the castles

Mexico... 5 Years!!

2011-12-23T13:18:00.001-08:00

I can't believe its already been 5 years since Bry and I got married!! They went by SOOO Fast! This time around we took a cruise to Mexico to celebrate and relax, it was perfect. These past 5 years have been great, we've learned so much and grown so much and I couldn't imagine them without Bry. What a great 5 years, and looking forward to many more :)

Here are just a few pics, I'll have to upload the rest soon.

Thankful Cooper

2011-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

It seems lately that my little Cooper is really developing a mind of his own. He is talking more than ever and sharing lots of random thoughts and ideas. Today we were driving around running errands and we decided to stop and drive through and get a donut from Krispy Kreme. After Coop and I each got our donut he started talking and so I turned down the radio and we chatted for a few. Here's how it went:

Me: Coop, do you know what tomorrow is?
Cooper: (With a HUGE smile) Christmas time!

Me: Nope, not yet. It's Thanksgiving, Do you know what we do on thanksgiving?

Cooper: Toys!

Me: Nope, we eat lots of yummy food, and get to play all day with our family, and we remember things that we are thankful for. What are you thankful for?

Cooper: Questioningly attempts to say "thankful"

Me: Yes, Thankful. It means you are happy that you have something, what are you happy that you have?

Cooper: "Donuts"

Love it. It always catches me off guard how simple kids think. Very refreshing and always makes me take a step back and wonder how much more I would be thankful for if I really took the time to appreciate everything I have, even that donut.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a great halloween! Cooper is already asking for "Halloween Time" again... its so fun to see them enjoying the holidays more and more as they get older.

summertime 2011

2011-09-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

This summer has been full of....

- Cooper introducing this light up musical toy to Connor.... pure amazement.... oh, and potty training... hence the undies shot.

- Good times in Monroe over the 24th

- Carnival rides and games at Art City Days

- Connor's Blessing

- My cousin's precious little girl, Ella, being born only about a month after Connor... automatic buddys

- Lots of messy faces and stained shirts from creamy's and ice cream on hot days....

- Discovering Little Einsteins on TV....

- Lots of helping out with the little brother, and insisting that "no mommy, the hat isn't too small"

- Camping with Family and celebrating all our July birthdays....

- Lots and lots of walks in the evening and the occasional stop to play ball at the park...

- Fire truck rides with Grandpa...

-Fireworks watching with Oaklee...

- Movie watching at the family retreat in Logan....

- Finally realizing swimming is fun, not scary....

-Connor getting used to his carseat....(yay!)
- Arrr Matey....
-Lots of exhausting playing and good long naps....

-Swimming afternoons at Grannys with Uncle Rusty, Christian and Aunt Maddy

- New bikes from Aunt Nicci & Uncle Adam

- Weekend trips to Moab and Arches
- More swimming....

- Rolling down sand hills

- Learning to giggle....
- Exploring the dinosaur museum....

- Shopping trips to Ikea....

- Bubble baths....best buds....

-
- Labor day trip to "The Cabin" with the Websters...

Good Times. Tons of Fun. Great Memories. Excited for Fall!

Update

2011-05-18T13:43:00.001-07:00

So it has been a VERY long time since we've posted anything! We've been so busy and have had lots of things happening. I'm hoping now that things have kind of slowed down a bit that I will be able to keep up with the blog. So here is just a quick overview of the past year....

Our most exciting announcement is that our second little boy was born on April 18, 2011, Connor Bradley. He was a big boy at 9lbs 1 oz and 22 inches long, and ridiculously adorable. We are so happy to have him here and it is so fun to see Cooper with him.

I finally graduated in December with my bachelors degree in Accounting! Yay! It is so so nice to be done with school and be able to stay home with my boys without homework and classes nagging at me.

Cooper turned 2 in March and is a crazy little guy. He is extremely active and loves all things boy: puppies, balls, parks, cars, trucks (especially big trucks), throwing things, climbing on everything, playing outside, etc. He is great with Connor and just gets upset occasionally when I am feeding the baby and can't help him with something. Lucky for us he just gets upset with Bryan or I and not with Connor. He is talking up a storm, but occasionally still needs Bryan or I to translate a few phrases for others :) He is getting so big and we love him like crazy.

Bry started a new job last June and it is going great. He was promoted as soon as it was possible for him to put in for the promotion and has been doing awesome. We look forward to the future there and hope that things keep going as well as they are now.

Cooper's First Birthday!!

2010-03-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Cooper is already One!! Time flies. The past year has been so great and we have loved being able to see Cooper grow and learn and be such a wonderful little boy:) I know everybody always says it, but really we cant imagine what it would be like without the little guy here with us. He’s such a joy to have around and so fun and happy and just the best. We love you so much Cooper!! Happy Birthday!! Here's a little tidbit on our big one year old!

- Cooper loves puppies(real and fake) and playing ball.
- He can say mama, dada, baba, papa, bye bye, thank you, bath (baa), ta-da, ball, ha-choo (like a fake sneeze), and anything that ends in a "k" sound he will just say the k noise. (like oak, mike, block, etc.)
- He can make a couple animal sounds like quack(which he also uses for cracker), meow, growling, barking, and bocking like a chicken.
- He's walking all over the place, trying to speedwalk/run, and has recently tried climbing shelves
- His favorite times of the day are when we go "bye bye"(especially to the park), bath time, when daddy comes home, and Wednesday when the garbage truck comes.
- His favorite foods are pizza, ice-cream, raviolis, mac n’ cheese, mandarin oranges, and carrots
- I absolutely LOVE it how he blows kisses when you leave. Melts my heart.
- He loves drinking cold water, and hates drinking juice
- He will growl at people in the grocery store (and everywhere else for that matter), his own kind of "hello" :)
- He absolutely loves playing with his Uncles and Aunts
- Him and Oaklee giggle for hours when they play together. So cute.
- He loves making forts and playing dinosaurs or bears in a cave with Daddy
- He is our future basketball player at 31inches tall- 90percentile
- Weighs in at 22 1/2 lbs- 50 percentile

We had alot of fun this year for Coop's birthday. The kid got 3 parties, that party animal! First we went down to Monroe and had a party with Bry's family. Lucky for us my best friend, Erin's little girl had her 2nd BDay party that weekend too so we got to go to that. I didnt get any pics, but it was fun. Thanks Erin &Addee for having us! Then the Saturday before his birthday we had a party up at the zoo with my side of the fam, and last but not least on his actual Birthday just the three of us had a pizza and ice cream party. So much fun.
Here are a few(ok, a ton) of pics of the festivities :)

Cake #1

Blowing out aka trying to grab his first B-Day Candle

It was so cute, when Cooper was attempting to dig into his cake little Oaklee was sitting by him and slowly taking little dips into the frosting with her little fingers. Haha you can see the little scratch marks on the side of the cake. She was trying to be so sneaky. What a doll.

He couldnt beleive all of these presents were for him!

Oaklee gave him this little penguin
that he can hit and it bounces back up, he LOVED it.

Cake #2

He loved his outift and Books!

So good he needed 2 forks :) yummy

Our little ape

Such a cute baby elephant!!!!

Coop hanging with Uncle Rusty

Amazed by the monkeys

Grandpa and Cooper watching the cougars. I got Cooper doing the cutest cougar roar on video, I need to figure out how to upload it

He wanted to climb in with the penguins :)

Another adorable animal baby!

I was suprised that Cooper wasnt afraid of any of the animals.

This porcupine was pretty freaky looking.

Loving the carousel with Rusty

It was so cute when he touched this he would try so hard to lick the water on it.

Coop and Aunt Nicci

Those gophers sure look familiar

Cooper thought so too :)

Our little turtle

What a cheesy grin, it's like right when he woke up he knew it was his birthday :)

We had a picnic at the park for lunch and he had such a great time playing with his soccer ball and watching the dogs on walks.

Cake #3, (yeah, baking is not my strong point. Thank you Costco for the first two)

Opening presents with Daddy

Diggin' In

After Pizza, Presents, and Ice-Cream we took him to Toys R' Us to play around with some toys. He had such a great time.

Always has to sneak into little hideaways

Coop got this sword out all by himself and started hitting Bry with it. He obviously wanted to sword fight :) He just giggled and giggled, so cute.

After Toys R'Us I had to go to class so Bry took Coop to play with Oak for an hour and then we went home. What a fun day with our little guy.

Happy Birthday from Maddy

2010-03-07T16:59:00.001-08:00

So for Cooper's birthday my little sister Maddy, who is 9 years old now, was so sweet and wrote a story about him, glued it to some construction paper and decorated it. She's such a doll. Here it is, word for word :)

"As you can apprehend there has been a birth of a male baby. When I glance at his face I say I'm his aunt and he is as handsome as can be. When I glance at him I will say, you have the eyes of your mother and the head of your dad. You will be like your uncles and aunts. I'm your aunt and I am 9 years old so come and giggle and wiggle little Cooper with me. I always knew you would like me better than your uncles. p.s. This is a true story of me. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. One sister has Cooper. She is his mom. My sisters and brother's names are 1st Rusty, 2nd Christian, 3rd Niccolle, 4th Ashlie, and 5th me, Madeline. I'm telling this gleaming story that's true. Cooper's mom, Ashlie, Rocks!"

So adorable. Thanks Maddy for making my day!

What a great little sister and such a wonderful Aunt to Cooper!!

Best Buds

2010-03-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

It's been so fun lately how Cooper and our niece Oaklee can finally interact and play together. Cooper gets so excited when we go see them, and they wear each other out, which is nice at bedtime :) Jaime is due again in June with another little girl and we can't wait until she is here and can play with them too! It's so nice having family close by that Cooper can get to know, I know when I was little playing with my cousins was definately one of my favorite past times!

Oaklee gets a little frustrated sometimes when Coop cant go as fast as she can :)
Cooper loved playing at the treehouse in the mall with Oaklee and Grandma

The two of them getting ready to go swimming

Cooper loves getting into cupboards now, and he believes everything belongs in his mouth or on his head :)

We have a little table by Cooper's highchair and whenever I make treats thats where they go. One afternoon I was getting his food ready and turned around to find this. Little Cooper got to the brownies and was digging in. I love the first picture with his sly little face, and then once I started laughing he just thought he was hillarious. You can see in the picture where he started digging out the brownies by the handful. What a guy. I can't believe how big he is getting, only 6 days until he's one!! He's walking like crazy, and will try to run/speed walk which always ends in tumbling to the floor. What a crazy kid.

I Love Cruising

2010-02-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Our cruise was so wonderful! Except for the day in Fort Lauderdale, it was so freaking cold! Oh, and the tsunami warning, and having to miss our first port because the waves were too high... seriously though even with the little problems it was such a great vacation!! We stopped at St.Thomas, St.Maarten, and Grand Turk(that stop was my favorite!) We were supposed to stop at Princess Cays, but that was the stop that weather wouldnt allow us to stop at. It was so fun having everyone come with us, and was definately one of my favorite vacations so far! Only thing missing was little Cooper, I was so ready to come home and get him!! Freezing in Fort Lauderdale
BINGO! We had a ton of fun playing Bingo, Jaime and Mike were so dang close to winning so many times, but none of us ever did. :(

This guy performed a few days in the plaza on the ship, he pulled this kid out of the audience and had him spin a plate on this stick and a ball on his other finger. The little kid was so excited :)

Bryan living the dream with his gelato and basketball tournament medal. (mike and him both got one in default because the ship was rocking and wind was blowing so nobody could make a shot)
The girls on a day at Sea waiting for some more Bingo

Mike and Jaime on Formal Night

Bry's Parents on Formal Night

Bry's brother Brad, and his girlfriend Andrea

Formal Night- Today was the day the earthquake hit in Haiti, we didnt know that anything had happened until dinner this night when the Captain came over the intercom and told us there was a Tsunami warning... if any of you know me, you know that that is definately one of my #1 fears. Not sure why, but they just scare me to death. So I was scared to death, and after dinner I went to the room and watched all the news about it. Needless to say, there was no tsunami, which we are grateful for, but it is just so devastating to hear what everyone in Haiti had to go through and is still going through.

St.Maarten, this was a beautiful beach, just so annoying how they charge for every little thing! By the 2nd day on the cruise the weather was so nice, 75-80degrees and sunny.

Jaime and Mike in St.Maarten

Bryan had to get a pina colada, suprise suprise.

Russ, Christi, Me and Bry in St.Maarten before we got back on the ship

St.Thomas, we took a taxi ride up to Magan's Bay, very pretty ride!

Magan's Bay. We were here for maybe a half hour when it started to pour, and when it rains there it sure rains. I've never seen anything like it. But it was still so warm outside. THen a half hour after that it just stops. Bry said thats what it was like all the time in the Dominican Republic on his mission. Crazy.

Magan's Bay

After the bay, we went down town and did some shopping. Well, actually we ate lunch and the boys went to the ship and me and Christi did some shopping :)

Here we are in Grand Turk. This was my favorite stop, we just hung out on the beach all day. Great weather, snorkeling, and we took a walk around about half the island. It was so fun.

This was our last port so Bry and I stayed on land as late as we could and watched the sunset. How pretty!! The next day was another day at sea and then we were back in Fort Lauderdale waiting to come home again. What a wonderful vacation!!! So glad that we had it all paid for before Bry got laid off and so we "had" to take it :) It's going to be a long time until we get another one!!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-02-01T09:21:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas! We went down to Monroe early in the week and hung out with Bry's family, we had a fun time playing games, watching movies, decorating cookies, just hanging out. Not so fun before Christmas when I got soo sick, a few hours later Bry got it, and then Coop woke up from a dead sleep and threw up everywhere. SOOO Sad. I have never felt so bad in my life, it is so sad seeing your little baby sick and having nothing you can do about it. All three of us stayed up almost all night, if anything good came from it it was how cuddly Cooper was. So cute. He would close his eyes so I would try to lay him on the bed by me and Bry incase we had to get up so we wouldnt wake him up. As soon as I'd lay him down he would scootch right back over to us and lay his little head on us. So cute, and so sad. He did, however, learn how to drink from a straw that night. The only thing he wanted was really cold water, and he loved it. The next day we felt a little better, and by the following day we were all back up and running. I feel awful though because everyone that was there, bry's brothers, parents, grandparents, all got sick too. Seemed to pass in a just a day or so and everyone is alright now. Anyways, Christmas was so fun, having a kid just makes is so much funner I think!! We had a nice dinner Christmas Eve, watched the story of Jesus' birth and ready the story from the Bible. Of course, got great PJ's,, and then played lots of games. Cooper wasnt sure what to think, but he enjoyed all the attention and the new toys. We got him a tent with a tunnel, a little train, some books, and a ball. Of course his favorite toy is the $1 ball, we should have only got him that and he would have been just as happy! The day after Christmas we went up to Layton to have Christmas with my family. It was alot of fun!! Here are some pictures!We took Coop sledding with Ty and Trev, this was his expression the entire time... reminds me of "Christmas Story" movie when the mom makes the little brother get in his snowsuit to walk to school. haha
Uncle Trev gave Coop a little tractor and he loved it :)

Cooper helping decorate Christmas cookies :)

The fam on Christmas

Cooper waiting to go see what Santa brought him.

Christmas morning, Cooper was so excited that everyone was awake and playing already.

Trying to get a sneak peek

Coop's tent, he was pretty nervous to crawl through it himself at first, but then got the hang of it. He especially loved it when Oaklee came down and played in it with him :)

Yes, he had PJ's on, but his legs kept getting tangled up in them because they were too long. So we had to set him free.
Coop & Uncle Brad

He loved his little books, just his size.

A cookie and a ball, doesnt get much better for Cooper.

Grandma and Grandpa Okerlund gave him a lawnmower and he loves walking with it!

Bry and Oak

Uncle Brad got Cooper a baseball and a little puppy and he thought it was so neat. He just stared at it for the longest time.

Oaklee got this little table for Christmas, and Cooper loved sitting up to it with her. They ate their lunch together :)

This soccer ball is his other favorite present, he chases it around the whole house for hours.

Hope you all had a great Christmas!!!

Happy Holidays!!

2009-12-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

This past month has been so crazy!! We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. Thanks so much to all my family that all helped to make it so great. With so much to be thankful for this year it was just a great time. The company Bry worked for went out of business, so he was laid off a few weeks ago. Interesting how things work, right when something like that happens you realize how grateful you are for your life and the things that you have. Savings, healthy and happy family, excellent renters, most amazing little boy and husband, and last but certainly not least our excellent ward and having the Gospel in our lives. We were warned and expecting the lay-off so it wasn't a shock and like many things in our lives just opened up other avenues and windows of opportunity. Bry worked with some AMAZING people, many of which he's still good friends with. Through looking and applying and interviewing and repeating the whole process what seems like a million times, as well as praying and hoping for guidance on what to do next, we've decided that he is going to become something we never thought we would, an entrepreneur. He's going to partner up with two of the excellent people he worked with at his old company and they are going to start their own business in the same industry he's worked in the last several years. I haven't seen Bry this excited in a very long time. Still studying for the GMAT (Thanks everyone for the tips!), and trying to get this up and going, while I finished finals, and with Christmas and Holidays, and Cooper, we've managed to stay busy! It's been great, and its so exciting to see where this new path will take us. Wish him luck :)

One of our (my) favorite Christmas traditions is the Christmas Party up at my Aunt's house in Heber. This happens every year, and it is just so fun. Santa comes and gives us each an ornament, (Suprisingly, Cooper LOVED Santa, we took him to the store to see him and he sat right down, and started playing with the bells on his outfit. At this party he was a little confused, but was still just great. No tears or screams. What a good little guy :) We also have a cousin gift exchange, my aunt goes above and beyond and always has goodie baskets with the DVD of the "theme" for the year's party. This year was The Grinch who Stole Christmas. It's so fun to go home that night and watch the movie we get each year. She feeds us and we hang out and talk and its just great getting together with them seeing as we don't get to see all of them on Christmas Day. Thanks Aunt Becky for another great Party!!

Here are a few pic's to catch you up over the last few weeks!! Hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas!!

Cooper's New Favorite Spot to Play, by the presents and the tree. He tries so hard to be a good boy and not tear off the bows, but it's just too tempting.

This is when he discovered the light strands come off the tree...

We were not being good parents, definately too much sugar for a little boy, but such a cute smile!

Ho Ho Ho!

Cooper was just kind of annoyed at the whole Santa thing in these pictures.

Right after we set up our Christmas tree, Cooper was amazed!

This is Cooper's new favorite toy, a rocking horse that makes noise and is just his size. Bry's grandparents bought this and whenever we go to Payson to see them he spends hours playing with this horse.

Picture Preview

2009-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

We decided to take Oaklee and Cooper to get some pictures of them together. CheapShots,LLC did them for us and it was only $30 for the whole shoot! That includes getting the CD and everything. (Check out their blog at http://www.cheapshotsllc.blogspot.com/ if you're interested). We should be getting the CD of all of them this week, but here is a little preview of some of them. I dont realize how chubby little Coop's face is until I see pictures of him :) Love it.

GMAT.......

2009-11-14T18:00:00.001-08:00

Well, it's decided that Bry is going to go back to school and get his Masters Degree. I'll be done with school in a year and Bry will start up right after I graduate. So, we are now in the process of getting ready for the dreaded GMAT and applications for him. Have any of you/your spouses taken the test?? Any tips, good study guides, etc. you could recommend??? Any info would be great!!! Thanks, and wish him luck :)

Like Father, Like Son

2009-11-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

So my friend Cortney came and visited us for a few days, we were in the living room talking and the boys were being really quiet in the kitchen. So we peeked in and this is what we saw. :)

So cute!

Fat and Happy! :)

Happy Birthday Oaklee!!

2009-11-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Our little niece Oaklee just turned 2! I can't beleive she is already 2!! She had a little birthday party and we had a great time. They had little mini cupcakes and decorated pumpkins, the little kids loved it! Happy Birthday Oak! We love you!!

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-06T13:01:00.001-08:00

Isn't this just the cutest little football ever? :) We had a great Halloween, started off with our ward's trunk or treat, it was fun seeing all our primary kids dressed up!

Cooper LOVES to play with leaves. Well he really loves to try eating leaves. Halloween afternoon we let him play outside with them for a while and went on a little walk, he loves outside.

Coop and Dad

Yummy :)

Later that night we went Trick-or-Treating with Oak, Jaime, and Mike. It was alot of fun. Jaime and Mike dressed up as Dora's Parents, and little Oak was Dora the Explorer. So cute.

Daddy and Coop heading to the first house

Football and Dora

Once we got home Coop had to check out his loot, (well our loot thanks to him being only 8 months old :)
We did let him try out a sucker, and he LOVED it, he got a little bored with it after a few licks and moved on to the wrappers.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!!!

Trip to the Mall

2009-10-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

The night of my Birthday we stopped by the mall while waiting for a table at Carrabbas. Cooper LOVED the dinosaur and watching all the little kids. So we decided Monday we'd take him to the Provo mall and see how he'd like it.

He didnt quite know what to think about the moving Jeep, but once he got used to it he had alot of fun with it. It was hard for him to stay on it, I'm sure he'll like that more when he's a little bigger.

When Bry came to the mall with him to get my BDay present he said that Coop loved to watch this train drive around. So this time we let him ride in it and he was amazed. He sat there the whole time with his little mouth open just staring out the windows. He couldnt believe he was riding the train :)

The little stroller cars were so great. He loved grabbing onto the steering wheel and playing. It was so cute, he'd keep one hand on the wheel and put the other one up on the side, just relaxing while cruising through the mall. :)

Aloha!

2009-10-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Hawaii was fantastic! What a beautiful place to go see!! We were very ready to come home and get little Coop though. We both decided that is one of the many benefits of having a baby, ending a vacation just isn't quite as sad when you know what you get to go home to! Here are lots of pictures to enjoy :)Here is Bry at the Byoido Temple (Im positive that is spelled wrong). We stopped here on our last day, it was really neat; they said that it is an exact replica of the one in Japan. It was interesting to see, you had to take your shoes off before entering and there was a huge buddah inside that they would worship and burn incense and pray to.

This is the bell that if you put an offering in the little box and then rang the bell you would get good fortune and health. Here we are getting our dollars worth.

This was one o fmy favorite spots. It is the little table out on our lanai. Every morning if we didnt eat on the beach we would eat breakfast out here and look at the view. Such a relaxing place to read my book too :)

You can't really see it here; but there is a little sea turtle head poking up. The beach right outside our beach house had tons of sea turtles in the water. Bry was floating out there one morning and one popped up right by him. It was awesome to see!

This is the blowhole; there was this crazy chinese kid that jumped the fence and hiked down to it and everyone thought for sure he was going to hurt himself if not worse. He would go right up to the blowhole and look into it, the waves were so big that afternoon we thought if he didnt get knocked off into the blowhole he'd for sure get knocked off into the ocean and not be able to get out. But we left before he was done with his adventure and didnt hear anything about it so he must be ok.

This is the BEST Apple Pie and Ice Cream I've ever eaten. We were so lucky to find this restaraunt on one of our "Where do people in hawaii eat rants" (We couldn't believe how hard it was to find good places to eat outside of Honalulu). Anyways, we found a winner.

This is the awesome restaraunt with the awesome pie, what a view huh! It was literally right on the water. Lucky find.

We spent a day snorkeling at Henoma Bay, and it was so fun! Definately one of my top 3 favorite things we did out there.

Behind us is Henoma Bay, all that dark stuff is the reef where all the fish were. We took a bunch of pictures with our underwater camera, but havent got them back yet so hopefully they turned out.

This is the evening show at the Polynesian Culture Center, The little boy on the left was amazing! I couldnt believe he could dance like that, he must have been only like 10 years old.

This is at the Polynesian Culture Center still, they gave us these fresh flower leis when we got the luau dinner and they smelled so good!

Here are our yummy fruit smoothies served in a pineapple that we got at the luau. They were so tasty.

I couldn't believe how those girls can hula!

This was my favorite stop at the Polynesian Culture Center, it was Tonga's presentation. They called 3 guys out the audience to learn how to play the drums. This is a picture of the Japanese kid that got called up. He volunteered to take off his shirt and could hardly speak any english. THe Tongan had him repeat a bunch of stuff and a bunch of stuff on the drums. But the best part was he told the Japanese kid to say "Are You Ready?!?" to the audience but asked him to ask us in Japanese. So the kid yells out "Are You Ready In Japanese?e!?!" HAHA It was so funny.
This was part of the canoe pageant, it was pretty neat.

Wow their temple is gorgeous, adn their temple grounds are amazing. We spent one morning there and the missionary we talked to was from Provo of all places. :) It is so neat as you drive up the really long road to the temple, it's lined with trees and flowers and jus so pretty!

As many of you know, it is so difficult to get pictures with both of you in them when you're traveling alone. We did alot of the stretch your arm as far as it will go and hope you're both in it, we tried like 5 times for one at the temple but just couldnt do it. This is the best we could get :)

We spent one night out on the North Shore where the sunset is sooo pretty. I Loved just relaxing and reading my book, talking with Bry, watching the surfers, and eating what I believe was an entire box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. :) yum

This was definately another one of my favorites. We hiked up to Waimea Falls, it was such a gorgeous hike and at the end there was this big waterfall with a lake/pond. They had boogie boards that you could float around and swim in the water. It was for sure one of my top 3 favorites.

This was Waimea Bay, that was the best beach by far for swimming. And very pretty.

This was yummy yummy pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake from the Dole Pineapple Plantation. It was sooo Tasty.

We rode the little train at the pineapple plantation that took you on a tour and explained it all. It was actually pretty fun.

It was so awesome to see how the pinapple grow. Little random pineapples popping up everywhere.

We went to Pearl Harbor one day and it was so awesome to see. We watched a documentary about the day the Japanese attacked, and then went out and saw the battleships that were sunk. This is out at the Arizona Memorial, we rode a ferry out to it and this picture is the actual ship that sunk. It was amazing to see the ship under the water, it really hits you when you see it all that its all real. They said there were like 1100 soldiers still buried with the ship. They have a big white wall on one side that has a list of the names, and a soldier on duty that raises the flag when a group comes out. It was really a neat experience and sure makes you grateful for the sacrifices those soldiers made and still make for us.

We went to the big swap meet at Aloha Stadium, and it was soo hot outside that day. Bry got a ice cold coconut, I didnt really like the taste of it, but he used to drink it on his mission and he loved it.
This is the first morning in Hawaii, it was so nice where we stayed, we had our own private little beach and we would eat breakfast out there. With the time change we both woke up every morning at like 6am too, so we got to watch the sunrise almost every day.
This is the view of the beach outside our place

This is the first little restaraunt that we found once we arrived in Hawaii. And it ended up being one of our favorites. I had the best fish and chips and Bryan had a very tasty pulled pork sandwich. We got to sit outside and it felt like we were in Jurrasic Park, minus the dinosaurs.

There was another couple there eating and they took our picture for us, this is the view from our table. Very pretty.

This is the little path from our place down to the beach. We couldnt have asked for a better location.

Here is our little lanai, then there was a sliding glass door inside to our place. If we ever go back we will definately try to stay there again.

We were able to rent a convertible for our time out there and it was so fun. Big pain in teh butt to put the top up and down, but alot of fun when it was down and we got to drive through those roads. It was amazing how close the ocean was to the road, I couldnt believe it.

Isnt this crazy? The ocean is literally just feet away from the road. I wonder how many people have wrecked and landed in the ocean?

This is the view from our airplane as we were landing in Hawaii :)

And another one of my favorite parts of the trip was the plane ride. I loved it! We had our little movie screens and got to watch any movie, or listen to music, or play games, and got served all the juice, soda, or pretzels we wanted :)

Overall this trip was soooooo great, we can't wait until we can go back again!!! And THANKS so much to my fam for watching little Cooper for us!! :)

Happy Birthday To Me :)

2009-10-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I turned the big 24. It was a really great day. I spent the morning with little Cooper then my Grandma took us out to lunch, it was fun chatting and hanging out with Grams. Coop and I then went shopping, and took a nap together when we got home. Pretty sure that was his present to me, he was being so good. And then when Bry got off work he came home with my present, a WONDERFUL new hoodie, pj pants, and shirt; and a card from him and a cute little card from Cooper. I wasn't expecting anything because he had already gotten me my new swimsuit before Hawaii that I wanted really bad. So it was a very nice surprise. Then he took us out to Carrabas ( I LOVE their bread and dipping sauce). We got the best seat in the corner where Cooper just played on the ground it was so nice. We were going to go to a movie or a play; but I voted to just go rent one and hang out at home. So we went to Hollywood, got a movie, and then headed home to the yummy Apple Pie and Ice Cream that Bry had bought earlier that day. (I LOVE apple pie too, much better than bday cake). Overall it was a wonderful birthday thanks to my boys!! :)

Farmer Cooper

2009-10-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last time we went down to Monroe, Ty took little Coop on a ride in the tractor. He said that Cooper just loved it the whole time. I think he is going to have such a fun time going to Monroe to the farm as he's growing up. What a lucky little boy, and what a cute little cowboy he'd be :)

Stuck

2009-10-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is Coop's new thing, he loves crawling up in this cubby in the TV stand and yelling and growling into it. It must sound neat in there. Its after he is done that is the funniest, he is just stuck in there. Can't turn around and so he slowly backs up and flops out. I have a feeling he's going to be quite the crazy boy. :)

Our Big Boy

2009-10-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been a slacker updating Cooper's new little milestones. The saturday before his 6 month birthday he decided he was ready to crawl. He had been scootching alot before that but he decided that day while we were in Monroe that he was ready to do the full crawl. About a day after that he decided he wanted to stand; so he pulled himself up to everything he could find. And a couple days after that he got a little braver and started walking along those things, like couches and stools and cupboards. As he got more comfortable he started doing it one handed, or just leaning up against it while using both hands to play with a toy. His new favorite thing to do now is take his stool that his Aunt Doree made him and push it along the floor while he walks behind it. It makes the most delightful screeching noise against the hardwood floors :) He also LOVES to get into anything and everything; his favorite being the decorations of course. The cutest thing he does though, (saddest but cutest), is trys to crawl into the fireplace. We havent ever used it and it has a glass door infront of it so he cant get in, but seeing as the glass is clear he just doesnt understand why he can't crawl in that fun little nook. He will crawl over to it and try to crawl in it numerous times a day, banging his head on the glass each time wondering where the heck that glass came from. :) He's also got a cute little tooth finally! One little snaggle tooth on the very bottom, so cute. He loves playing with his cousin Oaklee and absolutely loves puppys. I took some pictures of him with my Grandpa's dog I'll have to post those they're so cute. He also loves this little horse Bry's grandma got for the grandkids, and riding in wagons.He is getting so fun and so interactive. And getting to be quite a big boy. Up in the 95% for height, 75% for weight, and 75% for head at his 6 month checkup, and healthy as ever. I think that is about it. Here are just a couple pictures of the big guy standing. (they're from my phone so they arent the best)

Ever been to Hawaii??

2009-10-06T08:46:00.001-07:00

Only one more week until Bry and I will be basking in the sun in Hawaii :) Only problem is neither of us have ever been and we aren't sure of what to do out there! We're worried of wasting alot of time trying to find out the neat things to do. Have any of you been to Hawaii? Anything we need to be sure we go do? We're going to Oahu, any ideas would be much appreciated!! :)

Note To Self

2009-09-21T06:58:00.001-07:00

Do Not Take Cooper to BYU Games. Doesn't work.

Good Job Bry!!

2009-09-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

So Bryan's work had a weight loss competition this past month and a half. Officially he got 2nd place, but I think he got 1st! (the guy that did get first cheated and ate and drank a ton at the first weigh in- increased his normal weight by like 7lbs, and then spit in a bottle all day, ran 10 miles in a coat, and fasted all day before the last weigh in- lost 9lbs in one day) So in my book Bryan is the winner :) Bryan did great!! He lost 17 pounds!!! Yep, 17!! Total weight loss of 8%! His friend Parker officially got 3rd place, which should have been 2nd :) And he lost 6%!! Way to go guys!!

Zumba

2009-09-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Do any of you ever watch infomercials? Bry and I do all the time, and I've always wanted to try that Zumba that they advertise and I've really been wanting a routine to get be back into "pre-baby" shape. So a few weeks ago I decided to start going to some classes at our gym. Jaime and I went to our first Zumba class and have been going ever since. It is so much fun!! The first time I went I could barely make it through the hour, definately not feeling like I did in High School! But after going these past 2 weeks it gets easier and easier, and more and more fun, AND you are still getting what I think is the best aerobic workout you could be with only an hour of time available. Our Friday instructor has a blog at http://www.zumbawithshannon.blogspot.com/, (Note the picture of the pregnant girl, she teaches the Tuesday class and it is AMAZING how much she can do that pregnant!) and then of course http://www.zumba.com/ explains it as well. I VERY much recommend trying it out. Its alot of fun, you can get your groove on and it gets you in shape! Just the past couple weeks and I've already lost 7 1/2 lbs :) Yay for Zumba!!

Yellowstone & Jackson Hole

2009-09-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we got to go up to Yellowstone with Bry's Parents and two little brothers, Tyler and Trevor. It was alot of driving, but alot of fun! We left Thursday and headed up to Driggs, ID (which is just out of Jackson Hole). Cooper did so good on the drive he loved playing with his two uncles and grandparents. Friday we headed up to Yellowstone and spent the day there. I hadn't been there since I was like 14, and this was Bryan's first time so it was neat to see it all. Those hot pots and geyers are so crazy, kind of creepy to think we're walking right on a huge supervolcano but really neat to see. We saw TONS of buffalo, some elk, deer, a fox or wolf (not sure what they decided it was), bald eagles, but no bears or moose dangit. It was so crazy how the buffalo would just walk right in the road, on our way out of West Yellowstone that night we saw a car actually hit a buffalo! There were two standing right in the middle of each of the lanes, and there were lines of cars heading our way that had stopped and all their lights were on so we assumed the cars coming the other way would notice something was going on seeing as there was a huge buffalo in the road. But they didnt. The first jeep that came up to him was probably going 30-40mph and slammed on their breaks about 4 feet from the buffalo and screetched to a stop right before hitting him. We kept on driving and flashed the next car coming up to it to warn them; the car flashed us back assuming we were telling him his brights were on or something and then he tried slamming on his breaks and hit the buffalo. It was just a tap, and the buffalo was fine and moved off the road, but it could have been trouble! The next day we spent the day in Jackson Hole,WY and shopped around. It was alot of fun (atleast for me and Bry's mom!) I got some very comfy sweats and Bry and Cooper got matching hoodies. Then we headed back to Driggs and went swimming, and then got ready for dinner. We ate at the best mexican restaurant I've ever eaten at. It's called Guadalajara, and was soooo good. Bryan and his dad's food came out in a huge caldron in the shape of a pig and they got to fill up tortillas to make their own tacos/burritos. It was so tasty. We got to eat outside on the deck and the view was so pretty. They even brought us these tasty dessert chips with sugar and whipcream and strawberry drizzle. It was sooo tasty. I definately recommend you go there if you're ever up that way. That night we went swimming with Cooper, and he loved it. He loved his little boat and standing up on the edge with Daddy and "jumping in". It was soo hillarious that night, there is a little kiddie pool and then the hot tub is up behind the entrance so you cant see it when you walk in unless you turn around. There was this guy that came in and thought the kiddie pool was the hot tub... it is like 1 1/2 feet deep and not hot at all. Ha ha. He sat in there with his knees almost out of the water I'm sure just ticked about how crappy their hot tub was :) hahaha We couldnt stop laughing it was the funniest sight! A while later we went and got in the real hot tub and the guy got up and left. Funny funny. Anyways, the next morning we headed off home but decided to go a different way. We drove down through Afton, WY and Evanston. Star Valley was the most beautiful place!! The cheese factory was closed dangit. We stopped by a restraunt in Evanston to eat, and poor Trevor had a chunk of cow hair in his hamburger!! And Bryan's smelled like manure. Disgusting. My food wasnt bad at all though:) We got home that night and it's nice to know we arent driving anywhere for a while! Overall it was a GREAT break and so fun. Thanks so much to Bry's Parents for taking us! Enjoy some pictures of how pretty all the scenery was, and how cute little Cooper is :) This is my all time fav of Cooper. He had so much fun pulling the leaves off, what a great smile :)I love his little smile in this picture, he had so much fun "jumping" off with daddy

Cooper just loved riding in the back pack! (Thanks Josh and Jen for letting us borrow it!)

He was so excited to get back to the hotel and crawl around! He especially loved playing with the bear Grandpa got him from YellowstoneOld Faithful

Cooper watching Old Faithful

I love this picture, that is a real rainbow that was so pretty over the falls

This herd of buffalo was right off the side of the road, not fenced in or anything

Cooper was just amazed at the buffalo

Happy (half) Birthday Cooper!

2009-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here is our sweet little Cooper only 2 weeks old.... my heck how the time flys!! Today is his 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY!!! (I would post a picture, but my camera is dead and my battery charger is missing) He is soo fun and the past 6 months have been great; I dont know what we did without him! :) Just this past weekend he decided to stop "scootching" and start really crawling, and he is getting into EVERYTHING now! He is eating baby food, and loves Bannanas and Peas. He sits up great and has found a way to "roll" onto the ground when he is ready to crawl somewhere instead of sit. Bry's mom taught him how to blow raspberries and he enjoys doing that when he eats now... Thanks Christi :) He also has figured out how to "growl" and growls all the time like a little puppy, it is so cute. His other favorite thing is to say "da da da da da" over and over. Pretty sure he doesnt realize he's saying "da da" but it is still very cute! Just yesterday his cousin Oaklee came over and he just loved crawling around with her, he busted up laughing several times it was adorable. We went down to Monroe and he just loved the dogs down there too, it is so funny to see what makes him laugh now. These past 6 months have been so great and we cant wait to see everything else he learns and shows us in the next 6! :) We love you Coop! Happy Birthday!! (well kindof)

Grateful

2009-08-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just read a great book by Dr.Laura, "In Praise of Stay at Home Moms". Loved it. And it made me so grateful and happy that I get to and chose to be a stay at home mom with my baby. It really just confirms that our choice as a family to always do this is definately the right one for us. I struggled at first staying home, feeling like I wasn't contributing enough, almost guilty that I got to stay home and play with the most adorable baby while Bryan had to go to work. (even though, when the laundry is piled up and the little guy is being a maniac I think of trading places :) Really though, it is one of the greatest blessings in my life to really have Bryan and I raising our own child. I so wish I would have read this book Before I had Cooper. What a great calling and responsibility it is to be a mother and especially a stay at home mother. I have always been on the fence about eventual "daycare" for a while during the day for a few hours a day a day or two a week once my baby is a little older, but reading this really helped me make my decision. I will stay at home with my kids as long as I possibly can, whether that means financial sacrifices or any other sacrafice that comes along. It excites me to be that person in my baby's life and to know that I will get to teach him and show him what he needs to know, take him to the park to meet other kids, take him to story time, and just be there for him every second he needs me. I know there are parents out there that do not have this option at times, and there is nothing wrong with that either. But I do believe that if there is any way to have the option that taking it and sacrificing other things will bless you way more than anything else you could be doing. I am so happy and grateful that I have the opportunity to stay at home with him, and so glad that Bryan is so supportive and wouldn't have it any other way either. I really recommend this book to any mom or soon to be mom. It sure gives you some inspiration and helps you see the bigger picture of it all.

Sad

2009-08-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

Last night I packed up a whole bin of clothes that are too small for Cooper. Much sadder than I thought it would be. He's already growing up too fast. :(

Cooper Cooper Cooper

2009-08-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Cooper is getting so big, and I can't believe is already 5 months old!! Here are some recent pictures of the big guy... isn't he just so handsome :)

First time swinging :)

He wouldnt lean forward. He like relaxing back in the swing much better

A little scared at first. :)

Oaklee giving Cooper a kiss. She is sooo cute with him

Handsome boy

Cooper LOVES his bumbo chair

Family Reunion in McCall

2009-08-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went up to McCall, ID for Bryan's family reunion. It was so much fun! We drove up with his grandparents and got there Thursday afternoon. It was alot of fun seeing everybody. That night we ate at a fun little drive-in type food place that was delicious. The next day Bry went golfing in the morning and the rest of us went down to the beach. There was a lake that had a nice little beach there and it was alot of fun. After that we had some lunch and then got ready for the cook-off. There was an Iron Chef competition and we had Friday night. We had a Fiesta and it was alot of fun! Me, Jaime, and Andrea (Brad's girlfriend) did the decorations and some dips. CHristi and Connie did the main course of yummy fajitas, and then Christi also did the fried ice cream dessert. Brad was in charge of the Margaritas and they were delicious! All the boys had sombreros and the girls had flowers. We even found a little baby sombrero for Cooper :) (Pictures below of course). We had alot of fun and played pin the tail on the donkey, had a pinata, and did a contest of who could come up with the most spanish words. We had Spanish music playing the whole time and had a blast. That night after we put Cooper to bed we stayed up until 2am playing Catch Phrase which was very fun, pretty competitive, but alot of fun:) THe next day the girls got up and we went around the town and looked at all the little shops. We found one that let you paint pottery and they would send it down to your house when it was all ready. So after we were done shopping we headed down to the beach for a while and then Me, Jaime, and Andrea went up to paint some pottery. It was so fun, but it sure took longer than we thought it would. Andrea and I painted some big bowls and Jaime painted a cute square plate. When you first paint it before it is cooked it is really pastel colored, I cant wait to see how it turns out once it is all done and the colors darken up. After that we went over to the other part of the family's dinner. THey had a luau, it was alot of fun too. They made hawaiian haystacks, some dip, and some pineapple upside down cake. They had leis for everyone to wear and it was very tasty. After that we went and played kickball. (well I didnt play, never was the athletic type and I got to play with the little kids instead:) It sure seemed like everyone had a great time though. Bryan broke the ball at the beginning of the game, it just popped, not sure how. After the game we all headed back and went swimming and then went over to the Summer Home for another night of games. We played some Catch Phrase and What If, it was tons of fun. That night we got back and were beat so we went to bed. The next morning we had to pack up everything and we went over to the Summer Home for breakfast and awards. We ended up winning best appetizer (judges said Andrea's homemade guacamole tipped the scales, nice job :), best drink, we tied for decorations and theme, best dessert, and best overall. :) The other team won best main course and team participation because they did a little hawaiian dance thing with everyone at the beginning. It was alot of fun, we won some utensils with "Webster Family Iron Chef Winner 2009" written on them, and each one had a lottery ticket hooked on. I think Andrea won a dollar and then somebody else won $2, but thats it. After breakfast we all loaded up and headed back home. It sure goes by so fast!! Cooper did great this trip, he only got a little restless a couple times in the car but other than that he was amazing. And I think he had a great time playing with everyone :) Can't wait until the next one! Enjoy some pictures from the trip...

Pin the Tail on the Donkey.. (Ha ha I love this picture, he's soo off)

Grandpa and Cooper

Even Little Cooper got to hit the pinata :)

Brad & Andrea

Brad and Rob in the "cantina"

Bry & Coop

Grandpa Jer, Oaklee, and Cooper

The boys playing some cards

Cooper's first trip to the swimming pool (the hat didnt fit unless the brim was flipped up to hold it on.... that wasnt on purpose :)

Grandma and Grandpa at the beach with Cooper

Cooper didn't like the lake much

Happy 24th of July!!

2009-07-28T09:26:00.001-07:00

We had a great 24th. Thursday we headed down to Monroe and Bry, Mike, my Dad and another kid played in the 3 on 3 basketball tournament on main street. Poor little Cooper stayed with us the whole time, and we didn't get to Bry's parents house until about 2am! But they did pretty well, atleast better than expected and made it into the quarter finals where they lost by a buzzer beater. BUt they had fun. Friday we woke up and went to the parade... the picture below tells it all. Cooper was soooo tired. And he was pretty ticked when the baseball team sprayed him with water guns. After the parade we walked down to the park where all the activities were and had some lunch and walked around. Then it was back to Bry's house. We hung out and played some games and then that night we went up to the fireworks. Cooper stayed with Bry's parents becuase it was sprinkling and we didn't know if it would rain. He loved the fireworks that he could see from the house. Saturday I spent most of the day getting stuff ready for our class reunion with Erin. Bry and his family went and saw Harry Potter (so glad he had somebody to go with, I'm just not that into it.) and then that night we had our 5 year class reunion. It was fun being able to see everyone. But I sure am glad it's over! That night we had Tyler's friend come over and we played games all night which was alot of fun. We werent planning on staying until Sunday so we didn't bring church clothes so on sunday we just hung out with everyone. Brad, Bry's older brother, was in town from San Diego so that was fun to be able to see him and catch up. That afternoon Christi did mine and Jaime's nails (I love having my toe nails done, especially during the summer!) and then we headed back up to Springville later that evening. It was a great weekend. Nice and relaxing and fun to see everyone. Hope you all had a great 24th!!

We Love Timeshares

2009-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Bry and I got to take a little trip down to Vegas, courtesy of a time share presentation. We dropped Coop off at Bry's parents in Monroe and headed down Friday afternoon. We have been going to these timeshare presentations for a while now, and have been LOVING all the free stuff you get when you go listen to them. This time we got our free rooms for the weekend, $100 gas card, $200 slot play(which I think took all Bryan had not to go gambling with, but he was a good boy and didnt :), free show tickets, and a bite card that gave us 50% off at restraunts down there. Total I think we only had to spend about $50 on the whole trip! And all we had to do was sit through a timeshare presentation for an hour and a half on Saturday. Now these people are pros, so you really have to go into these things knowing you aren't going to buy because they sure make it sound like a sweet deal. Anyways, I recommend anyone to go take an hour or two and sit through those things. You just have to be over 25 and make a certain income that switches from timeshare to timeshare. There are alot just around here and Salt Lake County that will send you places all for free. We've gotten lots of dinner gift cards, gas cards, weekend getaways, and just recently got 2 roundtrip airfare tickets in the US, and 8 days in Cancun. You can pretty much sign up anywhere there are alot of people at. Especially at the mall when they have those drawings, everytime you put your name in for that they will call you :)

Anyways, Vegas ending up being a blast. We ate great food, went to a show called "Voices" that was pretty cool, went swimming and hung out by the pool, shopped, and just relaxed. A great getaway for a few days! Everything except how flipping hot it was! Saturday I think they said it was up to 118 degrees. And the ONLY time it got cloudy and soo windy was when we decided to go to the pool the first time. Just our luck :) I have to say though we were very ready to go back and get Cooper, we sure missed the little guy. Thanks so much to Bry's parents for watching him!

The view of the pool from our room

The only picture of us we took while we were down there, not sure why we never thought to take anymore.

Pinecone Research

2009-07-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI for you all, go to pineconeresearch.com and sign up to answer some surveys for them... if you get chosen to participate they will send you 1-2 a week. You will get $3 per survey. But the BEST part is they will send you things to try out. I just got my first delivery of a big box of Gain Laundry Soap. (Free!) All you have to do is tell them how you like it :) The surveys only take maybe 5-10 minutes at the most and its kind of fun to get $3 checks in the mail all the time :)

4 Months!!

2009-07-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

We can't believe our little Cooper is already 4 months old!! We went in for his check up and he is a big boy :) Weighing 16.2 lbs, making him in the 80% for his weight. He is a long 27 inches, making him in the 90% for his height, and then his head is in the 75%. He also had to get his shots again, we sure hate that. It is sooo sad to see the little guy's face when he gets poked. But he is getting so fun!! He's a pro at rolling over, great at grabbing toys and throwing them off his seat (daddy's little ball player is already practicing :), lately he has learned how fun it is to hear his own voice and will yell and "talk" so loud all of the time, not crying at all, just letting us know he's there. We introduced a little bit of rice cereal... and he hated it. He sure sleeps so much better if we can get him to eat it the night before, but its a rare occasion that he will cooperate. He has learned how to kick over his toy that dangles over him, and will move himself in circles all over the floor just scootching around. He laughs alot more, and smiles all the time. He is getting so fun, and we just love him so much! :) Happy 4 months Cooper!!

Do You Know Where They Are???

2009-07-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Im trying to get the last of the class reunion invites sent out and I can't find these people! Does anybody know any of their parents names and what city their parents live in? Or even better does anybody know where these people live?? If you do please send any info to sshsclassof04@gmail.com! :) Thanks!!

Travis Torgerson
Crystal Steed
Katie Jo Stringfellow
Ralando Sullivan
Matt Wiley
Ryan Smith
Casey Sorenson
Matthew Sands
Kenneth Savage
Dusty Reynolds
Jason Randall
Kayden Peterson
Gloria Paulsen
Blain Nelson
Michael Nay
Candon McCabe
Titania Lomakema
Shinethan littlefoot
Emily Larsen
Jason Larsen
Ryan Julander
Jenny Jones
Jeremy Johns
SIenna Hokama

Happy Birthday Bry!!

2009-07-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

Monday was Bry's Birthday, the big 26! He got his big birthday present a little earlier last month when he bought himself a new tv since ours was only showing up in red and orange and would take atleast 15-20 minutes to even turn on. Yesterday he had to work and so me and Cooper took him lunch and blizzards; and then when he got home he opened his other presents. (Just a couple of books). Then we went out to Red Lobster, which lately has been where we always are going for birthdays. Bryan LOVES the coconut shrimp there and just had to go. It was alot of fun! After dinner we ran by DQ to pick up his cake (which was supposed to be a suprise earlier in the day when I took him lunch, but Dairy Queen's freezers kept going down so they didn't have it ready until 8pm! But they did give us half off, so we're ok :) His cake was soooo yummy. It was a Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard Ice Cream Cake and was probably one of the best cakes I've ever tasted. You all should definately try it! We came home, sang happy birthday, blew out the candles, and then watched a movie. (We got The Curious Case of Benjamin Button... which we both found to be really sad.) It was fun just hanging out with our little family! Bry, I hope you had a great birthday! We love you! :)

We got this huge drink called the Bahama Mama at Red Lobster, it is sooo tasty. Look how big the glass is! Its almost as big as Cooper!

Yummy Cake!

Bry's Birthday Present to himself :)

The Whole Fam :)

Happy 4th Of July!

2009-07-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Bry didn't have to work Friday so we had a nice 3 days. Thursday night my sister Niccolle came down and we went on a walk and got some movies and icecream then all watched a movie. Friday she helped me work and we all hung out for a while and then she went home. Friday and Saturday Bry and I worked on our house and our laundry room is sooooo close to being done. Once we get the molding up and paint the beadboard we will be finished!! yay! We did get the entire outside of the house all painted and finished. And the walls in the laundryroom got painted. It is such a long process!! Especially with little Cooper. :) Saturday night we met up with Parker and Kate and watched the Stadium of Fire Fireworks from the field by the temple. I thought Cooper would be loving the fireworks... but they actually didnt really even phase him. A nice little girl gave him a glow stick bracelet when we got there and he LOVED it; thats all he did the whole time was stare and play with that. Next year he'll enjoy it more I'm sure. Then on Sunday we went to church and then went up to Heber for the July Birthdays Party. We have a good 6 or 7 birthdays within the first week of July so we always just have one big get together. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone. Hope all of you had a great 4th of July weekend!!

Here's Coop with his glowing bracelet. He loved it! :)

Help!!!!!

2009-07-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying all flipping day to upload my new banner I made; and I can't. It's saved as a JPEG and it says it's uploaded when I go to edit the Header; but it wont show up!! Does anybody know what to do?? Anything I can try??

Now I figured out that it shows up on other people's computers... just not mine. Any ideas?

Food Storage............

2009-07-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to start getting a food storage going. The last few months while I've been using coupons it's been easy to get a few things extra and save them up. But now I am going to focus on really getting a good one going; and my goal is to have the full 3 months for my little family by the end of this year; while only spending $200/month on All groceries, including dinners, lunches, breakfast, and foodstorage. We will see how this goes.....

Switching to Private

2009-06-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided to make our blog private. Im so awful at writing in my journal every night, or even every week for that matter. So I decided to use this as my "journal" so I don't feel so bad I dont write like I should :) Anyways, Im thinking I dont want everyone out there to be able to see everything about our little family, so I think next week I'll go private. Keep in mind that if you do read the blog send me your email and I'll be sure you still can :) Thanks!!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

" You think your dad is better than mine!? You're Crazy!!" :)

Happy First Father's Day to Bry! We had a really fun weekend, Bry's family came up from Monroe and we had a Father's Day party in Payson with all of the Websters. Friday before we headed over Cooper and I gave Bry his first father's day gift. All week we had been cleaning out and organizing the garage into a workshop for Bryan. He always wishes he had time to do that and we hadn't touched the garage since we bought the house almost a year ago! So we got him shelves, and a workbench, and some rubbermaid bins to organize everything and cleaned it all up. I knew he would find out because of all the things I took out that we decided to give away, so when he got home I asked him to hurry and grab me something from the garage and he opened it and saw what a great job Cooper did :) Then we headed to Payson and stayed the night. The next morning Bry took his dad golfing for Father's Day and then we had our bbq with everyone. After that Jaime, Christi, and I went and got some free massages from Jaime's old school (thanks jaime!) and then a bunch of us went and saw "The Proposal".. (which was sooooo funny, I definately recommend it:). Sunday we went home and taught our primary class and gave Bry his tie, a new watch, and some socks :) He napped with Coop and we went on a long walk around town. It was a really nice evening and we hope Bry knows how great of a dad he is to Cooper. Coop is definately a VERY lucky little boy, and I'm a very lucky wife to have both of these boys in my life :) Thanks for all you do for me and for our family, We Love You! And we hope you had a great Father's Day! Here are a few pictures of the two most handsome boys there are...
His shirt says "I have an Awesome Dad" But you cant see it all :)

The new way of calming Cooper down when he's crying, he loves being held like this.

Haha, I dont think either of them are liking this picture

First time Daddy held Cooper, I love how Cooper is looking up at him :)

Cute :)

2009-06-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love these puppy slippers. :) A few nights ago we had a movie night and it was so cute to have him in his little pj's with his slippers. How fun :)

Sleep Cooper Sleep

2009-06-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

So, on Mother's Day Cooper decided that it was time for him to sleep through the night and sleep in his room in his very own crib. Ever since then he has been sleeping great, going to bed around 9-10pm and not waking up until 6-7am every night eating a little and then falling back to sleep until about 8:30-9am.... until..... this last week. For some reason he will not sleep through the night anymore!! Every night in the last week or so he has decided to wake up between 2-5am and only fall back to sleep until about 7:15!! WHY?? I cannot figure it out. I've tried to be sure he eats right before bed, I've tried not eating right before bed, I've tried not letting him nap after a certain time, and I've tried letting him nap whenever he wants, I've tried going to bed later, and going to bed earlier... but nothing works. I just want him to go back to the good little sleeper he once was :) Any ideas?????????

Dearest Mrs. Wendler......

2009-06-11T09:18:00.001-07:00

No, that is not a typo. That says January 31, 2008!! And yes, I took that picture from MY house.... and yes, that says those things are Melanie Wendlers.... So, long story short I was going through the garage and spotted the bag, and it has been a long 16 months or more that I have not delivered dear Melanies Pampered Chef items she purchased at our party. Mel, I sure hope you are reading this... I am tempted to hold them ransom just a bit longer in hopes it will make us actually get together sooner than later. :) Really though, I am very sorry!! I completely forgot about them and about died when I saw how long it had been!! When I broke my phone I lost all my numbers so I don't have yours anymore, give me a call or send me your number and we'll figure a time to get together... Spaghetti perhaps ?? :)

Trip to Potash.....

2009-06-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

This last weekend a bunch of guys from Bry's work and their wives and us all planned to take a short camping trip and raft down the river in Moab. Friday we met Bryan's parents in Salina and they took Cooper for the night... it was his first night away from me, and it was so sad leaving him. Much harder than you would think. It was Me, Bry, Joe and Lori in our car and the other four, Parker, Kate, Kasey and Emily were driving down with Parker but they didnt have to go through Salina. So, about an hour later we get a call from the other car asking where we were. We let them know we were almost to Green River; they were just getting to Moab and gave us a few directions on how to get to the camp site.."Turn right on 279 to Potash"... that was it. So we get down into Moab, see the sign and by then it was really dark. We try calling all 4 in the other group but none of their phones had service and just went straight to voicemail. We decided to start the trek up to Potash and see if we could find any camping sites and hopefully find them. We ended up seeing several but as we drove through them all we couldnt see our group. So we kept going up. About 20 minutes later we see a sign that says "Potash".... yep we were there and the only thing that was there was a big power plant or factory of some sort. Then we saw a guy with a light on his head and his hood up on his car. We stopped and asked if he needed help but he said he was fine... he was painting lines on the road for a race... yes it was 11pm and I can't really see how that road could ever be busy enough you would have to wait until dark to paint... anyways, we asked him if there were any more campsites up ahead and he said it was all BLM land from then on, "beautiful dirt roads and gorgeous when the moon comes out"... he recommended we take a drive up there. But we decided against that :) Before we left he made sure to point out the line he just painted and let us know how great it looked. Really though, I think he was probably one of the most happy sounding people I've talked to in a long time. :) So, we turned around and headed back down the mountain. By this time we were thinking of where else we could stay; or if we should just set up a camp for us 4 and wait until morning to call the others. We also were suprised at how many different ways we could come up for the pronuciation of "Potash". I think I felt the very worst for Lori, she is pregnant with her first baby and due in November, but has had really bad morning sickness and I bet that extra hour in the car wasn't exactly what she wanted. Anyways we headed back down and I suggested we drive through the camps just one more time to look, and luckily.. (or unluckily I guess) they ended up being at the camp very closest to the road where we turned off. It would have taken us maybe 1 minute up the mountain to find them, but instead we took the beautiful tour of Potash. So we unloaded our stuff and set up camp, had tin foil dinners and smores and talked until about 2am and then all went to bed. The next morning we woke up about 7 and packed up and headed down to where we got our rafts,etc. We got to the rafting company and they asked if we wanted to take a couple "duckies" down the river and drag them behind the raft when we were tired of them, or trade off with other people. We learned that duckies mean kayaks. :) We said sure. And then we got our life vests and hopped in the bus for the ride up. There was a group of highschoolers from Oregon there and a couple other families on the tour too. We got to the let out and found that we actually were going to be using the "duckies" the entire way... I was pretty scared at first because I didnt know how bad the rapids were or much about kayaking at all. And I have always had this fear of not being able to be in control under waves and stuff. But we jumped in and we were off. It was TONS of fun, and such great weather. THe rapids werent too bad other than I was in the front so got Soaked everytime. The last set of rapids was pretty scary though. Before we hit them we all had to gather up and the guide told us how to manuever down them the best way so we wouldnt tip... for some reason me and Bry just couldnt figure it out and we ended up hitting a huge rapid sideways. I flipped up and my shoes and suncreen flipped off and I dont think I've ever moved that fast before getting back in my seat from being sideways on the kayak. I really didnt want to fall all the way in! Bry about fell in too, but we made it. Right after that we stopped for lunch and it was FREEZING. It didnt help we were soaked and the wind was blowing and the sun kept going behind clouds. We all tried warming up in the hot sand, but it didnt work too great. We ate our sandwiches, watched Bryan try to play this game where they see who can stick the stick the farthest in the sand, (he lost to an old man:), tried to warm up and then we were off again. This time I sat in the back, and the rest of the river was pretty calm and nice. It was a beautiful trip and the rocks/mountains were amazing. Once we were done we loaded up into the bus and headed back down. We all got our things ready and then headed to try to find a hottub. Motel 6 had one outside so Parker opened up the door somehow and we sat in there for a while. Then we headed off and got some ice cream and changed our clothes. By this time we were all soo tired and ready for a nap. But we decided to go by a park and play some ultimate frizbee. Me, Bry, Lori and Joe lost by 2 :( After that we loaded all up and headed home. We stopped in Salina to grab Coop, and it was SO good to see him!! I couldnt beleive how excited I was so get him back! :) We ate dinner at ElMexicano and then headed back home. We had a great time!! Thanks to Parker and Kate for planning it all out! And thanks to Bry's parents for watching Cooper! :) Kasey got most of the pictures on his camera so I'll post some if I get any. All I had was this great picture of the Potash sign:)

Cooper's Blessing and a Road Trip to Cali

2009-06-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend Bry, Me, Coop, Jaime, Mike, and Oaklee all borrowed my mom's Mini-Van and drove down to Oceanside, CA to visit the Castle's. It was TONS of fun, and such nice weather. We got down there Saturday and stayed until Wednesday. Cooper got to go to his very first baseball game, the Padres vs. Cubs (Cubs are Bry's favorite team so he wanted his first game to be with them:) We had really good seats that Bry's brother Brad got for us, it was really sunny so we had to stand in the shade every now and then so Coop didn't get too hot, but it was alot of fun...even though the cubs lost. Monday we went to the beach, and it was SO busy, but Such nice weather. Cooper loved looking at all of the people; but we spent most of the time underneath the umbrella with him. It was Oaklee's first time at the beach and she was a little afraid of the waves at first but LOVED the sand. She was such a mess, it was alot of fun seeing her play! Tuesday we went up to Dana Point and spent the day at the Harbor. Everyone came up (Bry's Grandma and Grandpa, Brother, and Aunt) and we had a VERY yummy picnic and just hung out. Oaklee and Mike fed the birds and squirrels tortilla chips and it was so funny watching them all flock to Oak, she was so brave for a little girl and just walked right up to all of them to feed them. Bry and his family used to go sailing from this Harbor when his Grandpa had his sailboat; seeing all of the boats there was really neat and made me want to try sailing too. Overall it was a great trip, full of yummy food and seeing family and spending alot of time at the pool :) Thanks so much to the Castle's out there for letting us stay and all of their hospitality. And thanks to my parents for letting us take the mini-van :) It was a great trip but after all of that driving I couldn't wait to get home either! Here are a few pictures of the game, and the kid's first trip to the beach, and the harbor. (I also threw in some pictures of Coop in one of his new favorite toys, the johnny jump up. He loves to spin himself up and then let go, very very cute. But hard to get not blurry pictures)

(These are two little stools, one for Oak and one for Coop. Bry's aunt Doree made these for them. Bryan and Jaime also have one with their names on them from when they were just little tykes :) How fun! Thanks Doree!!

We also finally got to bless Cooper. With General Conference, Easter, Mother's Day, and Bry having to go out of town for work we had a hard time finding a weekend that would work. But a few weeks ago on May 17th we were able to get it done. Everything went great, and Bryan did a wonderful job. I'm so grateful to have a husband that holds the priesthood and can do that for our kids :) After the blessing we had a picnic at the park with all our friends and family and it was great. Thankis so much to everyone that helped out!!

Here are just a couple pictures of the big day (I already printed most of them out and put them on a CD to save and so didn't have many left on my camera to put on here).

SSHS CLASS OF 04 REUNION TIME

2009-06-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's already been 5 years and we are beginning to plan a little reunion. Tenatively scheduled for July 25th (thinking that maybe alot of you will already be in Monroe anyways) around 3:00. We are thinking of going up the canyon to Monrovian for a bbq type of thing. Any ideas or suggestions would be great from any of you! And we are in need of addresses to send the invitations with details, the high school only gives us the list of names that were in our graduating class. So, if all of you that are reading this that are in our class would please send us your address to sshsclassof04@gmail.com and if you know where anybody else is let us know too! Once we think we've gotten all we are going to get we will end up just sending the rest to parents houses. Thanks for all of your help, and be sure to email any ideas, addresses, etc. for the reunion asap!! Thanks!!!

P.S. If any of you have facebook or a blog that you know people from our class look at, please let them know about this so hopefully we can be sure as many people as we can will atleast know about it before its here! :) Thanks!!

Happy 2 Months Cooper!

2009-05-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today is Coop's 2 month birthday, and lucky him he had a Dr. Appointment. It went really well, he's as healthy as can be and weighing in at a big 13.1 lbs :) He was in the 75 percentile for height, weight, and his head so all is good. It's so fun as he's getting so much more interactive and smiling. Lucky for us he is sleeping alot more at night and can go to bed at 9:30 and not wake up until 3:30 or 4 and then goes right back to bed. Tuesday night was the first night he slept in his crib and it went well. Kind of sad that he wasnt right by the bed in his bassinet, but I was glad he was a big boy and did it :) THis past weekend Bry had to go to Nashville for work and me and Cooper were in Monroe and his Uncle Ty played Peek-a-boo with him and we actually got a giggle which was SOOOOO cute to hear! We just can't wait until that happens more! He also just loves to lay on his belly and push his feet against our hands and scootch himself across the floor, he just thinks he is so big:) I'm sure I'll get some current pictures of the big guy this weekend and post them. Hope you all have a great Mother's Day!!

Are We Back In Monroe?

2009-04-24T11:14:00.001-07:00

Last night Bry and I got home really late and as we turned onto our street we saw lots of police cars and officers in front of our house. We got really scared at first and parked and Bry got out while I sat with Cooper to see what was going on. He talked to them for just a second and then came back to the car and just said "a cow is out". Ha ha, there is a post office in front of our house and a cow somehow got into the gated parking lot and they were trying to get it out. Big news in little Springville to have all the police officers called to the scene of the gated in cow. That is so something that would happen in Monroe, we both laughed. Yep, this sure feels like home :)

84% Off!

2009-04-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

A while ago I watched this Oprah where this lady used coupons everytime she went shopping and always saved a ton, it didnt seem too tough so I slowly started trying it. And my last shopping trip at Albertsons was amazing :) I got $78.00 worth of groceries for $12.95! I love watching all the discounts apply once they've rung everything up and start scanning the coupons. It takes a little work to get the coupons organized and to clip them everyweek; but it sure is worth it. Ahh, the things you get excited about when you're life just isnt too exciting :)

Friends,Heroes, Church, and Egg Hunts

2009-04-13T08:09:00.001-07:00

We had quite a weekend, full of fun. Well this post actually start with last weekend. Bry and I went down to Monroe to visit and I was able to stop by and see my best friend Erin and her little girl Addee. It was so good to see them; but so weird to both be sitting there with kids! Her little girl is so cute and I can't believe that she is getting so big already; we definately need to plan more times to get together so we dont miss so much!! Here are just a few pictures of them meeting Cooper :)

Jump to this last weekend, my family went up to my aunts property by Strawberry lake to camp for Easter weekend. Bry and I couldnt head up until Friday after work and actually didnt end up being able to go up until Saturday morning. Friday afternoon Bry's mom came up from Monroe and I went out to Olive Garden with her, her mom, and Bry's sister Jaime and her little girl Oaklee. It was alot of fun, then we went shopping for a little bit at Michaels and Shoe Carnival (which FYI doesnt have the great prices I was hoping for...kind of a disappointment). Anyways, Bry called at about 5:15 when he was off work so we could make a plan on whether we were heading up to camp or not. He said that he got on the freeway and its the WORST traffic he had ever seen, so we should take the back roads from Orem to Springville. So I got in my car with Cooper (who was due to be starving in about a half hour) and Bry's mom and grandma followed me as we tried to work our way down into Provo to get on the old Highway that takes you into Springville. I'm chatting with Bry on the phone as we slowly start hitting some traffic. Fastforward about an hour.... we are still in Provo. Yes, the traffic was AWFUL and there was NO sign of it getting better. By then Cooper was squaking pretty good and there were no gas stations or anything in sight., as I was complaning about this to Bryan my phone conveniently died. His mom and grandma still following me I'm sure I looked ridiculous trying to put his Binky in his mouth (they need to make those car seats easier to reach from the front seat), and then resorted to letting him suck on the empty bottle (it only takes him a couple times of the binky to realize I'm trying to trick him..:) We would seriously go one block between every red light. Fast forward another half hour.... we are just turning onto the old highway from Provo. Cooper continuously getting louder and madder and hungrier. And then I see a black explorer speed up to the side of me and stop in the middle of the median... it was bry's grandma; I rolled my window down and she threw her cell phone in my car and yelled "you have to let us in" and pulled in front of me. About 15 minutes later the phone rings and its Bry's mom; she asked me if I had called Bryan. I guess thats what throwing a phone in the car means; "call your husband". So I called him and by now it had been about 2 hours since we left Orem. Bryan was packing up on his way towards us, fighting through traffic to rescue his little boy. Right then a cop pulled up beside me and I looked like the stereotypical blonde awful driver with my cell phone stuck between my shoulder and my ear and reaching back trying to calm down Cooper and driving at the same time. Well I just let the phone fall with Bry still on the other line in hope that the police man would just understand the situation and luckily he did. About 5 minutes later Bry called back confused at why the conversation just stopped and said that he was coming over the top of the hill. As we slowly got closer it was so funny to see Bry parked on the side of the highway; he slowly gets out of his car still talking on the cell phone, closes the door, and starts walking out into traffic with his baby bottle in hand. Walks across the two lanes and into the stand still traffic as he just hops into the back seat with Cooper. I'm pretty sure that the car that had been following us the entire time thought we were crazy and everyone watching Bryan had no idea what the weird guy was doing just walking through traffic talking on a cell phone and holding a bottle. Haha, but I was definately proud of our Hero, and I'm sure Cooper was the most grateful :) Ironically right after the next light traffic sped up and we were home in about 5 minutes... just our luck. Ha ha. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get from Orem to Springville!! That is ridiculous.

This isnt the only heroic thing Bryan has done lately.... last weekend before we went down to Monroe Bry ran his very first 1/2 Marathon. That is heroic enough, but the best part is that he didnt even train and he was still brave enough to go give it a try. He had never ran more than 6 miles at one time in his entire life; and he finished the 13 or so miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
(yes, he could have ran home faster than our drive haha) He ran it with a couple friends from work and they all did awesome! GREAT JOB BRY!!!!! Here are a few pictures of the big event...

Bryan and his friend Parker

Bryan, Midge, and Parker

Coop and Dad

The whole fam :)

Well after that traffic episode we weren't going camping that night so we headed over to Payson and hung out with his mom and grandparents for a while. Then headed home and went to bed just to wake up early the next morning, pack up and head up to Strawberry. As we were getting closer it started to drizzle, then rain, then the snow came, and by the time we got to the camp site we were just in time to help everyone pack up and head back down the mountain. We all headed back down to Heber to Aunt Becky's house and got ready for the annual Egg Hunt. Now this egg hunt has been an event for as long as I can remember. It is probably one of my Top holiday events on my favorite list. Now that I am married I assist in bringing the treats for the hunt to secure my spot in being able to participate in hunting for the candy, etc. This is how it goes down, all of the cousins gather together inside as the parents do their best to hide the easter baskets. When they say go we run and try to find our easter basket full of our fun treats and little presents. Bry and I didn't have a basket this year, but we helped Cooper find his :) After you find your basket you wait until everyone has found theres and the cousins again gather up while the parents prepare THE HUNT. This hunt is quite exciting, well to me it is. They hide, and stash and throw all of the candy and goods all over the place. Then they strategically hide the eggs, those are what you want to run for. They have numbers in them that coorelate to a big prize and thats where the money is hidden too. Once they are done all of the cousins come line up in a big long line and they yell "GO" and we're off. After years and years of hunting with this same group of people I've come up with a strategy and there has yet to be a year that I haven't came out on top. :) This year they yelled go and I was off, Bry is still learning the tricks of the trade with this whole hunt thing with my family; so he didnt quite go as fast as he maybe should have. Ha ha. Now the key is to start out with the basket, and dont start gathering goods right away. Run to the back of the field/lawn/yard and you will have the entire area all to yourself until everyone else makes their way back there. Thats where I get my stash; and thats normally where the eggs are hidden. Far away from the starting point. This year I started with a basket but had a bag hidden in the pocket too; so once my bucket was filled I dropped it off by the truck tire and started filling up the bag. Thats another mistake the rookies are making; filling up their baskets with the bigger bulkier goods and not having room to fill any more up anyways. Bry did pretty well, and Cooper was helped by his Grandpa and they did great :) After the hunt we all gather up and organize our candy to start the bartering. Of course we divy up what we need to if there were certain amounts of big treats,etc to be sure everyone is happy and its fair. And then we make sure everyone has an egg with a number in it and go through the numbers and everyone picks a big prize. This year I picked BUNCO; I love that game, lots of fun! And then cousins continue to trade and barter for what everyone likes and thats the end of the hunt. Its alot of fun; and I would sure miss is if they ever said we were too old to play. Now that all my hunt secrets are out I'm going to have some stiff competition next year, but I'm ready for it. :) For the rest of the day we have lunch and visit with Family and have a great time. I love our family Easter parties. BIG THANKS to Aunt Becky who puts those on every year. THis year she even made homemade marshmallow eggs with everyones initials on them. Yes, the marshmallow was even homemade and they were Delightful :) That night we drove back down to Orem and took Cooper to his first movie, "Monsters Vs. Aliens" with my family. He did very good and slept the entire time :)

Cooper's first Easter basket

Jennica helping Cooper eat; and hoping she can get a little milk out the other end of the bottle :)

Easter Sunday was a really fun day too, we woke up and got Cooper ready for his very first day at church. What a special day to make his first day at church. He was so cute in his little outfit with his tie, what a stud. And he did great at church, didnt cry at all through sacrament meeting. We had great speakers this week speak about the Resurection and the Atonement; it was an awesome meeting. Then off to introduce Cooper to our Primary class; they did great and we had a full class this week which was fun. And of course they all thought he was adorable :) During sharing time he got a little fussy and was a little distracting to the kids but overall it was an excellent first day at church with Cooper :) When we got home we got ready and headed up to Granny's house for brunch in Salt Lake, then we stopped by and saw my sister Niccolle's new place, and then kept heading up to Ogden to Gma and Gpa Wilbert's house for Easter Dinner. It was a really fun time full of family and friends and remembering the reason for Easter. We are a lucky bunch to have the opportunities and blessings that we have. Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Easter weekend too!!

Handsome Cooper ready for church

Pictures, Pictures and more Pictures!

2009-04-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

So, we took Cooper to his first photo shoot last week :) He didnt want to cooperate at first but then got the hang of it and we got some really cute pictures. Here are a few. We went to a lady named Kristen Ising; she does these out of her home and gives you the CD of all of them after she edits them so you can print them out how you'd like and WalMart or Allens Camera prints are WAY cheaper than buying prints from another photography place, we're talking only 19-30 cents each!! She has great prices and is so creative and fun/easy to work with. You also get a free story board (which isnt on here yet). Anyways, her blog is http://www.kristenisingphotography.blogspot.com/ if anyone is interested in getting some done from her or just want to look at all the other adorable babies she's taken pictures of :)

Almost 2 Weeks Old!!

2009-03-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the last week or so has flown by! Cooper will already be 2 weeks old on Sunday! We've been lucky to have my mom and then Bry's mom come stay for a while with us to help out. And so many visitors and family and friends bring us dinner and stop by to visit. Thanks so everyone for all of their help and generosity! Today is the official first day that it's just me and the little guy while Bry is at work. We sure have had fun with him and he is such a good little baby. Here are a few pictures of the little man's first few weeks.

Cooper's first bath, well he hated it. He's gotten used to it since then and loves sitting in the warm water; and now screams when you take him out.

Grandpa and Cooper resting their eyes :)

Daddy changing the first diaper he has ever changed in his entire life :)

Uncle Rusty and Cooper; Rusty was helping him out with some exercising. :)

I just love this picture of the little guy, he just looks so peaceful sleeping and I love his chubby little cheek.

And finally a picture with his eyes open; maybe not all the way but its close!

Cousin Oaklee holding Cooper. She is so cute, she can't say Cooper so she calls him Baby or PoCoo. Its adorable. These two are going to have lots of fun together when he gets bigger!

Cooper loves crossing his feet at his ankles. Anytime he's just hanging out you will find his feet crossed, its so cute!

So close to getting a little smile :)

Uncle Christian and Cooper

Just relaxing on Mommy's lap. How cute is he with his little hands and feet crossed! :)

I love this picture too, I didnt know where Bry was and when I looked in Coop's room this is what I found. He's reading him a little story, how cute!

Cooper and Daddy after Aunt Jaimes graduation, he kind of started leaning forward when the picture was taken, and his pants are kind of riding high.. haha, but I still think he looks so handsome and I love those little shoes!

Our little turtle. Its so funny, he will scrunch his neck down so it looks like he doesn't have one, and then he will stretch out (like in this picture) and just want to keep his little head there. So cute.

Our little boy, I just love this look he has when he is so awake and looking around everywhere. Everyone always says you won't know what its like to be a parent until you are one, and its so true. We are just loving it so much, and feel so blessed that he is doing so well and can't wait to see him keep growing and learning! :)

Cooper Bryan Castle!!

2009-03-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 8th at 2:05pm little Cooper joined our family. We are so excited he is finally here! Saturday night about 7pm we went out to dinner at Red Robin and I started feeling stronger contractions, we decided to try to time them and they ended up coming every 6-8 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds or so. After dinner we went to the movies and watched Marley and Me, (very cute show). By the end of the movie it was about 1am with the time change and my contractions were hurting alot more and coming alot closer. We headed home and timed them again and found out they were coming every two minutes and lasting about 45 seconds and getting stronger and stronger. We called the doctors and they said to just try to sleep ( I think they thought with this being our first baby that we really werent in labor yet, and it would be a false alarm). So, we tried to sleep, and werent able to. I took a bath and then had Bryan give me a blessing. Around 3am we decided to just head to the hospital and see what was going on, because there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. We got to the hospital, checked in and the nurse said I was about 3 cm dialated. She hooked me up to the machine to track my contractions and said that if I was atleast 1 cm more in an hour I would stay and if not they would send me home. About an hour later she came back and I was 4 1/2 cm and my water broke right when she came in, so I was staying. They got my room ready and moved me over about 5am. About 12:20 Sunday afternoon it was time to start pushing; and at 2:05 we had an 8 lb 2 oz, 21 inch long baby boy:) Everything went really well and Cooper is healthy as ever. We got to come home Tuesday afternoon and are loving having the little guy at home with us finally!

Time Flys!!

2009-02-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been crazy these past few months, and finally are slowing down again. We both can't believe how fast these last 9 months have flown by, and that we are going to be parents anytime now! I'm now officially done with work, and get to spend the next week or so until the little guy gets here at home and am loving it! Bry's work is going great, he loves his job and the people he works with. And our little guy is doing great too, we feel so blessed that we haven't had any complications or troubles at all with this pregnancy. So far so good, and lets keep our fingers crossed it will stay that way!! Our Dr. set March 11 at 6:30am to be induced if I havent had him by then. We both really don't want to be induced, so hopefully he'll be here on time or before! And here are a few pictures for everyone!! :)

Here is the big belly, this was about a week ago, so a little over 8 months pregnant... can't wait until the baby is here and hopefully my face will go back to normal!

The wall. Bry and my Mom did a great job painting the stripes on the baby's wall. This picture makes the stripes look a little brighter blues than they are, but we love it. We just painted the one wall and the other three are all the really light blue. This baby better really be a boy or our little girl will have one blue room. We're still working on getting the other decorations up, but we'll post some pictures once it's all done.

And here is Bry's new favorite seat. He loves rocking in the chair and reading his books for work. He just cannot wait until the baby is here and he can rock him in the chair :)

TAGGED

2008-11-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

4th picture in your 4th file, then tag 4 people.

This is my 4th picture, its me and Bry last July on our cruise to Alaska. We were in the dining room, that was one of our very favorite parts of the cruise, eating all the good food we wanted. By the end of the cruise we figured out the best way is for each of us to get a couple different desserts and share them all, but we always got our own piece of cheesecake it was so stinking good! Anyone that hasn't been on a cruise has to go, they are by far the best vacations ever!

I tag: Audrey, Melanie, Annie, and Ruachel :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

This year we had a great Halloween, both of our works let us dress up for the day, so the night before we went out to the DI to get some costumes. It was alot of fun, we both had big pot lucks at our works and had a great time. That night my little brothers and sister came down to do some trick or treating. It was fun being able to trick or treat, we wouldnt have been able to without the kids coming down. They first came down dressed as a baseball player, basketball player, and a dancer, but they decided to pick apart mine and Bry's costumes and ended up having afros and Christian ended up being a hippy instead. It was alot of fun to hang out with them and they got LOADS of candy. That night we rented a few movies and sure ate alot of candy! It was a great Halloween!

Here we are, you can't tell too much in the picture, but my pants are hideous pink and brown striped pants Bry found at the DI. Bry's mustache had a hard time staying on, in this picture it's scotch taped... but we both had a fun time at our work parties.

Here are the three kids before we left to go Trick or Treating, Hippy, Dancer, and a Basketball Player for the Rockets. After we got home they had TONS of candy, we pulled out the air matress into the living room and they sorted it all out. Then spent hours bartering and trading candy, it was alot of fun. I remember when me and my sister used to do that every year, Ah, the Halloween memories!

SIX QUIRKS

2008-10-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I"ve Been Tagged!
Definition of quirk:.1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe.2. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.

So, I asked Bryan what he would say my quirks are and I was suprised he thought of a few so quickly! :) So, I thought it only fair to post a couple of mine and a few of his too!

My Quirks:
- I have a gazillion pairs of Pajama Pants, but still seem to be drawn to them in every store I go in, I probably buy a pair or two every month!
- I have glasses, but never wear them in public. I really think I look incredibly stupid. I can't every get contacts in my eyes either, so most of the time I just bare with it and wear my glasses at home or in the dark theaters. If I were to have to take an eye test anytime during a normal day, I would definately fail. Bryan definately gives me alot of crap for this one.
- I hate milk, but for some reason when I have cereal I use a ton of it, I have to have my cereal all covered up. And when I'm doneI never drink it, so I'm sure I waste gallons of milk with this habit, I should try and stop that.
- It bugs me so bad when people spell words wrong, or use the wrong words in sentences. When Bryan and I text, or IM I always catch myself correcting him. Soon enough he will know the difference of either and neither and when to use them! :)

Bry's Quirks:
- If you touch your eye, or even talk about touching his eyes he gets grossed out. He can't even do eye drops. Same with cuticles, he could never sit through a manicure or he'd die. It was quite a traumatic experience before we got married and his ring finger nail fell off. His mom had to put a fake nail on for the wedding, I thought he was going to die!
-He believes that if you touch the inside of your belly button too much it will open up and goop will come out! You can't even get close to his!
- Every time we get in or out of the car the A/C has to be turned to off, he will NEVER let me or him start or turn off the car with the switch turned to on. (He got that idea out of the owners manual, another quirk is that he actually reads those entire things!)

So, there are a few of our crazy quirks, I tag Melanie, Annie, and Elle!

I think Grandpa and the Uncles are Excited!

2008-10-20T20:30:00.001-07:00

About two days after we told my family we were having a baby a package was delivered to our house, we opened it up and there were TONS of Texas Longhorns Baby stuff. We both laughed because at that time we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, and could just see our little girl having to wear all that sports stuff with grandpa and her uncles, who happen to be huge Longhorns fans (obviously). Last monday we got to find out we were actually having a boy, and as soon as we got home from our vacation we left on Tuesday for there was another package waiting for us, more longhorns stuff! My mom said that he had all pink longhorn clothes picked out if it was a girl and the burnt orange if it was a boy. He just couldnt wait to find out so he could get it all and send it down. I think those three are the most excited I've ever seen them, and I dont think our little guy is going to have much of a choice on what college team he's cheering for!

Long Time, No Blog

2008-10-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Once again, we've slacked off and not posted forever!We are still alive, just really busy! And have some big news, most of you already know, but for those of you who don't we will soon be a family of 3! Baby Castle is due March 7th, and we just found out last week that we're having a boy! Needless to say, Bryan is so excited and we both can't wait to meet the little guy :) Here is our first ultrasound picture we got a few months ago, its one of my favorites.

Between the morning (more like all day) sickness, remodeling our home, moving in, working, and school starting, Bry & I have been very busy, but things are finally starting to slow down. We finally have our living room and dining room, and bedroom done!! Yay! I'll have to get some before and after pictures up soon. And now that I'm well into my 2nd trimester, its been wonderful to be able to eat and see the nausea getting less and less everyday! Bry has been doing great at work, and loving his job. Big sorry to all the friends/family that we've pushed to the back burner these last few weeks, hopefully we'll have time to visit and talk more often now that things are slowing down more!!

Moving!!

2008-08-07T18:56:00.001-07:00

Well, it's happened. We are officially homeowners, and the whole remodeling this sure isn't as glamorous as it seems on HGTV. This past week we've been doing our best to get the basement of our new home remodeled. We also are wanting to redo the hardwood floors upstairs before we move anything in.... and we've moved out of our condo... so, yes.. that leaves us bedless, homeless, foodless and stuffless. We've been quite the nomads these past few days. Luckily the new people moving into our condo havent moved in yet... we arent sure exactly when they are so we've taken the liberty of sleeping on the floor over there while we've been working on our new home. Needless to say it's been quite the experience! Going back there every night just hoping that the new people didn't show up that day! :) Today, however is our first official day in our new home! We left right after work and packed up what was left at the condo (blankets and a tv) and have officially moved in.... which means we've plopped a matress on the bedroom floor and are in the midst of ordering our first pizza to be delivered to our new address. We're hoping this weekend that we will be able to finish up the basement and get the floors done and we can maybe move things in next week... cross your fingers!!! As far as the remodeling goes, WOW, ALOT of work and VERY grateful to have the family we do that will come sweat it out with us!! Before and After Pictures are on their way soon!! :)

Here we are in our secret hideaway!

Catch Up!

2008-08-07T18:28:00.001-07:00

Wow! This has been a crazy month and a half, Bry and I have been so busy and haven't posted in quite some time! So I thought I'd do a quick catch up....

4TH OF JULY! Our 4th was great, we went camping with Bry's family up by Fishlake. It was Oaklee's first camping trip, and was so fun! Here's just a few pictures of the party.

Oak's first tent experience... She loved it!

BRY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

July 6th Bry turned the big 25! Yep, a quarter of a century old, oh boy. The morning of his birthday we were still camping, so the night before we had a little party. That afternoon we headed home and his Dad and Cher came out all the way from California! It was so great to see them. They took us all out to TGI Fridays and it was alot of fun! He sure was spoiled this year! But he deserved it all. :) Hope you had a great birthday Bry!!

CASTLES COME TO TOWN!

Bry's Dad and Cher stayed a few days after his birthday, and it was so great catching up with them all. I only wish I would have gotten more pictures!! Here are the few I got. We had alot of fun those few days, going to dinner, swimming every night, and just being able to catch up on whats going on with everyone! We're so glad they were able to spend so long here in Utah, and can't wait for October when we get to go to Cali and visit them!

Recipe of The Week

2008-06-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Erin and I decided to share some recipes through our blogs, each week we'll post a new one of our favorites for the other to try. If anybody would like to do the same, we'd love you to!

Ranch Chicken

3-4 large thawed chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups of Ranch Dressing
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheese
Salt & Pepper

Slice the thawed chicken into strips, and set aside. Mix the ranch, parmesan cheese, and half of the shredded cheese in a mixing bowl. I usually salt and pepper the mixture as well. Coat the chicken in the mixture and lay chicken flat on a cookie sheet or pan. Pour the rest of the mix that didnt stick to the chicken over it on the pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked, it usually doesn't take very long because the chicken is in smaller piece. About 5 minutes before you take it out of the oven sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese on the chicken and let it melt.

Bry & I love this chicken, I think we originally found the recipe on the back of a Ranch dressing bottle, but it's been a favorite for a while. Its so easy and quick to make and is very yummy.

A New Tractor and Gus Gus!

2008-06-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend while we were in Monroe, Ty&Trev finally got their new tractor! They were so pumped to have it, and I have to admit it was pretty nice. It has cd player, air conditioning, and two seats! Ty took me on a ride and I was pretty impressed, it went over 25mph! They are such great farmers, and work so hard out there. This tractor will definately help them out alot!

And here is Gus Gus, this little calf wanders around the yard not tied up and just loves Trevor. It is so cute to watch him. Here he is right up next to the deck, just like a little pet.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

2008-06-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Bry and I spent this past weekend down in Monroe. On Saturday Rusty had an all-stars tournament and it was so fun to watch him play ball, he did awesome. South Sevier ended up taking 2nd place overall, but Beaver just got lucky... well thats what I think. Here are a few pictures of the best 12 year old baseball player I know :) Here he is up to bat, he did awesome. I think he didn't get on base only once. He did get hit by the pitcher in their last game, and has quite the bruise on his back shoulder, but he ended up stealing the bases all the way home on that one.
Rusty usually plays Shortstop, but occasionally lets their catcher rest and takes his spot. He looks so cute in all his catchers gear!

Here he is rounding third after his awesome Home Run!! Go Rusty!

And here he is pitching, they put him in a couple times during the four games. Its hard playing that many in such a short period of time, the poor guys arms must get so tired, so Rusty helps give the pitcher a break.

And here is the whole team with their trophy! Notice the two fellows on the right, Rusty and Dad, what studs.

Congrats to the Mechams!

2008-06-05T13:42:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday me and Bry were lucky to go down to St.George and be there while Nate, Erin, and Addisen got sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. It was such a great experience, and I was very happy when Erin asked me to be her escort. I have never been anyones escort before, and it was so awesome to be able to do that with her. Their baby girl Addisen is so cute, and it was such a wonderful sealing ceremony. Congratulations to the happy family, thanks for letting us be a part of it all, and we are very proud of you!!

New Home??

2008-06-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Bry & I have been keeping our eye out for a home for a while, and we think we may have finally found the one we want! It's here in Springville, which was one of our big requirements, we love it out here! About a week ago we saw it and decided to drive by like we did with alot of other ones. We really loved the neighborhood so we just knocked on the door and luckily the owner was home and really nice and let us walk through. We loved it, it has so much character inside and a great fireplace. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and has an apartment in the basement which is a huge plus. We love the older neighborhood and the pointy roof and the yard is a perfect size with quite the view. It of course needs a little bit of work, and some paint, but we're excited to do that and think it is a pefect starter home! (We could do without the aluminum awnings though.) After that we went to the temple a couple times and decided we were going to make an offer! They counteroffered our first offer, but only because they wanted thier microwave, (which is just fine with us!). Tonight at 6 we got the final okay that we are officially under contract and the home will be ours if all goes well!! Wish us luck!

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-06-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Bry & I got to go down to Las Vegas for a week. Grandma & Grandpa Wingelaar got us a condo from her time share for Bry's graduation. It was such a great vacation, it actually felt like summer!

Here we are infront of NewYork NewYork. We went out to the strip one night to find a place to watch the Jazz game, it was so busy everywhere and there were no seats to watch the game so we ended up going to Jack in the Box and heading back to the condo to eat!

Here's Bryan posing on the strip.

There were some awesome hula dancers in a little shopping area, it was so amazing to see how they can dance!

The Bellagio Fountains, it was so neat to see how high they went! Taller than the entire building! This was the first time Bry had ever walked down the strip so it was fun he got to see everything first hand.

On our walk down the strip one night there was an animal trainer that was letting people hold a huge iguana and parrott for donations. We stopped and were able to hold the animals. I love Bryan's face in both of these pictures, ha ha, it looks like he is scared to death!

At the MGM there was a Lion cage, it's right in the middle of the hotel inside, and it was really neat to walk through. Here is one playing with a ball.

We went to a sports store where they had this plaque of Shaq's hands, this is Bryan's hand to show comparison! Can you believe how big Shaq's hands are!!

And this is how we spent our afternoons, laying by the pool. It was such a great vacation and a wonderful graduation present!! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!!

The George's Come To Town

2008-05-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last Week our friends Adam & Emily George came up from St.George and spent the week in Salt Lake. We drove up and went out to dinner with them and their friend Chance. We went out to Benihanas, and it was the coolest place to eat! The table is around a skillet sort of thing, and the chef cooks all of your food right in front of you. It was a really fun dinner, and very very tasty.

Emily, Adam, Ashlie, Bryan & Chance

Here is Adam & His Sushi... Everyone really liked it. Except me. I didnt really have the desire to even try it. This is a picture of eels and fish, not sure how people eat that.

Here is the chef building a volcano out of onions, it was crazy all the things he could do. He even flipped shrimp into his hat!

Here is the chef again with two little wooden things, I think they were salt and pepper shakers, but he threw them around all over like a baton, it was so cool to watch! After we were done eating we went to Iggy's for some dessert and to watch the Jazz game. It was a really fun night, we wish those two lived closer!!

Ty & Trev's Cows

2008-05-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Bryan's little brothers, Tyler & Trevor, just bought 16 new calves! This weekend we were down in Monroe and got to help feed them. Every morning and night they have to bottle feed about half of them and the rest of them they feed with a bucket. It is ALOT of work!!

Jaime bottle feeding the calf

Bry is quite the farmer!

Trevor is only 12 years old but can do all of this on his own! He is really great on the farm!

I was holding Oaklee this whole time and she just loved the cows! Here is her little face just staring at them, she was amazed!

BRYAN GRADUATES!!!

2008-05-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we all got to go down to SUU and watch Bry graduate!! He finished school in December, but got to officially graduate and walk on Saturday. We had alot of family come down to support him and everyone was so proud of him! It is so great to see all of his hard work finally pay off! Congrats Bry!

The Schwartz Family (Bry's sister and her husband Mike, and their baby Oaklee)

Bry & His Dad

Ashlie's Mom, Grandma, & little Sister Maddy

Grandma & Grandpa Castle all the way from California, Aunt Larry and Uncle Russ came down too; but we didn't get a picture with them!

Bry's mom couldn't come down for graduation. About a week ago she got bucked off a horse and shattered her shoulder and cracked her tail bone... and didn't even cry! What a tough cowgirl! She went in for surgery Monday and now isn't able to move or walk around for a few weeks, but she is doing great. We are all so glad she is okay!

Oaklee Loved Bry's Tassel!

A Great Vacation In an Ugly Car!!

2008-04-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Bry, posing with what is likely the ugliest car ever made. And, yes, we were lucky enough to get a chance to drive this puppy around all over Arizona on our vacation last week. You would think this beast would atleast have good gas mileage, but not even that. Ugly AND a gas hog... we only got about 14mpg! The day after Finals we got to go down to AZ for a work conference. We flew out Wednesday Morning and it was so great! Such a nice break right after finals!

Our Hotel was Great! It had 5 seperate swimming pools with hot tubs, so we got our own private pool most of the time! The conference was only a few hours a day, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the sun! Ah, if only we could stay on vacation forever!