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!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Hey, remember my OTHER kids not named Maya? Me too. Dylan turned the big 9 in August - and we had a pool party to celebrate his momentous arrival into the world. A good time was had by all.

Here is the D-man getting ready to blow out his candle on the cupcakes...


This is me, overacheiving again. Here are the cupcakes! For his POOL party. Get it? Get it?


Here are the goodies that all the party goers took home with them. A beach towel and a sucker with a thank you note from Dylan. Before you think I splurged too much, Old Navy had a wicked good sale on beach towels! I simply could NOT resist.


The gaggle of BOYS!! What a bunch! Dylan is the nutty one at the head of the table. (Like our new patio table? Me too!)

Here they all are by our pool - they somewhat willingly obliged me and got out of the pool for about 2 seconds so I could snap this shot. Ten boys in a pool is crazy!

Dylan had a great time - and I survived! That's the most a mother can really ask for, right?

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.

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.

Now THAT'S Honesty.

He didn't even ASK for anything.

Wait, wait...so does this mean we don't have to buy anything?

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!

The Chosen One

So, ever wonder how teachers choose which parents go on field trips when there are many who volunteer? You thought they draw out of a hat, right?

Nope.

Dylan's teacher told me that she peeks to see who she is choosing. She likes me. She pulled my name on purpose. I got to go. Yay!

Dylan's class went to the Botanical Gardens this week. Good times for all. It's close enough that we walked from the school to the garden.

This is bark from a tree that feels like paper. Very cool.


Lots of neat stuff to touch...Dylan loved showing it all to me! I knew what this was yesterday and thought I would remember. No such luck. I could make something up...hmm....this is the Seedus Fresnous! (I love this picture!)


On our way from the school to the Botanical Gardens - the trek begins!


Dylan sat down on a bench then noticed that it said "Sanger" on it. Hey! That's where Dad works! He asked me to take a picture of it.


Sack lunch time! Dylan asked me to draw a star and a football on his lunch bag. Dig my art skills.


Corn seeds!


Dylan and his "very best buddy ever," James. Two peas in a pod.


Any day spent hanging with Dylan is a good day in my book!

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.)

Perfect.

Dylan was baptized on Saturday. He was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement. All went just as planned.

It was pretty near perfect.

Dylan and his Dad in their whites...


Dylan and one of his Primary teachers. He loves her!


Z and D with Aunt Sarah, who made the trip for the baptism all the way from Las Vegas. We love you, Sarah!

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?