Kim and Skyler Come to "Visit"

Here is my dear BFF, Kim Leavitt Andersen, from my college days at BYU. She is a lot bigger than when I last saw her, because she is now expecting their first baby in about a month. She and Skyler got married last summer, right after I moved out here to VA, and because I was hugely pregnant with Abigail I wasn't able to fly out and attend. This was the first time I'd seen her since she got married let alone pregnant! It was fun to have them visit and to get to spend a little time with her and Skyler. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get more time with them when they came. It seemed for the majority of the week that we were just a free hotel and it kind of bummed me out. We did however get to enjoy the zoo with them, and they also took Nathan and I out to dinner one night later in the week. It was fun and they have great personalities. They brought out the crazy side in Nate too, which was funny to see. Only certain people can bring that side out of him and it is hilarious when it happens.

Here's a pic in front of the National Zoo (which is free, relatively close, and has almost all the animals you can think of). We were all waiting for Nathan, who dropped us off to go and park the car. The zoo may be free, but the parking is not and is really hard to find.

This gorilla gave us the highlight of our zoo trip. There are signs all over the zoo that say, "Do not feed the animals." Apparently Nathan did not see any of those signs and decided that this gorilla should have something a little better than those leaves you see beside him. So, Nathan threw him some string cheese, which the gorilla ate right away. After eating the cheese however, the gorilla stared at Nate for about 2 minutes without so much as blinking. He had a really serious look on his face and we couldn't tell whether he was angry or intrigued by Nathan's cheese. We were laughing like crazy and I can't seem to get the image out of my head. Every once in a while I can see the gorilla staring Nate down and it makes me laugh out loud all over again.

We got to the elephant exhibit just in time. They were putting on a show and it was rather fascinating to watch the elephants use their trunks to pick up tiny objects like keys, and push huge and heavy things like tree trunks. You know it is interesting when even Lily will sit still for more than 10 minutes to watch!!!

Me and kim the morning they left. It always seems to slip my mind to take more pictures during the week, when you can actually look good in them. It's always a last minute thing for me, I definitely need to be better at taking pictures during the vacation, to record more of what happens. Of course, it wasn't my vacation, and I really didn't get to see Kim very much except for at night when we were both pretty exhausted. We had a good time and renewed the closeness of our friendship. I will always love Kim and appreciate the friendship and support she has given me through the years. Our relationship is different now, but I knew it would be- it's like any other long distance relationship, it takes work.