Backyard BBQs

Jer had a BBQ yesterday since Amanda and Bryan were in town. Here is our little herd.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there, but especially to the two in my life!

Check that off the list

Jamie and I took Kevin, Emma, and Cooper up to Silver City yesterday since we have been on our ghost hunting kick. We had to take my car since Brandon "forgot" to leave me the Jeep and Jamie and I couldn't figure out how to remove Cooper's car seat to put it in her truck. The road was super scary-we were nearly run over by several ATVs and a gigantic passenger bus that had NO business on the mountain. We also nearly got high centered on the very rustic road (umm, foot trail?) to the cemetery. Once we were there a downpour started, which really limited our ghost hunt and we had to spend a half hour backing out down the road since we couldn't turn around (all while I envisioned the road off the mountain getting washed out and Brandon saying 'I told you so'). The rest of the time was kind of lame as all the buildings are privately owned and you can't really explore much. At least we were able to check this off of our list since we have wanted to go for years.

Here is when we first got there, Emma and Cooper in front of the Idaho Hotel.

Here is 15 seconds later after he did a complete flip off of those stairs. Apparently 5 year olds have pretty short attention spans and when I said, "Watch the baby and don't let him fall", Emma thought I meant until she sees a rusty railroad tie which is a treasure hunt clue, which clearly takes precedence.
# of knots to the head: 1
# of kids crying at some point during the day (not individual crying sessions): 2
#of tantrums, spankings and fights: maybe around 7
# of ghost sightings: 2 orbs in the hotel (and a bunch we attributed to the rain)

But really we did have a lot of fun. We always have way more adventures when the guys don't come with us. It is much more exciting and dangerous when we are left unsupervised:)

Nevada Trip

Last weekend we went down to Nevada for Hailey's graduation and Joel and Brittney were nice enough to let us stay with them so Cooper got to play with Holden and all his fabulous toys!

Here is Holden-how sweet is this guy??

Cooper loved to take over the exersaucer

It was a 100 degrees at the graduation. Cooper spent the time shedding clothes, periodically bawling when everyone clapped and shouted, and pulling the hair of the lady in front of us (yes, it was just a little embarassing).
Look out ladies!!

Happy 10 Month B-Day!

Oh Cooper, how you keep me busy! I remember just a few months ago how you liked to take naps. And you were immobile. Oh, I loved immobility. I could play dress-up with you all day long. Now it takes 20 minutes to put your clothes on you all while you scream and try to kick me in the face. But I am flexible; that is why you only have to wear a diaper now. Who needs clothes, right?

And diaper changes? I didn't appreciate how easy they were. Now you scream and flip over and try to run away (maybe with a little poo still stuck to your bum). And when left in the Cooper Corral for 30 seconds, you scream bloody murder unless I give you some less than nutritious snacks to divert your attention. Of course, I admit, I shouldn't ever leave you alone (going to the bathroom solo is just plain lonely, right?), or put you down (that constant backache reminds me of you all day). If I do put you down, it is much better if you are left to roam free at lightning speed scavenging dog food and anything on the floor that you can stuff into your mouth before I pry open your chubby little hand. At least you know your name, I know this because whenever I chase after you shouting it, you speed up the demolition process. And the dogs? You know they love you. They make that yelping sound to show you how much they love you and your quick little hands.

And I love it when you wake me up in the morning with a friendly hair pull/face slap, or when you wake me up several times during the night just because you wanted to say hi. There isn't any time of the day I'm not happy to see you, and all joking aside- I really do mean that. I am loving every minute of this life and I wouldn't trade a second for anything. Especially today when you said mama, and I really think you meant it and you weren't just stringing some syllables together. I am just hoping someday you stop the desire to eat everything since your affinity for the small and disgusting does stress me out. Especially if I don't have that piece of dog food in your bait bag:)

Sunny fun and ghosts

We had a busy and fun weekend. Saturday Cooper woke up and started clapping. I have been trying to get the little turkey to do that for months, so I was ecstatic! Now he is clapping constantly: clap on, clap off-the clapper.

We went to my work softball game to cheer the team on and everyone thought it was hilarious that Cooper doesn’t like to touch the grass (a blanket on a sea of green, best babysitter ever).

Then Jamie, Emma, Cooper and I went up to Idaho City. We had a fun time and let Emma play in the water and had a picnic in the cemetery (what, you don’t picnic in cemeteries??) We were super excited because we are always on the lookout for some paranormal activity when we hang out in kooky places, and we got some orbs on the camera! Oh yeah, we are ghost-hunters extraordinaire!

After our ghost-hunting adventure we hung out at my house and Brandon BBQ’d for us. Cooper had a blast and just loved Emma. They were on the yard playing and I looked over and he just picked up a toy and stood up for awhile. I think he wanted to be big like Emma!

Mmm, that sand is good!

Pioneer Cemetary Orb #1

Pioneer Cemetary Orb #2