Jess's Baby shower!

So this is Jess. Aint she a doll????

In just a few short weeks she is going to have the worlds cutest little boy named Gavin. I am seriously very, very excited.

A little while back we went to Boulder City for her baby shower.

It was so so so much fun.

It was so fun that I kept it to myself. Then I could savor it, and torture all of the non-attending people of the world.

Now I am feeling generous. I will share my sweet pictures of Jessica's awesome baby shower.

Here is Emily, Jess and Brig. We all drove down from Cedar together. The ride was a fun one. I honestly think that when people are talking and laughing, car ride s go by waaaaay faster.

This is just after we got to super Johnna's house. It look so amazing. I will show you just how great it was. ...in a sec.

We are waiting for all of Jess's guests to arrive. Walking around ooohing and awwwing at all of the hard work Johnna had done.

Here is a cutie-pie picture of Jess and her Johnna.

Do you have someone that you aspire to be like? Do you wish that you had someones awesome qualities?? You don't? Well I can give you Johnna's phone number and then there ya go. She will instantly be your idol. We all love her to death...well not death, but you know what I mean.


The theme of the baby shower was duckies. It was super sweet.

My favorite decoration was by FAR this buck with the rubber duckies on the antlers. It made everyone smile and I am going to copy it as many times as I can in every baby shower that I throw...ever.



We played games. They were hilarious! This one is where you put cotton balls in a bowl with a blind fold on. The winner got like 87 of them in the bowl. I think I got a grand total of 18 or something.

I know, I should totally be on the Olympic blindfolded cotton spooning team. They have called me, but I really just do not have the time.

This is the super silly game of guess how big Jess's belly is.

You take your string and cut it off where you think it will be her size.

Easy enough, right?

I just used my own body.....It was Waaaay to big. Jess is a tiny lady. Even if she is 8 months pregnant. I'm not jealous, (yeah right)

Emily won this game too...Come to think of it, Emily won all of the games. I think she was up late the night before practicing or something.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

The following pictures are of CANDY. They are NOT of doodie. So please do not freak out and go toilet paper casa de Coop because you think that they are nasty doodie pics ok?

OK.

These are sooo mature.

Jess and the candy diaper. ->

Em and the candy diaper...she won this game too...super baby shower genius.
And finally here is Johnna with her candy diaper masterpeice.

Hello, we are five.

That is why it was sooo fun though. We laughed so much and it was great I tell you.


Here is Em and Jess. They are so cute.

Jess had that precious smile on her face the WHOLE time. She was so happy.

Here is a shot of Tera and Johnna.
Tera is Johnna's sister and she cracks me up! I was laughing at her the whole night. She is super nice and smarter than anyone that I know. I am so glad that I met her.
I officially claimed her as my friend now. I told her thatfact and she seemed to agree, so we're golden!



So, we had a blast, and then it was time to go out and get some fresh air. We decided the best place for a midnight walk would be the cemetery. It is quiet...there might be sprinklers on to cool us off.

It was a really cool place. It had lots of paths to walk on and we got sprayed several times... it really felt like it was 102 outside and it was night...bleh.


We had fun taking weird pictures. Like this one of Jess peeking her little head out of the side of a tree. I put it on here because it is precious.

"Where is Jess you guys?"

"I don't know, I can't find her."

"Oh, there she is, hiding behind that tree."

"Silly Jess."

*enter laugh track here*

It is really like a Scooby Doo ending or something.

No.

This makes it more like a Scooby Doo ending.

Look at our creepy picture.

We put a camera on the sign for the cemetery and set the timer. Then we all ran and got in our spots.

This picture is what we got.

There is Johnna, then Em. THey look all see through.

Then you can see Jess and I am on the very right.
The weirdest thing about this picture is not that we look all ghostly...it is that if you look closely you can see Jess's baby Gavin. IN HER TUMMY.

She is wearing a black tank top. She is not carrying anything at all.

Gavin is head down and at an angle. You can see his little back bone even.

I love this picture. I am going to frame it and hang it in my home.

If that made you all spooked out then I will leave you with this sweetie pie picture of Kelly that I took an hour ago.

She is getting tooo big I tell you!

Oh!!!!! Savy starts her JUNIOR year tomorrow!

Sooooooo crazy!

We are looking forward to Volleyball season big time. I am going to end my endless post now to go make "GO COOP" signs for the games.

So rad.

Well...it's official now.

Our little babies are now officially in Kindergarten. (Say a little prayer for the innocent teachers)

Kindergarten. OOOh that word just bugs me. I personally think that it should be spelled kindergarden...but the higher ups in the world of spelling say other wise.

BOOOO!

Here is a sweet picture of my niece Jesee, my baby Kelly and my nephew Wyatt when they were just wee ones.

Now they are going to learn to read and add...then build companies to save the world.....aw just look at the tiny wonder in those eyes.

Yes, I am crying a little.

I will post a first day of school picture on here when I get a good one.

Promise.

When I went down stairs today I nearly gave my sweet mother-in-law a heart attack. She really screamed out loud.

My face looked like someone had shoved a few grapefruits in my chin just for giggles.

I was not laughing though. It was so sore and so, so HUGE!!!!

Luckily I have this AMAZING sister Cynthia, that hooked me right up with a doctors visit.

I gotta tell you that I thought that the doctor was crazy, with all of his talk of cutting open my face, doing complicated CAT scans, and giving me shots, or IV's.

NO!!!! Alexis does not do these things.

I told him this. Then, I was sent down to the dentist. That was a much better experience. He gave me simple x-rays, and told me that all I needed was a mega dose of antibiotics.

Whew! Dogged that bullet.

Now I seriously look like this guy.

<- <- Head wrap with ice and everything.

I even rocked it when I went to the Elementary school for the big meet your teacher shin dig. It was either wear the head wrap of happiness and at least look like I am capable of getting medical attention, or not wear it and scare small children.

Scaring small children can be fun, but not on back to school night. I've got to have some kind of rules here.

In other BREAKING Casa de Cooper news * * * * * * *

Ali is leaving in the early hours of the morning to go on a fire!!!!!

Yeah for Ali!

Mooolah for college is a REALLY good thing. Those guys work HARD!

We will all miss her mega tons though. As soon as she gets back she will be rushing off to go back to Dixie to learn about ancient studies...or underwater basket weaving.... I know that it is one of them. :)

Guess who turned 30 years old today???????

Sam-bo Ram-bo! Jess's Hubby!

High fives all around!

Sam is our brother in law and he is just the coolest. We have had many an excellent meal cooked by the man. Loads and loads of interesting conversations. Way to many good times to even mention. This picture might clue you in on a good one. :) He is always super nice to my little Kelly and that is the bestest. You have got to see him around a gaggle of kiddos, it is pretty sweet.

Welcome to the 30's Sam! Happy Birthday!

WAIT!!!

I know that this is getting loooong but I cannot end this without saying happy 23rd Birthday to our BABE-AH!

Kelly and Sarah looove to call each other babe-ah. It is silly and I love it.

Sarah and Jim have been gone for a couple of weeks now and it is weirding me out a little.

I really enjoyed having her stop by every day to see what
is up. Going shopping with her is something that I highly recommend that everyone do in their life time.

She is funny, intellegent, loving, loyal and true to herself and we love her to little tinny bits.

So, Happy Birthday rad Sarah! Happy Anniversary to you and Jim too!

We miss you!

Now I must go think sleepy thoughts...sleepy, chin healing thoughts.

Dirty, dirty teenagers!

Ali and Savy went "caving" a few days ago.

I know, what is caving anyway?

Beats the heck out of me. When I asked them about it before they left, they couldn't even give me an answer. Just something about boys and flashlights and such.

Needless to say, DJ was not liking the idea. He went straight out to talk to the boys....but Ali and Savy got there first.

So Deej just stood there with his hands on his hips glaring at them as they left.

One of the kids asked Savy if DJ was her Dad...ha ha!

The next morning I got up and looked out at the clothes line and saw two pairs of jeans with mud all the way up to the thigh.

Crazy girls were walking around in thigh high mud...and they LOVED it!

Love them.

Watering is relaxing

Greetings from casa de McPherson! :)

Kelly and I are here at my Mom's house, enjoying the lovely summer day, helping out with some watering.

Look at My Mom's sweet little face, how could anyone resist????

She DID give me life, and then raised me and then treats me with all of the love and respect in the world. I think I owe her one.....or two even.

In other news, I have the WORST toothache in the universe!!

Bah!

It is horrible and stupid and I want to abolish them from creation.

Lame old toothache is making my jaw all swollen and puffy. I look like Jay Leno.

Waaaah.

I hope your weekend is awesome though. :)

On Monday August 11th we lost a nephew, cousin, and friend, Ryan Cooper.

Here is his wonderful Obituary. I really think that it says it all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ryan Thomas Cooper returned to his Heavenly Father August 11, 2008, tragically, following an automobile accident.

Ryan was such a joy to be around, he always greeted everyone with a huge smile on his face. With the infectious personality that he had, it was easy for him to make many friends.

Ryan was born October 26, 1981, in St. George to Tom Cooper and Kelly Parr Miller. Ryan was a beautiful child with his blonde hair and big brown eyes. He was just a tremendous kid.Ryan spent his childhood in Santa Clara where he attended Snow Canyon High School. He was very active in school and he excelled in football, basketball and soccer. Ryan got his GED in 2000.

Ryan married the love of his life, Kaysha Marie Gibson on September 24, 2005 in St. George. He was so happy that day, and looked forward to building a fulfilling life with her. They made so many happy memories as a newlywed couple on their honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas. Ryan and Kaysha started their new life together in Washington, Utah, where they worked together to start Cooper Concrete Co. Inc. Ryan took pride in his work and added much beauty to new homes, including his own dream home that he built with Kaysha. Ryan learned the concrete business working side by side with his step dad, Keith.

Ryan was the father of three beautiful children, Isabella, Kysen and Kash. He loved each of them very dearly. Ryan loved to spend time with his family and was so excited to watch his children grow up. Bella adored her daddy and learned many things from him. He was so excited when he taught her to wakeboard. Kysen looked up to Ryan, his "Ry Ry", and they loved playing together. Ryan coached Kysen in all of his sports and was looking forward to the upcoming soccer season. Ryan was so proud of his new baby boy, Kash. He could always make him laugh so hard. Kash loved being thrown up into the air and Daddy did it best.

Ryan was never one to sit around. He loved being out playing. During the summers he loved boating at the lake with his family and so many good friends. He could always count on the Reyos' to be there. All of the kids wanted to wakeboard just like Ryan, and he was more than happy to teach them. Ryan loved "trying" to golf, with Karl. They spent many good afternoons together. Kaysha was another good golfing buddy when Ryan didn't want to be so serious. Ryan loved taking the four-wheeler up to the mountains to hunt for sheds or take his bow to look for the "big one." During the winter you could find Ryan at Brian Head shredding the slopes.

Ryan loved his music. He was always playing "Name That Tune" with Kaysha and of course he always won. He loved grilling food for friends and family especially when the Kansas City Chiefs were playing. Every time he walked in the door after checking on the food he would say, "Ohh this is gonna be so GOOOOD!" Ryan loved food and loved to eat. He was taking flying lessons and loved to fly over his house and call the kids to tell them to look up. Ryan was always trying new things.

Ryan took care of his family and they always knew they could count on him, especially his baby sister Sierra and his mom who will miss him dearly. He has been the rock for his family whether it was hanging out with his uncle Matt or being there for his sister. Ryan will be truly missed by everyone that knew andloved him.

Ryan Cooper is survived by his wife, Kaysha, children, Isabella Jade Cooper (10), Kysen Jared Goodspeed (7), and Kash Ryan Cooper (10 mos.), his mother, Kelly Miller (Horace), father, Tom Cooper (Phyllis), stepfather, Keith Bawden (Lori), sister, Sierra, brothers, Skyler and Matt; mother and father-in-law, Dennis and Billie Gibson, grandparents, Joan Van Seters (Joe), Reed Parr (Becky), Claudine Cooper, Bob Cooper (Bertha), Sterling Bawden, Verla Bunnell (Dan), sisters and brothers-in-law, Rebel Gibson, Chad Gibson, Malea Gibson and Quinn Gibson, aunts and uncles, Matthew Parr, Kevin Parr (Tracey), Kelly (Marcia) Cooper, Craig (Elaine) Cooper, Lisa (Carl) Bowler, nieces and nephews, Kyleigha, Tayvin, Cambria, Parx, Charlotte, Gage and Kenzie, and many cousins. Ryan is preceded in death by Grandpa and Grandma the Great.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, August 14, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. with visitation two hours prior, at Spilsbury Mortuary Chapel, 110 S. Bluff St., St. George.In lieu of flowers, a trust fund for Ryan's children has been set up at Beehive Credit Union.

Away I go....

I must bid you a fond adieu, for I am off to the babiest of showers for Jesser.

Em and I are going to drive to Cedar City to meet up with Jess, and then the three of us are going to head on out to Henderson.

Why are we going there?

Well....Jess's awesome friend Johnna has been planning to throw this shower for her since she found out that Jess was pregnant. Sam and Jess were not 100% sure about moving back then...so the party was set in motion.

I seriously dislike taking car trips. They just really annoy me. Where is my time machine, or my teleporter already???? It is 2008 for crying out loud! I need my jet pack people!

Blah.

I will try not to ruin the day, and keep my chin up for the weekend. Venting to you really helped and I feel better already. :)

Kelly is going to hang out with her Grammie here at home. Deej is going to be at work today....so they can have fun together watering the garden , or reading a book. I know that she will be a good little munchkin today.

Sooooooo. Have a nice weekend and try not to miss me too much.

Ah...what a day

Last night Papa Coop made us some tasty, tasty stuffed green bell peppers. They were yummers.

Here is a picture of Kelly with the peppers that we had.

They were just barely picked, are right out of the garden. Man, having veggies in the back yard is so cool. Kelly is learning so much about nature, and the science of food. She is trying more veggies, now that she is an "expert farmer". Love it!

I was looking at that picture of Kelly, and it made me think of one that I have of DJ.

He is six years old and such a cutie-pie-sweetie-face.

Pictures of Deej when he was a little kid are my favorite. He was so sweet and I love his little smile. AWWWW.

I just figured that I would share the cute-ness that is DJ Cooper.

Enjoy. ;)

We are in a club!

It is called Club Penguin.

It's an online interactive game from Disney.

I feel 100% comfortable letting Kel play with it. I have checked out the stats and it is a safe place for kids to play. You just never know these days I tell you. Parents need to always check out games that kids want to play and sites that they want to look at.


We love it to little tiny bits.

Kelly and I play together and this is our penguin Rajapen. She has lots of funny things that Kelly likes to put on her.

Zoey and Elora play with us too!!!

They got us into it. It is so fun to play it all together even though we are a couple hundred miles away.

There is a buddy list that lets you know where your friends are and what they are doing.

Kelly can see if Elora is out sledding, or even at the coffee shop and then meet up with her.

Then she can send Zoey a post card that tells her to meet up with them to play connect four at the lodge.

It is so super cute!!!!

Here is a shot of our happinin' igloo.

Kelly played games on the club to earn money to buy what ever she wants our penguin to wear, or to decorate the igloo with.

We even upgraded it to have a backyard!

It is funny to see what she wants to put in her igloo.

Things like basketball hoops and recycling bins.

It is like a secret window into her little mind.

She likes to go dancing with other penguins.

Right now it is under construction....they must have danced too hard.

They have something new to do every month..new outfits, plays, games.


Sometimes she just likes to go into town and see what the other penguins are wearing lately.

I like to hear her laugh when she finds a penguin with a particularly funny outfit on. It is sheer joy.


She likes to go fishing.

I have seen her catch the biggest fish....it makes her scream.

She sells them and then can buy something silly like a parrot for her shoulder or a sea shell wall clock.

Here she is just getting a slice of pizza....this game is just so fun for her.

I must admit that I love playing it with her too. Anything to keep her busy mind going.

Being able to play with Elora and Zoey is a HUGE benefit that both Kelly and I really enjoy too. :)

This is a face of a happy camper.

I feel like LeVar Burton yo!

No!

I do not feel like the LeVar Burton from Star Trek : The Next Generation.....The awesomely sweet Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge.

No, that my friend, is for another day.

Today I feel like the LeVar Burton from my PBS days. My care free, book loving, internet free days.

I feel like singing...

"Butterflies in the sky...I can fly twice as high...take a look..in a book..it's reading rainbow..."

All of this because I feel the need to play the part I have always dreamed of playing.

The part of one of those book recommending kids on Reading rainbow!!!!

So awesome, I know.

If you haven't seen the show... and do not know what I am talking about then I have NO SYMPATHY for you and will not explain any further. Get off of the internet and go watch PBS for a minute...

Sheesh!

Now, here is my Reading Rainbow segment for you to enjoy.

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

Are you like me and you are in desperate need of a good read????

Does it cause you to write crazy stories in your own blog???

Did you read the Twilight series and now you are pacing the floors until the new book "Breaking Dawn" comes out???

Save your carpet and you blog dear friend...for I have found a solution to this dilemma. I have a list of books that might interest you if you enjoyed the Twilight series....or just need a book to read.

Here it goes......

A Great and Terrible Beauty
By Libba Bray
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.



Book of Shadows
By Kate Tiernan
Seventeen-year-old Morgan thinks witchcraft is laughable when her best friend Bree drags her to a meeting of the Cirrus Coven. But during a ceremony led by Cal, Morgan's longtime crush, Morgan feels a shock. Suddenly everything looks brighter. Although she doesn't want to get involved with witchcraft, she feels it is choosing her.





Society of S
By Susan Hubbard
An ingenious twist on a beloved genre, this beautifully constructed novel blends humor and horror to show that vampires are not just bloodsucking creatures of the night--they can also be gentle, vegetarian, and wise.




The Silver Kiss
By:Annette Curtis Klause

Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother. Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before. Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?

And now the famous .....

"But don't just take my word for it...go out and read it for your self!"

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

I have a feeling that next time I am going to feel like Bob Ross....and then I will feel compelled to paint "little happy trees" like he did on his show "the Joy of Painting."

He is wicked cool.

Hola Blog-ola..or is it blog-ista?

Everything is going swimmingly here at Casa de Coop.

Tonight it rained and rained.

I was dying to have it rain, and it felt incredible. The garden was liking the tiny rain drops and I felt the need to have someone take a picture of me in the freshness.

Unfortunately, not a single person was around to take my picture. I decided that my paint program skills were up to par to handle the challenge of drawing myself into the picture.

What do you think? Pretty accurate huh? Most definitely a work of art.

Deej and I were treated to a lesson in home economics today. Mama Coop taught us how to can pickles!!! Now, if you know DJ you would know that he enjoys eating at least 5 pickles a day. This lesson was true gift I tell you.

It was quick and easy...and really pretty fun.

They better taste awesome, or else I am in big trouble. You do NOT mess around with pickles in this house.

Kelly was not feeling so great for the majority of the day. Not fun. She kept complaining of a hurt neck. Having your baby cry about neck pain and be then powerless to help her is complete torture.

Here she is...enjoying her goldfish...pain free obviously now.

I gave her a dose of Motrin to help with the pain.

Kid pain relievers always make Kelly act kind of loopy. (if you ever read about the winter of 08 then you know what I mean)

Weird things started to happen in Casa de Cooper.


I took secret agent photos of the whole event....I also sent it all out to a special lab. The scientists there then took the images and digitally enhanced them so I could see what was really happening.

(Either that or else I messed with them on a paint program like a ten year old.)

But I do go on.

If you are having trouble seeing the results, then just click on the picture to see in larger in another window.

Here is Kelly with her special issue handshake buzzer.

You can see in the picture on the right that she is now taking my hand and "pretending" to give me a friendly handshake.

Then, to my surprise...I was greeted by an alarming shock.

You can see here how she tricked me into it.

I am also wondering what in the world happened to my sweet bracelet that had Kelly's name on it. I always wear it and only noticed it missing when I saw this picture. I am a quick one, I know.

My hi-tech scientists revealed to me how she enjoyed the whole event.

Are you amazed at the sheer quality of the evidence?

How about the brilliant futuristic graphics?

Money well spent.


I was not the only person entrapped in her dangerous game.

DJ was next in line to be fooled by the friendly handshake.

I was sooo glad that I was not the only one.

See how she mocks us with her all knowing laughter?

OOOh I get chills just thinking about it.

My husband my clearly not at all affected by the serious shock that was delivered to his hand.

Here he is calmly playing his favorite game.

Magic the Gathering.

It is a tough game and I am not a master of that skill what so ever. DJ tries to get me to play with him, but it is not something that I do. Sorry sweetie.

Ali, on the other hand, was up for the challenge.

I think that quite possibly she was learning the game to land herself an internet billionaire, Everyone knows that Internet billionaires love to play that game.

She might have had a dose of children's Motrin herself....I am not quite sure of that. My secret footage did not capture that event.

The schooling of MTG (that is magic the gathering for all of the cool kids) then began.

I did get analysis of the game. I was surprised to learn that it read their thoughts . You can see the result here in this photo of the first lesson.
Really an eye opener isn't it?

Oh, the power I hold in my hands with this new technology.

I shall use it for good instead of evil.

Have a lovely evening. '__'