Cooper's 1st Birthday

We can hardly believe Cooper is 1! Where did this year go.

Ashley had a super idea for his birthday cake. She made the hungry caterpillar with cupcakes for his cake. Hayden came home for Zack Staley's farewell so since we had him here we celebrated Cooper's Birthday one day early on Nov 13. He'll never know right!

He got the hang of opening presents finally but was a little concerned he would be in trouble for ripping the paper off. We hated to teach him this right before Christmas but it was a chance we had to take.
To say he loved his cupcake was a huge understatement. He didn't make a noise and just quietly shoved the whole thing in. He just demolished it! After he was done he was squalking for more. Just hilarious...

He was so cute opening his presents and playing with his train. He was even cute coated with frosting. We sure love this little guy! Happy Birthday Cooper. We are so glad we got to be a part of his special day.

Playing with the Grandsons

It was so fun to play with the boys while they were here. They stuck around for a few days after Hayden went through the Temple so we had lots of time...

Cooper really enjoyed playing in the cupboard that has the glass in it. Wouldn't you know that's his favorite. Either this one or the one with the soap and soft scrub so he can suck on the bleach around the lid!!

Rees riding on Uncle Charlie

We took the boys to the park one afternoon. They had a blast running around and checking things out.

"Hey Ashley you are blocking my picture". Luckily Cooper didn't get a slide burn on his face!

Rees sliding like a pro.

Cooper absolutely loves to swing. We should have guess this since he insisted on sleeping in his swing for months and months of his life! He laughed and laughed. Most kids that age are scared ( well mine were anyway). Nope it's his favorite.

November = Birthdays

The vast majority of our family birthdays fall in November:
Nov 11 Mendis
Nov 12 Terri and Cymoni
Nov 14 Cooper
Nov 16 Christina and Ashley
Nov 20 Stacey (Beth & Rob's anniversary)
Nov 26 Rees

See I wasn't kidding. The festivities all start with Mendis. He has it down to a science now. We go to his parade every year. People wave to him and yell happy birthday during it so it must be his right. Then we head home and he does hours of work outside (his idea of a good time). There is usually a 4 wheeler ride or truck trip in the afternoon weather permitting. Around 6 pm the Cooper clan comes over for his annual taco dinner complete with no cooked cookies for his cake. Then after everyone leaves we pull out a John Wayne movie. Rarely does it change because that's the way he wants it. This year he worked through an afternoon trip but the rest of the day was just the same as usual.

Here we are enjoying Mendis' parade!

My favorite entry

The parade is always exciting. This year we only ate a couple of tootsie rolls which was a bummer though.

Here is Cymoni opening her perfume from us.

Mendis opening his presents.

Cooper opening his presents. I have to do a separate post for Cooper's Bday because I have lots of pics to share.What a fun month we have celebrating and celebrating!

Rees' Primary Program

Oct 23 was a super fun day for us. This was Reeses Primary Program and we decided we just had to go. Their ward starts at 10 am so it was a pretty early morning for us. We had to be on the road by 6am. Being the morning person that I am that was killer. No big deal for Mendis as that's just a typical Sunday am. So I did what anyone would do...sleep most of the way up.

Anyhow off we went and got there with a few minutes to spare even. The program was adorable of course. We love the primary program anyway and when your grandson is in it nothing is better than that. They herded all the kids up to the front to sing every song which was the most entertaining part. Rees didn't disappoint. One time he was leaning over the edge of the stand there and hanging his tie over and swinging it. That was Mendis' favorite. My personal favorite was when he eased the little girl out of his spot by sliding his elbow over infront of her along teh edge of the stand because she was encroaching on his turf! Loved it. He knew every single song and even sang one of them. He recited his 2 parts to us perfectly before hand and did great with only a little help. That was the thing to do though you can't look cool if you know it perfectly. To this day if you ask him what the scriptures are he will tell you "the word of God"! Awesome. After a yummy dinner we played with the kids for a few hours. Rees shoved his new water bottle in his pocket we brought him. Looked a little uncomfortable to me but it didn't slow him down.
Mendis brought some candy up so we could do Trick or Treat with Rees. Here he is going into the closet so Grandpa can open the door when he knocks.

Displaying his Halloween costume for us!

After his nap Cooper got to run around the house sans clothing...any baby's favorite thing to do.
It's hard to believe how fast this little guy is growing up. He is a total momma's boy. This frustrates Ashley and Benjy who want everyone to get to hold him and play but he prefers his space or mom's arms. Hey I had one just like that so no big deal.

Here he is in HIS drawer. He has claimed it as his own. Adorable!

We had a great visit. It was so fun to see everyone. They are doing great. Their little pink house is really looking nice too.

The State Champ Banner

They unveiled the 2011 Basketball Championship Banner this year at homecoming. They brought down the kids who played on that team during the assembly. Hayden was excited to hurry home for the event. He made it back to the valley just a few minutes before Christina and I did even.

Everyone was excited to see the banner and get it up on the gym wall. Here's Coach Larsen saying a few words about how exciting it was and still is!

Here is Donna Swanson uncovering the banner. Drum roll!

It looks pretty good to see it up there. That was quite a dry spell.

Hayden and his friends enjoying the moment. I think we can safely say that Larsen is a friend!
Congrats boys that was such a fun game and it was awesome to be reminded about how hard work and never giving up can pay off...

Yet Another Awesome Weekend!

This has been such a fun fall for us. Lots of things to be thankful for. Hayden has been looking forward to going through the Temple but it's been a challenge to find a time to do it with his football schedule. We got thinking and decided his best shot would be to go after a home football game since he usually has that evening free. So the date was set for Nov 5. We figured we could go to his game, have dinner and go to the Temple that evening.

Nov 5 was actually his last home game as well. Jeff made an huge effort and drove all the way down from BYUI to be there for Hayden's big weekend. So Jeff and Rachel drove all the way on Friday after their classes.

Sat they got in a quick 4wheeler ride out in the desert before we left about 10:30 for Hayden's game. So we knew it would be chilly that day but I wasn't prepared for freezing to death. So I went down to the concessions and bought lots of hot chocolate, a new hoodie and a big blanket to help us survive the day. I should have bought 2 blankets so we could sit on one instead of the freezing cold metal seats!!

The Bradfords made it up for Hayden's game so he got a picture with 2 of the kids after. They went to 2 games this fall...what troupers hahah i mean troopers! The bummer was they lost the game...again.
After the game we decided to go to Players to eat so we could watch some football games while we ate. That's where we meet up with Ashley and Benjy and their boys. Benjy had gotten off work about 12 and they drove straight down. We didn't think they would make it in time to eat but they got there no problem.
Here is the back of Cooper's head. He was bored with us and wanted to check out everyone else. We thought it was hilarious that he completely ignored all of us. He is not a fan of strangers!! So after dinner they dropped the boys off to Kami Jensen who was the babysitter extraordinaire. This was the first babysitter for Cooper so I know Ashley was worried but all was well as far as we know!

We met up with lots of Coopers at the Temple. Grandpa was there and Stacey & Terri, Charlie & Alisha, Beth & Rob, even the Bishop made it and Jeff & Shelie and the Batchelors! We had a wonderful night at the Temple!!

Our silly GQ pose!
After the Temple we decided we needed some ice cream so we headed to Iceburg for treats. We got fed and had fun being even sillier...

Stacey giving us a great pose and Hayden being cool!

Trying to cram in for a picture...it didn't work!

Jeff and his girlfriend Rachel. We had so much fun getting to know her better. We liked her even more than the pumpkin shakes which is no small feat!

A great shot of Ashley & Benjy!

It was a great weekend that went screaming by all to fast. We missed Christina and Grandma. We just all need to get together more often somehow. We are soooo glad Jeff made it because we just found out he can't come home for Thanksgiving :(....such is the life with a job I guess. We are looking forward to everyone making it back for Christmas...we'll keep our fingers crossed. So Rachel you are invited too of course!