Life at the Lowry's

christmas eve with the parkers

2012-01-30T12:28:00.001-08:00

it has been a tradition for as long as I can remember to spend christmas eve with our good friends the parkers. as we have all grown and married and had kids, we have switched our christmas eve celebration to december 23. we love to catch up and think of all the memories we have made with such good friends.

photos by meghan

2012-01-30T12:19:00.001-08:00

i have a really cute niece, and she really likes to take pictures. She gave a coop a little photo session, and these were some of my favorites.

a little snow

2012-01-30T12:01:00.001-08:00

it has been a little sad this year for my boy. he loves to play in the snow, and we don’t seem to be getting much of the stuff. we were really hoping for the kind of christmas where it just snows and snows, but all we got during the vacation was this little bit. the boys were still excited and played outside for quite a while. they really loved it when grandpa came home and pulled them in a sled behind the 4-wheeler.

tortilla snowflakes

2012-01-30T10:33:00.001-08:00

a few days after coopers birthday, carson was playing in my parents basement-by playing i mean jumping from the steps onto a beanbag. unfortunately, one time he missed the beanbag and landed on his ankle. i had never seen him in so much pain:( we waited till the next day to see if it felt better, and he still would not walk on it. i ran him to the doctor, and luckily it wasn't broken, but sprained pretty good. he had three more days till christmas break, so we called and excused him from school, since he was crawling everywhere. it actually turned out to be great timing, with zach in town he didn’t want to go to school anyway.

my sister and i saw on a blog some instructions to make tortilla snowflakes. the boys had a blast folding up tortilla’s, cutting them, then covering them with sprinkles. we baked them and they turned out really good, it was really nice to find a sitting activity for these cute boys.

happy birthday cooper

2012-01-30T10:06:00.001-08:00

we are playing a little catch-up. way back in december this little boy turned two. it is crazy how fast he seems to be changing. each day he is trying to say a new word and always making us laugh. he is still as busy as ever, and has even started a few terrible two tantrums, but he still melts our hearts most of the time. my parents had some leftover helium at their house, so we decided to fill up some balloons at home for him. he LOVES “bayooons.”

morgan loves to help, so i turned the balloon making over to her.

my sister was kind enough to be in charge of cupcakes. because they live far away, we don’t get to celebrate too many birthday’s with them, so it was a treat to celebrate with them.

coops’s cupcake’s. they were really yummy:)

he loves to open presents. it was so cute how excited he got, especially when he was so happy about getting books. he loves books right now.

i love that sweet smile and those chubby cheeks:)

playing with his new remote control car. he would let it drive for a few feet, then grab it by the antenna and haul it off somewhere else.

hanging out with daddy and grandma lowry

when it came time to blow out his candles, he was rather worried about that fire. luckily he had some siblings to help him out with that.

happy birthday cooper!

we are so happy to have this little boy in our family.

christmas tree hunt 2011

2011-11-27T16:04:00.001-08:00

this year to find grandpa and grandma a tree we drove up by west piney. since i was young our good friends the parkers have come with us. we love to visit with them, and carson loves that they have some boys in the family to play with.

we walked over to the slide and let the boys have a few turns. it was pretty steep, and they went pretty fast with the slick snow clothes on. carson loved to go down on his belly, face first. aaron liked sending big chunks of snow down, and i thought it looked a little scary.

dad and coop

aaron taking his turn. it was super fun to watch, he went flying past the end of the slide:) unfortunately, he is suffering from a soar neck, since his little ride.

the boys trying a few different sledding hills

my boys getting pulled in the sled

after cold feet and two sledding crashes, these boys decided to wait out the rest of the trip in the warm truck.

grandma making us some hot cocoa

after we get done, we always head for a little food and catching up. thanks once again, to grandpa and grandma and the parkers. we had a great day:)

grandpa lindberg turns 90

2011-11-27T14:54:00.001-08:00

a few weeks ago, we went to star valley for the weekend to celebrate grandpa lindberg’s 90th birthday. we celebrated the day with food, family, and a few musical numbers. i was so glad we were at a school and this little boy could run and run.

paige taking her turn on the piano

morgan’s turn

grandpa lindberg

i loved the table of pictures and sayings all about grandpa. it was so fun to see pictures of him from long ago, and learn a little more about him.

happy birthday grandpa:)

chocolate pudding

2011-11-15T10:42:00.001-08:00

this little guy loves to feed himself chocolate pudding. it is REALLY not my favorite thing for him to do. he gets covered, my table gets covered, the chair gets covered, and quite a bit makes it to the floor.

it sure makes him happy though:)

halloween

2011-11-15T10:31:00.001-08:00

on the saturday before halloween, we decided we better get our pumpkins carved. we were lucky to have our good friends the wards, come share the joy with us:)

coop was having a great time

these boys were working hard to get all that goo out of their pumpkins

aaron was working super hard:)

some of our creations

my cute little kids on halloween

my cute little monkey making a choo choo out of cars

happy halloween!

a little more trouble

2011-10-30T20:37:00.001-07:00

just in case anyone was wondering what coop was doing all by himself during the day,while all the other sibling are in school…here is a little peak.

making a holy mess in the kitchen

making a mess in the front room

feeling pretty proud of all his accomplishments

lots and lots of running around the house in BIG shoes. we have to shut doors and closets or we find shoes everywhere.

playing on his brothers bed

sneaking a turn with his brothers toys

and a little pillow wrestling.

it is a super good thing that this boy takes really long naps.

halloween party…part 3

2011-10-30T20:16:00.001-07:00

party time:) we started with a little pumpkin bowling.

loving that cute little daphne from scooby doo.

all the kiddos.

do you see the one skeleton in the middle of all those pretty ladies? he was the only boy there, except for his baby brother.

we stopped the games for a little pizza and punch

then we made us some mummies

we had a blast:) i hope we can go visit again soon.

halloween party…part 2

2011-10-30T18:02:00.001-07:00

after we got the decorations done, we started making large quantaties of treats. we had great help, they loved all the dipping and sprinkling and snacking.

this little one really wanted some oreos.

putrid punch.

the spread, we ALL really overate that night. so yummy

halloween party…part 1

2011-10-30T17:47:00.001-07:00

aaron had to spend all day saturday and sunday taking some continuing ed classes, so the kids and i decided to take a trip to see some cousins. we decided it would be fun to have a halloween party for all the kids.

we started by getting the kids working on some decorations.

carson and brinley made some of my favorites:)

sweet little emmy.

she was having fun trying to grab the tissue paper so she could eat it. my daughters and i could not get enough of this sweet little lady.

first snow

2011-10-30T16:48:00.001-07:00

it was nice that some of us were excited for the first snow fall. these boys played and played all day outside. they made snow angels, stock piled snowballs, and shoveled. they were sopping wet when they finally came inside for hot chocolate.

wes, owen, and carson.

i love that these boys have each other to play with almost everyday:)

the rest of us were really happy when it melted a few days later.

weekend in jackson…watching the elk

2011-10-30T16:19:00.001-07:00

that evening we went to listen to the elk. it was such a pretty night and we saw quite a few elk, we even saw a few of the boys get in a little antler fight. the sunset was beautiful, and i still feel a little guilty that my dad missed most of it, because my son had a bit of a bathroom emergency.

the next day we headed into the town of jackson to take the kids swimming. they love to go to the rec center there:) aaron and i LOVED that the kids were old enough to ride the slide all by themselves, so we didn’t have to climb those stairs all evening.

weekend in jackson…more rocks

2011-10-30T16:03:00.001-07:00

i don’t understand how this can be comfortable, but i thought it was pretty funny. coop must have thought so too, because he came for a little visit.

i didn’t get any pictures, but later that afternoon we decided to ride the tram to the top of teton village. that thing makes me a little nervous, but i decided to be brave for the sake of the children. they were all excited to ride it, but after we got to the top we had some mixed feelings. paige was a little worried we would miss the tram and have to walk down, and carson just wanted to “get off that mountain!” the rest of us enjoyed the view and our picnic way up high.

weekend in jackson…part 1

2011-10-30T15:40:00.001-07:00

it is a tradition in this family to spend a weekend in jackson with grandma and grandpa for a little rest and relaxation. we always go in the fall so we can see the pretty fall colors and listen to the elk bugle in the evening. we always stay at a cabin by the lake at signal mountain lodge, we love that view of the mountains by the lake.

my kids love to go down to the water with grandpa and throw rocks. there is always a challenge from grandpa…usually it is something like, throw a rock and hit that buoy, and we can go get a treat at the gas station (my kids lovingly call it the skittle store:) this year the buoy was a little too far away, so grandpa had to come up with a new target.

it was such a beautiful day. so nice to get away from EVERYTHING and spend a weekend relaxing with family. thanks mom and dad for spending your weekend with us. i am well aware of how crazy things are with my family:)

volleyball

2011-10-11T13:07:00.001-07:00

morgan had a blast this year playing volleyball at the middle school. at first it was a little overwhelming for her to start middle school, and then add a practice or game every afternoon, and also finish homework. it was a lot of work, but she had a great time and made a lot of new friends.

labor day…misc pictures

2011-09-19T13:12:00.001-07:00

this might be star valley picture overload, but there are just too many I love. my girls are helping pick up all these tree branches that aaron trimmed.

this boy FINALLY is big enough to get up in the tree. he has been watching his sisters do it for years, so he was pretty excited when he figured it out.

aaron was trying out a little photography

i thought these flowers were so pretty, but my kids were not about to get any closer to them…a little too scared of the bees.

it was so nice to relax and spend a little time together, away from the craziness of school starting and routines again.

labor day…picnic at swift creek park

2011-09-19T12:54:00.001-07:00

on Sunday, we packed a picnic and headed to the park. it was right at the base of the canyon, with a creek running through it…so pretty. my kids played with this blanket more than the actual playground toys.

paige and morgan were a bed for carson.

cooper, sherry, aaron, grandpa lindberg, and grandma lowry

cooper finally warming up to sherry.

i wished we had all dressed nice and fixed our hair, it would have been the perfect spot for some family pictures.

cooper rode and rode his little bike. he hasn’t figured out the pedals yet, but he still can go pretty fast.

labor day…aunt sherry’s driving school

2011-09-19T12:48:00.001-07:00

when we visit star valley in the summer, my kids love to go down in the field and help grandpa change the water. this year, aunt sherry gave them all a little turn to drive grandpa’s truck in the field. morgan was a little timid to give it a try, but thought it was pretty fun.

paige wasn’t so timid to give it a try, and she loved it. (sherry is running the gas and brake, they are only steering)

labor day…trip to star valley

2011-09-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

for the long weekend, we decided it would be fun to head to grandpa lindberg’s for a few days. the weather could not have been prettier, and it was so fun to hang out on the farm.

sherry, great grandpa lindberg, and grandma jackie. these two daughters are so sweet to spend so much time helping their dad with his crops.

a little family shot. my kids were dying to climb up on top of the bales of straw.

cooper on the vroom vroom, as he lovingly calls it. this kid would drive all day on that thing, if we would let him.

grandpa lindberg. you can tell he is changing the water, because he has that wrench in his back pocket.

sherry, morgan, and carson. paige was hiding so i couldn’t get a picture of her. grandpa had three big cans in the back of his truck…he would tell the kids to get in the back of the truck and sit on their cans.

i snuck this picture, sherry is trying to get out of the shot. (i think it might be the rubber boots making her camera shy, but I really think they are sweet.)

first day of school

2011-09-11T15:48:00.001-07:00

The first day of school came a little too quickly for us this year:( We were not quite ready for middle school, a routine, or homework. We are slowly adjusting, but we are ALL missing our lovely summer and freedom.

Paige is starting 4th grade.

Paige and her friend Saige waiting to head into class. It was way too sunny to get a good picture.

Carson is starting his first year of staying at school the whole day. For some reason, starting first grade makes him seem so much older than when he was in kindergarten. This year he is lucky enough to have his best friend Owen in the same class.

I didn’t take Carson to his class, because I was trying to get Paige to her class, and Morgan to middle school on time. Aaron took Carson, and my sweet neighbor took some pictures for me.

This little lady is going into 7th grade and trying to figure out how to keep track of 9 teachers, lockers, and where to catch the bus. I am a little sad all my kids won’t be two blocks away at the elementary school, but we can’t keep her in 6th grade forever:(

cousin fun at the zoo

2011-09-11T15:46:00.001-07:00

The weekend before school started the Copes came over from Boise for a little visit. One of the mornings they were here, my sister in law and I decided to take most of the cousins to the zoo. A few of the mom’s had some other stuff going on, so Seri and I took 12 kids with us. I thought we were pretty brave, but the kids were fabulous, and three of them were 12.

This monkey put on quite a show for these kids. I parked Coopers stroller facing the glass so he could check out the monkey, and a second later it came flying down and sat on the ledge of the window…face to face with Coop. He SCREAMED his head off, that wild monkey scared him to death. I had to face his stroller away from the cage the rest of the time we were standing there.

Loving all these cute cousins checking out the huge tortoise.

Gabe and Kinlee

They were ALL trying to fit in the nest at the same time.

We took these 12 hungry kids to eat at Sam’s club after we finished up with the animals. I am still laughing at all the crazy looks we were getting from our fellow shoppers:)

weekend away

2011-09-09T17:06:00.001-07:00

For Aaron’s birthday, we decided it might be nice to sneak away for a night. My parents were kind enough to take our kids for a few days, so we could get away and relax. We decided to drive the long way to West Yellowstone, by driving through Jackson and Yellowstone Park.

We first drove through Grand Teton National Park. We saw 1 little dear, and were lucky enough to drive by a black bear.

We came into Yellowstone through the south entrance.

Lewis Falls

I am sure I have been to most of Yellowstone in my life, but their was so much I didn’t remember.

Upper Falls

We walked down to the brink of the Lower Falls. It was so pretty. I loved watching that water head right over the falls.

Yellowstone Grand Canyon

I didn’t get any pictures, but that Saturday night we went to the Playmill in West Yellowstone, to see the play Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was really funny, and we had a great time. We spent the night in West and then the next day we drove the Yellowstone’s upper loop.

Dunraven Pass

Downstream from Tower Falls.

The Roosevelt Lodge, our lunch spot.

The only buffalo we saw in two days of driving in the park.

Outside of Mammoth Hot Springs

The Veteran geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin.

We had such a nice two days. It had been a long time since we had traveled without 7 duffel bags, a pack and play, and a diaper bag. We loved being able to relax, and spend some time by ourselves. Thanks to my mom, who actually tried to take all 4 kids to church by herself, we really owe you:)

Morgan’s Birthday Party

2011-08-31T16:16:00.001-07:00

We invited a few friends over to celebrate Morgan’s birthday. Morgan wanted to do a spa night, so we did hand and foot scrubs, strawberry facials, dipped their hands in melted paraffin wax, had a lot of treats, and watched a movie. These girls had a great time together, and they were a treat to have at my house for a night.

Morgan’s cake

Morgan turns 12

2011-08-31T15:35:00.001-07:00

August was a pretty big month for miss morgan. She got contacts, 5 shots for middle school, went to girls camp, had a birthday, started going to young womens, started volleyball, and started middle school. This little lady went from enjoying lazy summer days, to being busy every minute. Here is her birthday breakfast. She did have a candle to blow out, but I didn’t get a picture.

Brinley was visiting for a few days, and it happened to be over her birthday. It was fun to have her celebrate with us.

Morgan opening her presents.

Happy Birthday Morgan! I am so proud of all these new things you tried this month. Thanks for being a great helper and always so reliable. We love you:)

Tribute to Grandma and Grandpa

2011-08-31T15:19:00.001-07:00

My sweet Aunt Maureen had set up this table of pictures of my Grandpa and Grandma and their family.

On the last day of the reunion, we had a tribute for my grandparents. My mom made a slide show of pictures of them. After the slide show we walked to a meadow (where my mom and dad had blown up a bunch of balloons) and let them go. We started this tradition a few years ago, and it is so special to us. I love looking at all of these people who love and miss my grandparents too.

The kids love to watch them until they all disappear.

As we drove home, we stopped in Ely to go visit my grandparents grave. I was really excited, I had not been back to visit their grave since my grandma died. We cleaned it up and the girls decorated it with yellow flowers that we picked from our drive down the mountain.

We were so lucky to have such great grandparents. I will always remember the example they set to have so much fun, and how important family was to them.

Camp Success…skunk cabbage???

2011-08-31T15:14:00.001-07:00

This was the beautiful view we got as we drove off the top of Success Summit. It was so beautiful. I think my dad said these yellow flowers were from a plant they called Skunk Cabbage. They were so pretty.

Some of my cousins told me that when they went camping or hunting with Grandma and Grandpa Williamson, that they would stop in this place and do a dear dance…to get the dear to come out. I loved spending the weekend in a place, that made me think of them so often.

Camp Success misc….

2011-08-31T14:08:00.001-07:00

We played hula hoop games. This is my family and my cousin Aaron’s famly.

Paige and Jacob having a contest. They went for a really long time.

Haylee making huge bubbles.

Isabell

A picture of the Lorenc, Lowry, and my parents tents.

Camp Success…the catapult

2011-08-31T13:56:00.001-07:00

One of the games we played was called Chicken in a Basket. We would use the catapult to launch rubber chickens into laundry baskets. The kids had so much fun, we might need to build one for us.

Michelle taking a turn.

Paige

My cousins Jared and Katie were trying to catch the chickens for us.

Morgan’s turn

My cousin Chris and his sweet little girl.

Isabell

Haylee was a little too light, she had to have someone help her out a little.

A little before and after of Paige.

Camp Success….craft time, and meal time

2011-08-31T13:37:00.001-07:00

All the kids made these cute little puppets. Some of them even put on a funny little puppet show with them.

Each day of the reunion had a theme, and this was our Mexican dinner. Rachel, Morgan, and Isabell

I am loving this shot of my nephew Zach.

Carson and I

My Uncle Joe in a sombrero. (and a few of his boys.)

Grandma Monica braiding Morgan’s hair.

Isabell

The kitchen crew for our Hawaiian dinner.

Michelle, Brian, Leilani, and Shae.

Camp Success…Archery

2011-08-31T13:23:00.001-07:00

The first activity we did when we arrived, was to have my Uncle Fred teach us a little archery. We did turns for the adults and kids. In this first picture, my dad is in the background keeping an eye on Cooper. He was a little difficult to take care of in the mountains, so we decided to take turns, so I could stay sane.

Uncle Fred helping Carson.

The kids are learning a little safety and how to work the bows.

Aaron and Morgan

Aaron and Paige

Isabell and Uncle Shae

Grandpa and Haylee

A few of the ladies.

Cooper…a rare moment when he was sitting still.

Williamson Family Reunion

2011-08-31T13:03:00.001-07:00

This year for the Williamson Family Reunion, it was my Aunt Maureen’s turn to be in charge. She decided to have the reunion at Camp Success, a boy scout camp, about an hour from Ely, Nevada. We had so much fun visiting with my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins. It was really neat to have a reunion in the mountains that my Grandparents used to camp in all the time. It was so fun to hear all the memories it brought back, to be where they had spent so much time. It made us all remember and miss Grandma Glenna and Grandpa Lyle so much.

This is the Lodge that was so nice for feeding everyone and getting out of the terrible rain storms.

For 2 days this was home sweet home.

Trying to get a picture of the whole crew.

Well, we tried anyway. That was a lot of little kids to sit still for a few minutes.

My Aunt Maureen worked so hard to make sure we were constantly busy, and having fun. So many Thanks to her and her family for all the hard work. We had a great time.

4th of July parade

2011-08-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

I love our family tradition of going to the parade on the fourth. I love watching my kids get excited about the same things I liked when I was a kid. We now watch the firework with my extended family and also Aaron’s. My kids love to spend the holiday playing with all kinds of cousins.

Grandpa Rich and Cooper

Michelle, Me, Cooper and Meghan

Uncle Shae, Zach, and Carson

The whole gang

Lots and lots of cousins

Paige, Brinley, Haylee, Isabell, and Uncle Adam

Jacee, Morgan, and Rachel

Grandpa and Grandma Williamson

Jessica and Emery

a night on the town

2011-08-17T14:31:00.001-07:00

While my sister was visiting from Michigan, we paid the big cousins to watch the little cousins, and headed out on a date. We went to Plum Loco for dinner (my parents favorite restaurant) and then went bowling. We played boys against girls, thinking we would get creamed, but luckily we held our own.

A sweet picture of me entering all of our names into the computer.

The mom. She was our secret weapon, she had taken a bowling class back in the college years.

The Dad.

Michelle and Shae doing a little couples bowling.

Aaron and I taking a turn.

I wish I had a video of Aaron bowling. He has some Fred Flinstone similarities.

We had such a fun night, it was good to be with such great company. We are already planning a rematch for the next visit.

a little more birthday fun

2011-08-17T14:04:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I think it is mean to make my kids wait all day to open presents, but its worth it to have a party with the grandparents. Paige was REALLY excited for it to finally be time to open them.

Cooper and Carson were a little bit too much help.

Paige was a great sport to put up with Cooper attacking her presents and all her balloons. We love having this sweet girl in our family:)

Paige turns 9

2011-08-17T13:53:00.001-07:00

On July 25th we spent the day celebrating miss Paige’s birthday. We had a swimming party with her friends that afternoon, and then that night we had the Grandpa’s and Grandma’s over for another little party.

Paige opening her presents.

We decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake this year.

We borrowed Grandma’s blow-up water slide.

Paige and a few of her friends making a whirlpool.

Paige even let her big sister come to her party.

Happy Birthday Paiger!!

Lowry Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-17T13:44:00.001-07:00

This year is was Aaron and my turn to plan the Lowry reunion. We found a cabin in Island Park to fit us all and had a great time. My only regret is that while I was busy getting ready for the reunion, I forgot to pack my camera. Still so sad about that.

We left on a Thursday afternoon, and after getting settled in the cabin, most of the girls (even the granddaughters) headed off to the Playmill. We saw High School Musical and the little girls loved it. It was so fun to be on a date with both my daughters.

On Friday we went on a float trip down Big Springs. I stayed back at the cabin with Cooper, we didn’t think he would think it was very fun. The rest of my crew had a fun time hanging out with their extended family. Friday night was spent playing Minute to Win it games. We put the 12 year old cousins in charge, and they did a wonderful job. I really wish I would have had my camera to document this event. So funny.

On Saturday, Aunt Seri showed us how to make some really cute headbands. The boys went for some four wheeler rides, and played with water balloon launchers. That night we had a compass course, in the dark using reflectors and a campfire with smores.

It was so much fun to spend time being a little lazy, chatting with family, and watching the cousins have a blast together. I love how much fun we have, and how much we laugh when we are all together.

Scenic River Falls 5K

2011-08-17T12:50:00.001-07:00

In June I participated in my first 5k run. My friend and exercise partner, Becky was so great to help motivate me to get ready for this day. We were really slow to work up to 3 miles because I keep getting shin splints, and I was trying to avoid hurting myself. She was super patient to wait for me. Here we are waiting to start.

The finish line.

We finished in just under 31 minutes. It was a beautiful day, and I hope we can run another one of these some day.

star valley weekend part 2

2011-07-01T07:04:00.001-07:00

One of Grandpa’s cats had some kittens. They were pretty scared of us, but Aunt Camille made friends with them, and then they tolerated us holding them.

It was so beautiful and green over there. I loved all the different colors in this picture, it is one of the only times dandelions can actually be pretty.

My two boys having a bath in the trailer.

Aaron and Jared worked all day to get this fence done.

We had such a fun weekend with family. The kids loved playing with their cousins, and it is always fun to see Grandpa Lindberg.

star valley weekend part 1

2011-06-20T15:01:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we drove up to Star Valley for the weekend. Grandpa Lindberg needed some helping taking down a fence and putting a new one up. Everyone got in on the fun.

Paige and Cambrie climbed trees for hours and hours.

Grandpa Lindberg used the tractor to pull out the old fence posts.

Kinlee entertained Cooper.

Carson wishing he could drive the tractor.

Great-Grandpa Lindberg, Grandma Jackie, Aaron, and Jared

Kinlee and Carson

Morgan and Teagan taking down the old fence. We loved seeing these kids work so hard to help Grandpa.

Cooper loved to explore everything. It was a full time job to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn’t going to hurt himself.

feeding the ducks

2011-06-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we decided to drive down by the river and see how high the water was and to feed the ducks. Lots and lots of water going over those falls.

My kids had a great time feeding the ducks and geese, even though those birds were getting a little aggressive. We had to teach the kids to SOFTLY kick them away, so they didn’t get too close.

I wish the wind wouldn’t have been blowing us away, but the little ones didn’t seem to mind too much.

Cooper the trooper. This little boy gets hauled all over the place in this orange stroller. We are so glad he is such a good sport.

last day of school

2011-06-20T14:01:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, I remember riding my bike home on the last day of school. I felt so happy, and free, and excited it was finally over and I could enjoy the summer.

That is not the case with these three kids. They had cheered up in the pictures, (from the ice cream I think,) but when I picked them up from school they were a little teary. Morgan was sad because she has to go to middle school now, and they all were sad they were going to miss their teachers. I am so glad my kids had such a fun year with great teachers!!

It is awfully hard to get a good picture of a certain little boy some days.

piano recital 2011

2011-06-20T13:46:00.001-07:00

Cooper was not really excited about some of the unfamiliar faces he saw in the audience.

A couple of cute girls all ready to play us some songs.

I thought we took a picture of the girls with Grandma Jackie (their teacher) but I can’t find them anywhere, they must not have turned out:( Thanks to Grandma for all the time the she spends teaching these grandchildren to play the piano.

6th grade zoo trip

2011-06-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

I also got the opportunity to head to the zoo with Morgan and her class. The 6th graders were divided into groups and given a camera and a packet of questions. They were supposed to answer some questions about the animals and take all kinds of crazy pictures by certain exhibits.

I thought this picture of the kangaroo,with her baby hanging out of her pouch was so cute.

Morgan in front of the lions den.

Morgan and a few of her friends from school.

It was a chilly day, but the rain didn’t start falling until we were all done. It was fun to spend some time with Morgan and get to know some of her friends better.

kindergarten trip to the zoo

2011-06-20T13:16:00.001-07:00

The last week of school, Carson’s teacher asked me if I would like to come with them on a field trip to the zoo. Grandma babysat Cooper, so Carson and I got to hang out just the two of us. It was so fun to watch how excited he was to be able to ride a school bus.

The otters were really fun to watch, they were swimming and running around all over the place.

Carson feeding the goats. He wanted to feed this specific goat, it was a little bit smaller, and some of the bigger goats were stealing all of the food from him. He wanted me to distract a big goat, so he could feed this little one.

A few of Carson’s friend from his afternoon kindergarten class. Porter, Carson, and Jaden

playing in the rain

2011-06-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we had a big rain storm come through. Paige was jumping outside when it started, so she called her brother and sister to come join her.

They had so much fun, and it slowly started to rain harder and harder.

I was a little surprised they stayed out when it turned into a downpour.

The party was over when the thunder and lightning started, but they were totally soaked already.

last volleyball game

2011-06-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

In February, Morgan started volleyball again. She really enjoys playing and keeps getting better and better each year. I was really impressed at how much she improved her over hand serve this season. She made it over almost every time. Here is a picture of her team after the last game.

Now, I just need to remind her to smile when she plays, so she looks like she is having fun:)

boxes and boys

2011-05-22T14:08:00.001-07:00

When I came outside and saw all of these boys in these tiny little boxes, I had to get a picture. I love how creative little boys are. Carson has so much fun playing with these guys.

Carson, Owen, Joseph, and Owen

popsicles

2011-05-22T14:01:00.001-07:00

The other morning, I was really tired and lazy…so I slept in. When I woke up, I found Carson had taken care of himself, and made some popsicles.

My floor and fridge were super sticky, but what fun he and the neighborhood kids had when they were finally done.

emery’s blessing

2011-05-22T13:55:00.001-07:00

On Sunday morning we all packed up our motel rooms and headed to Twin Falls to bless baby Emery. We were so glad we could be there to spend the day with them.

Jessica, Adam, and Emery

Haylee and Emery

Morgan, Haylee, and Emery

Cooper headed for the freedom of the backyard.

This picture cracks me up. That is a lot of little dresses playing on a swing set.

As we were cleaning up lunch, this little cutie decided to smile and chat with us. So Sweet.

This picture is for my sister Michelle.

Emery was getting so many pictures, I thought this little lady would like to pose for a few. She did not disappoint:)

Grandma Monica made the pretty dress.

It was so fun to spend the day, and the weekend with this sweet girl.

Boise part 2

2011-05-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

On Saturday all the ladies (me, Grandma Monica, Jessica, Seri, Camille, and Grandma Jackie) went to the matinee of Wicked. We were so so excited, and it was so much fun. A big thanks to all the dad’s and grandpa who hung out in motels and took care of kids for the entire afternoon. Also, another big thanks to Seri for getting us GREAT tickets! I wish I had a picture of us all sitting together, but I didn’t take my camera. The show was great, and it was so fun to share it with my mom’s and sister’s!! It was a fabulous way to spend Mother’s Day Weekend.

Boise part 1

2011-05-22T12:13:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went to Boise for the weekend. All weekend long I neglected to take many pictures, and now that we are home I am sad that I didn’t make a bigger effort:(

We went to see Aunt Seri and her family first. We played inside and outside, watched a little TV, Uncle Adam cooked us up some pizza and chocolate milk for dinner, and then we headed to the motel for some swimming. As we were waiting for everyone to get ready to swim, we played some hoops.

Cooper giving them a little cheer.

Lots of cousins watching a teeny tiny TV. We kept laughing that they would choose this little one, instead of the actual TV across the room.

Thanks to The Copes for letting us come play, we had so much fun catching up:)

cleanup Carson style

2011-05-13T21:55:00.003-07:00

I asked Carson to hang up his clothes when we got home from church the other day. This isn’t exactly how I meant for him to do it. Who really needs hangers anyway??

a belated Easter picture

2011-05-13T21:55:00.001-07:00

On Easter Carson was sick, and the girls were at Grandma’s having a sleep over with cousins. So, we had to try again the next week.

Love these little cuties!!

a little more celebration

2011-05-13T21:54:00.001-07:00

After the friend party, we headed home for a party with the Grandma’s and Grandpa’s. Carson was pretty excited for it to finally be present time.

He requested “a cake with cars that I can have.”

a little celebration

2011-05-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

Carson decided that because he was turning 6, he needed to have an official birthday party with friends. As this was my first party with little boys, and I was feeling a little puzzled about what do with them for a few hours, we decided to celebrate at Blast Off.

Carson had so much fun playing with his friends. It amazes me how much energy these little boys have when they get together.

This lady had plenty of fun. We invited a friend for her to play with, so she wouldn’t be stuck with the boys.

Cooper wanted to look, but not get in. He mostly loved running after all the balls and throwing them.

He looks like he is up to no good.

After a lot of stealing from other tables, Grandma broke down and got this boy his own bag of cheetos.

Pizza, cupcakes and presents

Happy Birthday Carson!!

little boys

2011-05-02T21:11:00.001-07:00

These cute little boys have been harvesting my carrots (that I never got around to picking last year.) It cracks me up how dirty they can get in such a short amount of time.

Cooper has been loving the freedom of roaming all over the back yard. You can’t see his mouth very well, but it is covered with mud, he must have been sampling some dirt.

What I can’t believe it that my baby boy is getting big enough to play with the big boys. I am pretty sure the big boys are disliking that fact, just as much as I am.

Easter

2011-05-02T20:59:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to our house in the evening this year. Because we have church at 9 in the morning and the two sisters were having a girl cousin sleepover at grandma’s house, that was pretty much our best option.

Cooper was just in it for the candy.

It was even nice enough to look for some eggs outside this year.

Easter Eggs

2011-05-02T20:42:00.001-07:00

While the cousins were visiting, we decided to decorate the Easter eggs. I always like when we can do it in Grandpa’s shop and not worry about the mess quite as much.

Haylee

The whole crew.

Cooper wanted to play with them like they were balls.

Miss Brinley WOULD NOT look at me to give me a picture.

Grandpa was nice to keep Cooper busy, he was destroying the eggs.

Carson and Brinley didn’t last very long with the dying of the eggs.

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for letting us make a sizeable mess in the shop. Well see if they are up for it again next year.

No more trainers

2011-04-28T09:47:00.001-07:00

This little boy has wanted nothing to do with learning to ride his bike without training wheels. We finally talked him into it on Saturday, and off he went. I thought I would be running all day, but he just took off and did it. We are pretty happy to be done with those training wheels.

Cousin Fun

2011-04-28T09:42:00.001-07:00

When I came home from Twin Falls, we brought three little cousins with us for the weekend. We had a sleepover, went to a school carnival, and played outside for two days straight. It was beautiful outside, and it was so nice to sit outside in the sun.

We kicked Carson out of his room, and set up a slumber party in there.

I could not believe how long these kids played with sidewalk chalk. They made all of them houses on the driveway, complete with refrigerators. (They used coolers.)

Emery Saige

2011-04-28T08:58:00.001-07:00

Last week Cooper and I snuck away to Twin Falls to go meet this sweet little lady.

She was born while we were on Spring Break, and we were pretty excited to go visit. Grandma was nice enough to help out with the other kids, because they needed to go to school.

She is so much smaller than these pictures make her look. I have forgotten how small these newborns are. She made poor Cooper look like a little giant.

Jessica and I ran to Walmart that night to grab a few things and found these darling flowers. They were even brighter in and prettier in person.

My baby boy…who doesn’t seem like much of a baby, when your holding a real baby:(

The tree, backyard fun, and a little sleepover

2011-04-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

My sister has a huge tree in her backyard. Her kids love it, and tell my kids all the time how much fun it is. My little ones were really excited to try it out.

They climb up really high and sometimes they take bean bag chairs with them. I kinda wonder what the neighbors think of this.

Carson making a mess in the garden.

Coop was loving the nice weather, and a bit of freedom.

Michelle and Morgan pushing Cooper in the swing.

Shae, Zach, and upside down Carson. He didn’t get hurt when he came down, even though it looks like he should have.

The girls enjoying one last slumber, movie party. Cooper decided to join in the fun for a few seconds.

We had such a fun trip, and are so thankful that the Michiganders were so sweet to host us. We loved all the fun times and memories we were able to make.

Detroit Science Center…last part

2011-04-24T20:36:00.001-07:00

Meghan just sitting outside of the museum…looking pretty cute:)

The kids decided to try out a chemistry lab. They gave them cute little bags with aprons, notepads, and some supplies to keep.

They performed some experiments with cabbage and some other stuff you would find in your house. I had to leave with Cooper, so I didn’t get to see what they were up to, but I do think they are some cute little scientists.

Right before the place closed we went to an electricity show. We got to see this girls hair go a little crazy with static electricity, see a little lightning, and hear some loud bangs. I was worried Cooper would get scared, but we covered his ears and he did great.

One last picture with the dinosaur before we leave. Sorry Morgan, I didn’t have a picture with Paige’s arm not covering your face.

Detroit Science Center… Michelle and Cooper have a little date.

2011-04-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

We got tickets to go see the IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope. Michelle had seen this movie and very sweetly offered to watch Cooper while the rest of us went to the movie. They had a little date in Kids Town.

Finally, a computer that he can play with.

Thanks to my sister for letting this little boy out of that stroller so he could have some fun. It was an amazing movie…can’t believe what those astronauts are able to do, and seeing the pictures that telescope takes was incredible.

Detroit Science Center…part 1

2011-04-24T12:54:00.001-07:00

One of the last big things we did while we were in Michigan, was visit the Detroit Science Center. I was impressed at how fun this place was for all of these kiddos, even with such differences in age between them.

We started the museum off learning how cars were built. The kids learned how it would be to work on an assembly line.

My kids loved watching this robot. It was pretty smart.

Rachel, Carson, and Zach playing on the forklift.

This pendulum was to teach the kids how the earth is always rotating. While we were there, they got to see it knock off a few marbles. As the earth rotates in 24 hours, all of the marbles are knocked off.

Coop was a pretty good sport, spending a lot of the day hanging out in his stroller.

The museum had an exhibit where the kids could work some controls and send off bottle rockets (two-liter bottles filled with a little water, then filled with air, and then they shoot high in the air). These cousins loved this, and were already pretty experienced since we did the same thing last summer in Grandpa’s backyard.

Pump It Up

2011-04-19T09:18:00.001-07:00

Zach really wanted to show Carson one his favorite places. A big room, with a bunch of inflatable bouncy houses. These boys had so much fun, they didn’t sit still for a second.

Cooper loved to walk around in this one. He would keep falling and laughing and then he would get up and run around crazy some more.

Big girls can have fun in a bouncy house as well:)

Paige playing with Cooper.

Paige, Me, Cooper, and Rachel going on the slide. Cooper kept wanting and wanting to go, but could not climb up by himself. It was a back breaker to carry him up over and over again.

This little boys loves to play with balls. He gets so excited every time he sees one, and he is getting pretty good at throwing them.

That just looks like trouble.

And…this is what you look like when you have been running and jumping for two solid hours. A perfect activity to release some of the large amounts of energy these boys seem to have.

A few random pictures

2011-04-19T08:34:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when I am talking to my sister on the phone, she will tell me she just saw a flash of red fly through her yard. She often sees cardinals in this bush in her neighbors yard. I was glad to finally get to see one. I could not believe how red they were. So pretty.

Breakfast and Butterflies. When we arrived in Michigan, my sister was housing some caterpillars (recently turned into cocoons) and every morning these kids would check to see if we had some butterflies.

A little wrestling fun with Uncle Shae.

Cooper enjoying a little bit of warmer weather in Shelly’s swing.

Pizza Papalis

2011-04-19T07:45:00.001-07:00

I have been hearing from my husband, my sister, and my mom for years that this was the best place to get pizza. It was so good. In fact, looking at the pictures is making me a bit hungry.

The kids had fun watching the cooks behind us. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them throwing the dough way up in the air. It was so fun to have good food with great company.

Detroit

2011-04-17T21:23:00.001-07:00

In my visits to Michigan, we had always stayed outside of the city. This trip was the first time I ever saw downtown Detroit. We wanted to take the kids to ride the people mover, walk by the river, see the city, and wave to Canada. I was a little sad to realize that a lot of the buildings downtown were vacant and worn down. This is a picture of the old train depot. I believe they are planning on restoring this one.

The Fox Theatre. Charlie Sheen was on the marquee for that night. We read on the internet the next day that he said some thing rude and got booed off the stage.

Ford Field

Tigers Stadium.

Michelle’s family loves to come see the Tigers play, and last time when Aaron was visiting without me, (he went for a continuing education class) he went to a game with them. He had a great time, and wanted to take us all to a game this trip, but it just happened to be the first game of the season and the tickets were ridiculously pricey.

Posers-Rachel and Paige, waiting for the people mover to come pick us up.

The Renaissance Center, also know as GM headquarters. We walked through and saw some cars, the kids loved the cool couches, and then headed outside to walk by the river.

Rachel got Cooper to wear her sunglasses for a minute.

Cooper, Paige, Carson, Morgan, and Zach

Me, Michelle, and Meghan in front of the Detroit River. On the other side of the river is Windsor, Canada.

This picture is just so Aaron and I can have a funny memory.

These two boys were wishing Grandpa Rich was around, so they could have got him with their pinecones. (Grandpa does that to them all the time when we are hiking or camping.)

Back on the People Mover, headed to dinner. Do you like how our little gentlemen sit in the spots reserved for the elderly and handicapped??

Me, Michelle, Shae, and Rachel in the back

Cooper and Meghan

Pistons Game

2011-04-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

Our first day in Michigan we went to a Pistons game. I wasn’t sure if my daughters would enjoy it, but they had a great time.

Carson was cracking me up. He would cheer “Pistons Win, Bulls Loose!” He was still feeling a little yucky, so I was glad he was enjoying himself.

Michelle and Cooper made friends fast. We were worried he would be scared and not want anything to do with them, but he warmed right up.

Paige, Morgan, and Rachel

Even with all that cheering, those Bulls still won.

Meghan and Cooper

Layover

2011-04-17T08:31:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break this year, we took a little trip to Michigan to see my sister and her family. My kids were so excited it had been a long time since they had been on plane. Paige and Carson could not remember the last time they had flown. I was really excited to watch Carson, because he is really into airplanes and how they work. Unfortunately the morning we left he woke up with a stomach ache, and just didn’t feel good enough to care about what we were doing. I felt so bad as we were up in the air and he was pretty uncomfortable, I had no medicine or any way to really help him. I was actually relieved when we landed and he had some “air sickness” (that went all over him, me, and his backpack.)

Here we are hanging out in Houston waiting for our flight to Detroit.

Cooper

2011-04-17T08:20:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I have done a post just on Cooper. We can’t believe he is getting big so fast. Morgan, Paige, and Carson are so good with him, even when he pulls hair and messes up their rooms every time he walks in them. Here are a few of his latest tricks.

This little boy loves his blankets. He tries to carry them everywhere he goes, and whenever he sees them on the floor, he lays down and rubs his face in them. I should have taken a picture, but it cracks me up when I walk by his crib and see a blanket halfway pulled between the slats. He wants them out, but can’t quite do it himself.

Cooper is super messy right now. I don’t know if I should just give up on cleaning, because he is constantly going through all the drawers and bookshelves and unloading everything.

A couple of my favorite boys. Cooper’s hair is always little wild. It lays down nice after a bath, but after he has a nap this is how lovely it looks.

Sleepy Boy.

Dangerous new tricks. He is climbing everywhere now, such a painful age. It seems he always has a bruise on his head from falling or running into something.

Whenever I need to get something done, we pull out the Spiderman chair and turn on Baby Einsteins. It usually gives me 15 minutes or so to get some of his destruction cleaned up.

He is turning into such a busy little guy, we can’t wait for summer till we can just let him loose in the backyard.

I have to add, that I am so grateful for my other kiddos and how willing they are to help me out with this little tornado.

A little bit of soccer

2011-03-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

Carson played soccer for the first time this year. He really had a fun time. I wish my camera would have taken better pictures, but it was far away and he was moving way too fast. After the first game he figured out he really liked to be goalie…a lot less running. He was pretty good at it, and from then on he would beg and beg his coach for that spot every time.

I love how he waits out his time on the “bench.” He didn’t mind taking a break at all. When he got tired he would head over and tell his coach he needed a little rest.

We had a great time watching this cute little team play each week.

Paige’s diorama

2011-02-27T22:39:00.001-08:00

Paige is in 3rd grade this year, and one of her class projects was to make a diorama of an animal habitat. She chose a panda as her animal. She worked so hard on this project. We were painting, and sculpting play dough, painting the play dough, labeling everything, and then gluing it all together.

She wanted to make her panda habitat look like the San Diego Zoo panda exhibit. I think she did a pretty good job.

The panda’s in the San Diego Zoo.

Snowed In

2011-02-27T22:26:00.001-08:00

We tried to go home, but the road in Swan Valley was closed. It was kind of a surprise, because the weather didn’t seem so bad.

These kiddos loved passing the time playing in the snow. Poor Cooper couldn’t come out and play. He could not figure out how to walk in his boots, he would just stand for a second and then fall over.

Our comfy little cabin.

The snowed in kids also did a little of this.

Here we are outside watching the cars continue to line up…waiting for the road to finally open. They said it would open at 3 AM, but it actually opened at about noon the next day. I didn’t mind, it was nice to sleep in a little bit.

We were glad we had some friends to help us pass the time. We had a great time playing games, eating some-not so yummy-Swan valley cuisine, and letting the kids have a movie party.

Winter Drive

2011-02-27T22:23:00.001-08:00

Sunday before we left Wyoming, we decided to drive up the canyon by Aaron’s grandpa’s house to see some deer.

These deer were headed across the road to eat from the hay that was supposed to be feeding some horses. It was so fun to watch them jump over the fence and get such a close look at them.

Weekend is Star Valley

2011-02-27T22:22:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we made our traditional trip to Star Valley for Presidents Day weekend. This year we invited our friends, the Wards, to come with us and play. We were lucky enough to get a beautiful day, on the drive up the wind was really blowing, and we were worried it would ruin our chance to play outside. Here are some pictures…that I stole from the wards, because I was too lazy to get my own camera out.

Carson and Owen ready to be pulled behind the snowmobile. They looked so funny in those little masks!

Wesley was happy to be sitting there all day long!!

These little buddies play every chance they get.

Morgan and Maddie

Cheers!!

Me, Paige, and Morgan

Kevin and Becky

Aaron and Kevin

We had a great visit with Aaron’s grandpa, Grandma Jackie, and Aunt Sherry. Thanks to the Wards, for putting up with us for the weekend, we had a great time.

Morgan

2011-02-23T21:03:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, Morgan was invited to go to Young Womens and participate in an activity. (She is not 12 yet.) She came home with this darling face paint. I was so sad it was 9 at night, and she had to wash it off and go to bed…certainly made for some cute pictures though.

Cross Country Skiing

2011-02-23T21:02:00.001-08:00

It has been a tradition in my family, that the big girls go with the dad’s and Grandpa and Grandma cross country skiing each year. I wasn’t on this trip, so I have no idea how to journal what was going on. I do know that this picture was taken outside of the warming hut…that was not open.

They go skiing at Harriman Park in Island Park. So pretty, I wish the sun would have come out for them.

Meghan

Morgan

Grandma and Uncle Shae

Thanks to my mom and dad for taking my girls, when their dad wasn’t able to make it. You guys are the best.

Roller Skating

2011-01-16T15:12:00.001-08:00

Paige had one request for me while her cousins were here…she REALLY wanted to go roller skating. We went last Christmas and had a great time, and she wanted to continue the tradition. We were a little shorter in numbers this time. We were missing some cousins (Jessica and family had to get back home,) some sick Grandparents (whose so kindly kept Cooper so I could try to help Carson,) and one dad (Aaron.) We sure missed all of them. I especially missed Aaron when I was trying to teach Carson to skate and my arms were breaking.

Uncle Shae was super brave to take these little boys out during the boys only skate.

Morgan and Rachel, stopping by to say Hi to the mothers and brothers that needed a little rest and a snack.

Snack Time.

Paige wanted to try out the Limbo competition. I love this picture, because it is so Paige. This little girl makes a friend everywhere we go. I love that she is such a friendly little lady. I didn’t get a picture of Morgan doing her Limbo-oops- and she actually tied with another girl and won.

Till next year…

New Years Eve

2011-01-16T15:08:00.001-08:00

We celebrated the new year with a bit of food, some treats, some trips to the doctor and pharmacy, some Minute to Win it games, and a movie. We had Morgan and Rachel organize some games. They had a blast, and it was nice to let them take care of things.

My cousin Jared and his wife Katie joined us for the celebrating. We have really enjoyed having them move so close to us.

Me and Rachel are blowing up balloons, and using the air to knock down a tower of cups.

Meghan and I unloading a box a kleenex. She totally beat me.

Cooper playing in the mess.

Jared and Aaron trying to get a cookie in their mouths without using hands.

Michelle and Rachel

Mom and Dad stacking apples. Dad kinda won that one.

Morgan and her can of 7-up balanced on the side.

Morgan and Paige trying to shake the ping pong balls out of the empty kleenex bowl taped to their backs. The live video of this is pretty funny.

After Morgan and Paige took a turn with the ping pong balls, we gave Aaron and Shae took a turn. I am going to try to post that on video. It is a must see event:)