Memories Made Over Memorial Weekend

FRIDAY- Bryce has had an in-grown toe nail that has been bothering him for about a year. On Friday, he decided to go and get it cut out. After 5 shots, and a knife to the inner toe, Bryce was a little sore, but doing well. Hopefully, it will never come back!

fter Bryce's doctors appointment, we went to watch Indiana Jones with Steph and Paul. I thought the movie was pretty good until the last 20 minutes. I won't give it away, but I just didnt' care for the ending. The rest of it, however, was very action packed. It is definately worth seeing. After the movie, we went to a new restaurant in Logan called Black Stone. We had the most delicious calamari, crab and shrimp salad, shrimp scampi, and raspberry cheesecake. Bryce and I enjoyed the food and it was fun to be able to go out and spend time with Steph and Paul.

Following dinner, Alpine (Bryce's work) had a ice skating party in Logan. Cooper was very excited to try it out. We went around the skating rink once and that was enough for him. It did take a long time to go around that one time and my back was so tired when I got finished helping him.

We went back to Bryce's parents house to stay. I want to thank Marilyn and Roger for always letting us come and stay at their house. We feel very welcome there and Cooper loves seeing his grandma and papa. Anyway, we watched "Rescued", the new church DVD. It was pretty good.

SATURDAY- Saturday morning, Cooper and I went to watch Ty play soccer in the Kohl's soccer tournament. He did a great job and it was alot of fun to watch him play. He is so competitive and athletic. I am glad he has soccer to funnel all of his energy in to. His team made it all the way to the championship game and then lost by one.

Later that night, we had Jake and Shana over for grilling and a movie. We grilled Brats and they were very good. The weather is still nice, so we ate dinner out on the back patio. Grandma pushed Cooper in the neighbors new swing and Cooper had fun playing on all of their playground equipment. We had a great time visiting with Jake and Shana. We ended up watching "P.S. I love you" It was pretty good at times. Worth renting.

SUNDAY- We had the task of watching Steph's kids while Paul and Steph gave talks in sacrament meeting. They spoke on the Restoration and they both did a great job. Bryce and I tried to watch the kids! After church, Cooper got to play with Jaden and Addey for a little while. He loves getting to play with them.

Later that afternoon, we ate dinner back at the Douglas' to celebrate Roger's birthday. Brandon and Jaydale came over with the kids. After dinner, we played crochet out in the yard. And I bet you cant' guess who won both games. That's right, it was me!. Anyway, it was alot of fun and brought back memories from when I was younger and we used to play it.

Later, we watched "Juno". I thought it had some questionable language and comments, but I think that the movie will help some pregnant teenagers decide to place their babies, which in turn, will help our cause.

MONDAY- It rained and rained on Monday. We went to a barbecue out in Hyrum with Brad and Carrie. We had a great time. Brad's family is great and we appreciate them letting us come spend Memorial Day with them. It was fun to spend time with Olivia. She is getting so big and she is at a fun age. Thank you Brad and Carrie for thinking of us.

We got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Cooper on Monday afternoon. It is always good to be able to stop there and see them. I love my grandparents. Cooper got Grandpa a shirt for Father's Day, since we will be in Texas then. I am glad that we named our boy Cooper after his grandparents. Hopefully, he will make them all proud throughout his life.

Monday evening, we went to another barbecue with Ruth, Vic, Jacqui, and Jared. We had hamburgers, homemade salsa (the best), dutch oven veggies, and orange salad. We watch the "Great Debators" after dinner. I thought that was a pretty good show. Hard to hear with a bunch of rug rats running around but definately worth seeing. Thank you Vic and Ruth for inviting us over for dinner and a movie. We had a great time.

Now we are back home and back to work. Actually, it is time to start packing for Texas! Yippee!

Garden Time

On Tuesday, I was able to plant my garden. The spring weather up here is crazy. One day it is warm and the next day it is snowing or raining, so they say to plant your garden around Mothers Day. This year I planted strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, green squash, gold squash, green onions, onions, jalepenos, mixed bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Now its time to water the seeds and hopefully they will all produce as expected.

Trip to the Fire Station

Cooper and his joy school friends went to the fire station here in Roy. And from what Carries says, the Roy Fire Station and Crew rock. Cooper had so much fun. He would stand by the chief and try to ask him questions. The chief was telling the kids that there are different colored hoses because they all have favorite colors. One little girl replied, " Then where is the pink one?" He thought that was cute. About half way through the tour, the chief gave up trying to talk to the kids and just explained things to the mothers. The kids are still quite young to focus, but they had so much fun seeing the big fire trucks.

Gotta Love Him

I have mad skills because I took this picture while I was driving the car. This is his new pose for pictures since he has a hard time staying focused long enough to smile.

Mother's Day

Let me tell you about my Mothers Day. Bryce got up with Cooper so that I could lay in bed a little bit longer. When I got up, my little boy came down stairs with a card and a Micheal Buble CD. Bryce wrote a card to me from Cooper and it was so cute.

Then Bryce came and sat by me and gave me a card and present. The card was so nice. He told me that Heavenly Father knew I was the perfect mom for Cooper and that is why He sent him to our family. He also said that there is another perfect spirit that is waiting to come to our family. Its just a matter of have faith and patience to endure.

Bryce got me some perfume called Poison. You might remember Poison from ten years ago. And you might ask yourself why he would get me that perfume. Well, that is the perfume that I wore 10 years ago on our first date. When Bryce smelled the perfume, it brought him back to those days when we first met.

May 8th is a special date in our family. Not only is it Tara, Jill, Jade, and Jen's Birthday, but it is day of our first date. And last week, while I was up babysitting in Smithfield, my awesome husband called to wish me happy 10th Anniversary of our first date. That meant alot to me that he would remember that, because I didn't. Thanks, Bryce.

The rest of Mothers Day included the men grilling steaks for us, the Jazz winning the basketball game, Colby getting hurt, and enjoying dinner with my family. I had a great day and I want to thank Bryce for making it that way!

My Mom's Day!

I wanted to take the chance to thank my mother and let her know how special she is to me. My mother is my hero. When I grow up, I want to be like her. Many of you know my mom and just how sweet she is. I don't know if there is a nicer person out there. In fact, my sister and I love to tease her. We always tell her that she has a place in heaven. I talk to my mom at least 4 times a week and I cherish these moments. My mom would do anything for anybody and she never stops going. I have realized more in the last few years, that I have alot of the same mannerisms as my mother. And that makes me proud! I love you, Mom.

Time Well Spent

Many of you know that Bryce and I have had our adoption papers in for a year and a half and that we really want another child in our home and family. We love children so much and we have always wanted a big family. However, for reasons unknown to us, this is not happening for us right now. Although, it has been very hard at times, there is also a positive side to it.

I have been able to spend alot more one on one time with Cooper and I am thankful for those opportunities. I try to cherish my time spent with him. I really want a sibling for Cooper to love, play with, and teach. There is nothing like the bond between siblings. I am trying to look at the positive side of not being able to have more children right now. The moments that I have really loved lately:

a. Every morning, Cooper comes into my room and climbs in bed with me. We play for about 30-45 minutes. It is so much fun to cuddle with him and to just be able to lay there and talk to him and to give him my full attention.

b. The past couple of weeks, Cooper and I have spent alot of time outside working in the yard. I dig in the dirt with my little shovel and then I pick out all the worms and rolly pollies for Cooper. He then puts them in his bucket. He would get so excited because he had alot of them.

c. Cooper and I have enjoyed going on little walks together down the street. He points out the dogs, airplanes, and birds.

d. Cooper loves to play ring around the rosie, red rover, and duck duck goose. I loved those games when I was young, so I am happy to see that he also enjoys them.

e. We like to spend time playing games on the computer. I let Cooper sit on my lap and watch him do all the learning games. He is such a smart kid and I am so proud of him.

f. Cooper loves to talk about the temple. When he sees a picture or a temple, he always yells, "that's the temple. That's where mommy and daddy were married and when we have another baby, I can go there again."

I am so thankful for Cooper. He is learning and growing so quickly. I am thankful that I have this time right now, to give him all of myself. Cooper and I have such a great friendship and relationship and I am thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who has a plan for our family. He knows everything and he knows when the timing is perfect in all situations. When I think back on all the infertility that I dealt with, I can say that it was worth it, because I have my little boy!