The Jungle

This year for Averie's birthday, we decided to take her to Reptile Gardens in the Black Hills. We went there last year without her and couldn't wait to take her. They have awesome displays and some of the animals are only displayed here and in one other country. They have a rattlesnake that is 1 of only 2 that are in captivity.

Averie loved it. She got to pet a snake, alligator and a ginormous turtle. Claiming every time "it got me mommy, it got me!" She got to see "Captain Hook's popadile" and the "gators". The only problem mommy had was when, after a month of teaching her the concept of when you see a snake, don't touch- get mommy and daddy, she decided she wants to catch a snake. With the bug catching net she got for her birthday, no less. Great.

Family picture- Does this look familiar Tammi? It reminds me of almost all your family pictures. The only one smiling is the mom.

"Maniac" or as Averie calls him, Captain Hook's Popadile. He is at least 25 ft long. He is ENORMOUS!!!!!

Prairie Dog Town- like we can't see this every day. I can't believe some people pay to watch these stupid animals. They do make for a cute picture, though.

Petting the Python

Tell us how you really feel, A.

GIANT turtles

"Methuselah" This turtle is 129 years old (born in 1881) and weighs in at 600 pounds. You can tell how big he is with Averie standing behind him.

How to Wrestle an Alligator
(in case anyone was wondering)

First- get a hold of the tail
Second- pull him as fast as you can through your legs
Third- jump on him with your knees pressed up against his armpits (do alligators have armpits?)
Fourth- and probably most importantly
Press down on his head and grab his jaw to keep him from biting you. It turns out that the average human can hold a small to medium sized alligators mouth shut. The problem comes when trying to get out of the mouth.
I could not make this up. They really taught you how to wrestle an alligator. I even got the T-shirt.

Petting a baby alligator.

So, I was looking through the side window of this display, and admiring the alligator skin boots and purse and commenting to Brian that I want some, bad. Well, I came around the front and saw what was on the front of the display. Yep, I am contributing to the Souvenirs of Slaughter. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Giant Sea Turtle. They actually found this about 40 miles from Reptile Gardens.

Looking into the "Jungle"

This is the look after asking and asking for her to look at the camera. I can't reiterate enough how much of a Gilson she really is. Getting her to look at the camera is worse than pulling teeth. When I finally do get her to look, this is the result.

I couldn't believe how much she has grown up, just in the time we have lived here. I saw this picture and wanted to cry!

The result of a VERY long day. It was a blast!!!!!!

Been A Long Time!

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted- and I probably still wouldn't have if not for my mother-in-law and husband :) We are living in a new state- one I swore we would never live in! We are in South Dakota in a town called Rosebud. Brian got a new job here and we will be here for at least 4 years. It is a pretty area, but I miss my mountains. We are living on an Indian reservation (never thought that would happen, either). It has definitely been an experience living here, and we have only been here 6 months.

Our Branch is in the only District (not stake) in the continental US. Our district consists of about as many people as are in a regular ward (this district is includes almost all of South Dakota- about 13 branches). We have 2 main families in our branch- about 25 people (including us). There is a new family that is moving in next door that is LDS and has 3 kids (2 are Averie's age)- and I can't wait!!!!

The closest city is Valentine, NE and it is about the size of Castle Dale and Orangeville put together. Pierre (state capitol) is an hour and a half away (little bigger than Price) and the closest big city (big is relevant to the area) is Rapid city (3 hours away). I thought that isolation was Castle Dale- boy was I wrong! No worries, though. We have the family moving in next door and some of our best friends from pharmacy school in Montana are moving here as well.

Brian can't wait until the fall. There is sooooooo much hunting and fishing that Brian is like a kid at a killing Christmas. I am excited to hunt white tail this fall as well.

We had a wonderful Christmas here, and yes, we did put pheasant feathers in the tree (it looked awesome and very dakotaish).

Our home is very nice, it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with an unfinished basement and a garage. It has a huge kitchen (compared to our other homes-I don't have any clutter on the counters-it's great!) and just the right amount of space. We live in an area that is reserved for hospital employees and their families only. There aren't a lot of kids now, but the family that is moving here is going to be right next door. Brian loves his job and I couldn't ask for more. He doesn't come home at night complaining and he doesn't dread going in the morning. He works 8 days on and has 6 days off- so we are definitely going exploring this summer! Nauvoo is only about 9.5 hours away and lots of fishing in Minnesota is calling our name!

Well, that is our life in 6 months in a nutshell. There will definitely be more to show and tell come this summer and fall!

House Pictures

Hunting Pictures

Holidays

Random

This is the state capitol. All these geese (there were hundreds) like to stay in this pond because it is heated in the winter time.

We had Roberts family pics done and these turned out soooo cute!