Fun Fest 2009

Here are my grandparents great-grandbabies!! Houston, Lauren, Ellison, Cooper and Brylee! The kids are so blessed to know their great-grandparents.

Lauren and Brylee enjoying a snack after the mountain bike ride, and YES Brylee finished the race too!! She rode in a carrier on Mommy's bike!
Cooper showing off his trophy for being the youngest rider of the Bays Mountain Bike Race! It was really neat because Poppy recieved the trophy for the oldest finisher too!

after begging and begging Coop, he finally moved the trophy from in front of his face. He was so so very proud of his trophy!

huge corn dog and a motorcycle...life is good

have I mentioned she is a HANDFUL

my cousin Jennifer and her daughters Lauren and Ellison

My Monkeys

I love love this face because it is so Cooper. I am sure he is in the middle of asking my "Why?"

Silly "goofs" as Coop calls them

Ellie and Brylee

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of all time! It is so hard to see, but Cooper is helping Brylee up the slide. She was so hesitant to go up the slide, but he really wanted her to go with him. She finally decided to go, but changed her mind half way up. She wanted to come back down, but he held her hand and talked her in to going all the way to the top. He stayed by her side and held her hand all the way to the top. I was so worried that when they got to the top he would be so excited that he would leave her and slide, but being the big brother that he is.....he waited for her. They came down the slide holding hands. You can see my Mom's hand in the bottom left corner giving Cooper the "thumbs up" for being such a great brother!!

Wetlands

is a must on the summer checklist. One year made all the difference in the world as far as Cooper was concerned. He was the master of the slide. He went down every way possible and then some. Brylee did not share her brother's enthusiasm and chose the safety of Lauren and Ellison's laps. Maybe next year Sissy!!

Splash Pad

We also had tons of fun at the Splash Pad this summer!! A good friend of mine from work told me about it, but I was skeptical at first. I am so glad that we gave it a whirl. It is perfect for the kids. It is small enough that I can keep an eye on both of them at the same time, and keeps them entertained! Needless to say we spent many bright and sunshiny days playing in the water!!

One of the best days we spent at the Splash Pad was our play date. We met up with good friends for a fantastic day of fun. We started off with a picnic, and let me just say 3 mommies and 7 kids, hectic was not the word for it. Luckily, once we hit the water things were a little calmer and the mommies even had a chance to sit and catch up a little. Joanna (mom to Abby, Ellie, and Luke)and Tina (mom to Carson and Caylee) are amazing, and I love the fact that our youngest children are all in the same class in child care. I'm hoping there will be many more summer play dates in our futures!!

Luke and Brylee ( I tried to get a picture of Brylee, Luke, and Caylee but I couldn't get them to be still long enough)

Cooper and his partner in crime Carson

Flashback to the "Boro" 4th of July

We really look forward to the 4th of July, and our trip to Murfreesboro. We have been traveling to the Boro for 4th of July since Cooper was born. It is neat to look back at the pictures and see just how much has changed within the last three years.

This year was so relaxing and fun. We spent every minute we could in the pool playing, and after the kids went to bed at night the adults stayed up and played cards. I must admit I don't remember the last time I have laughed that much.

This year Uncle D even recieved a new nickname, thanks to one smitten kitten of a niece. He is now "My Dana" according to Brylee. Brylee has always adored him, however, this trip she decided that "My Dana" hung the moon. She would just sit and stare at him, it really was the sweetest thing. She wanted to follow him everywhere, and he was delighted. I believe the adoration is a two way street in this relationship :)

Brylee loves Abeeeee too!!!

The 4th of July trip wouldn't be complete without

GAGGY and POPPY

Thanks D and Abby for such a wonderful wonderful weekend!!

Our try at family beach pictures

As you can see, my attempt to get a family picture of the four of us didn't go so well. I did get some sweet pictures of the kids atleast.

Conversations with Cooper

One of Brylee's birthday presents was a toddler Bible from her great-aunt Jan Jan and Great-Uncle Otto. She loves looking at the pictures and listening to the stories, but Cooper LOVES LOVES the Bible. The first night my Dad probably read a fourth of it to him. Last night. Cooper wanted to read it again and I did. Every time I would stop he would ask me to keep reading. Well, I don't know about you, but there is no way I could say "No, that is enough of reading the Bible." So, like any other mom I read and read and read until I read the WHOLE thing to him. We read for over an hour and he never moved. He asked question after question about the people and the stories, and Bryan and I loved the fact that he was so excited to be reading the bible with us!! But, the funniest moment came after I had finished reading and closed the cover....


Cooper: "Mommy, why are there bird people on the back of Sissy's book?"
Me: "Coop, those are not bird people. They are angels."