Animals and Dinosaurs

We took Joshua to the Hogle Zoo today. It was a brief trip, very hot and tiring, but he had fun. Some highlights:

Mommy and Joshua checking out some monkeys.

Look, it's an elephant!

They're doing some construction on the bear pavilion, so they had these little shovel thingies that the kids could play with. I think Cody had more fun using it than Joshua.

Giraffe!

My cute little (big) boy :)

Look, a dinosaur!

Love this gorilla.

ROAR!!!

Yeah, we were all tired and sweaty when it was over. Still, a pretty fun trip. Joshua had no problems going straight to bed when we got home :)

Five Years!

Then:

Now:

Then:
Now:

It's been a wonderful five years, full of highs, lows, and a lot of fun. We celebrated by doing some proxy sealings at the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple, then having some yummy crab at Red Lobster. Good times. I love you, my dearest love!!!

Special Day

Today was a very special day for the Alleman Family--and I'm not talking about just our little family of three. Chad, Cody's older brother, was baptized today into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he asked his little (big) brother to perform the ordinance. It was Cody's first time performing a baptism, and it was humbling to have it be for his big brother. What an amazing privilege for both of them! It was a very spiritual event.

Chad and Cody in their white jumpsuits

Our family plus Chad and his wife, Ivy

They had a great little brunch after the baptismal ceremony--here's a lot of the family :)

The Alleman brothers, their dad, and their grandma

The Alleman crew!

The Allemans, plus Chad and Cody's maternal grandmother and her husband

Tomorrow we'll head to Springville again to be there when Chad is confirmed and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It's exciting to be a part of these basic ordinances--the first ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it.

Joshua the Artist

Joshua's creativity is really coming out these days. First off, his toy sculpture:

Next, Joshua the photog:

(Thanks for the flattering angle, Joshua)

And finally, his drawings, which just a week or two ago really started becoming recognizable as actual things:

This one is awesome. He drew a bunny, asked Cody to cut it out, and then glued it onto another piece of paper. The nose? A piece of couch stuffing (our couches are falling apart...).

A train, of course.

This is apparently a self portrait. Can't you tell?

Some of these are a little freaky-looking, but...yeah :o

And he even tried to write his name! Without help! I'm so impressed :)

The past couple of days when I've come home from work, he has been so excited to show me his latest creation ("Mommy, cwose your eyes! I gotta show ya somethin'!"). I can't wait to see what he makes for me tomorrow.