Meet Chip....

We added a new member to our family

Meet chip

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sydni had a run in with the side of the pool wall. I think the wall won. She ended up with this chipped tooth. Wouldn't you know it was a long holiday weekend so the dentist was out of the office. We are trying to get in to see him tomorrow. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Kids

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here's a look into our July....

An afternoon in grandma's backyard

Brett took the boys under the house for a tour! None of the girls were brave enough to go with them.

Ok, I love the 24th of July parade. I loved being in it in high school. It was so fun to see all the people who had come to see the parade and to go by my family and hear them cheer! I took Sydni to it when she was 2 but hadn't been back since. So this year I really wanted to go. Well, Dad called and asked what we were doing so I invited him to go with us. Caryn called and decided to go with us too. I'm so glad she did because the kids had a lot of fun together.

The picture just above is President Monson and his wife

Sydni got out her bonnet and we had to iron it. She decided that it was hot though. I think it looked pretty cute while she had it on.

Have I said....

I love July!!

Well I do.

No bed times

It's Hot

Kids are tan

Sleeping in

fireworks

parades

grandma's backyard

BBQ's

camping

dirty kids

tired kids

playing at the park

swimming

sandals

less clothing=less laundry

What have I got myself into?

SO I have just spent the past two days at registration for Syd and Owen's school, 11:30-6:30. Another lady and myself are PTA co-presidents, vice president, secretary, treasurer and whatever else there is on the PTA board. I knew I was crazy when I took this on.

Oh was I right!

After 14 hours in the school gym I have 7 people signed up for PTA (all spanish speaking except one, she's the principal) and we sold 12 out of 300 school shirts.

I just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading.

A walk home from the park...

So I usually only post about events. I'm not very good at just journaling. I'm always worried about how I sound. Today though Owen and I had one of our deep conversations. If you don't know Owen very well we have these often. It usually has to do with a story he's heard about someone getting hurt. He is very concerned about a person's well being both physically and emotionally. Anyway this is our walk home from the park today.

As we walked home we came upon a homeless man. By the looks of him he had been living on the street for some time. As we passed he mumbled, "Do you have and spare change?" We just proceeded on our way and passed by. (not that this is the right thing to do)

Owen looked up at me and said, "Mom he had long fingernails." I told him it was because he didn't have a home and he had no way to clip them. He proceeded to ask why he didn't have a home and where did he live. We walked down and crossed the street.

As we continued on he came to a stop.

"I'm going back," he said, "I'm going to ask him to live with us." At first I thought, how can I answer this without sounding too harsh. I told him we would have to talk to Dad first because it wasn't safe to invite a stranger to come home with us. "We'll ask him his name first and then he won't be a stranger. Jesus would want him to have a home." (He always seems to fit Jesus into conversations like these. How can you argue with reasoning like this?????)

As we continued talking and I told him we couldn't have him come live with us he said, "Well he is trying to get back to Jesus anyway."

"Oh, ya. What do you mean?"

"He was smoking a cigarette so he could get back to see Jesus sooner. Then Jesus will help him get a job so he can buy a house and have a family."

So now we will be talking about the homeless man for the rest of the day. It takes a day or two to move on and find something else to analyze!

Happy Birthday Papa!

We got to celebrate papa's birthday on monday night. It was a great party. He requested a pizza party which was a hit! Then we went to Mulligans to hit a bucket of balls and pratice in the batting cages. Papa was very patient and worked with the kids trying to teach then to golf, while Ken helped in the batting cages. I hope he had a great birthday. We love you papa!

Syd's Baptism

Syd was baptized on Saturday. It was a perfect day. She was a little nervous but she did great. I feel old now that I have an 8 year old. I've enjoyed 8 so far. She is more independent than ever. She'll help Owen whenever he needs something. She loves little kids so she's great if we have any around. She jumps right in and takes charge. As I sat in church on Sunday and listened to a baby blessing I thought back 8 years ago to Syd's blessing. Time goes to quickly.

The 4th

As I sat outside on our front steps and watched fireworks on the night of the 3rd, it occurred to me that July is my favorite month of the year. It was a warm night. Owen was asleep on the couch in the house. Sydni and Lucy stayed up and watched fireworks, standing with bare feet on the step covering their ears and watching in awe. The kids smelled of outside from playing all day long and there was no hurry to do anything else at that time.

For the fourth I spent the day working on my house. It wasn't very fun for the kids but they were very patient. In the evening we went to Kirstie's for a BBQ. It was so fun. We had great food to eat and then the adults played Scrabble and the kids did the slip and slide. Ken and Jeff slipped away to get the fireworks for the show.

P.S. Have you ever been this tired? This was after staying up to watch the fireworks.

Isn't summer the best?

Fish Lake

On our way home from the reunion we decided to pick a place on the map and stay there for a night. We headed north and ended up at fish lake. Ken had been there as a scout but I had never been there before. It was perfect. We were able to pull right in and get a really nice spot. After getting set up we went for a walk down to the water.

The kids and Ken got in I just watched and took some pictures.

Then it was time for dinner. Syd had wanted stroganoff since her birthday so I packed the stuff to make it for her. After dinner we broke out the marshmallows and somehow the polish sausages made their way out also. I wonder who brought those???? These two pictures are my favorite.

The one of Owen depicts how little boys camp. He is sooooo dirty. He knelt in the dirt and roasted this hot dog with the help of Ken. I can't even imagine how his feet must feel in those sandals. He was just so proud of himself.

The picture of Syd is a reminder why we bought the trailer. Ken has wanted one for a while. (A long while) I've just been giving his excuses why we shouldn't. He told me at the beginning of the summer he needed a hobby. Something he could enjoy. Well he gave me his two options he was thinking of, 1. a motorcycle or 2. a trailer. Can I just say how happy I am we ended up with #2. I asked him after we got the trailer if he was sad about the motorcycle and he said he was glad we got this because he could spend time with us!

This little weekend we did just that. There was no cell phone service, no TV, just us.

Cooper family invades Orderville, UT

Ready......Set.......

Smile!

two grandparents

11 out of 12 of their kids

(we miss you foster family!!)
a whole grundle of grandkids

a few great-grandkids

one huge lodge

two trailers

who knows how much food

lots of smiles

only a few tears

come from three different states to visit with each other for the

Cooper Family Reunion!

This year we went south. It was fun to head in a different direction. Caryn and Steven were in charge this year and did a great job. (Thanks you two!!) It's not an easy task to coordinate such a group of people. They had planned for a day of hiking in Zion followed by a dip in the pool. Saturday Caryn brought crafts for the kids to work on before everyone left.

Here are a few pictures of the reunion.......