Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, California

On Thursday, December 22, 2005, we took Taylor and Jayden to the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno, California. The first animal we visited was the elephants and as soon as Jayden saw them he started mooing, thinking they were cows. He was fun to watch discover the different animals. Taylor made sure to tell Jayden what the animals were as we visited all the different animals in the zoo. Taylor decided she was a flamingo and tried to stand like them. We had a fun and exciting day with the grandkids. Boy were we tired when we got back home. There is a reason God gave us kids at a young age! Grandkids are great, we can take them out for a day of fun, feed them sweets and then take them home.

Granddad and Jayden playing ball

Here is Granddad and Jayden playing ball. Jayden was just laughing and having a great time with Granddad. This was a Candi and Dustin's the week before Christmas. He sure is getting big!

Merry Christmas

On December 17, 2005 we went to Mom and Dad Smith's for a Christmas celebration. We had a great time with a terrific turkey dinner. We were blessed with Grandpa and Grandma Burnham with us for the day. We made candy canes all together and they sure are good. We have five generations here and all smiling and having a great day together. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and is blessed with family together for the holidays.

Traveling with Taylor

I flew from Las Vegas to Bakersfield to attend all of Taylor's performances of Peter Pan, in which she was a wolf. Then after watching the star of the play we drove back to Las Vegas and Granddad "Bry" picked us up from the car rental company. Then we went to the aquarium at Mandalay Bay and Taylor enjoyed seeing all of the sharks. Maybe when she gets old enough she will be adventurous like her Granddad and go scuba diving with the sharks. Then we went to Excalibur, or as Taylor says "The Castle" and she and her Granddad won her about twenty stuffed animals in the arcade. We enjoyed the dinner show and Taylor thought it was fun to eat without silverware. She really enjoyed the horses in the show. After a fun afternoon and evening in Las Vegas we drove back to the rv in Laughlin and spent the night there. The next day we went to Calico Ghost Town in Barstow, California and stayed at the rv park there. Taylor enjoyed petting all of the horses there and is looking forward to riding them when she is 7 years old. She and I had a lot of fun exploring the caves in the area and seeing the sights of the old ghost town. We had a great deal of fun traveling with Taylor and we think she had fun also.

The Grand Canyon

On Thanksgiving day we went up to the Grand Canyon. We rode up in a luxury parlour car with a private rear viewing area on the Grand Canyon Railway. We went to a nice restaraunt with a great view of the canyon and enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner. It wasn't as good as a home turkey dinner with a kids table and black olives on a child's fingers. But it was very elegant and we ate a lot of very appetizing food. Then we walked around enjoying the view of the southern rim of the Grand Canyon and I took about a hundred pictures. I have never seen the Grand Canyon before and it is an amazing sight. Then we rode back in the luxury car again on the railway. It was a wonderful day. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well. 

Here I am at the Grand Canyon

Here is a picture that Bryant took of me at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. 

New Mexico Landscape

I just thought I would share a picture of the natural landscape of New Mexico. On our way back from the caverns we stopped for me to take a few pictures of the area. This is the plant life we have seen while driving through New Mexico and at times we have been able to enjoy the mountains as well. 

Carlsbad Caverns

We enjoyed a self guided tour today of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. They are 750 feet below the earth's surface and they have an amazing collection of formations. It is hard to get a picture that truly captures the sight but I am sharing what I do have. The caverns are very large and there were so many formations to view. We enjoyed our tour, going without a guide and enjoying the sights at our own pace. A fun way to spend the morning. 

Curious Ostrich

Here is one of the ostrich at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. The one on Bry's side of the truck was biting his window, while this one on my side of the truck looked more curious as to why our windows were up. These guys can run very fast also and reached over the top of the truck when stretching their necks. 

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

While in San Antonio, Texas we went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. It was so much fun. They give you animal feed when entering the park, then you drive through and feed all of the animals. The ostrich would reach in the vehicles and grab the bags of feed so we had our windows up while near them. They then bite the windows trying to get us to feed them. The zebras were my favorite, and I feed them out of my hand. I took over 100 pictures, mostly of the zebras, I love them. They would put their heads into the truck while we feed them and they also let us pet them. They had many different types of animals and we enjoyed it so much that we drove through three times. This is someplace I know Taylor would really love to visit. If you are ever in San Antonio, Texas this is a must see.