Thanksgiving Road Trip!!

Well...we are quite the ambitious parents!! 12+ hours in the car with our little Natalie. She was quite a great traveler, but really, who can do that long in a car seat without some complaints about 8-10 hours into it!! We thankfully broke up the trip on the way out, but did have to come back to Colorado in one long push the day after Thanksgiving. As you read the captions of the pictures, you'll get updated on our trip. It was a great time with family and some friends...we so wish we could have had more time to see so many more of you. It's really hard and we knew we needed to focus on family time. Please know that we thought of each of you we couldn't see and hope that we get the chance to see you in the future. And, OF COURSE, you are ALL welcome to come out for a Colorado vacation with us ANYTIME!!

-L

After enjoying breakfast in Russell, KS with Dale & Maria (photography friends), we continued toward St. Louis & Cape Girardeau with a great stop in Kansas City to see Dave & Loni. We saw their home and then went to lunch. It was a much-needed break from the car seat for Natalie!!




We arrived to Grandma B's house in Cape Girardeau, MO on Sunday evening. On Monday, we got to spend time with Aunt Kathy, Uncle Calvin, and Cousins Casey and Emily and Emily's baby, Stratton. Emily's husband also stopped by for a little bit. It was great to catch up with them and introduce them to Natalie!







We got to meet little Stratton...Cousin Emily's first! She also got to meet Natalie...





Great Grandma B enjoys precious moments with Natalie...




We arrived to St. Louis Tuesday evening, and we managed to see Joe Steiger (friend and our wedding photographer) off the Arnold exit of I-55. We spent Tuesday evening with family to celebrate Koren's birthday!

After I got a chance to catch up with my friend, Gretel, and meet her son, William, Jon, Natalie, LaVonna, and I spent the afternoon in Forest Park, visiting both the Art Museum and the Zoo!
Me and Natalie by the statue of Saint Louis.



Going to the Art Museum...Natalie's first time in a museum!



We had to make this special trip into the Art Museum for LaVonna to take Jon's picture in front of this statue that looks a LOT like him (at least in the longer hair days!)...We also went through some of the other rooms, my favorite being the room with the Monets and Van Goghs.




It was a perfect day to be outside at the zoo for Natalie's first Zoo Trip! Also perfect since the St. Louis zoo is always FREE! Super-cute and having fun...



LaVonna and her camera...



Natalie had her first drinking fountain experience here at the zoo at this cool water fountain sculpture...how cute is the one of her drinking?!?!





Me & Natalie by one of the zoo train crossings...



Tigers, Leopards, and Sea Lions...OH, MY!!
The tigers were really fun since there was a litter of cubs in the spring. They were very playful and active while we watched.





We saw quite a few bears...




A trip to the zoo cannot be complete without seeing my favorite...the PENGUINS! Natalie's getting a Christmas present themed around this stop at the zoo...






We had to get this picture in front of the classic Zoo sign...this is what happens when hungry Natalie isn't done with her bottle and we take it away...



Jenny & Jeremy had us take portraits of them for Christmas cards. These are a few favorites from their session at the St. Peter's Rec Plex...





While in town, Jon did portraits of Josh, Koren, and Katie for Christmas. These are 3 of our favorites...





Jon and I had a "date night" to our fav restaurant in St. Louis...they have our favorite calamari. After our dinner, we got to hang out with Jason & Lisa Cole and their 3-year-old son, Jacob. Hopefully they will come out and visit us in Colorado soon!



Buggy opens the first of her Christmas presents so Aunt Jenny & Jeremy could watch her open their gifts! She got the cutest outfits, a "first Christmas" stocking, and a savings bond...thank you for such great gifts!!