laws (both son-in-laws are new members), and the daughter that serves as the translator. It was one of the more spiritual meetings that I have attended lately. Maybe it was partly because Taelyn was good and I was able to listen. Either way, this family is amazing and it has been fun to watch them grow.

The second thing is that we now have Sister Missionaries! It was amazing to be able to go out with them to an appointment. It reminded me of how long it has been since I was in their shoes. They are both amazing and work so well together. One is a recent convert from Michigan who is finishing up her mission. The other is from Kentucky and is just starting hers. They spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and did an amazing job. Once again, Taelyn was good and I was able to listen.

It was nice to have two incredible meetings in a row. It was even nicer that I got to listen to them both. I had honestly gotten to the point where I was wondering if I would ever be able to feel the Spirit in a meeting again. I never realized just how hard it is to have a toddler at church.

RS Cooking Class 6

I just realized that I have still not posted classes 3-5. I've fallen behind and let my blog go! In an attempt to remedy that, let me post this. It was last night and I actually have the 'recipe' still in my purse.

The recipe is for Tapioca Cake, a traditional Micronesian dessert. We were all a little confused when the women (mother and daughter) teaching weren't sure on the cooking temperature or time. They explained (the daughter translated) that they make it in the community 'oven' that the men made with stones. I can totally understand how converting the recipe from the traditional method was a little difficult. This dessert was a hit and everyone in attendance enjoyed it. I highly recommend trying it sometime.

Tapioca Cake
1 bag Frozen Grated Cassava (They couldn't find a Micronesian store, but they found this at the Asian market around the corner. This is the tapioca-that they usually grate and make from scratch)
1/2 cup water
1/2 can condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cream cheese frosting (they used Pillsbury brand. Strawberry frosting is also often used)
1 cup coconut milk
Start with the Cassava in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add one ingredient at a time and stir until creamy before adding next ingredient *. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a metal cake pan.

*If you double the recipe, add sugar to taste (up to 1 cup)

Nursing Covers--$32 off

I just got an email about this blog.

If you need a baby gift, or want to get a nursing cover for yourself, I highly recommend checking it out. I bought the gift set (regularly $45.85), which is on sale for $37. With the $32 off code, I paid $5 plus $8.95 shipping. Not bad.

I'm actually excited to see what else this blog has to offer. Anything subtitled A place to learn, practice, and brag about freebies, saving money, & deals! is totally worth checking out.

Our Trip to the Zoo

We took Tae to the zoo on Saturday. I loved living close enough that when she got tired after an hour and a half, we could leave. There was no need to stay to make the trip worth the drive or the $$. Anyway, we saw all the babies (tiger, elephant and giraffe). So cute! Last we hit the carousel. That and the baby elephant were Taelyn's favorite. Other than Taelyn being in a Mommy mood, we had a great time. Thanks to Jon for taking the pictures while I was busy carrying Taelyn.

I don't have time to arrange the pictures, so I apologize for the following picture dump.