Maya Meets the Cooper Cousins

We made our annual trip to Southern Utah in August - it was an interesting trip...I'll do another post about my parent's house being destroyed by a flash flood soon (*heavy sigh*). Despite all the loss at my folk's home, we Cooper girls still manage to enjoy being together!

One of the perks of the week was for Dylan - ANOTHER birthday party! Hey, any excuse for cake is a good one. He was most excited about the gigantic 9 candle, but was a little disappointed when he discovered that it was not edible. Can't win 'em all, buddy.



Sammy loved playing with Maya, and as you can see, Maya loved spending time with Sammy! Doesn't she look like one of those little troll dolls here? You know, the kind that you spin and their hair sticks up? Ha! Crazy baby...



Zack and Ivy. Best cousin-buds from day 1. Still going strong.



Dylan and Sammy. They had a great time playing together!



Mia is happy to be playing with Maya, but Sadie seems less than thrilled...



This "who the heck are you" face is the look that Taylor gave me for about the first entire day I was there - then I finally got a smile out of her!



Saved the best for last. My sweet Grandpa, Dana Pratt - age 90...with his newest great-granddaughter Maya. This is the best photo I have EVER taken. Love them both to pieces!

As Soon As Summer is Over...

...and the kids are back in school, I'm comin' back, blog-world.

Fear me, if you dare.

Meanwhile, check out my cute baby girl! She is already 6 months old!

Oh, and I have two boys, too...remember them? I think they are around here SOMEWHERE...

Those Who Matter Most. Period.

Hello, I am the World's WORST Blogger. Nice to Meet You.

I will (?) get back to blogging eventually, but life is SOO very busy! Getting lots of photography (for other people!) done, teaching singing and taking care of the fam are taking all my time. But life is good!

This photo of Zack made me laugh :) Thought I would post it for the 3 1/2 of you who may still check this blog occasionally...

Happy Spring Break!

A Bike, a Book and the Boy is a Basket-baller

Just a little update on our goings-on of late...

Zack got a sweet new bike for Christmas, and has been doing a lot of riding on it. Yes, WITH a helmet. This is the obligatory pose-on-the-new-bike picture for mom.
(and yes, our neighbor has an El Camino, Deal with it.)

I caught Dylan sitting at the kitchen table the other day, reading like this. Totally at home. Notice he is reading a book about the presidents. Just ask him how tall James Madison was. He knows!

(FYI - James Madison was only 5'4". Can you say "little man syndrome?" And yes, those are the Halloween candy bags sitting there, with some candy STILL in them. Matt finally put them away the other day.)

And lo and behold, Dylan has started playing basketball! He's the kid with the gigantic arrow above his head. I posted this picture to illustrate his height. Notice he is taller than ALL the other 2nd graders. Oh yea! Hello, Cooper genes!
(he's also the cutest kid there, but that should be obvious.)

And check out his defensive skills! GO DYLAN! He was counting down the days until basketball started. We put a hoop up outside yesterday. Poppi told him he has to shoot 100 times a day. I am ALL for that!

And so our 2010 begins.

Mine.

I mean, I know they're MINE and all, but I'm pretty sure that even if they WEREN'T, I would still think they were pretty darn adorable.

Respect, A Christmas (I Mean Winter) Concert, and a Little Adam Sandler

Zack was chosen to be student of the month! His teacher chose him from all of his classmates because he exemplifies the pillar of RESPECT. Makes a mother proud.

He, along with the other three kids who were chosen from his grade, got to sit on the stage after having their names called and have their lunch, along with an ice cream treat, in front of the entire 5th and 6th grade. (I am still debating in my head whether that is a good reward or not. My "head" jury is still out on that one. Zack seemed to like it.) He also came home with a lotta loot in the form of gift certificates. Matt is a coupon kind of guy, so that went over pretty well at our house.

Hooray for Zack, the respectful one! He also gets props for calling me up on the stage to sit with him. One of the other moms came up to see her son and he told her NOT to sit down with him, he was too embarassed! Shame on that boy.


No, it's not a CHRISTMAS concert, folks! Say it with me...WIN-TER CON-CERT. The second graders put on a great concert singing their WINTER songs for us. Dylan especially liked the Hanukkah song. (Not the Adam Sandler version - the one where they count down the eight days. Though the Adam Sandler version would have been truly awesome.)

Look at him singing his heart out! What form! Nice open mouth! Focusing on the director! Do you think his mom is a voice teacher? Anyway, on the right are his two church buddies Jackie and Brynley. I love that they got to be next to one another.



Here's the whole 2nd grade. Dylan is smack in the middle with the big black arrow pointing at his head. I love Elementary concerts! Truly!

And just for fun, here's Adam Sandler's newest version of the Hanukkah song.

ThE HaPpIeSt PlAcE oN eArTh

Hooray for Disneyland! Matt and I decided to take the kiddos plus Zack's best bud Ryan to Disneyland last week for two days of memory-making. Mission accomplished.

Here they are, waiting in line to get into the park. They are a TAD bit excited, in case you can't tell. Even Matt!


All the boys, just after going on our first ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. I loved how they added Jack Sparrow to everything. He looked so real that it was slightly freaky.


Z and D at California Adventure near the enormous ferris wheel. I like this picture. Pure HAPPINESS.


Dylan was chosen for Jedi Training! Awesome! He was TOTALLY into it and VERY serious about learning all the moves and fighting Darth Maul. Such a cool show!

Graduate of the Jedi Academy. Happy.

Dylan, Zack and Ryan waiting in line to go on the Toy Story ride in California Adventure. It was WAY better than I expected! Loved it!

Dad and Dyl waiting in line for Grizzly Rapids. We got SOAKED.

Dylan saw this on the trash can and said to me, "Why does it say waste please? They want us to WASTE? You're not supposed to waste. Wasting is bad!"

Proof that I was there.

We survived!

Zacks Latest Milestone...

Metal mouth, brace face, train tracks...whatever you want to call it, Zack's got...

Sounds like a good reason to drink a milk shake to me.

Soccer for One. WHAT??

I'll admit - it's a little odd to just have one kid playing soccer this year.


Only one game to attend every Saturday.


No "divide and conquer" so kids can get to different games on different sides of town at the same time.


Weekly practices for ONE kid, two nights a week, instead of two kids usually on separate days, basically taking over our lives.


Less crock pot cooking during the week.


In other words, I kinda LIKE this! Thanks for deciding NOT to play this year, Dylan! He will make it up to us by playing basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring.


Here's Zack, playing forward, a member of the Destroyers, at a game where they actually destroyed the other team. Nice.



There they are. Don't they look like a bunch of Destroyers to you? And can you tell which one is mine? Hmm?


Go Destroyers!

Scary!

There are ZOMBIES living in my house.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Run Run as Fast as You Can...

It's jog-a-thon time! Each year our elementary school holds a jog-a-thon as a very successful fundraiser for the school. It is always fun to go and cheer the boys on as they go round and round the track.

Zack, like his mama, is not a big fan of running. He walked (briskly!) most of the way, but managed a slow trot when he went past me and my camera on the sidelines. Doesn't he look HAPPY?

Just the opposite, Dylan LOVES to run. Just look at the joy on his face. He speeds past many kids and gets LOTS of laps in. (This is why I pledged a flat fee this year, instead of a per-lap donation. This kid would BREAK me with all his laps.)

Mantels, Musings, Marriage and a Marvelous New Ward

A post about this-n-that...

Up until a few weeks ago, we were members of the Dry Creek ward (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.) It was an unbelievably huge ward - I was the Primary President (the head kid-wrangler) and we had 180 kids in Primary. Huge! The powers that be created a new ward - the Shepherd ward. Now, I am not a member of this ward (I am now in the Orchard View ward due to boundary changes and our new house), but my good friend Monique just so happened to be made the RS President (the head lady-wrangler) of this new ward - lucky girl! So she asked me to take this ward photo.

Entitle this photo "new beginnings", or "how many Mormons can you fit in one picture in the blazing heat?"

(Yet another reason I love Photoshop - a young girl threw up just before this photo was taken. Right in front. Click - click - vomit gone!! Love it.)

My friend and co-worker Kelley is getting married in November. She had a Hawaiian themed bridal shower. I caught this picture. Happiness!

The obligatory first-day-of-school picture. This was not taken in front of our house. This was taken in front of some random person's house near the school when I realized I forgot to TAKE the obligatory first-day-of-school picture. My apologies to the random person whose license plate I now have on internet display because I am too lazy to blur it out. Is that illegal? Hmm...

Zack - 6th grade, Dylan - 2nd grade

Dylan started Cub Scouts! Salute!

And finally, here is how the mantel in my family room turned out. Cute, don't you think?

The Madsen Family Invades Newport Beach or Family Vacation 2009

Ahh, the fun of a family vacation!! We all descended upon Newport Beach, and Newport Beach survived. Good times. We had a lovely stay at the Marriott Newport Coast Resort (highly recommended!) and the eight day getaway was over all too quickly.


Some of the Madsen boys, playing in the waves. We went to the beach for 6 days in a row, and it NEVER got old. Never.



This is one of my favortie shots. Dylan pondering the waves. Deep thoughts, I'm sure.



Matt's brothers, Rick and Josh. Still competitive after all these years!



My little family. I like this shot! Check out my spectacular tan. I swear it makes me look 10 pounds thinner. I fell off the 'no tan from anything but a bottle' wagon in a big way. The tanning gods welcomed me back with open arms. Welcome home, Nicole the mighty sun worshipper...welcome home. Ahh, it felt good to be back.



The whole crew! Believe me, it was NO small feat getting everyone together and (mostly) smiling for this picture. Whew! Pretty cute bunch, eh?

The Great Beet Experiment

I've made no secret of my imagined hatred of BEETS. I've never eaten one, and never planned on eating one. They just did not appeal to me.


Until Zack recently challenged me to eat one. "Mom," he said, "You always tell me I have to try something at least ONCE."


Darn that boy. I think I liked him better when all he could say was "mama" and "yummmm," and thought everything I did was perfect.


So I tried a pickled beet today. It actually wasn't that bad.

Turns out I was making a big ol deal over a whole lotta nothin.'

Again - - - darn that boy.

Cousin Fun

It's summer - which means lots of fun with the cousins! Kade and Dallin are here for the week from Las Vegas, and we've had a blast playing with them so far this week.

Last night we went to the Fresno Grizzlies game. It was a great night. The Grizzlies beat the River Cats, and there was a fair amount of excitement chasing foul balls. We had GREAT seats, as you can see, and it was a fun family night for all. Pictured here: all the cousins except for Zack, who is now cool enough (just barely) to hang with the adults.


After the game I made a somewhat impatient (Really! He was almost rude!) Parker the mascot wait so I could take a picture with the Zack, Dylan and Dallin. He is a funny mascot and quite entertaining, but I wonder...is all the pelvic thrusting while dancing really necessary?


Dinner together at Poppi and Gigi's is always a treat. This dinner was followed by ice cream cones! Kade was certainly enjoying his, with a lovely vanilla flavored goatee. The height of summer fashion.


Dallin is a ham. His freckles are adorable, and his smile is completely infectious. He kept saying "Aunt Nicole! Take a picture of this! Aunt Nicole! Take a picture of me NOW!" So funny.
(See, Rick and Marci! We're taking good care of them!)


And here they are in all their glory. L to R: McKay, Dylan the Statue of Liberty, Kade, Loie the lone girl, Keenan pulling a silly face in the back row, Dallin, and Zack, a.k.a. "He Who Tolerates Them All."


Good times. And summer is just beginning.