Wildlife Zoo & Aquarium

 

Last month on Wednesday of spring break the Weber family was in town and we went to the Wildlife Zoo & Aquarium with them.  This is our first time and it was amazing seeing different animals from the PHX zoo.  It felt like some of the larger animals were more up close.

Below there are monkeys that we watched climb those palm trees.  There's a boat ride that would have been fun to go around those trees, it was closed when we were there.

love how those birds coordinate with the paint

It seemed there were more birds than anything, but feeding the giraffe was really cool.  Their necks are so long so we got to stand on a raised deck to feed them.

The last photo Michelle took at a lego store we went to have the Zoo and lunch.  The kids probably played with and looked at legos for an hour. :)

Glad the Webers came in town so we could spend part of spring break with them.

Michelle & Riley

 

Just got these photos done from when the Weber's visited Christmas week.  We just took a few minutes of their visit to snap some headshots and cute couple photos in our front yard.  These people are pure gold.  They're the real deal, and it's been fun taking some of their photos over the years like these ones in 2019.  Michelle is such a babe, I mean look at her!

Riley is a foodie and so much fun too!

We visited them in New Mexico last year and can't wait to see them again.  Their kids just get along so well with our kids and Riley and Andrew get along so well, just like Michelle and me.  Besties all around. I made video of that trip here.

Maybe some day they'll live in Arizona again.

Christmas week with the Weber family

 

We always love it when the Weber's are in town!  Our trip to visit them over Labor Day last year was one of the highlights of the year.  Our kids get along so well and they are just fun people!  When we get together with the Weber's we just don't want it to stop.  They came around lunch time and ended up hanging out the rest of the day.  Riley and Andrew picked up some Backyard Taco for lunch.

Later we did some chocolate taste testing from Trader Joes.  The hot chili and double espresso went in the trash (who would want spicy chocolate?!).  We've done taste tests in the past (eggnog one here), and want to do more, so it was awesome doing it with friends.

The Weber's are like family so when they're in town or live nearby we do a little gift exchange with them around Christmas.  They're really good gift givers.  They boys got some cool books.

Avery and Zara got these sparkly body mists from Bath & Today works they try on every time we visit.

They gifted us a gift card to On the Border so we treated them to dinner.  They're just the best friends and we're grateful to have them in our life.

we love the Weber family

I am feeling very rusty with this blogging thing.  I wanted an update this place years ago but my lack of knowledge, as well as putting other things first has made this space what it is.  However, I don't want to give this space up!  So if you're here still, following along thank you!  Also know that I spend most of my time on Instagram if you care to follow there @marilynfreeman . :)  For now say hello to our amazing friends the Weber family!  Michelle and Riley and their family live in New Mexico and we've been friends since before Elliot was born.  While they were in town last month Michelle asked me to take their family photos so of course I said yes.  I think this was the third time I've taken their photos and they are such a fun family, as you can see.

           

                    I've been learning more about creativity lately, particularly from two podcasts.  One is called Live Free Creative with Miranda Anderson, and the other is Heartful with Brooke Schultz.  Something I learned is that some of the most amazing creations were done within limited parameters.  For example, a painter that uses only one type of medium like water color, or a writer that can only use a certain number of words.  Well, this photoshoot was like that for me.  I forgot about it so I was running late unprepared.  My memory card was just about full so I only had space for about 75 photos on it.  Now I know typically I overtake photos especially for family shoots because there are more chances for someone blinking, or a kid crying, etc... So I went into this shoot very intentionally.  It turned out to be one of my fastest photoshoots and I did it with space to spare! Plus it was of the most fun and energetic shoots.  Ok, a lot of the credit goes to the Weber family.  They made my job easy. :)
             

           

             

             

Michelle and I have had a lot of our pregnancies together and they have 5 kids just like us so getting together with them is fun for the parents and the kids.  Don't you just love friends like that?! Priceless!  We are so excited to be visiting them over October Break and seeing the Balloon Festival in New Mexico for our first time.  It's going to be the best!

Christmas Eve with the Webers'

Every year some time before Christmas it's been a tradition to exchange gifts with our good friends, Riley and Michelle Weber, and their kids.  The Webers' and us go way back!  Back when I was pregnant with Elliot living in England they were in my parents ward and went on exchange to Hull University, where we lived in England.  My parents gave them our contact info and as soon as they moved out there we started hanging out a lot.  They came at a time when I was really missing my home and my country and filled a void.  During those few months we went on a bunch of day trips all over Yorkshire and really made a lot of good memories.  We were also able to help them by driving them to church every week. Since then, we have established our families here in Mesa and enjoy watching our families grow. Michelle is pregnant with her first girl and I am so excited for her!

We love the Weber family and hope they will also live close to us!