Bear Lake 2008

We LOVE Bear Lake! It's definitely one of my, maybe even my favorite, trips of the year. We get to swim, play mini golf, dodge the Bear Lake Monster, and wakeboard (my favorite). We were even able to put Coop to bed and go boarding at sunset. Can't get much better than that. We go with Justin's whole family and it's a blast! We even saw Elder L. Tom Perry there. He walked by and it was all I could do to stop myself from suffocating him in a hug. I had a pic but once again it got erased. Seriously, so mad

Such a stud. Even while he's chasing the seagulls. One of his favorite pastimes.

Haylie and Cooper are only about 5mos apart and have fun playing together~especially if they are making trouble. They chased the birds, tore all of the tassles off of a little girls bike and jumped like monkeys on anything they could find.

Cooper was also very concerned about the sand on his arm that he couldn't seem to get off. We had a blast and even survived family pics! I can't wait to go back next year!!!

p.s. I really do have a husband but for some reason we are never in the same place to get pics at the same time!

6 years and counting...

Happy Anniversary Baby!

For our 6th anniversary we stayed at Anniversary Inn in the Jungle Safari room. It was pretty cool. The trunk of the elephant was a shower that went into a jacuzzi tub and the bed was set up in a tree with a waterfall coming down it. We got to go to dinner and a movie and sleep in! It was awesome. We had some other cool pics but they got erased from my camera and I was so mad! Oh well, that's why one year olds shouldn't play with them. I can't believe it's been that long but it has been awesome and we're looking forward to many more.

Independence Day

We went to the annual parade in Provo, which Cooper loved! I thought he would be running everywhere but I guess there was enough to keep him entertained that he just stayed put with me and sprayed people with the water gun! We also had a picnic in the park where they played in the little pond, and watched Thanksgiving Point fireworks. It was fun. Hopefully next year Justin won't have to work during the day!

ThE zOo

We had so much fun at the zOo with Hayden, Haylie, Andrea and Grandma Milne! The kids loved the animals, the zoo train and squirting each other with water guns. It was a great day. We will definitely do it again next year.

Forget taking a picture, they are ready to get started!

Spraying Grandma with the water gun (I love that picture)

The giraffe's were so cool. They even had a pretty new baby one


Luckily we didn't have to heed this warning


Coop a little nervous about the water spraying elephant

June

June was a great month! We had my 25th birthday (I know I'm so old!), Justin's 28th birthday (at least I'm not as old as him) and lots of other fun summer activities to keep us entertained. Here are a few pics from June...

Cooper discovered his LOVE of lawnmowers. Seriously he talks about them at least 3 times a day!


We had fun swimming with the cousins

Justin's annual birthday pool party/BBQ

top: Devin, Mike, Becky

bottome: Justin, Lindy, Cooper, Kristin, Vance, Barbara, Hannah, Matt

Playin' with Sadie

Lake Powell sand*sun*sunscreen

This trip was complete with sun, rain, 5ft swells, sand, fun and illegal fireworks!!! Can it get much better than that?

Not the usual sunny and 100 degree weather but we didn't sink on the way to the houseboat and Cooper slept through the 5ft swells and rain!

Just sunscreened+sand+shovel=hours of fun!
Cooper loved it. I was so worried about him running straight to the water but he barely even tried. Give him some sand and a shovel and he's good to go for hours!

Good Morning!

It was close quarters for everyone that didn't have a room because it was too cold to sleep up on the deck. These are all of Cooper's cousins and a couple of their friends.

*Lizard Habitat*

This is a yearly tradition for all of the kids. They catch as many lizards as they can, name them, and play with them until the lizards are no longer responding. You can see Cooper 'pointing' (actually trying to squish) the lizards in the bottom picture. He thought they were so cool. They actually caught a baby duck one year to!

Captain Cooper

There is a steering wheel up top and in the houseboat. Both kept him occupied for all the time he wasn't in the sand. And he found out where the horn was (left picture) I'm sure our neighbors loved that!

Cooper in the giant hole he dug out with his tiny shovel. =)

This is really how it was dug. Uncle Devin is his favorite

The Fam

The houseboat and Justin apparently shotputting a rock

Hide-n-Seek Animals

This book is one of Cooper's favorites. It's from our ultra touchy-feely (I know it's cool) so it has multiple touchy-feely's on every page. It also has flaps that the animals are hiding under. My favorite part are the little chicks with fuzzy bellies. SO CUTE!! This is a top 10 best seller and one our family's faves.

I CAN'T HELP IT!!

I love change!

Awesome Find

Alright, I found the coolest swimsuit place! I always have such a hard time finding swimsuits that I like and my aunt-in-law told me about a place called Hapari so I went to the store and I love it!!! I wish they were a little cheaper because I think paying much for that little amount of fabric is ridiculous. But quality (and support=)) does go a long way, because after kids-let's face it-nothing is quite the same! They have regular length and long which is so great. I guess they used to do parties but it got so busy they opened a store in AF. Check it out

The Science Experiments are so awesome. It says 10yrs and up but kids even as young as 4 would love them. Just a few of the experiments are the crystal rock candy you can grow (awesome!), light bugs that you make out of batteries, and monsters that erupt from a bottle! It's great for the 'summertime slump' when you need things to keep 'em occupied.

15 mo Follow Up

Length: 32" ~75th percentile~
Weight: 20lbs 7oz ~5th percentile~
Head circ.: 46.2cm ~25th percentile~

He's so skinny! We're still doing 2-3 Pediasures a day! (That's pretty much baby Ensure) Hopefully he'll chunken up sometime soon. Maybe he just has a skinny gene-although I'm not sure where he would have gotten that from! =)

A little about the 'pick of the week'. There are 50 cards and one dry/erase marker. There is an activity to do on each side of the card. I just saw these and they're awesome!! Someday Cooper will be old enough to play with them. They have mazes, matching games, activities, and things to draw. It's awesome for a road trip or church!

So, I was getting ready one day and I went looked down the hall to see what Cooper was doing because he had been quiet for awhile (never a good sign) and this is what I found...

On the right foot and everything!
The learning curve

The difference between boys and girls...

~Mother's Day~

I LOVE being a Mom!! Cooper is the best thing to ever happen to us! I would not trade being able to stay home with him for anything in the world-lovin' or $$! I have the best hubby ever. I got to sleep in, had breakfast made for me, got a dang nice sofa table that I've been wanting for a long time, and a book by President Hinckley. It was an awesome day

Here are some of the girls in my fam

Sadie~Grandma Brown~Auntie Mandi~Starr~Camille~Mom~Cooper~Me (no I'm not pregnant!! It's one of those questionable shirts that you think are cute in the store until and then you see them in a picture. I'm pretty sure I'll never wear it again!)
Me and Coop (he gave me this flower-with a little help)
My sister passed away when she was 18 yrs old and my grandparents planted this tree in memorium. It's so pretty huh? Perfect Mother's Day backdrop

-Vegas-

Justin had to work in Vegas so Coop and I went along for the ride. Luckily he has an aunt and uncle there with a pool (Ahhh...) so we got to have some fun in the sun and Cooper got to rock out to Guitar Hero. He's a natural

I LOVE this picture! This is Cooper (I promise that's not his hoodie-I forgot one and that was a spare at my Grandma's) and my cute Grandpa Brown. He got to hang out with my grandparents for awhile and loved being in the swing and watching them work. I'm glad he has such good role models!

lil' G

My friend, Jackie, and I went up to the outlets in Park City (don't waste your time the deals aren't any better!) and I got these cute glasses for Cooper. I don't know how long they'll stay on this summer but he'll be stylin' while it lasts =)

Gettin' Ready

This is what happens while I get ready. Everything that I'm not using ends up just like this with Cooper trying to figure out how it's used. Usually he holds the blow dryer or curling iron up to his head. Monkey see, monkey do! At least he doesn't have a razor right?

Softball Wifeys

Cooper~Me~Melissa~Carly~Andy~Marianne~Spencer

These are all the cute softball wifeys and my favorite reason for going to watch the games-sorry babe! Our husbands (and before we had babies-us) have been on the same league for a few years now so it's always fun to hang out.

HeEEee

This is Cooper's new horse! He loves the Swiffer. He'll often come to Justin or I saying, 'Hmm, hmm' (which is what he says when he wants something, along with the sign for please) and pointing to the pantry door. Not a bad way to keep him entertained, until of course, my walls are green with scuffies

All for...

Pick of the Week

I just have to tell you a little bit about 'Mouse About the House' (my book pick of the week) because it's so hard to tell from the pics. The mouse comes out of a little plastic pouch and there is a slot on every page that he goes through to the next page. Kids love it because it's really hands on. It is Cooper's FAVORITE book! He always does the sign for 'book' when he sees it and points to it because he loves to read it. Anyway, I thought I'd tell you because the pictures don't do it justice

I Can't Imagine

So, I am watching 20/20 and they are interviewing the McCann's, the parents of the 4 year old girl who was taken from her hotel room while they were on vacation in Europe. It makes me want to cry. Whenever I see stuff like that. Before you have kids you think, "Oh that's so sad..." But after you have kids and you know how much you love them and what it would be like if anything ever happened to them, I don't think there are words to express what you feel. I probably get a little too paranoid about stuff like that. I think I'm going to have to take some kind of Valium to send Cooper on the bus by himself! He'll probably be the poor kid that makes me drop him off a block away from his high school because I'm too paranoid to let him go by himself. =/ I never thought I would be an overprotective mom but now I don't know if I'll be able to help it! Anyway, we're so blessed to have our sweet little baby sound asleep and safe in his room. Count your many blessings...

It's been forever but I finally posted new stuff. Have a ball ya'll

Loungin' with Dad

I got this chair awhile ago but it has always scared him because it has the foamy beans inside that make a lot of noise so he'd never sit on it. He's finally gotten his courage and this to chill on his little Madagascar Chair

~Four Generations~

Grandpa Brent, Dad, Grandpa Mark

and Me!