Favorite Snapshots from our Utah trip

Too much to handle.

Sometimse I feel weird saying this, maybe it's because of the name or the broad fan base, but I love Harry Potter. I love the action, I love the characters (mostly Ron), I love the community surrounded by this world. Kudos to J.K Rolling and her ability to create something this big for some many people! Curt, Carli, and I endured the noisy people, boring trivia games that continue to repeat, and the decent movie trailors (The Rise of the Dark Knight looks very good).  And then it started! Ahhhh. My tiredness vanished, and so did my nails. I know whats going to happen, but I get so nervous still! Anyways, the movie was wonderful. They included great shots, colors, lines, action, and humor. I was very pleased with the outcome and now I want to re-read all of the books (which will always be better than the movies).


And then on Friday, we had our camping trip with JC and Trinity. We were so excited for this also. We built the tent, watched Toy Story 3, ate ice cream. told ghost stories, and squeezed in tight inside our two person tent.  It was a lot of fun and we absolutely love hanging out with our little nieces and nephews. We miss them already.

Rewind.

We started our conquest to Florida the moment we were able to, March 12, 2011. We made a wise decision to split the trip into two segments, stopping of course with the beloved Tennesseeian Isenbarger (Cole & Emily). But BEFORE we reached Murfreesboro, we found a beautiful and secret place...

Check out that name.

Big Bubba Bucks Belly Bustin BBQ Bliss.

So great.

The food was even better. We had ribs, sweet tater fries, corn bread, pork sammiche, and peach cobbler. I want some now. And check out their grills...

This was a very legit BBQ.

With our stomachs happy, we continued our drive and wound up in Emily and Cole's parking lot. We checked out their place and then met up with more family-Betsy and Sam and Preston, Carla, and Ryan and Mikah and Mackenzie.That was a first time for me. They were great, lots of good times right there. We ate at Chuy's (pronounced chew-ies) and had some delicious mexican foods.

Soooo, already within the first day of our trip, it was great. We ate great food and stayed with people we love. It only gets better from here...


MORE LATER.
I don't want to overload you with wonderfulness.

Africa, Australia, Asia, and Florida all in one day.

I am not sure if you heard, but this is us:

in Jacksonville, Florida.

But we weren't just in Florida, 

we also traveled to Africa,

and Australia,

and even Asia.

We hunted wild crocodiles,

and then returned them to a protected and very desirable environment.

 

We chased wild wart hogs,

and sang Hakuna Matata while eating juicy bugs.

We pointed and marveled at African wonders,

such as this yellow haired bird.

This was Curt Dawg's favorite,

or one of his favorites at least,

it is quite a magnificent beast.

And then we chilled with the big man,

King of the Kong,

that was lots of fun.

 Oh yes, we also rode African elephants for a while,

no big deal.

 This is bamboo from an Asian forest,

we made cooking utensils with them.

 I have a ton of pictures with our giraffe friends, 

I love them and we were so close!

I seriously couldn't believe it. 

People were feeding them from their hands,

so cool.

 Love Addie and Braden so much.

This week was a blast hanging out with them.

Braden referred to Curt as my "friend" or "brother"m

it was so funny.

 SO adorable.

I want one.

 The longest tongue I have ever seen:

Our world wide safari was about a 5 hour expedition,

it was incredible!

So many great exhibits,

but mostly it was because we were with great people.

We love them so much.

It's gonna be tough saying "See ya later" tomorrow morning,

after we have our star wars pancakes.

<3

February Festivities Filled (w) Fun.

This is Carli, my adorable sister.

February is quite the month. 

Tons of action going on here.

Firstly, and most importantly,

My day of birth was celebrated 

(and ground hogs day). 

(Love you Phil.)

This was a big one. 

I left my teen years behind me.

Weird. 

Sometimes I feel like I'm still stuck in 18.

But I'm not, I am now TWENTY.

Two. Zero.

This year was kinda of odd,

This is Me, Logan, and Carli when we first moved here.

Lafayette was hit with a freak snow storm.

I think it was a total of 8 inches.

Decent amount,

Enough to cancel school!

For TWO WHOLE DAYS.

Happy Birthday Me!

This is what we did during the snow storm:

Carli slept over!

That was lots of fun. I love her oh so much. 

We ventured out in the icy snow

to our nearest Family Pantry.

We then cuddled and watched Robin Hood.

Then we fell asleep,

Carli on our couch, Curt and I in our bed.

Carli didn't want to snuggle with us. :(

But we woke up to my BIRTHDAY.

I am reliving it all right now, and I love it.

About to go sledding.

Our cars are stuck.

Can't go anywhere.

What's the first thing we do?

SLEDDING.

with our dear friends. 

The problem was we had no sleds,

neither did any department store in the entire Lafayette county. 

Doesn't make sense. 

They could've made lots of money from us.

Eventually this woman,

Debbie,

from good ol' General Dollar gives us beach tubes

FO FREE.

THANK YOU DEBBIE.

unfortunately beach tubes don't last too long on frozen snow.

We still appreciated the gesture.

So sledding was kind of a fail.

But the day is not over yet. 

We then have a Lord of the Rings Marathon!

Super great. 

we still need to watch the third one actually. 

AND THEN,

Curt and I went to the OB.

we both are big big fans.

After our tummies were very full,

we opened gifts! yesss

Curt surprised me with artsy things,

an eisel and canvas,

and cooking pans!

and this cute bird door hanger. 

I absolutely love it.

Curt, you are the best. 

So that was my birthday.

But just wait...

We actually celebrated it TWO more times. 

One with Curt's fam and yesterday we celebrated it with mine!

It just never ends.

I LOVE have family so close. 

Then we had Winter Fest 2011. Whoop Whoop.

PEFCU knows how to party.

We ate some good food and danced the night away.

We looked cute too. 

And we can't forget Volleyball Night. No siree.

We heart Volleyball.

Especially when our lovely new bff's come.

They make everything more fun.

I just hope February never ends.

Just Kidding.

March you are going to be super fun too.

Jacksonville, we can't wait!