noon years eve at the zoo

during christmas we spent lots of fun time with family. it's always a good time when the kiddos get to see their cousins. so on new years eve, we spent a beautiful arizona morning (yeah, you wish you lived here in the winter, you know it) at the zoo. and it was a blast.


adorable. cute. precious. melt-my-heart loving riley.


ellie and rory. they are only three days apart, and despite being polar opposites in personality, they are such good friends. they love each other so much.


abe tackling an alligator. myra fun fact: did you know that one of my greatest fears is alligators? i shutter at the thought of coming across one in the wild. perhaps this fear stems from alligator nightmares i had while living in florida.


kc and dj came with us at the zoo. abe may have tackled the alligator, but they tamed the elephant!


ken sititng with riley. i love daddy-daughter moments. i am lucky to observe them every day. who knew that when i married this handsome man that he would be such a great dad? i really, really lucked out.


rich playing peek-a-boo behind mason.


abe and cole navigating their way through the zoo.


aubrey and rory petting the smelly, poopy, head-butting goats (i don't like goats all that much, can you tell?).


and finally, the only picture we managed to get of otho. he was sneaky with that hood pulled over his head the entire time. but he was there and he had a great time along with the rest of us.