CooperComics

This is what I do...

2009-07-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

...when I go to Vegas for a wedding.

Here is my good buddy Worf.

Perhaps you recognize him. He is the tactical officer and the Chief of Security on the USS Enterprise. Actually, he is the Lieutenant Commander.

Worf is not all about titles though.

His true passion is World domination!!!

I told him that I was going to go to Vegas for a wedding and he was all over it.

Texting me again and again that he HAD to go with me. That he was going to take over Vegas and realize his dream.

What could I do?

He has a hippo for a phaser...and a drink stirrer for another weapon.

You don't mess with power like that.

So I took him with me to Vegas. He really enjoyed the view from our room at the Luxor. Kept asking me to break the glass.

What a freak.

It didn't take long before he was running off. I followed him, just had to see what he was up to

I turned the corner and there he was. Standing at gun point.

Surprise, surprise.

Who goes for a walk to try to achieve world domination and ends up with gun in his face?

Obviously Worf does.

Not so tough now with out your hippo phaser now are you?

I had to do something. He had the room key after all.

So, I followed them. Worf was tied to a TREE!

What?

How is he going to get out of this?

As I peered a little closer I noticed.....

He had dropped the room key! Salvation!

"You're on your own, sucker!" Was all I could manage to shout out to him as I ran away.

Taking a last look, I saw him. He was free, and angry.

I am going to be watching my back for a while now.

Shannon bo Bannon

2009-07-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Get your party hats on boys and girls, because it is time for....

SHANNON'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

Woot woot!

There she is... a precious little baby in my Moms arms. Such a little sweetie.

(yes, I stole these pics off of Shannon's blog, but it was an old post...I need new Shannon pics ok?)

She was an amazing kiddo even then.

Here she is now. ---------------------------->

27 years older and so wonderful. (that's out nephew Wyatt with her)

I always write about my family members on their birthday's ..here is proof. http://coopercomics.blogspot.com/2008/07/happy-birthday-shannon.html

So, sorry if I repeat myself. :)

My sister is kind and genuine.

I feel at home with her around.

She is really special to me.

So, anyone mess with her and I will toilet paper your house sooooo good, your Momma'a Momma will be picking up paper for a month!

All this emotion!

What is my deal???

It must be because my baby sister is 7 months pregnant and I am a wee bit overprotective.

<--------------------Doesn't she look smashing, even in a sliding glass door reflection???? Everyone I know has heard me go on and on about how excited I am about my nephew coming soon. I am serious about his arrival. He is going to bust into this world and we are all going to love him to BITS! That is a fact.

How does the birthday girl Shannon feel about this????

Ahhh. I see.

Two thumbs up.

Love you sooooooo much Shay-bah-bons.

Sigh

2009-07-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

I must just have the summer blahs.

Blogging hasn't been up there on my list of things to do. I love writing about our adventures...so, it is weird not to.

I think it is the heat.

Awesome news alert!

My bestest friend since I was 14, Polly Page came to see me.

She drove all the way from Tucson. Pretty sure that is 9 hours away form here. She even brought her super cute and fun daughter Felicia.

I know...amazing friend huh?

She is.

Zion was our destination on a hot Tuesday. Kelly had a fun time riding with Felicia. Such patience for an 11 year old. I admire that.

We saw a really smashing goat. Or is it a big horned sheep? I am really not sure

Did we do any hikes? See the hanging gardens?

Um......no.

It was too hot!

Bleh..the heat.

I am such a cry baby about the heat lately. I lived in Tucson for a couple of years. We kicked it in Henderson Nevada for 4 years.

Pretty sure I wore out my heat tolerance.

Anyway....we went to Springdale and had a yummers lunch. that town has changed so much. Such a tourist trap.

Love it.

Kelly drew a picture for the waiter. It is of her...on top of a hill. She is pushing an alien off of the hill. This is drawn often, not really sure why.

I made my standard paper crane. My mom got me a really awesome origami book with lots of different things to make. I need to practice the new things more.

But, I make the same crane 10 times a day. Working on changing that.

Now Polly and Felicia are back home.

I am pretty sure that this is what it looked like from the back seat.

Love them.

Kindergarten Circus!!

2009-05-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

Behold the awesome strength that is the legendary "Colossal Kelly Cooper!!!

Strong-girl, and kindergarten graduate.

The Kindergarten Circus here at Kanab Elementary has got to be the cutest kids program on the planet.

<----- Check out Kel with her teacher Mrs. McFadden. Aren't they the most epic pair ever??? Kelly loves her teacher, I am really glad that they are close, because Kelly takes a while to bond with people. We will miss her...**sniff**

When her class started to practice for the different parts Mrs. McF came up to me and told me that Kelly might be perfect for the part of Strong man.

She told me that, every time Kelly pretended to lift heavy things all of the kids laughed.

The only deal was that it is usually for the boys. Kelly's class has only 4 girls in it, and they are mostly tightrope walkers, or acrobats. They had to spread the girls out. So she might not get to be the strong-girl.

I told her that either way, we would practice at home and make our best effort.

Then the part assignments came in Kelly's back pack.

Kelly was going to be a juggler...uh, ok.

(obviously, you can tell by the pictures that she WAS the strong-girl...but I wanted to tell how it worked out...it's kind of silly)

My little girl was not really excited to be a juggler. We worked on learning to juggle everyday. She would get so frustrated. It was starting to be not so fun.

Then, to top it all off she was going to have to wear makeup.

Clown makeup.

Kelly thinks clowns are all around creepy, and was not loving the idea at all.

Apparently it was translating over to the class practices. Mrs. McF pulled me aside one afternoon and told me that Kel was frustrating her juggling partner. He was taking his roll as a juggler seriously, and Kel would rather dance around.

The decision to switch Kelly to the strong-girl was made.

Hooray!!

(See? <-----even stong-girls hug their Grandpa's) We then started on her outfit. She needed to have muscles. That is pretty much all that we knew.

After rummiging around in the old larriette costumes for a bit, I found an outfit from one of Ali's dances. I think that she was a mermaid.

Then me made the arms, and decided on our hairstyle. It is called the girl-hawk. I love it.

D.J., my Mom and I went to watch her at the circus. I think that I was more nervous than she was!

She put on quite the show. Even the songs that they all sang together...she rocked all of the dance moves. Not too many other kids did that.

I swear that I laughed the whole time, she was such a great actor.

Afterwards we went and had cookies with all of the other parents. I had a few of them come up to me and telll me that she was so funny, and that she did a great job.

I even had a couple of them ask me where I had gotten my ideas for the treat days this last year.

All I could say is that I found them online...I wish that I could say I made them up myself...oh well.

All in all, it was a great experience. Kelly had a sweet kindergarten year. She learned to read, write and do so much math.

We all are excited to see what else she will do next year. :)

She is annoyed at the idea of summer break though....she wants to be in first grade NOW

I took a few really funny videos of the circus....but this one is the best because you can watch her to her strong-girl poses. Admit it. You wish you were a kindergartener too!

Salamanders and gnats are icky

2009-05-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

It is true. ----> (Kelly is actually holding a salamander)

I spent last weekend with Kel, and my niece Jesee. They were happily playing outside, and I was keeping cool inside by the air conditioning.

Typical me.

I was watching them out the window the whole time...you really need to do that with silly little girls. When I was there Jesee got a HUGE bloody nose, and Kelly scraped her elbow.

That was all in the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

Ugh.

Then the little sweeties went on a salamander hunt.

I do not know about you, but those things creep me out. They are all slimy, and their eyes poke out of their little heads a wee bit.

Blick!

Jesee loves to hunt for them. Kelly just recently showed an interest in them. Normally she would scream at a mere bug, but lately she has been sowing some real guts.

I really had to take a picture of her holding the salamander, because I wasn't' really sure if tomorrow she would go back to the old Kelly and run away shrieking. Photographic evidence was needed.

The girls kept trying to bring it inside. I was firm with them...NO salamanders allowed in the house. They seemed to be willing to listen to me and I only had to tell them a few times to keep it out.

When I left I noticed that it was not in the bowl on the porch where they had left it. Sneaky little sneakers took it inside without me knowing. Kelly told me that they hid it in Jesee's room.

It was lost in the house...

My sister said that if you smell something icky in her house...in Jesee's room, then that is where the salamander ended up.

Oh well I guess....

Really icky side note.

I did Kelly hair like this <--------- that day when they were outside all day. (that is not the icky part) See all of the parts in the hair???

Well, out where Cynthia and Rhett live there is a crud-load of gnats. Some people call them no-see-ums, either way they still suck.

I didn't know that they were in season...and I REALLY didn't know that they were in love with Kelly blood.

They bit her and bit her soooooo much! I tried to take a picture to document the feast that was Kelly, but the camera failed to capture it correctly.

The mistake was made when I said to someone that she had been "eaten alive". Kelly overheard it and did not take it lightly.

There was some pretty powerful arm flailing and head scratching, followed by a pretty strict warning to me to never tell her that she was being "eaten alive" again.

I agreed.

Now- after all of that nastiness, you could use a mind cleanser. How about a picture of my newest sweetie-pie niece Taylor???

Pictures of angel babies always make my brain feel better. I hope it has the same effect on you.

She is just sooo cute huh. :)

Kel's first Zion trip :)

2009-05-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday, we decided it was high time to take Kelly to see Zion National Park.

She is six years old, and STILL had not been there.

This year we are trying to take her to see as many parks as we can fit into our busy driving-back-and-forth-from-Cedar- schedule.

Ugh. :(

We got the idea from Emily. She was going to be hiking in Zion that day with the Thebeau clan...maybe we could meet up and hike with them too???

Well, that was the plan anyway.

We took off for Zion at 10:30. I was told to be ready at 10:00...but anyone that knows me, knows that I am ALWAYS late. I am pretty sure that when people plan things, they tell me a half an hour earlier so I will be on time.

I am ok with that.

D.J. and I haven't been to Zion since around 2000. That was before they added the shuttles. They are an interesting addition.

I think that I would enjoy the ride on the shuttle a wee bit more if I wasn't so claustrophobic. I took it all in stride though, and did not stress in the least.

It is pretty hard to stress out in Zion.

Deejer pointed out interesting spots along the way, and informed me about the different hikes. They all sound fun.

NOT Angel's landing though. That one is absolutely not for me. I got the willies just from looking at it in the shuttle. ON THE GROUND.

I could see teeny tiny little people on the edge, at the top, and I could not bring myself to even picture myself up there.

All right, enough of me going on and on about what a world class weeenie I am.

We decided to just go with the river walk.

It is short....1 mile to the end...1 mile back.
Mostly flat.
full of flowies, and nature.
Right along the Virgin river...really important as you can see here --------------------------->

We had lunch by the river bank. It was incredibly nice. Kelly got to cool her aching toes and we all got to enjoy the sound of the river running past us.

After watching Kelly walk for 2 miles, I realized that she needs to move up a size or two in the shoe department. I would buy some for her now, except it is only a couple of weeks until school is out. Then it is full on flip flop time.

I adore flip flop time.

No socks to fold...no worries about sweaty feet. Kelly really does not like having hot feet. Who does really???

On the more pleasant list of things that Kelly DOES enjoy....

ZION NATIONAL PARK!!!
(tttaaah daaahhh)

We DID meet up with Em, Doug Mia and all of the kick booty Thebeau family. Not an easy task. There was about a million and a half more people to weed through to find them.

We round a bend in the trail and there they all were. Kelly thought that it was pretty magical. There was lots of hugs and screams of delight.

They were all just going down the river walk, and we were done for the day...so we parted ways and made plans to meet up later that night. (the shish-ka-bobs were amazing)

Back on the shuttle. Kelly really liked being able to ride around without a seat belt.

Freedom!!!

Here is one of the only pictures where Kell Bell is NOT striking pose. That is a trick though....I asked her to look out the window.....so it is technically a pose.

Like her hair? It has lots of cute twisties. I get my ideas from this blog. The story of a princess and her hair.

This lady is a kids hair goddess.

The BAD part about this hair style is that I forgot to put sunscreen where Kelly had parts..and she now has lots of sun burns on her scalp.

Owie!!

Lastly...today was my REAL last treat day of kindergarten history. I thought that it was last month, but I was incorrect.

We made SNAILS!!!!

They are...

rolled up tortillia's with peanut butter and jelly for the shell
a cheeto for the bady
chives with a knot on the end for the eye stalks.

I was going to make them with lunchmeat, cheese, and mayo...then have a pickle for the body...but I ran out of $$$.

Bummer.

The kiddo's liked them though. :)

The front yard here at the Casa is blooming.

The back yard is plated and ready for a HUGE garden this summer.

We are looking forward to a great summer. :)

Flat Hannah

2009-04-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

We have had an interesting visitor here at the Casa.

She is ...

flat
multi-colored
quiet
cute
full of adventure

Her name is Flat Hannah. She was sent here to Casa de Coop by a little girl in California.

Why did she send her?

Well, her school is doing a project based on the book named "Flat Stanley". They made their own "Stanley" and sent them off to different parts of the country.

Our little friend Hannah knows Nicole, and she suggested that Flat Hannah be sent to our house. Cole knows that we will do our best to show Flat Hannah a good time.

Show her a good time is what we did!

MarciaMickMom ended up taking her on a ten day tour of Utah's most wonderful National Parks. Here she is...on the bus.....

....Reading up on Checker board mesa in Zion...

...Becoming a Junior Ranger in Bryce...

....Riding a boat on Lake Powell with a guide named Danny...

...Gasping at Rainbow Bridge....

...About to take a hike to see Delicate Arch in Arches National Park...

...checking out the deer at Capital Reef....

...enjoying the incredible view at Landscape Arch....

...Chilling with a Navajo Hoop dancer...

...Catching some sun beside a hogan...

...and lastly trying to figure out the petrogylphs.

We will miss you Flat Hannah. Hope that you had a wonderful time!

Mando-Pando!

2009-04-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

What were YOU doing on 04-24-84???

I was probably goofing around in second grade. Possibly making my self dizzy trying to learn to play tether-ball.

Why do I ask about this specific date in history?

Well because of two reasons.

It is the day that Amanda was born :)
It is one of the coolest dates for a birthday.

D.J. only remembers Amanda's birthday out of all of his sisters.

Sounds mean doesn't it?

Really, it isn't. His memory of her birthday is all about the...

4
24
84

:)

Amanda is a great sister. Whenever she is around here at the casa, everyone is in a super good mood. Probably because she is so fun to be around and funny.

She can quote all of the best movies. Like, Princess Bride, Sandlot and Ferris Bueller's day off. Honestly, I could listen to a good movie quote battle all day.

One of Amanda's most interesting qualities has got to be... that her interest in things is contagious.

I don't mean that she is contagious in an ichy-scratchy way...I mean that when she gets into something...EVERYONE of us wants to be in on it.

With books, she will be reading something..and before I know it, everyone has read that book. Then, I find myself into that book as well. She can even get you to read an entire series.

The best part is sitting around with Amanda and talking about the books...the plot, the characters, the writing. She has interesting things to say about books. I look forward to her opinion.

Another thing I noticed. Amanda will be really into watching tennis, then when I am not looking..DJ is hanging out, watching tennis. I seriously have not ever seen him watching tennis in the 10 years I have been with him.

Everyone will be into tennis...who's playing who, what is this players record. Conversations, that I swear were not happening before Amanda was talking about tennis.

Then, people don't just watch it. Not in this family. They go out and play it. (and be naturally good at it too)

Amanda is a very supportive sister. Even with Sadie being a tiny tot, and all of the other places that she has to be...Amanda can always be found at lots of Savy's volleyball games, basketball games and even an X-Press concert or two.

It is a real show of love...those bleachers are NOT comfy at all!

Mostly though, Amanda is a terrific Mommy. Sadie and Taylor are so loved. Amanda is gentle and sweet to her little baby girls. You can see how much she loves, and genuinely likes spending time with all of the little kiddo's. Mia loves her, no doubt because she is so great with her.

It takes a special kind of person to keep up with 4 children under 4 years old and not go crazy, or even loose your cool. Amanda can do it. I admire that about her.

There are lots of things that I love about Amanda. I could go on and on.
She would even forgive me for posting this late!

Thanks for being a super awesome aunt, sister-in-law, friend and someone that I can always depend on!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

We all love you to iddy biddy bits!

Ali-bo-Bali

2009-04-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Oh Happy day!!!

Today, 20 years ago....Ali Mace Cooper was born!!

Happy Birthday to yoooooooou. Welcome to the un-teenager club. We do not have meetings, or a club t-shirt..but we do have

aches
pains
lack of energy
annoyance of younger people
the ability to talk about gas without giggling
and greater interest in PBS

It's a BLAST!!!

As you can tell here, Ali can have a good time where ever she is. Like this picture of her here at the left. I am pretty sure she is inches away from Savy's stinky toes...does she look bothered?

No.

That is because she is positive.

Here she is at Christmas.

Looks like she just got coal in her stocking doesn't it???

Well, you would be surprised to know that she just found out that she would only be able to help the needy for two hours on Christmas day...not the five that she had been planing on.

See how the whole story changes things???

(All kidding aside)

Kelly LOVES Ali.

When Ali talks to her, she gets down to her level. She listens to her, and has normal everyday conversations with her. No baby talk...never a missed chat.

She makes time to spend with her. It matters so much.

I have a ton of pictures of Als on this computer. All of them are border-line magazine quality.

So why did I choose some of the more silly pics? Not the more flattering photos?

I did that because Ali is FUN, and silly and full of crazy faces.....those are my favorite.

She might do this to me ----------->

That is alright with me.

Ali has this ability to make even the most boring things entertaining.

Like watching a kid's cartoon, or sweeping the floor.

Here she is dyeing Easter eggs last year...she made it hilarious!

Everyone that reads this already knows all of this about Ali.

They know that she is constantly humming a little tune. Smiling at
a little kid. Chatting with an elderly friend.

It is all normal everyday stuff to them.

Those of you that do not know her, are sitting at their computer surprised at my story of Ali. Mouths dropped open...in total shock that such a nice person exists now a days.

Well, she does.

She is my husbands second youngest sister.

Today is her Birthday.

Love ya Als! Happiest of birthdays to you.

Treat day

2009-04-15T15:49:00.001-07:00

Today was my second-to-last-treat-day-in-kindergarten-history.

If you know me, then you know that I am seriously heart broken.
I live for kindergarten snack days. I get to search the internet for the coolest ideas..then make them for my 6 year old friends.

I found this gem on the familyfun website that I LOVE to tiny bits.

It is....

a green apple cut into fourths
green grapes cut in half
then secured with a toothpick...scary I know. I told them to look out for them
cut a slice for the mouth
dip in lemon juice to keep from browning
I made the eyes out of melted white and brown chocolate
then I added a tongue with pull and peel twizzlers
and finally I made a fly for the end of the tongue out of chocolate.

Kelly loves green apples..so I thought it would make her happy.

I could not decide between the frog and the mouse... so I did both.

I have time on my hands without my DJ to keep me company now.

These in the picture are just strawberries and almonds.

This is what I did....

strawberry cut in half
dipped in white chocolate
crown sprinkles for eyes
a red hot for a mouth
a junior mint cut in half for the ears
and a pull and peel twizzler for the tail

I wrapped them all up and sent them off to the kiddos.

This picture was taken by Mrs. Reese, Kell's Teachers aid....man she is cool. She took this with her cell phone.

You can't tell that they are edible, but they are.

I am looking forward to the kindergarten circus at the end of the year...and working at the school next year! (shhhhh) I am not 100 on that yet.

Oh yeah..I made like 25 of each of these....wouldn't it be funny if I only made one?

Hola!

2009-04-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Everything SPRING is in full bloom here at Casa de Coop.

Check out the idea my Mom gave me for a cute center piece. It is sweetie pie plants in egg shells.

Love it. Had to make it.

My favorite plant ha got to be that tiny little pink one....it is such a munchkin.

Spring is so much fun when you have crazy projects to dive into....I seriously just finished scrap booking 250 pictures for Mama Coop. Now I can't even look at paper without cringing.

Here is Kelly meeting her new cousin Taylor. She seemed sort of nervous. Poor Kell bell.

Then there is D.J. He was meeting her for the first time then too.

He was definitely nervous. I think that babies scare him...he likes to be able to talk to them.

Whatever...I love new babies...Taylor is soooooo sweet.

I also have a great time with kids that are older.

Here is Kell with Shelby and Sadie. Doesn't Sadie look like she is far away? She did not want anything to do with me taking her picture...but I got it!

Deeejer made the mistake of taking a nap around Kelly and I. Normally we will just do something else, but we were feeling silly. We got all of Kelly's littlest pet shop toys and stacked them on him while he snoozed.

It was more difficult than we thought it would be for sure. Everytime he would move we would loose a kitty or a monkey off of the bed.

We laughed so hard, then we snapped this picture. It was worth the effort.

What does D.J. think of our masterpiece?

I am pretty sure that this picture says it all.

Love ya Deej!

Easy goes it

2009-03-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you not familiar with the in's and out's of Casa de Coop, I have included this picture of the banister.

"Why do I need to see this" You ask.

Ah, my young friend. Here is the answer to your question....

...its' because I did THIS to it!

Chigga-chigga black paint....

...do the happy dance...

..uh huh..

Happy dance is over now.

Deej is still working in Salt Lake City all week. Bah.

I know, I know. There are tough times out there for everyone. I should feel lucky that I get to see him on the weekends.

For the record: I am so grateful that D.J. has this job.
I miss him muchly.
I am a tad bit grumpy.
I am on facebook entirely too much killing time.

The previous two pictures are form D.J.'s work. He was on TV! It was only for a split second, but it was AWESOME! so awesome

Oh yeah, life is tough for the poor man...

Here is a picture of him having lunch at P.F. Changs.

Rough stuff.

At least he is having yummy grub...I am not jealous.
not at all

Here is my next project!! It is an Easter egg tree.

Yes, I know that you can just go to Willams and Sonoma and simply BUY one. I really feel like that is cheating.

I have a few skills. I think that I can attempt to pull it off.

Wish me luck!

The saga of the hoodie

2009-03-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Jess has this really cool hoodie.

There she is..... wearing it.

I am pretty sure that it is one of her favorite hoodies. If it were mine, then I would have the same opinion.

It is comfortable, cool, and stylish to boot.

Jess wore it to Kanab when she came here for Amanda's baby shower. It was chilly in Cedar city that day when she decided to put it on. When she got to Kanab, it was a little too warm for her to wear it.

Unfortunately, when she left to go back home she forgot all about her beloved hoodie. It was left here in Kanab at Casa de Coop.

Here is the story of it's week with us.

The first person to snatch up ol'e hoodie was Savy. It was in for a wild ride!

The life of a teenager is busy.

Decorating for Junior Prom
going to school
driving around with multiple friends
going to work
working on the computer
watching a scary movie
laughing all day long.

It didn't know what hit it.

It felt dizzy and excited.

The next day D.J. spotted it. He was feeling a little cold, so he decided to put it right on.

It instantly reminded him of Jess, and he was happy.

Felling happy inspired him to play a beautiful song on his guitar. He practiced, and practiced all day long until he got it just right. When it was finally perfect he played it for me.

It brought tears to my eyes.

The hoodie was proud.

Kelly was running around the house and saw the hoodie hanging on the closet. Being a particularly curious child, she promptly put it on.

She loved how the hoodie made her feel like a big kid. Right away she started to dance around the room and sing.

Then, she got a brilliant idea....she would wear it to the city park!

She wore the hoodie on the swings, the slides, the monkey bars too. She ran the length of the park field a dozen times, giggling the whole time. The sun was bright and the wind was sweet.

The hoodie felt alive.

Early the next morning after her morning work out, Mama Coop was picking up around the house. She caught the hoodie out of the corner of her eye. It was relaxing on the couch in the morning sun.

She wondered what all the fuss was about concerning this hoodie, and decided to try it on. It fit perfectly and was just the right kind of warmth that she was looking for.

The hoodie was with her when she made the phone call to her daughter miles away. It could hear her delight in sharing and listening.

After she was done, she then went into the kitchen to make a batch of cookies for her little grand babies. It could feel the love that she had for her family.

The hoodie felt at home.

Ali was home for spring break . Being the fashion-ista that she is, she had it on right away. It totally matched her outfit. College kids are stylin'!

She then went and paid a visit to some of her old buddies. One of them needed help on a major life decision. Ali listened quietly and then considered her friends options. Her advice was just what her friend was looking for.

When she got home she zipped up the hoodie and cracked open her laptop. She was in for a long evening of writing... a ten page paper is due soon, it was time to bust it out.

After all of that, she still had time to help Savy with her hair and makeup for the Prom. Whew! She knows how to pack so much in a day.

The hoodie felt a sence of accomplishment.

I was the last one to wear Jess's hoodie. I really could not stop myself. It was such a popular item here at the house.

All of the times that I had spent hanging out with Jess..laughing, chill-laxing, making seven layer dip, talking about sponge Bob square pants, and just playing with the kiddos.

It really brought a smile to my face.

I then took off the hoodie and handed it to D.J. He is on his way to go up to Salt Lake to work for the week. On his way he is going to stop by Jess's house in Cedar city and give her the hoodie back.

The hoodie feels loved.

Hey..wanna know what DJ is doing?

2009-03-19T22:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5900492

Here is a link to what he is doing up in SLC!

Love ya!

Amanda's baby shower

2009-03-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Soooooo.... Amanda's baby shower was a BLAST!

It was laid back, and light hearted. No stress for our Mommy-to-be. It was fun to do. I learned that keeping it simple can really be the best for everyone.

Here, you can check out the pictures and judge for your self. :)

Amanda is enjoying the last of the yummers fruit dip that Mama Coop made. I had never tried it before, it needs to be around more often!

This is the banner that I put together to go along with the streamers. It was super easy and kind of looks like a baby quilt up close.

The lovely ladies!

Amanda, Em, Savy, Grandma Coop, Aunt Lisa, Jess and Ali.

Crazy, I remember when Sav was the shortest person in a family group picture.

Melanie was being Super Gramma to her grandbaby Shaye. Holy cow, he is sooooo adorable. I wanted to just kiss his little cheekies. I did not. Now I wish that I did though.

Keonie came by and brought her new baby Kenya. She is a total dollie. She even had the sweetest little bracelet on. Ugh! Too, too special.

I made cupcakes.

They are supposed to be baby faces.

They were supposed to be about 50 % smileing..and 50% crying.
I could not do that many sad ones. It made me blue.

Then I saw these Onsie cookies online....

I could not stop myself from making them. I enjoy playing with icing a little too much.

Oh well, just as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

Emily and Jess had time to sit and enjoy eachothers company.

This picture cracks me up!!!

I can just picture Jess saying "Shucks Em, you are the Swayziest!"

Swayziest= As cool as Patrick Swayze.

Kristy and Shaye are looking darling as ever!

She did an amazing job on this super cute-i-full patchwork baby blanket for Taylor. There was three different colors of fabric, and lots of puffy paint to draw with. Everyone then took a turn at the table and wrote a special message to Taylor.

It will look so great hanging in her room. Kristy made one for Sadie's baby shower too.

Kelly, Sadie and Shelby really had a fabulous time making their own square for Taylor. Kelly drew a picture of herself....so Taylor would know who she was.

Emily's square was straight out of a Stampin' up catalouge. I think that it was subliminal though....hard to get those images out of your head whe you see them all day long.

Hi Mia! She wants you to know that she is 3.

Just checkin' in with the guest of honor. Amanda and Sadie look so cuddely and sweet in this picture. Sadie is going to have fun hanging out with her Daddy when the new baby is here, Jason is tons of fun with her.

Hey?!

Where were D.J. and Papa Coop?
They were invited to the festivites weren't they?

Oh yes they were....here they are....watching basketball.

Menfolk.

Savy, Jess and Amanda in the "I part my bangs on the same side club".

No.

Really, I just noticed that they were on the same side and I could not resist saying that.

Ali wants to show us all that she is really good at eating grapes.

Papa Coop agree's with her..."yes Ali, you are talented."

But the REAL question is, can Ali eat fruit with dip on it and not get it on her face?????

The anwser is No.

She is ok with that, I swear.

(can you tell by the look on her face?)

Gramma Cooper and Emily.

Awwwww...this picture makes me smile.

Hey! Everyone is starting to pair up in all of my pictures...that is weird.

Like this cute one of Kelly and Shelby.

They really liked eachother. I went upstairs to spy on them when they were playing Barbies....it was the silliest thing to listen to. I am glad that Kelly has another family friend to play with.

She can't always harass Ali.

Even though she really tries to.

I was really excited to get the chance to hang out with Aunt Lisa this weekend at the shower. She is a GEM. I always have so much to talk to her about, and she always listens to me and I really feel like she cares.

That is way important to me. Love her.

Jess with Papa Coop. They look so happy to see eachother. That is because they are!

The day after the shower was Jess's birthday. I was glad to get a chance to hang out with her before her birthday... what I really wanted to do was to go to Cedar city and spend it with all of the Whites, but it was not to be. Maybe next year!!

We played ONE game.

Amanda does not like shower games too much. I don't really blame her. Sometimes being the center of attention is not so great.

So, we gathered up 11 pictures of her at different ages, and had everyone take a guess at what picture is what age. It was pretty much a silent game, except fot when we gave out the anwsers. It was cool with Amanda.

Kristy and Em are doing their best to kick booty at the game.

Savy won the Amanda game!!! Go Sav!

It was a fun shower..wish you could have been there Imaginary Reader buddy of mine.

Night night.

AH....the luck of the Irish

2009-03-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's day !!!!

Kelly and I have been having a real BLAST with all of our St. Patty's day festivities. Who would have thought that we could have so much fun with just some paper and a little bit of green food coloring??? (Well actually a drop of yellow and a drop of blue food coloring to be exact)

Here she is in her outfit of choice for the school day. She wanted to be sure not to run the risk of getting pinched by a classmate.

I made sure to tell her that she can not pinch anyone if she see's that they are not wearing green. Other kids might not know that it is not awesome to do that.

Kell really wanted to pose like this for the picture that I was taking. I kept telling her that it was just too silly. She informed me that she was trying to be an alien. I guess since she was dressed in a green shirt?

Who knows?

Kids, they are the funniest people.

When Kelly woke up she found out that she had been kissed by a leprechaun!!

Only she had smeared it all over her head while she slept. Doesn't she know that she has to keep totally still when she has slow drying glitter glue on her face?

Sheesh!

The leprechaun left Kell notes all over the place. I am glad that she is excited to read, or else she would be highly annoyed at the little man.

It looks like he tried to get into her jewelery box and steal her "gold" CTR ring.

Ha Ha! No ring for him...

Then she went to go potty and was surprised to find that the water was all green!

I know it is not a fun picture....but I thought it was hilarious!!!

Kelly felt like a detective. She kept telling me that she needed to get out her spy gear to find more clues. I love it.

When she made her way down stairs to see what he had done to the trap, she was in full "clue-finding-mode". You should have seen the look on her face when she read the note that her left her by the trap.

It was priceless!!!

Looking inside, she found out that he had fallen in. All of her trap gold was inside. He had knocked over one of her ladders too.

We decided that he probably had super jumping skills, since he made it up to the counter top without a ladder. (duh Mom) So, he must have just jumped out.

Finally she was left with a glass of green milk to have in her cereal. She did NOT like that idea at all. Her cereal is fruit loops, and I thought that it turned the milk green anyway.....

...I was wrong!!! It turns it red-ish, Kelly was not going to eat the ceral with green milk.

No way no how.

I can't really blame her. Can you?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Our Leprechaun trap

2009-03-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today Kelly was not in school. It was teacher-do-your-work-without-kids-in-the-way day, or something along those lines.

I figured that since it was the day before St. Patricks day, we should make something to celebrate!!!

How about a Leprechaun trap???

We can do that...easy, peasy.

I told Kelly that Leprechauns are curious little men that love to cause green trouble on St. Patricks day. They could possibly...

turn your milk green
turn your potty water green
leave green kiss marks on your face while you sleep
leave little green footprints all over the place

She was all ears when I told her that we needed to try and catch one of our own. Then he had to tell us where the gold was hidden.

Excellent.

We went right outside to gather up some twigs to make a couple of little ladders. Natural materials make them feel at home. They let their guard down, making them easier to catch.

Here she is making the ladder, and gathering up her gold to use as bait.

You really don't see any leprechauns until you are in kindergarten. They LOVE the smell of school glue, that's what get's their tiny attention.

No self respecting leprechaun can resist a rainbow. Kelly was quick to suggest that we use pipe cleaners to make it really pop out at him.

I was really happy that she was so ready to help out and give creative ideas to trap our leprechaun. She knows that they are almost impossible to trap, and that they never fooled by the same trap twice.

The tiny leprechauns LOVE to break the rules. We made a warning sign that would be sure to lure him to our trap.

His big ego will be his down fall when he see's our giant version of his hat. We hope that it will be irresistible to him.

Then Kelly carefully placed the gold that she had found on the top of the hat. It is rigged to drop open as soon as some more weight is added by our little green friend.

She chose

a gold coin
a gold bangle bracelet
and a gold business card holder

Perfect!

Her final touch was to put some gold glitter glue around the border of the trap.

We were sure that the more gold the BETTER!

Here it is!!!!

Kelly worked so hard on her leprechaun trap. I think that she did a fabulous job.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow we will catch a leprechaun and have a big old pot of gold to show for all of our efforts.

If we do not, then that will be alright. There is always next year!

Right?

Happy Jess Day!

2009-03-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Jess's Birthday!!

I got to see her for a couple of hours yesterday at Amanda's baby shower. It was fun, I have a TON of cute pictures to share, but later. I need to take Kelly outside to play on her new love...her scooter!!

I could tell you a million funny, silly stories about Jess. She has been there for me for SO long now.

Yes, I could tell you , but then I would have to poke you in the eye, and make swear on your first born not to repeat the story.

(That is what someone did to me)

Not really

Everyone that knows Jess, knows that she can be counted on for a number of things. Here a few of my personal favorites.

Being there for you if you need a shoulder to cry on
Listening to you when no one else understands you
Loving her family 120%, and then still having enough to give to her friends
Making even a bag boy at the grocery store feel special
Having a blast where ever she goes
Just being herself

We all love you to little tiny piece's Jess.

Hope that your day is filled with great things, and that you go to sleep tonight with a smile on your face.

Love ya woman!!!

Homemade Ninja

2009-02-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

I just found the cooolest blog on the PLANET!!

Here it is... Homemade ninja .... you should seriously check it out. I think that it is EPIC.

Yes, I just typed the word epic. I am bringing it back...to my own little world. Here is my list of words I am working on.

dig
boss
fab
gnarly
keen
kibosh
nifty
primo

I bet DJ and Kelly are going to LOVE my new words this week.

Oh yes...I can see it now.

I have a RAD bro-in-law....

2009-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

..and it just happens to be his birthday today!!!!!

Yea Brandon Allen!!!

Check out the awesome picture of him on the job. I totally stole it from my sister Shannon's blog. It IS her hubby after all, she better have pictures of him on there.

Brandon is great to have as a family member.

He always plays with the kiddos..they LOVE him
You can have a fun conversation with him and it does not feel forced
He kids around with all of us and it is funny
Brandon is really trustworthy
He is an excellent husband to my sister...they are CRAZY in love

I hope that Brandon and Shannon have a wonderful time together celebrating his birthday. (I am sure that they will, they have a blast just cleaning up the dog doodie when they are together)

Happy Birthday Broseffff...

Love ya and stuff.

:)

What a day!!!

2009-02-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

Kelly's birthday was the BEST day ever for sure!!!!

The night before, I made these cutie-pie snowmen cupcakes for her kindergarten class party. I found them here at the Betty Crocker website. Seriously I looked around at tons of cupcake websites for at least a MONTH.

We decided to go with these because they were..

cute
fun
easy
different
it has been snowing so much here in Kanab

Kelly really liked them, I am glad that she did not want the puppy dog cupcakes...those were too silly for me. (ha!)

Then I started to feel a little bit guilty because it felt like there was too much sugar for her birthday treat day.

Ugh!

So I remembered my sweet friend Jana's blog. This is whats going BROWN. She made the most awesome little penguins out of olives with her darling daughter. I HAD to make them to go along with my snowmen.

I really had to.

Thanks Jana! I wanna squeeze your ears!

Kelly thought that they were funny. The really funny part is that I went to the store to buy two different sized olives...small for the heads and large for the bodies.... (makes sence right?)

....I bought them, brought them home and when I got them out, they were the SAME size!!!

Stupid olives.

After school I grabbed Kel and we went to get Jesee and Wyatt.

Kelly really wanted to go and play at the park with them. I was lucky, the weather was actually cooperating and it was almost warm out.

It might not sound like the most exciting thing to do on your birthday...but Kelly LOVES the city park here in Kanab. Can you really blame her? It has all kinds of new equipment, room to run for hours and a steady stream of kids coming and going.

When I was young, and my sisters and I would go to that park....it was ok. The slide was always hot..the merry-go-round would make you puke..and the swing there was a death trap. Now, it is really fun.

When the fountain and the pool open up it will be even better!!

Strike a pose Kell bell.

I personally think that they need to add a wee bit more rubber to the play area. The slide has a huge drop off at the bottom. I wouldn't complain to anyone else but you my dear imaginary reader. (promise)

Ah, but I am rambling on and on.

Jesee and Kelly had a great time running and pretending. I was sitting on a park bench watching them and I really found myself wish in gthat I was six.

They have a good time!

Then we came back to Casa de Coop for some homemade pizza. (don't try it yourself, mine was not yummy)

The kiddos ate it up though...they are nice. Love them

Then Amanda, Jason, Em, Doug, Mia and Sadie stopped by to sing Kelly happy birthday and eat some chocolate cake.

We sang the traditional song...uh, you know..."happy birthday to you..."

you can see here that Kel thought it was pretty great. (because it was)

Everyone got a big piece of cake and had fun watching the little ones run around in a chocolate fed frenzy.

I love the way the kitchen sounds when there are so many people in there. Now it is lonely and dark, really not as fun at all.

Mia and Kelly look so happy in this picture. I just want to hug them.

Oh, my....this is too, too much!

Sadie, Kel and Mia were playing with stuffed animals. Sadie would run into the kitchen and tell me that it was Kelly's birthday. I couldn't get enough!

This morning my beautiful, wickly awesome Mom came over and gave Kelly her birthday present.

She bought her the best outfit ever!!!

Check it out!

Also she got her the one thing that I completely forgot about....a balloon! She was telling me last night that she really wanted one...I felt so bad. My Mom must have felt my Mommy pain and just knew that she wanted one. What a great woman! Love her!

It was a great day..I hope Kelly felt special.

Tomorrow we are going to go to Cedar City to spend the weekend with Jess, Sam and the kiddos!!! WE are so, so excited.

Here is a video of what Kelly thinks about that. :)

My 6 year old Kelly!

2009-02-18T11:01:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Hooray! Kelly is officially six years old today.

I swear that she asked me questions about her birthday everyday since her last birthday.

I kid, I kid.

Kelly is the most wonderful little girl. Everyday is full of laughter from the moment she gets up until she falls asleep.

Her love of life, and curiosity about the world is such a joy to see. I love spending every minute with her...even when she drives me batty. I think that is what it is all about.

This is a picture of her this morning at breakfast. Do you like her birthday crown? I think that she looks precious!

Here she is getting all pumped up about her presents. It was really awesome to see her so excited.

I wish I was six! They have so much fun!

Kelly, you are so special to your Daddy and I.

Thank you for being our sweetie face, pumpkin pie, munchkin drop.

Our sweet, funny, smart, kind, fast, full of love Kelly.

Super Ali & Kid Kelly

2009-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

The other day we had an amazing visitor.

Super Ali!!!

She flew in and told us that she heard we were friendly to super heroes.

(we are)

Then, in a FLASH, we were graced with the presence of another super hero.

Kid Kelly!

They told us that they were here to help Savy with her homework troubles.

I was amazed at their speed. Savy had just started her home work.

They really have a grip on the troubles of today's teenager.

Here you can see Savy in the midst of her woes....poor, poor girl. I was of course off shopping, or doing good deeds, or else I would help her myself.

(of course)

Super Ali was flying around the house, trying to find the easiest way to help Savy.

Here you can see her in action.

(notice the cape)

Then Kid Kelly followed her lead, and also flew around the house to find a solution for Savy's problem.

(Her flying style is off the chain!)

She is a crazy good side kick I tell you.

Then Super Ali got out her Super rope and began dragging Savy to Casa de Coop's library.

(really it is the computer room)

There she would find the tools to help her do her best.

Kid Kelly was serious about making sure that Savy was following though with her instructions.

A super heroes word should not be taken lightly.

Super Ali enjoyed Savy's positive reaction to her advice.

Kid Kelly also was pleased with the result.

They decided to celebrate with a enthusiastic thumbs up! Kid Kelly was beside herself with joy.

Savy was so happy about the help that they gave her, that she proceeded to pass out high fives to everyone that she met.

Kid Kelly was the first to receive one.

Kid Kelly's high fives spread joy through out the world. She is THAT powerful.

Super Ali pondered for a minute.....

.....Perhaps the combined power of her own high five, mixed with Kid Kelly's could save the world!!!!!!

(sure, why not?)

All we know for sure, is that Savy has no problem with her homework needs.....

Thanks to the team work of Super Ali and Kid Kelly!

(I can't believe I missed all the action!)

Until next time....

Cookie...cookie...

2009-02-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings!
Yesterday I was officially sick as a dog.

Yuck.

Today I have had to play catch-up with my Valentine projects. It was really kind of lame. I finished though!

Woo hoo!

Right now Kelly and Mia are playing "My little ponies" up in Kel's room. I went up there and spied on them. They were being UBER cute.

( Uber, that's one step above super..in case you did not know.)

Now I am going to take this time to show you my Valentines day fab-u-los-ity that I created. Mostly because I am hanging out with DJ and Papa Coop and they don't give a squat about Valentines day crafts.

They are really nice and pretend that they give a squat though...that is sweet.

So.....tah dah!!!

Here are the cookie tins that I transformed. They used to be the wrong season, and ugly.

Now they are Valen-tastic!

I really heart the cherry blossom one.

You can see it better here in this picture.

I painted them...then I added the paper coolness....then I sha-lacked the heck out of them.

I think that I lost a few brain cells when I was doing the sha-lacking. I swear that I had trouble adding tonight.

Then I made the yummers cookies to go in the tins.

Offically making them "cookie tins".

Casa de Coop didn't have a small heart shaped cookie cutter. We have a giant heart cookie cutter.

I found a weird diamond cookie cutter that only cost me a quarter at the store though....that was going to have to work.

It was WAY more effort than I thought it was going to be.

After I baked them, I dipped them in chocolate on one side. the other side has cute designs made out of butter scotch.

Fun! I really like making things with small details.

Oh!

I almost forgot about these heart shaped rice crispie treats. They are Mama Coop and Ali's favorite recipie. I just wrapped them up to give out to the peeps.

I dig the gift bag.

So, what was Deej and Papa Coop doing today?

They were Chill-laxing.

(I took this picture sneaky style...I do not think that they would let me just take a picture of them chill-laxing)

They deserve a little peice and quiet.

Random thoughts

2009-02-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Howdy ho!

The other day was "wear red for Women's heart health awareness day". Did you know about this? Did you wear red?

I was getting Kelly ready for the day and she was watching the news.

What?

A five year old watching the news is strange to you? My Kelly likes to be kept up to date with all of the worlds current events.

That, and I don't let her change the channel.

So anyway....we were watching the news and they told us that you should wear red.

Kelly took this as a command from the all mighty television gods. She insisted on wearing red that day. Red IS her favorite color. It was not a hard thing to do.

I used to walk Kelly to her kindergarten classroom. Right up to the door even.

Lately my precious little gift has been requesting that I only drop her off.

Just drop her off.

Word on the street is..... Kelly is a BIG girl now.

I was informed that BIG girls do not need to be walked to the door. BIG girls just blow their Mommy a kiss and walk all by them selves to the door.

Or in Kelly's case, they RUN to the door. Mostly she spots a fellow class mate, then she challenges them to a race to the door.

Yes, she wins.

That picture is a blurry image of her racing to the door. Apparently you can't capture a Kelly Jess running with a simple camera. It has to be a super fast NASA camera or something like that.

She is that fast!

:)

I REALLY do have so much to say today. We have been a busy busy family this weekend.

For now I shall back-track.

The fabulous Valentines day is approaching swiftly. Remember in elementary school when Valentines day was fun? You would make a sweet Valentine mailbox. Then all of your classmates would give you sweet cards.

I would sit on the phone and talk to my friends about the hidden meaning of my Bart Simpson Valentine from the cute kid. Love it!

Now it is fun to help Kelly with her cards. She is old enough to write her own messages on her cards, it is so dang precious.

I sit with her when she writes them. She tells me about the little person that she is giving it too. It is a riot.

We are going to Grandma Cooper's Valentine's Day party this Saturday. It is fun to go to and see all of the family that lives in different parts of the state.

I am going to make these butterfly cards to give to our little kiddos in the family. I found the idea on this cute blog. There are soooo many great ideas on there. Loooove it. Check it out.... skip to my lou

Then I am going to make these cookie tins. I found them at little birdie secrets. It is a great site... I have Nicole to thank for that gem.

On Friday I went with my Mom to the thrift store and there was quite a few cookie tins for me to buy.

So I did.

Now I am just decorating them...then I am going to put yummy things in them.

What yummy things?

These yummy things.

Then I am going to give them away to my lovely ladies.

So, I better stop rambling and finish them up.

I am excited about having a project to do!!!!!

So is Ali!

(I will tell you more about why another time)

Can you tell?

Elementary school girls basketball is really entertaining

2009-02-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

No lie! It was pretty fun.

Kelly and I went to Charlee's 4th grade basketball game last night.

It was at the old middle school down the street. Man, that building is falling apart! I was a little bit afraid for my safety when I first got in there.

It was cool though.

As cool as Jesee, Wyatt and Kelly in this picture. Watch out world....the three of them are growing up and they are a force!

What is up with Wyatt in this picture???

To my surprise the gym was packed!

I am not being sarcastic when I say that. I took this picture sitting on the side where all of the people were sitting. Never would I have guessed that it would fill that whole side. I guess 4th grade basketball is the IN thing to go check out.

Her team was playing Fredonia. That explains so much. Those fans were serious!!!

There was a few times that I thought to myself that some adults were a bit to riled up when it came to a missed shot.

Sheesh people! It is 4th grade basketball for Pete's sake...

Charlee was really a hoot to watch.

She was guarding this little girl and she was running around her blocking her from the ball, doing a great job. I swear that I kept catching her having normal conversations with this girl.

Like....

"Hey, I really like your shoes."

Or...

"Do you think that the Jonas brothers are dreamy?"

"Do you hate math homework like I do?"

I could not really hear her, I am merely making an observation. When I was watching her it looked like that is what she was saying to her.

That, and I can read lips.

(not really)

I can not end this without another picture of Kelly.

She had a blast!

Now she can't wait untill she can play too. When the game was over she went right out to the floor and started to shoot basketballs with the next team up to play.

It was funny.

Here is a video that I took of the game. Trying to take pictures of running 10 year olds is really hard!

Shooting a video is even worse.

Sorry if it makes you a little nauseous.

Oh yeah...the game ended in a TIE!! 18 to 18. :)

2009-02-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

Are you like me, and you are sick of picking up the dead leaves form your yard one by one?

Is all of that back breaking work taking up your precious time with your family? Your job? Your chill time?

Well, never fear. I have the ultimate solution!

The Toro leaf blower!

It solves your painstaking leaf burdens in a snap.

You will go from this.....

A lonely yard, yearning for people to come and chat by the bird bath.

A porch swing just waiting for the children to play on it.

To this....

A leaf free rock paradise of your wildest dreams!!!

Think of the parties that you could throw, the laughter you would hear, the steaks you could smell on your outdoor grill.

All because of this amazing leaf blower.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I went to my Mom's house yesterday and got to play around with her leaf blower.

It was FUN!!!

Hello, I am 5 years old. I don't care though.

I enjoyed it like I enjoy vacuuming, or organizing socks.

Honestly I could not stop myself from taking the before and after pictures.
Oh well.

What did you do with your Christmas tree?

2009-01-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

I know....weird question right??? It IS January 29th. Christmas is looong gone.

Here at Casa de Coop we decided to carry on a family tradition.

Papa Coop told me that when he was little his Mom would take the Christmas tree outside, and decorate it with bread. Then the little birdies would have some food for the winter.

Well, he wasn't telling me this, he was telling Kelly.

That is why he said birdies. I do not think that he talks to adults like that.

Kelly had fun putting stale bread on the tree....but it took some work.

For some reason, she had it in her mind that the very second that she put the bread on the tree, that the birds were going to swarm in and attack her and the tree. Like a feeding frenzy.

It took me a little convincing to get her to get out there and put the bread on the tree.

Once she got out there and saw that there were no birds attacking her, she was all over it.

See?

She loved it.

Yes.

She is getting too big for her clothes. My Kelly is growing like a weed!

We got to go to Cedar city to visit Jess and the kiddos a couple of weeks ago.

Sammy and Kelly had a major blast chillin' and playing with various toys.

Cuteness all around.

Speaking of cuteness......

Gavin...(The worlds most sweetest, cutest baby) was being uber precious.

Such a pleasant little guy.

When Jess changes him out of his clothes, he laughs like crazy!!

You could sell tickets to it. It is that great.

Oh yeah!

I can't forget to add that Kelly's snack day in kindergarten was the other day.

To say that I stress a little about what to have her bring is a smidgen of an understatement.

I do not want to send sugar...or even heaven forbid..nasty tasting healthy food.

Ugh.

So, this time I put peanut butter in a little cup...

...then I put rainbow colored gold fish crackers in the peanut butter....

...finally, I put it all in a plastic baggie with some pretzel sticks. They could use them to "fish" the crackers out with them.

As far as I could tell, the little munchkins loved it.

You can almost tell by the look on Kelly's face.

I am pleased with that.

We had a chill weekend...

2009-01-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot going on here at Casa de Coop.

Kelly spent the weekend playing with her various toys. Getting to know her new toys that she got at Christmas.

I really do not think that she needs anymore toys for a while now.

We both found rocks to paint...that was sweet.

Cynthia and I took the kiddos to the movie theater in Hurricane.

That was fun.

I need to work on my patience a bit.

That is OK with me, I could use a project.

Ali was home from Dixie.

She is seriously a gal that has her dreams in order..and she is going to make them come true!

Gotta respect that!

Here are Sav and Ali living the sweet life....love it.

Apparently DJ was not having such a fun time on his day off....

Ooooops!

Guess I was wrong about that.

DJ loves being homes and having a relaxing day. I think that is when he practices his elk shadow puppet poses.

Ali found time to have a nap on the couch by the fire. Then I woke her up when I took this picture.

Stupid flash and my need to take pictures of people sleeping.

Kelly wrapped up her day by pretending that she is a super hero.

Like her cape?

It is really a window flap for our tent. I taped a piece of paper with the letter K on it.

I have skills.

My Mom

2009-01-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

I know that everyone say that they have the best Mom. That she is so great.....

Well I am going to go on record that everyone is wrong.
(sorry, but you are.)

I have the best Mom in the universe. My Mom is the great one.

* She is the most caring woman
* When I get sick I still cry for my Mom. That is how good she was to me when I was little.
* The room lights up when she is there.
* She is a great Grammie to her grand kids.
* She makes a loooong boring trip to St. George fun.
* Every skill I have..I got from her
* She is sooo easy to talk to.
* Her food is amazing...I crave it every day.
* You can talk to her in funny voices, and she will not look at yo like you are crazy
* She is my bestest friend EVER!!

On January 17th we celebrated her birthday.

(Happy Birthday Mommers!)

My sisters Cynthia and Shannon, My Mom and myself got together and laughed and laughed! We do that when ever we get together. It is embarrassing to others, and we really just do not care. I love it.

Then we took her out to lunch.....oh man..when I get those pictures they are going right on here.

They are AMAZING!!!

Just you wait..........

It's January 14th already?!!

2009-01-14T10:18:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmmm.

I haven't been on here in FOREVER!

What a slacker.

Really, it turns out that I have some what of a social life.

Amazing. I know.

I have a ton of fun things that I want to show you. I promise not to go off, and type forever.

I do have a TON of pictures!

It was a terrific holiday season. Best ever I would say, for sure!

Here is Christmas-to-New Years 2008.....as painlessly as I can bring it to you.

:)

So, you can tell by the picture at the top that obviously it snowed A lot here in Kanab. It was wild!!!

We loved that.

The Annual Gramma Cooper Christmas party in St. George was a blast. Here is a darling picture of Jess, Ali and Mama Coop enjoying the shin-dig.

Kelly and Sammy ran around and had a fun filled time with all of the cousins. They even got to hear Christmas songs, sung to them by a huge family of carolers.

I had never seen that in real life before...only on movies.

There I go....writing too much. I will try to stop.

Sarah and Jim were lookin' snazzy for the party.

Then we had a Christmas Eve tradition that I really dig.

The Progressive dinner!

We all went over to Amanda and Jason's house to have yummy appetizers.

(Sweet picture of Sarah!)

Then, we shuffled down the street to Emily and Doug's house for the main course.

It was sooooo good.

Here is Sadie, Kelly and Mia at the VIP table. I was not cool enough to get a seat at that table myself.

Emily and Doug look like they are enjoying the mouth watering feast that they made for everyone.

Such a fun couple...love them.

Next we had dessert here at Casa de Coop. There was home made chocolate candy, cookies and the fam favorite.....cheesecake!

I have pics of that part...but I am trying to keep it kind of short....

Kelly and Mia got into their jammies and snuggled on the couch. They watched Christmas cartoons together. It was precious.

Then it was finally Christmas morning!!!!!

TAH DAH!!!!

Kelly jumper right out of bed and was soooooo excited. Her eyes were bugging out of her head. It was pretty great to watch her open all of her presents. I felt lucky.

Savy and Ali liked their IPods, and the sweetest toe socks in America! ( I know..I checked)

Everyone should rock the toe socks.

Papa Coop and Mama Coop looked dashing in all of their new threads.

(can you tell that I am working on new words to use this year?)

(no?)

(well I am.)

After the flurry of activity we headed over to my Mom's house.

Horray!

My Mom and Mac..they got me.....

A NEW CAMERA!!!!!

So grateful for them! It is soooooo nice. they know that I have had this sad looking old camera for about 8 years now. We even bought it used.

Goodbye loyal camera friend! Have fun with Kelly.

My Grandma flew in from Colorado to spend Christmas with us. That was super special.

We call her G.G. That is short for Great Grandma.
She is the best.

We then had Christmas dinner over at my sister Cynthia's house. It was a major blast.

There was lots of family there, and tons of friends there too. Everyone was in a really good mood.

Kelly loved the gifts that she got from Cyn and Rhett. Can you tell at all from this picture????

My mom got her this cute, cute Hello Kitty tent. Kelly has been sleeping in it since Christmas. I am slowly making her sleep in her bed some nights.

I figure that childhood is supposed to be full of tent-filled-nights. Why fight it???

Awwww!

Here is Cyn, her baby angel.......Trinity, and Ruthy.

Ruth is Cyn's best friend, Trin is Ruth's baby girl. So much goodness in this pic.

I can't leave out my Shannon!!!

She is such a fabulous Aunt. The kiddos love her.

You can see that in this pic from Christmas at Cyn's house.

I got home from Cyn's party and found myself working on a jig-saw puzzle with Ali and Savy.

It was way, way too much fun for just a simple puzzle.

The next day Jess, Sam, Ivy, Sammy and Gavin were here to spend a couple of days. Kelly could not believe her string of good luck. First, presents for two days...now a two night sleep over!?

Wow!

Jess got a camera for Christmas too!

Smile Jess. :)

Hanging out with Ivy is at the top of my list of favorite things to do. Savy and Ali love it too.

Jeeze....they don't look like they are related at all do they??

I got Sammy, Ivy and Kelly to stop playing for a second so I could snap a picture of them.

My new camera must have a setting on it that captures motion....because they were running around all dang day.

*wishing for energy of a five year old*

The best little baby boy in the Universe! Gavin!

Savy, Jesser, Amando and Mama Coop.

I have a really silly version of this picture...but if you want to see it you gotta learn the secret handshake.

We really did make a tight snowman.

His name was Carl...because he looked like Snoopy's cousin.

If you asked Kelly though...his name was Kevin....again. She just thinks that all snowmen are named Kevin.

This one was 26 years old now. He grew older in the land of snow I guess.

The Savster holding sweet little Gav, Gav.

Or "Baby G".

Sheesh, Gav Gav is more fun to say!

Kell Kell loved all of her toys that she got from Santa . She is still talking about him.

She will start to be naughty..and then she will catch herself and say....

"uh-oh! I better be good. Santa is watching me."

Once she asked me if he was going to be watching her forever. I told her that he was. She seemed a little bit annoyed by that idea.

Hee hee.

We continued the fun that we had been having together by going over to Shannon and Brandon's house for yummy chili one night.

Jesee, Charlee, Wyatt and Kelly played the game Operation.

Kel got that for Christmas, since she asked Santa for it.

She is totally afraid of it. Will not play with it with the sound on.

Bah!

Whatever....

Here is My Mom, and my Sisters striking a sweet pose in Shannon's kitchen.

Work it Shannon!

Mom and GG being sweetie-faces. Love them.

Kelly in her Hello Kitty tent that I was ranting about.

She LOVES it.

Savy and Ali love it too!

My Mom knows best. You just can not go wrong with a tent.

You made it! I am done!

For now............

100th post...woo hoo

2008-12-20T08:37:00.001-08:00

I am getting more and more in the Christmas spirit!

I have been...

making craft projects with Cynthia
decorating the tree
shopping with my Mom and sisters
putting up lights outside with DJ
going to Kelly Christmas program
going shopping with Mama Coop and Kelly J
Making cookies
shoveling snow
wrapping presents

It has been so much fun. I love the holiday season. All of the prep work is half of the fun.

Last night my Gramma flew into Vegas from Colorado. I am sooooo excited to see her! She is a really special person. Gramma is going to be staying at my Mom's house. Fun!

Then, today we are going over to St. George to go to the annual Grandma Cooper Christmas party! I always have a really fun time at that. I get to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in a while, and the Coopers are such a sweet bunch. Yea!

Kelly has a really great time with all of her cousins at Grandma's party too. We always take a million pictures...so I can share the fun. :)

Oh, I made these cookies for Kelly's teachers the other night. My Mom let us use her cookie cutters so we could have a huge variety of shapes. ( I get bored decorating the same shape) I think that I made like 60 cookies...all in one night. What do you think huh?

Hooray for Kindergarten!

2008-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Kelly's Kindergarten Christmas program. I have been looking forward to going to it since I heard about it a month ago. To me, it was more exciting than Christmas itself!

It was AMAZING!!!

I swear that I was laughing so much that I had tears coming down my cheeks. The only thing is that I had to laugh all quiet, because I didn't want the other parents to think that I was being rude.....laughing at their kids.

I wouldn't do that.

I WOULD laugh at my own kid though. She is quite the ham! There was several times when she would take a bow, or do something extra silly.

She is wonderful.

This picture of her is my favorite one of the day. She is just about to talk to the parents. She says "Thank you, thank you." Then she takes a bow.

The best part is that you can see her teacher Mrs. McFadden watching her. She doesn't miss a beat I tell you. She is a SAINT!

OK. The kiddo's sang so many cutie-pie songs, and danced the sweetest dances. It was hard not to take a million pictures. The thing is that I am short...and the people in front of me were tall. They did not turn out how I wanted them to be. I did try though.

Here Kel is ringing the bells for a song. It was pretty sweet. She was so excited to show me how she could play the bells.

I thought that she was going to be nervous...she has never been in anything like this at all. She was not a bit nervous. In fact, I think that she loved it. I was pretty impressed.

Thank you Mom, Shannon and Mama Coop for coming to Kelly's program! My Mom is a trooper...she went to the morning one yesterday too. Wyatt and Jesee were in that one. I bet it was cute too.

Now....I saved the best for last.

In one of the songs the kids run around the audience. It was so funny.

Mama Coop said that it was like a stampede of Kindergarten elephants. Pretty much all of them had some kind of boot on...because of the massive snow we have now. If they didn't have boots, then they were wicked stompers.

This is the best video. Enjoy. :)

Dancing Cooper Elves

2008-12-18T11:24:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Photo shoot!

2008-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

OK....

So a little while back I posted my ideas for our Christmas card photos.

If you did not see them, then I will wait a minute while you scroll down to see the amazing pictures of DJ, Kelly and myself.

.....hmmmmmm......la la la.......

Back so soon?

Pretty sweet huh?

I made one of Savy and Ali, I could not help myself. I want to share my art with the world.

Here is Savy.

Notice how she holds her little snowman doll so tightly. Her side ponytail is all the rage these days.

I want to know why she is not wearing a jacket when she is obviously outside on a snowy day.

Crazy teenagers!

Now for Ali's picture.

All I can say is...... WOW!

Watch out boys, Ali is ready for the holiday season with her new look.

Where does she buy those giant candles? She better watch out around an open flame. It looks like she might have a wee bit of hair spray on that doo.

hahahahahhahahahaahhahhah.

I love making these Christmas card pictures. I must walk away from the computer and wrap some presents or something.

Oh....it is snowing like CRAZY outside now! Kelly is going to love it when she gets out of school.

Hopefully she won't be snowed in!

Cynthia Noel

2008-12-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yep, that is correct. My sister's name is Cynthia Noel.

Christmas time is her favorite time of year, so it fits her perfectly!

It is also right around her birthday...I guess I should tell you that small detail.

Saturday was not only Aunt Lisa's birthday, but Cyn's too.

My sweet sister is now 29. Next year's birthday party is going to be a fun one. I can predict that much..

When I was a little person, I was often caught biting Cynthia on the arm.

Once when I was a tween ...I chased her around with a hammer. I can't really remember why though. Probably had something to do with clothes, or the phone I am sure.

What else do tweens argue about? The state of the Nation?

Not likely.

Once when I was fighting with my sister my Mom sat beside me and told me this...

"Alexis, I think that you are just wasting time fighting with your sister. She is your best friend. I know that you do not see it now, but when you are an adult the three of you are going to be so close. My sisters are my best friends, I know that your sisters will be your best friends."

Well, I was just a dim-witted kid and I just thought that she was crazy, and as soon as I grew up I was going to run away to some far away country and never bother with my kid sisters.

Needless to say that she was right. I love my sisters dearly. They really are my best friends.

I have a really fun time with my Cyn.

Last week My Mom, Cyn, Shannon and I went to St. George to go Christmas shopping..... I swear that I was laughing so hard that I had tears coming down my face. I would explain what we were doing, but then I would laugh so hard that I would cry, then the tears would get in the keyboard. Then it would stop working, and I would be unable to ramble on and on.

Cute picture of Cyns family huh? It is Wyatt, Rhett, Charlee, Cynthia and Jesee.

It was taken by my baby sister Shannon a week ago. Another talented woman in my inner circle. I love this picture...I stole it from her....sweet!

If you do not know Cynthia, then you are really missing out, and I HIGHLY recommend that you find her and then spend some quality time getting to know her.

You will feel like a changed person if you do.

Cyn has the uncanny ability to bring out the very best in people. Maybe that is why she is a nurse?

Quiet people are outgoing around her, crazy people are calm. It is a sight to behold.

On second thought, if everyone tried to get to know her then she would not have time for the likes of me!

Never mind! Stay away! I am not sharing with you.

Happy Birthday to my

funny
thoughtful
busy
caring
honest
silly
bold
awesome mom
friend to all
sister Cynthia.

Love ya Fragga!

;)

Aunt Lisa....

2008-12-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

...is the BEST!!

This is a picture of her and her daughter Katelyn. They look so much alike don't they??

Lisa is D.J's Aunt on his Dad's side.

I adore her!

She lives in this really cute town north of St. George called Veyo. The view of the surrounding mountains is amazing. I really wish that I was there right now. Perfect place to chill out and watch a storm come in.

Lisa's birthday was Saturday...I am super bummed that I missed it.

She is a real gem.

Whenever I need someone to talk to I can always give her a call.
At the holiday parties, she is the best person to hangout with.
Kelly loves her, she is always so nice to her and makes her feel special.
I have fun with her even when we are treading water!

Happy birthday Liis! Love you. :)

Christmas card!

2008-12-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Holiday festivities are going full swing here at Casa de Coop.

Mama and Papa Coop went out into the wilderness and got a Christmas tree. It was a really cold day that day too! Brave souls.

I love that they have the chain saw in their hand. Sweet detail.

We even decorated our tree tonight! See? Isn't it pretty-full? I always want to sleep under the tree. It looks like a wonderful place to take a nap.

OK.

Tonight it is all about the Christmas card.

I have been fretting about what to put on our family card this year. My thoughts always tend to drift to a funny picture of Kelly..... I can't help it, I love my little girl.

My sister Cynthia told me that I HAD to be on the card this year.

She was all.....

"Alexis, you are a person. You exist. You have to be on your card."

Whatever.

I do not like having my picture taken. Enough said.

So, tonight I was looking at my favorite website.... (please click on it and check it out yo!)

bestweekever.com

....I adore that hilarious site. I check it everyday, to see where the funny is at.

They then told me all about this mega-rad Christmas card generator.

photobooth.com

It is the Pho-ho-hoto booth.

Then, I knew that my Christmas card woes were OVER!

Here are the amazing results.

D.J. looking dashing in this green blazer. I am really feeling the hair. It makes you want to brush it and put little clippies in there.

Kelly with is fun head wrap, the fresh snow on the trees in the background.

I am loving the black bangs too.

It just screams Merry Christmas to me.

Then there is my picture.

Wow!

What is going on with this picture???

Am I going shopping?

Who did my fantastic hair?

Why am I going shopping when I already have a bunch of presents behind me?

What is wrong with my face? It looks all crazy.

They are PERFECTION!!!!

You KNOW that yo want me to send you one!

Busy, busy...

2008-12-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ah, yes. It is December 11th.

I am sure that everyone is busy wrapping presents, making cookies, stringing up Christmas light, and decorating the tree.

Busy, busy time of year.

I am usually a Tasmanian devil of activity by now. Shopping for my family, writing holiday cards, making crafts with Kelly. I even get caught singing a song or two...I can't help it, the holiday spirit fills me and much to the regret of the people around me, I sing.

Sadly, I am not doing any of the fun filled things that make the season bright.

What am I doing you ask????

I am PAINTING the bathroom.

Casa de Coop desperately needed to have a facelift before our holiday guests arrived. I was the only one not working, or learning, in the house.

I don't mind really.

Watch out though, when I am done, I am going to be a Christmas freak!

;)

The Sav is 17!!!

2008-12-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Wow!

Savannah Lea Cooper is 17 today!!!!

Here are 17 ways to say Happy birthday in 17 languages from around the world. I just know that Savy is going to travel around the world someday..so she will need to know this.

Arabic ..........Eid milaad saeed! or Kul sana wa inta/i a!
Austrian.......Ois guade winsch i dia zum Gbuadsdog!
Chinese-Mandarin.....qu ni sheng er kuai le
Dutch...........Fan herte lokwinske!
French.........Joyeux Anniversaire!
German.......Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
Italian...........Buon Compleanno!
Japanese....Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu!
Latin............Fortuna dies natalis!
Mongolian..Torson odriin mend hurgee!
Navajo........bil hoozho bi'dizhchi-neeji' 'aneilkaah!
Russian.....S dniom razhdjenia! or Pazdravliayu s dniom razhdjenia!
Samoan....Manuia lou aso fanau!
Swedish....Grattis pŒ fšdelsedagen
Taiwanese..San leaz quiet lo!
Vietnamese...Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat!
Yiddish........A Freilekhn Gebortstog!
Zulu.............Ilanga elimndandi kuwe!

Sav, you are a really wondrous person.

We love going to watch you sing with Xpress ..or help lead your team to a Varsity victory.

It is fun to sit around and laugh at Family Guy re-runs with you and ponder the thought process between a talking dog and a talking baby.

Thank you for letting me make giant "Go Coop" signs and bring them to your volley ball and basketball games. Thanks for also not pretending that I am not invisible when you see me yelling for you and cheering for you holding the sign.

I know it must not be that great to have your brother and his family come and spoil all of your fun. We really have tried our hardest to stay out of your space. Kelly has been so, so good at staying out of your room.

If I was five, and had an aunt that I adored....I would try my hardest to stay IN her room.

Kelly looks forward to coming downstairs every morning and saying hello to you. I think that it is so cute how she pretends to act all cool.

See what you bring out in people???

I am glad that I have had the chance to spend time to get to know you.

Your sense of humor is wicked fierce, your kindness to others is genuine and sweet, and your love for your family and friends is obvious and real.

We all love you so much Sav, Have the best Birthday EVER!!!

p.s. I can't believe that you are 17 today!!!!

Ivy Kay is 10!

2008-12-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

Oh, my.

My beautiful, smart, kind and caring niece Ivy Kay White turned 10 yesterday.

Man, I wish that we could have been there to celebrate with her and her awesome family. We always have so much fun together.

If wishes were fishes...right??? I have been saying that so much lately.

This stunning picture of Ivy was taken by Nicole on Thanksgiving weekend. I think that Ivy looks like an angel. That is probably because she is...I think so anyway.

When I first met Ivy, she was just a tiny small person. She was about 5 or 6 months old and I came over to casa de Coop with Emily to see her new niece. Ivy was in this really precious duck shaped bouncy thing. You should have seen her, attached to the door....bouncing everywhere and laughing.

I thought that she was the cutest little girl ever! (She is)

This picture on the left is one that we had taken to give to Mama Coop on Mothers day. There is Dylan, Zack, he is holding a 3 month old Kelly, and then there is smiling Ivy on the right. They all look so little!

Ever since Kelly was 10 days old, Ivy has been her #1 person.

As far as Kelly was concerned.....Ivy hung the moon.

For a little while, I got to watch her while Jess went to work.

It was such a fun time! Ivy was in kindergarten! I was got to be there when she got on the bus to go to school for the first time, and then see her Dad surprise her by picking her up from the bus stop that afternoon. It was so cool.

I got to get her ready for the day and then she helped Kelly style her baby wisps of hair. They got to eat breakfast together, and Kelly and I loved walking to the bus stop to get her from school everyday.

Don't they look so cute together? That is one of my favorite pictures.

Now, Ivy is a big...grown up....I miss her very much. She knows that we love her. I really get that.

Here is a sweet picture of Ivy, Kelly and Sammy playing Rockband at Aunt Sarah's house. They loved it!!

Ivy, you are a really special person to all of us.

I am sure that you know it, but you would not say anything.

We miss

going to the store to find a fun project to do
playing a fun game
reading a cute book
talking about school and life together
swimming the day away
watching you be a great example to your cousins and sisters

Ivy, I know that we will always be super close, and I am so happy for that. You are, and always have been someone that I hold close to my heart.

Love you Iver.

Hero Scape

2008-12-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

OK. This is a disclaimer.

************************************************************************************

I love my daughter. She is the apple of my eye...my special little girl. My reason for living.

Sometimes she gets emotional about the weirdest things!

Sometimes I happen to have a camera right with me and I take pictures of her being sad. It's not like I see her being sad and then I run and get my camera.

No, I wouldn't do that.

I just wanted to make myself clear right at the beginning.....

*************************************************************************************

D.J's 27th birthday was this last Friday.

Woot woot! Go Coop! Only three more years until he is 30!

We were of course, in Pine Valley that day. So he got to be surrounded by all of his fam. That was pretty neat.

Nicole gave D.J. this really sweet game called Hero Scape. It is right up his alley. He is a crazy gamer, for sure. Cole knows exactly what Deej likes because her son Zack loves all things gamer as well. Zack and Matt play Hero Scape.

Yesterday D.J. Kelly and I decided that we were going to try to play the game together. I have never really been that good at fantasy, or role playing games. Dungeons and Dragons, or Risk were not really my cup of tea. This game is kind of like both.

Ugh.

Well, my husband wanted me to at least give it a try. He IS my best friend.....(sigh).... I decided to play along.

Kelly got to be on D.J.'s team. She loved this game RIGHT away. She loved all of the pieces, and the tiny little characters that she got to use. It was like a small world at her finger tips.

Her job was to roll the dice....(lots of dice by the way, I think around 10 of them.) ....and she also got to move their guys around too.

Five and 1/2 year olds love playing games. Kelly lives for games.

She really loved this large Dragon piece. It is HUGE!!! When Deej got it out we all were like...

"WOW! Where in the world did you get that?! Was that in your game? No way!"

Really.

I am a nerd. I am fine with that.

So, the object of the game is to basically kill the other players guys...Kelly did not want anyone to even TRY to kill her super precious dragon. Oh no. Do not even go there.

Like any loving and caring mother, I made an attempt to kill her dragon.

Big mistake.

Huge.

This is what happened. ---------->

Totally sad. Miserably horrified. Traumatized for life.

Water works streaming out of her eyes......

Until I told her that her I was not really going to go after her dragon. I was just kidding around.
No one would ever, Ever even dream of such a nightmare idea like killing her dragon.

Ugh.

Team Daddy got to win.

What does D.J. think about this??????

I thought so.

By the way, I had a camera by me because I was going to take pictures of D.J. and Kelly playing to send to Nicole...kind of like a cyber thank you note. It was just too hard not to write about it today.

Here is a video of them playing.

I am not sure why it is sideways. I could not turn it the right way.

Oh well.

I have a new word...

2008-12-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

It is spunkdidliocious. My cousin Laura... (that is her in the gray shirt on the right) she was talking to us on Thanksgiving and it came out of her mouth just like she was saying "hello" or something.

I heart made up words.

When I was in 10th grade I started to use the word spleen as much as I could. Mostly because I was sick of rad, and awesome...and like.

"Like, you guys....I totally want to go to the like TV towers and like look at the like stars. That would be like so rad. Like."

You know what I mean, I am sure.

Savy Ali and I came up with preciolicious. It is a really fun one to say in a group conversation.

"Oh, baby Gavin looks so sweet today. He is so preciolicious."

Anyway...I just wanted to share my quest for interesting words....feel free to let me know you favorite strange word. I will take it and use the heck out of it.

Just for you.

Here is a tasty little picture tidbit.

It's Doug, Mia, Em, Savy, Jason, Sadie, Amanda and Deej.

This picture says so much.

1. My family is so very silly
2. They know how to rock a group pose
3. Even when it is cold out they still have fun
4. I really took this picture in a tshirt and shorts

Thanks for the picture Em!

Yea Team Pratt!

2008-12-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Did you have an amazing Thanksgiving weekend?

We had a super rad time in Pine Valley for our Thanksgiving weekend. It was not only a turkey feast....oh no. We had a gigantic Pratt family reunion. 58 of us all together.

So amazing.

Then we celebrated Grandpa Pratt's birthday.

We know how to get together and do it up RIGHT!

Look at these little sweeties up at the top of this post. This is just a sample of all the kiddos that were running around. Seriously..they ran, and ran, and ran all day and all night! I was tired just watching them.

Here is Addi, Will, Sammy, Kelly, Brianna, Dylan and Shannon.

Starting Wednesday night, until Sunday we all stayed at the Dixie College Cabin in Pine Valley.
It is so incredibly beautiful up there. It was foggy,and dew covered. The perfect settle in and chat weather.

Not all of us were chatting..... DJ went 4 wheeling with the Pillmore's and the Thebeau's. He even came back to get warmer clothes. Brrrr. I don't really get cold, but he made me get the chills when he came back.

If you are wondering if I got my crazy booty on a 4 wheeler...then you answer would be NO. For some strange reason I dislike riding on motorcycles, or 4 wheelers. Rhinos are ok. I think that I was traumatized as a small child or something.

There I go, getting off track again.

We played quite a few games. Board games, hand games, video games. It was a really fun way to get to know people. Honestly, when you see someone pantomime "Leave it to Beaver" and they act like a full on beaver, with a tail and buck teeth...you bond.

I had a totally fun time hanging out with the kiddos. All of my favorite "little people" are not so little anymore.

Bah!

My niece Ivy is going to be 10 years old on the 7th. I can hardly believe it. It feels like yesterday that she was four and just a tiny gal.

Anyway, we did a few projects together. The turkey hats were WAY funny. Pine cone turkeys ended up being a pain to glue...but if you just waited for them to dry...they ended up cute as a button.

I have to say that we had MOUNTAINS of food. I have never seen such a sight. To tell you the truth, I do not think that I have ever spent 4 days with 58 people.

You could seriously eat 24 hours a day for a month and you would not eat all of the food that was up at the cabin. Everyone helped with the Thanksgiving dinner...it was yummers. Then, each family had a dinner night. Oh, the taco fiesta was so perfect. I do go on.

We had movie night. Not what you would think. We were not all huddled around Kung fu Panda.

No.

Aunt Mace had un earthed some pretty fabulous home movies. I got to see

Papa Coop picking up Mama Coop for a DATE
Mama Coop on a float going down a street in St. George
DJ as a nine year old...super cute
Nicole with HUGE hair
Sarah as a little girl, she loved Shane..ha ha
Amanda singing with the other kids to a big crowd
Ali as a baby
Grandma Pratt as a young woman
Aunt Mace as a small girl
and Aunt Ann as a ballerina

Pretty sweet eh?

Well I am getting tired just writing down all the things that we did this weekend..and I didn't even get the HALF of it.

****Yawn****

Ah, I think I will go take a nap.

;)

Gobble, Gobble

2008-11-26T13:53:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a minute to say that I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving!

We are leaving for Pine Valley today, and will be back in a few days. I am so excited to hang out with everyone. Kelly is going to have a BLAST!

This is just the classic picture of what Thanksgiving is to me....family, smiles, and a cooked bird.

Awesomeness all around.

We will have a super cool time this weekend....all that is missing is my mom!

I will be thinking of you Momma!

Love you!

4th folder..4th picture..

2008-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by me sister Shannon.

It was a nice tag, she told me that I could do it if I wanted to.....

That is the definition of a nice tag. Just in case you were wondering.

I am pretty sure that the assignment was to upload a photo that was in your 4th folder...and it is the 4th picture in that folder.

Yes, I did say 4th folder, 4th picture. It is a little tougher than it sounds.

This is my 4th picture that lives in my 4th folder. It is one of my favorites. Here is Kelly when turned 1 year old. I LOVE the frosting all over her face.

Here she is just before she went face first into her little cake. I ordered a big cake for her....and the store that I bought it from gave me the little cake for free because it was her first birthday. How sweet huh?

I love the look on her face in this picture....she is totally grossed out!

Ha ha! Kelly really dislikes getting messy. It is all my fault. So funny to me.

Jessica, Sam and Ivy were over at our apartment in Vegas that night.

Seriously, we lived on Tropicana...right off of the freeway. AWESOME place to bring your 10 day old baby to and raise her.

Joking..joking...it was only scary there the first day. That night some guy got in a fight with the cops, and there was like six cop cars, an ambulance and a helicopter all right outside of our balcony...all on the first night. Then it was regular and boring.

The funny part about this picture on the right is that DJ got ton's of frosting all over him and Kelly loved getting it on him. She was so happy. I think that Sam got some frosting on him too. Jess and I just sat back and laughed.

Radical night yo.

The sunset.....

2008-11-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

Everything is going along just peachy keen here at Casa de Coop.

Tonight we had everyone's favorite dinner... breakfast. :)

I do not have much to say, except that I am happy.

I really hope that you are happy too, my imaginary
reader friend.

How could I not be pleased when I have a sunset like this to enjoy with my little family?

Tomorrow I think that I am going to do something unexpected...like...

go for a long walk
try to find a part time job
finish my book that I am reading
finish that book I am trying to write
work on my turkey day crafts

Who knows?

Have a lovey day!

It is feeling more like fall here!

2008-11-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying the lovely fall weather now. I even went for a walk this morning.

A shocker. I know.

To be honest, it was a walk to the elementary school and it was a brisk walk.

I could have driven, but I feel really silly when I do that. It IS only like a block away from Casa de Coop, and I am pretty sure that everyone knows that and laughs at me when they see me drive.

They don't know if I have somewhere else to go after I drop Kelly off. Sheesh!

I will just keep telling myself that.

Soooo. Yesterday was Sunday. I am sure that you know that...if you didn't then you are late for work!!!! Stop reading this and go take a shower, get ready! Today is Monday!

I was going to make a comic every Sunday...but then I remembered who was talking here. It's Alexis, I am just not good at doing things when I want to do them. Let's just say that I am easily distracted. (Yesterday I was very easily amused, my sister Cynthia could tell you that much)

No.

I will not let myself down....I am going to show you my cartoon people that I made. You will just have to pretend that it is not Monday. Thank you for your cooperation. :)

Here it goes.

I found this web site....

http://simpsonizeme.com/

I uploaded a picture of Savy in the yellow machine and then I was shot at by aliens with lasers.

There they are, shooting me, with lasers. What a mean thing to do!

Actually, these aliens are a couple of my favorite characters on the Simpson's. They usually only show up around Halloween, for the haunted tree house shows. Always my pick for viewers choice, season to season.

Here is the picture of Savy after it got zapped by the aliens.

Pretty cute huh?

I think that it looks like her...if she was a character on the Simpson's. So, mission accomplished!

Ever wonder what the rest of the peep's here at casa de Coop would look like if they were characters on the Simpson's???

You know that you lie awake with that very question burning in your mind.

Well, wonder no more imaginary reader.

Here is the answer to that very mystery.

Papa Coop...I am digging his sweet multi-pocketed pants. I personally think that the simpsonizer made Papa coop look like he was going to go pick pocket someone...and he would NEVER do that.

So, I am going to give this one a score of 5.0 out of 10.

This is the Mama Coop character.

I think that she looks like she is going to go up to you and squeeze your cheeks. This past year I have spent quite a lot of time with her and I have to say that cheek squeezing is not on her " to do" list.

Her real body is not like this at all either...but I could not change it....the yellow machine was being so bossy!

That small detail aside, I would say that for a cartoon....this is pretty cute. Not really accurate, but cute. I give it a 7.5

My Kelly was the next one up to be simpsonized. I decided to go with just the head shot, because I was sick of messing with all of the choices I had to make with the whole body.

Pants or shorts, shoes or sandals....ugh.

I want instant results here, yellow machine! Sheesh, I am a little bratty today. I think that I just dislike Monday's just like everyone else.... Waaaah.

As a certified expert in all things dealing with Kelly Jessica Cooper, I would have to say that this simpsonizing is right on the money. It looks like Kell. She would wear a bird shirt for sure...and the hair cut is not that far from what she is rocking right now. I am going to give it a 9.0

My darling husband DJ...or is it?

This guy looks like mafia hit man! Not my sweet baboo.

I still think that he is cute, that is kind of creepy.

DJ does not know that I did this. I am sure that if he did, he would make me do another one. Make it look more like what he would want it to look like. But, I really just uploaded the photo and went with what it spit out at me.

Luck of the draw man.

I really did not alter my picture at all before putting it on my blog....but to be honest. I DID use a picture that was like 8 years old...hee hee.

I do not mind this cartoon of me. It could use a chin, but in my opinion no chin is waaay better than two.

:)

Smell ya later!

Halloween!

2008-11-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

While I was grabbing grub from house to house with my pirate friend Old One Eye, my family here went a little crazy.

Which I LOVE!!

Because they need to...and deserve too.

Here is a picture that I wanted to share of...

Savy the Pirate
Sarah the tourist
and D.J. the Scurvy Pirate

They are funny and make me smile.

Love you crazy people!

Uncle Matt

2008-11-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

Matthew Lynn Jacobson of Pine Valley, Utah, peacefully passed away in his sleep on October 30, 2008 from pulmonary and cardiac complications.

Matt was born on April 19, 1956 in Miami, Florida and was raised by loving parents, Martha and Lindsay Jacobson in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Dixie College in St. George where he was sophomore President, Most Preferred, and involved in Program Bureau, Theatre, and many other activities on campus.

It was at Dixie College where he met the love of his life, Mace Dana Pratt. They were married in the St. George temple on March 14, 1980.

Matt joined the St. George Police Department in 1984 and was always a "to Protect and Serve" kind of officer and never an, "I have a badge and a gun" cop. He was soon promoted to detective and was recruited by the Utah Attorney General's Office in Salt Lake City where he became a lieutenant with the child homicide and abuse division. Matt fought for many a young victim, sacrificing much of his own life while walking the dark paths of child abuse. Matt was honored to receive the Child Advocate of the Year Award from Kane and Washington Counties. He was a member of the Southern Utah Task Force that first created the Children's Justice Centers.

From the moment he was born Matt spent his entire life collecting adventures. He loved golf, skydiving, scuba diving, jeeping, hiking, camping, practical jokes, landscaping, watercolor, egg-carving, and his Harley. Two of his favorite adventures were his California to New York solo Harley ride and landing on the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk in an F16.

He held many church callings but his favorite was that of Scout Master. He loved making mischief with the youth. Where else could a young man learn to start a fire with a paper-cup and gasoline?

Matt was born to help others. He had a caring heart almost to a fault and lived to serve. He had a soft spot for children, animals, and the elderly. Prince or pauper, Matt treated everyone the same. He always had a smile on his face and a prank up his sleeve. He felt "humor was the spice of life".

His greatest loves were his family, extended family, and friends. He also had a deep love for Jesus Christ and His teachings of service and love. Matt would most like to be remembered for his humor and kindness.

"Thank you" to all our loved ones who have played such a huge part throughout Matt's life.

He is survived by his wife Mace, Pine Valley, Utah; his children, Matthew James, Pine Valley, Taylor Pratt (Kelli), St. George, Laura Lindsay (Matt Edwards), Salt Lake City, and Colin Peter, Layton, Utah; his brother Kirk Jacobson (Brenda), Las Vegas, Nevada; and his grandchildren, Payson Pratt and Addi Mace Jacobson.

Whenever we see a broken-down yellow tractor or a bucking donkey, we will think of you Matt!

Funeral Services will be Monday, November 3, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the Pine Valley Chapel. Friends may call Sunday, November 2, 2008, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff St., St. George, and again Monday, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to services, at the Pine Valley Chapel. Interment will take place in the Pine Valley Cemetery, Pine Valley, Utah.

Arrangements are made under direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 South Bluff Street, St. George, Utah (435) 673-2454. Friends and family are invited to view funeral listings and offer their condolences at www.spilsburymortuary.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Matt's favorite charity, The Perpetual Education Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Relaxation time for me!

2008-10-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

I can now heave a huge sigh of relief.

Papa Coop's surprise birthday party was last Saturday and it was wonderful.

***crazy side note***

For a really long time...like my whole life... I have been spelling surprise like this- suprize- I thought it was sup prize!

I am officially an idiot.

The cool thing is that the old me would never admit to that mistake..ever.

I feel all changed and new.

Not really.

***end of crazy side note***

Anyway, all of the hiding, whispering and plan making is done. What a relief!

He almost caught me at least three or four times when I was either making something, or talking to someone about some part of the party.

Planning surprise parties can take it out of you.

We went to Gramma Cooper's Halloween party in St. George that afternoon. It is a tradition, and not to be missed.

You saw how much fun it is in my last post.... so everyone had to be EXTRA sneaky and not say anything to Papa Coop. It was a tough one, because people were talking about Jess being there, and Gramma Cooper herself was going to drive over to Kanab the minute her party was over.

Risky....risky.

Then, when we were there in St. George, Papa Coop tells Mama Coop and I that he isn't going to go back to Kanab after the party.

What?!!!?

Yep. He had work plans to pick up a load in Vegas. AHHH!

Well, Mama Coop got right on her phone and called his work. She had already cleared the night with his boss a few days before. I guess his boss didn't want to let the cat out of the bag, and decided to not tell him no, if there was work to be done.

It was quickly taken care of and the surprise party was back on! Woo hoo! (Thanks Uncle Tom!!!)

The hostess-with-the-mostest Emily had everything down to an exact science. It is nice to plan things with someone that understands my obsessive compulsiveness...and my internal need to people please to the nth degree. She knows me.

Here is an example of her organization skills first hand. The power point presentation of,

what needed to be done,
who is doing it, and
when it has to be finished.

Pure genius....love it.

Papa Coop arrived at the party a little miffed that we had somehow lost the seven layer dip. He had his mind set on eating that as soon as he got home.

All anger was gone the second he heard "Surprise!!"

I was behind him a bit, so I did not see them all jump out, but I bet it was a sight to see. I think someone might have taped his entrance..I am not sure.

At the right is what we wanted this picture to look like!!

We all were missing Nicole so much! Now, with my awe inspiring paint program skills I can make the impossible...possible.

Here Nicole is with Jess, Gavin, Savy, Ali and Amanda. It looks like Amanda is holding up a Happy Birthday Dad sign. How nice of her.

Oooh! Here is a classic picture. Nicole, Sarah and Jess. Watch out everybody! Here comes trouble.

;)

Man I am such a good photo cropper-changer. I should do it for a living. You can hardly tell. HaHaHa

All kidding aside, we really did miss Nicole, Matt, Zack and Dylan. We know how hard it is to make the trip from California, and everyone is looking forward to hanging out with you guys at Thanksgiving.

Nicole and Matt made this SWEET 2 disk CD for Papa Coop. We then burned it, and gave it out as thank you gifts to all our guests. Party music is a great reminder of people that you love and the fun time you have had with them. Thanks guys!

Now I just need to plan my Halloween night.

I think I have plans with my new friend Ole' One Eye. Fun!

Pirates love candy

2008-10-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

I have witnessed it firsthand. Pirates absolutely live for candy.

The other day, I met a short pirate who went by the name, "One Eyed Cooper".

She was full of mischief and mayhem...she had plans to set sail for her Grandma Cooper's candy throwing bash.

One Eye insisted that I come along with her and enjoy the festivities.

Usually I would not make plans with short, bloody, one eyed pirates....but this one was especially cute and very charming. So, I agreed to go along with her.

When we got there, we were met by with her friend "Raggedy Ann". She didn't look raggedy at all to me. In fact, she was quite cute. I liked her braids and her dress. Her make up was different, but I hear that's all the rage with the cool kids these days.

Trends..I can never keep up with them. I am still wearing leg warmers for crying out loud.

Next Ole' one eye wanted to get some grub. She kept telling me that her Grandma made the best jack-o-lantern cheese burgers.

What is THAT?

It isn't pumpkin flavored cheese burgers, is it? I can handle hanging out with a swash buckling pirate and her Raggedy Ann sidekick, but eating pumpkin flavored cheese burgers is not on my list of things I want to do.

Then she kindly showed me her Grandma, and I saw right away what they really were. Just yummy burgers with cheese cut out to look like jack-o-lantern faces.

I could handle that. :)

Here she is...with her fellow scallywags. Enjoying the hot, late October afternoon.

*****Side note*******

Hello mother nature? It is almost winter. 85 degrees on October 25th is not natural. I am NOT a fan of hot weather, being as I am not the smallest person that I know. I prefer a chilly day to a warm one hands down.

This story is not about me and my temperature needs. It is about my adventure with my tiny pirate.

*****Back to the story*****

It appears that One eye does not like cheese burgers....look at the scowl that she can produce when asked to finish up her plate.

Shiver me timbers.

I asked her, "What did I do to you? Why do you want me to walk the plank, One eye?"

She grumbled something about wanting the candy to be tossed off of the plank, not me. Whew! That was a close one.

She went and grabbed her loot bag and waited at the bottom of the plank.

What could she be doing? Surely she had gone mad with scurvy....or were her mumbles of candy being tossed, tied to this craziness somehow?

I had to find out.

I went to the bottom, and waited by her. Soon, more small people gathered around with loot bags as well. Then they started to chant.

"Candy. Candy. Candy."

Is was enough to drive you mad. The suspense was killing me. What was going to happen?

Then I saw her. Gramma Cooper was outside, on the deck...with a huge bowl. What could possibly be in that large bowl? It couldn't be candy could it?

No.

That would be madness. I would not know what to make of it. candy flying through the air.

Then...it happened!

Gramma Cooper raised her hand and flung the candy out to the hungry mob below. It was like a candy rainbow, flying through the sky.

At first I thought that it was going to frighten me...but, to tell you the truth, I really liked watching it.

All of the short people ran around in a dizzy to catch all of the tossed candy. Gramma would reach into her large bowl over and over. It looked like it was raining candy.

I bet my friend Willy Wonka would have loved this party. My pirate friend really did. She was running around, laughing at the other kids. She even made sure that the even smaller people got their share of the candy as well.

Who knew that pirates were so thoughtful and giving? Not me.

Boy, was I wrong. Ole' One Eye then came to the sidelines and let the taller people try to catch the candy too. If it was my Gramma, I would stay and not let anyone catch it...but I guess pirates are just made from a different mold.

Here you can see the joy that pirates give when they share. Look at these happy people. I feel all warm and fuzzy all over just from seeing it.

Here she is walking away from the toss. She looks so fulfilled and happy.

Just as long as she does not try to threaten me to swab the deck or hoist the main sail.... I heard that angry pirates like to do that.

I looked around to try to find my small pirate friend.

Where could she have gone?

Did she go back to her ship? She would not leave me there, and not say even so much as a good bye to her beloved Gramma.

No. Not One Eye.

I spotted her sitting by her friend. They were eating their loot and swapping stories about salty sea dogs. Big grins were stretched across their faces.

All because of their love of candy. So simple, these little people. We could all learn a lesson from them.

Like....

Don't judge a person by how they look, they could be totally different than you expected.
Enjoy the little things in life.
Share your candy.
Spend time with your family.
Don't be afraid to try new things, like jack-o-lantern cheese burgers.
Sometimes you gotta just do what is fun, toss the candy off the deck, elbow your cousin for a snickers bar, cheer in delight at the sight of your loot bag.
Live it up! :)

Lazy Sunday

2008-10-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

Today IS Sunday, a day that is famous for being the day that you read the comics. (or funny pages as I like to call them)

I do call my blog Cooper COMICS....

It is about time that I put some actual comics on my blog...do you think?

I should make it a Sunday tradition...that would be smashing.

I found this site http://www.befunky.com/ and I then made these sweet "comics" of a few of my favorite pictures, just to see how it works.

Do not be surprised if you wind up in one of my comic strips on a fine Sunday afternoon.

So, if you see me with a camera, please feel free to assume the following things....

I am going to take a picture of you
I will not ever make fun of you
Your picture will most likely end up on my blog
That picture could be made into a cartoon
I do this purely to amuse myself

Alright. I feel better getting that off of my chest.

I was starting to feel a wee bit guilty for taking people's pictures and making silly stories about them.

Just a wee bit though. Which I guess is enough to make me set up that minor disclaimer.

Now maybe my imaginary reader will stop leaving me.....

angry text messages,
nasty notes on my facebook wall,
rude icons on my myspace,
testy tweets on my Twitter account,
and sassy comments on my blog here.....

Sheesh maybe I should join some other social internet website.

What does Pirate DJ have to say about that?

Ha ha. Pirate DJ, you have such a way with words.

You amaze me.

Bug problems

2008-10-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

When I got up yesterday morning, there was this HUGE spider on the couch.

Check this bad boy out!

It was way to big to smash it with a shoe. I am pretty sure that we didn't have enough bug spray in the house to even give it a cold sore.

I started to panic. What am I going to do with this giant bug?

Why does he only have four legs? Was he in a back alley giant spider fight? Did he fight in some spider army, and was wounded in the battle?

I can't very well kill a veteran of some foreign huge spider war, especially since he was obviously wounded.

What if he was just a bully, and not the good guy? He could possibly be the one starting the big, bad fights in the back alley's with innocent smaller daddy long legs.

I do not know.

I can't take the chance that he is a good spider. So I shooed him out the door on to the lawn.

He will like it out there. It is all green and full of trees that he can make giant webs with.

GREAT!

Now he is trying to get back in the house.

Spiders are not allowed in Casa de Coop! From what I hear, whenever the girls would see a spider in the house they would put a pan over it and write a note to their Dad to kill it.

Well, I do not have a pan big enough for this spider.

Oh wait! Here comes Savy. She might have a pan big enough in her van. There is a lot of random things in there....stranger things have happened.

Do not be afraid of the giant four legged spider Savy! She looks pretty scared.

Dang it! She ran away.

Now where am I going to get a giant pan from? I am just going to have to have a look inside the casa to see if I can find one.

Nope, no pan...what the???

How did that wounded giant spider get on the roof???

Did you put him up there imaginary reader?

If you did then that is not fair! You know that I am only 5'4'' and 31 years old....and a not really what you would call "athletic".

How am I supposed to put a pan on it now when it is up there?

Huh? What? Call Sarah?

Yes, she IS 5' 11''....and super young, like 23....and she is waaay athletic.

Do not be afraid Sarah! He is not that mean...I do not think that he has fangs even......oh great. Now she is gone.

I can text message Papa Coop! He would be here as quick as he could and he would smash that spider!

I used to want it to live, and go on...maybe help the community, with all it's four legged glory.

But no.

You had to put it on the roof imaginary reader!

Oh, here he comes..Papa Coop is going to get that thing, and I can go on with my life.

What?!!! No!!!!

Papa Coop can not stand the sight of a four legged spider!

I did not know that this was his only phobia! Great. People do not tell me anything. If I would have only known!

Now that giant spider has scared Savy, Sarah and Papa Coop away.

I am lonely and stuck with this giant spider on the roof.

Wait....I can use it as a Halloween decoration! Then we might get a few trick or treaters even! We did not get any last year...it was a bummer.

Then I am going to have to get it down. Mama Coop will not stand for a giant, misbehaving spider on her roof.

Why spider.

WHY???

The Wise!

2008-10-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today is a special day! My niece Samantha James White is turning four years old.

Gosh, just typing that out made it seem so impossible that little Sammy is getting so big!

The night before she was born, Jess was having dinner with DJ and I and we could not believe that the next day she was going to have a new little girl in their lives. We were so excited. Sammy was on her way! Little did we know how awesome she would be.

Here, at the left is her first Halloween. Only a couple of weeks old and just the smallest baby girl.

I remember like it was yesterday. All she did was snooze away like the sweetest angel. I wanted to pick her up and hold her, but DJ kept telling me to leave her be.

So I did....but I made a frownie face at him when his back was turned.

Sammy, Sammers, PaJammers, or my favorite nick name "the Wise"...(because her name is Sammy, and that went on to Sam Gamgee, from Lord of the rings, who was also called Samwise Gamgee...)

When I deconstruct how I make up people's nicknames...it makes me sound loony. Oh well.

We had such a fun time at Brian Head...she was such a fun toddler to be around. Kelly would be crying about snow melting or something, and Sammy would just look at me and smile. Just like that on the right. She is holding a snow baby. She kept telling me that all of her snow babies were shrinking.

Sammy and Kelly used to have the most marvelous tea parties. They would dress up completely ...dresses, shoes earrings, bracelets, and crowns and have high tea at my little kitchen table.

They would have the cutest conversations...like world politics and the state of the union. You should have heard them talk economics....whew! It got heated.

No.

That didn't happen. They DID talk about puppies, dollies and I think toots were thrown in there for good measure.

Sammy, you are

cute
funny
sweet
silly
caring
nice
cuddly
and special

Happy birthday Wise....we all love you...ooodles.

Tagged : )

2008-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by the lovely Tiff aka http://rhettandtiffjacksonfamily.blogspot.com/

I like her..so I will do this tag..but then she must be my slave....FOREVER!!!!

Nah, I will just do the tag..... but just this once. ;)

7 Things I can do.....

7. I can sit and talk to my husband all day long, and never get tired of it.
6. I can draw a silly cartoon of almost anyone, (for some reason, I just CAN NOT draw Jason Pillmore!)
5. I can make giant signs that say "Go Coop" on them.
4. I can be there at the drop of a hat for my special family..anything, anytime...just ask. I mean it.
3. I can spend quality time with my Kelly...and love every minute.
2. I can miss Elora and Zoey every second of everyday.
1. I can have a perfectly pleasant conversation with a random stranger and not feel odd about it one bit.

7 Things I can't do.....

7. I can't make my shoe laces stay tied..ugh even with double knots!
6. I can't walk on rocks with my croc shoes anymore...I wore them out already!!!
5. I can't eat eggs..I am REALLY allergic...like, kill me allergic.
4. I can't go to sleep at night without a fan blowing on me.
3. I can't believe that Sammy is four years old!!!
2. I can't stop looking for my middle school friends form Washington state... on facebook.
1. I can't quit biting my nails...it is gross.

7 Things I LOVE about DJ...

7. I love that he tries his hardest to be the best person that he can be.
6. I love that he is honest.
5. I love that he is so special with Kelly.
4. I love that he can recite almost every line in the movie "Princess Bride" word for word.
3. I love that he understands who I am. Always has...always will.
2. I love that he thinks that people are checking out his booty...honey not everyone is checking out your booty. Sorry sweet pea.
1. I love that he loves our family.

7 Things I say the most often are....

7. That's awesome.
6. Kelly....stop it.
5. Stop pinching me DJ.
5. Do I really have to come get you now?
4. Is it really 7:00 am?
2. I need caffeine...now.
1. I love you.

7 Celebrity Admirations....

7. Rachel McAdams
6. Bill Murray
5. Jason Bateman
4. Wil Ferrel
3. Amy Pohler
2. Tina Fey
1. Jimmy Stewart

7 Favorite Foods....

7. Ice
6. White cheddar popcorn
5. Tomatoes
4. Guacamole
3. Artichokes
2. Chicken..anything
1. A plain sandwich

7 People to tag....

7. Shannon
6. Polly
5. Stephanie
4. Stacy
3. Alexis...the other one
2. Amanda
1. Savy...except use Mama Coop and Papa Coop instead of a hubby...cause your just 16 and don't got no hubby.... :) aint ....got ...no...hubby. Oooooh. Feeling like a backwoods weirdo feels kinda sticky..I'm guunna go wash that off.

Night night.

Daisy troop fire station visit!

2008-10-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

"Oh yeah!
It's the Girl Scouts!
Oh yeah!
They Rock!!"

That is my new chant that I do with Kelly and Jesee when we go to girl scouts.

Normally, it is held in the Elementary school gym...which I think is a GREAT thing. It is easy to get to and it is easy for the leaders, I hope.

Kelly's girl scout troop 2200 went on a field trip to the Kanab fire station the other day. I was asked to come along as an extra pair of eyes... so I went.

I do not have that much going on in my social calendar. Alright, I admit it, I was excited to go.

I decided that a camera would be sweet to have along with me. Then I would not just be the weirdo parent there to ruin the sweet fire station moment with my "I see you playing with that medical equipment" eye.

So, I borrowed my Mommy's camera. (Thank you Mommy!) Yes, I call her Mommy..and yes my camera is still a runaway.

Kelly, Jesee and I headed out to the fire station at 3:00. We were going as fast as we could.. we had to drop off people and pick up permission slips. Things like that always happen to me.

We got there alright.

Right in the middle of a speech about fire safety! UGH! Way to make an entrance team Alexis!

Oh well. We listened to Mr. Decker tell the kiddo's about fire safety and that the troop needed to make a plan with their family about a meeting place if there was ever a fire. Then they talked about smoke detectors and the like...

Wooo hoooo! It was off to the fire trucks!!! Ooooh we got to see the AMBULANCE too! Sweet!

(Side note to imaginary reader: I have NEVER been in an ambulance, or a fire truck, so this is a first for me too, and I was pretty pumped about it.)

The girls were separated into two groups. I was with Kelly's group, obviously.

We got to see the AMBULANCE first!!! A very nice man, Mr. Willoghby, showed us the ins and outs of the ambulance.

how to give a blood sugar test to a diabetic...poor Trina...not a popular thing to do around 5-7 year olds by the way
the power operated gurney
the stair chair....in case someone gets stuck and has to go down stairs..it is coool
the defibrillator..they liked that
he showed them the rescue backboard...they have new ones..some have metal..some do not, it is easy for x-ray's without metal I think.

I took a picture of Kelly on the backboard....(I am not 100% on the name for that I think I might have just made it up) All of the girls got on it, but I only took a picture of Kelly on it, because I am selfish and it was soooo cute and funny.

They said thank you to Mr. Willoghby and went on to the fire truck.

Kanab has a new fire truck yo!

It is TIGHT! It is all black and shiny...it reminds me of the old knight rider...but I am lame.

Mr. Decker showed them more about how certain fire trucks are used for different uses. Like one is for a house fire situations, and one is better for a brush fire. It was pretty interesting stuff.

Call the Discovery Channel, because these people can educate and entertain!

The girls got to get inside and sit in the truck. They even got to put on the head phones that the fire crew actually uses. It was sooooooo cute that I think that I got a little dizzy. :)

They then climbed all over it.. I wanted to see them honk the horn, but we were inside the station, so it would have been loud and scary. Which is why I wanted them to do it... I love to scare small people.

Not really.

OK, I do, but not if it could hurt their ears and stuff.

I asked if the troop could stand in front of the new fire truck for a few pictures together. The plan is to take those pictures, and send them into the local paper for some happy news.

"Little girl scouts check out fire station."

The local paper eats that stuff up!!!

I sent the picture along with some details of the trip and future goings on to the paper and on Wednesday it was NOT there.

Now, I am PRETTY sure that I made the deadline for the next issue. I looked and it was NOT there!

This is what could have happened....

I missed the deadline
I sent it to the wrong address...I would do that, I struggle
or, they just didn't care and did not put it in... boooooooo

It better be in the next issue, or I am going to have to make some NOISE!!!

Anyway, it was fun. Kelly answered a question about fire safety......and got a stuffed teddy bear dressed in a fire outfit.

Don't get too excited.. they ALL got bears... but I was happy for her for raising her hand and trying for a bear.

Yea! The people in our community that work so hard with the EMT and the Fire station rule!!! I have a new respect and honestly I want to drive the fire truck.....

But really, don't we all?

Sadie Lea

2008-10-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

The teeniest- tinyest- sweetest- cutest-little-punkin'-pie, Sadie Lea is two years old today.

I enjoy the small person things that she does....like

she calls me Aunt X's (Alexis is a hard name for the wee ones.)
I love it when she talks about her cat named Peanut.
It is sooo precious when you ask her what Peanut says, and she meows really quietly.
When she walks with me in a parking lot, she holds my hand and they are so, so small.
She blows kisses to me when she leaves.
Sadie will pick out a book and bring it to me to read it to her....
...then she cuddles with me and listens to the story
It took me three whole months for Sadie to even LOOK at me. It was hard work to be close to her...I like working for a bond.

Here is a picture that I took of her reading a book about birthdays. I think it is called "Happy birthday to you, you belong in a zoo."

I love to sing the birthday song that way......only I add "you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too." I haven't done that in sooooo long.

I am pretty sure that it has been a week. At least.

I leave you with this video that Savy took of Sadie. She is playing in her crib....she loves that..and her Mom is throwing stuffed animals at the crib. It is making her laugh like crazy...and it is one of the best laughs EVER!

I love you Sader Tater.

2008-10-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Papa Coop does not go online very much, so this will be pretty easy to keep it quiet. Keep an eye out in your inbox for your invite....To anyone else that knows Papa Coop, and wants to come and wish him a happy day, this is your invitation. YEA! Just please do not spill the beans imaginary reader!