Stuff to Share

A few 3D ultrasound pics from our most recent appointment last week... cute little foot, eh? And above is his face at the left and an arm up beside his head at the upper right. He is measuring and weighing in the 77th percentile and the doctor said he did expect this baby would be bigger than Cooper was. But otherwise, both the baby and the placenta are healthy. I guess we just have to be grateful for all the technologies and methods that make high risk pregnancy even possible! :)

Playing with some fun pictures Stephen took of Coop and I recently...

We Live in a Cool Place...

The small towns of Hazelton and Eden, where we live ourselves, and the outer area of Hunt, are most often referred to as "Valley," as though the whole area was one town. If we tell people we're from Valley, they know what we mean and it doesn't seem to matter if it's actually Hunt, Eden or Hazelton. There's something I rather like about that- makes it more country I guess... Anyhow, Valley puts on an Independence Day celebration during the weekend before the actual fourth of July each year. There is a parade, carnival and fireworks- pretty big goings on for a small town if you ask me!

Just as the parade started, a little girl on a bike plowed into another girl sitting not too far from us and then into Cooper! Nothing like a front tire in the gut to ruin the fun... He got over it pretty quick and was really into collecting candy off the road by the time the parade was over- Stephen wasn't about to just let him watch from the sidelines and not get into the thick of it :) In the meantime of the bike accident, I personally missed seeing new cub scout Nathaniel riding in the parade! I was bummed because he was so excited! Oh well, no doubt they have one and that certainly matters more! :)

Probably Coop's favorite part of the whole parade was the old style tractors- he just stared and pointed as they went by! And turned to make sure I as just as excited as he was, of course :)

Our very favorite part was the fireworks- they were great for a small town! Cooper did awesome through them- just sat on my lap and leaned his head back to watch. He kept pointing out the bright colors- green, blue, red. :)

Nothing like fireworks, friends and family to make us grateful for our country and the cool place we live. We knew when we first saw our house in Eden that this was where we were supposed to be and it's so nice to so often have simple things that reaffirm us of that. We are so grateful for our small town lifestyle, for being surrounded by good people, and for our country's freedoms that make it all possible. :)

Catching Up to Father's Day

While not too much exciting has been happening in our world lately, I do have some cute pics to post of our general goings on. I love this one above of all three boys- this particular morning, the boys were on the living room floor and Keaton hollered to me that I should come take a picture- I was glad he did!

Cutest little guy ever on the tramp :) These make me smile...

Cooper is fond of pulling pans and bowls out of the lazy susan in our kitchen and playing with them while I'm cooking. This last weekend Taron decided he would join in and built multiple towers- so typical of him! He is a creative dude :)

We recently brought my keyboard home from my sister's and Cooper loves playing on it...

Cooper randomly decided that his ride-on toy should have a trailer, so our awesome Daddy tied his little block wagon to the back and he has been hauling tractors and books around ever since! It's funny all the places he thinks he can manuever this big rig into- he has yet to get the hang of driving with a trailer :)

When Coop wants to play hide and seek he goes to a place and announces "Hiding!" That tells me that I should start counting and then he'll jump right back out :) So fun... this is him hiding in our bathroom towel cupboard.

So Taron and Keaton just couldn't stand waiting to give their Dad his Father's Day present and made him open it on Friday night. They get that from him- there have only been a few times he's let me wait until the actual holiday to open a present he's gotten me! The boys and Stephen are all great gift givers. Anyhow, part of the present was this adorable tie the boys had made at a primary activity. It had "Dad" spelled out in toothpicks, little flags and pinwheels, some stickers and buttons- all kinds of fun. He wore it with pride yesterday :)

Homecoming Weekend

Even though I'm a bit behind, I wanted to post some fun pics from our weekend at home for Conner's homecoming report. When we first got there and Cooper saw Conner in the kitchen, he stopped and seemed a bit hesitant. I explained to him that "Conner lives here now" and then he went right to him and was fine the whole weekend. Pretty cute.

There was a lot going on at once all weekend it seemed, but we also spent some good catch up time with Conner too. He chose a unique hymn that he likes and asked all three sisters to sing it with him as part of his report in sacrament. I don't think the four of us have ever sang all together and it ended up being a neat little addition to the day. Conner's talk was great and anyone can sense that his testimony is so powerful. It just feels good to be around him- it always has. As always, a great visit home.

Papa has decided he needs to get Cooper more interested in the motorbike than the backhoe, since "it's cheaper to run." :) I don't know if he's more interested yet, but he definetly loved the motorbike rides! I like the look on my Dad's face in this one... these two are buds.

I love every time Quincy and Cooper are together- it's so fun to see cousins play and I'm not sure these two could get any cuter. :)

My cousins Kelly and Cody also returned from missions recently and this was a fun pic with their Dad's, my uncles, and them. These Dads should all be awfully proud for sure.

Coop and Quince ready for church...

This is Cooper's favorite spot at Grammie and Papa's house- he loves to play on these bottom few stairs.

Playing cars on the floor with Papa...

It finally warmed up on Sunday afternoon enough to let the kids play in Grammies pool. I think little kids in just diapers are so cute!

Happy Father's Day, Stephen!