Landon is 7!

 Landon was so excited to eat his waffles on the Special Person plate!

 

 Dinner was chocolate chip pancakes at IHOP. Definitely a breakfast theme going on today. This looks more like a dessert than dinner to me though.

 

 And if there wasn't enough sugar in his system already, he eagerly accepted the complimentary birthday sundae.

 

 My boys! Love them so much!

 

 What the?

 

 Opening presents while talking on the phone to cousin Spencer.

 

Happy Birthday buddy! We are so lucky to have you in our family!



Family Fun at the Cooper Cabin

We had a wonderful time up at the cabin over Memorial Day with my whole family!

 

 

We are going to be in trouble in a few years when these boys are going to want to do more than just sit on them and pretend to drive!

 

This is where Brennan spent most of the weekend...on Uncle Rob's "by-side-side."

 

The kids made up a "Swing Circus" that was pretty awesome!

 

Cute cousins!

 

We loaded everyone up on the 4-wheelers and rode to Lilly Lake. So fun!

 

Beautiful...what more can I say?!

 

Grandpa caught a frog. The kids were squealing with delight!

 

Skipping rocks...or maybe just throwing them.

 

No trip to the cabin is complete without taking out a few trees.

 

 Saying good-bye is never fun. These two are so cute together! Can't wait to go back to the cabin!



Visiting Montana

We had the wonderful opportunity last month to go and visit my brother and his family in Bozeman. It was so much fun! We spent most of our time up on the mountain, skiing and boarding at Bridger Bowl. This is not a big deal for most of my family since they ski/board all the time, but is was for me! Before this year, I've only been on a snowboard twice, and that was at least 10 years ago. I have to say that I was pretty proud of myself!

 

This was our group on Day 1 taking a much needed (for me) break for lunch. PB J's never tasted so good! Thanks to Erin for packing us a yummy lunch!

 The cousins had so much fun playing together. 

 

 Out to dinner at a local cafe (minus Erin who is taking the picture!)

 

 This was Brennan's first trip to the slopes. He watches his dad, brother, and sister pack up and leave to go skiing almost every Saturday during the ski season and wants so badly to go with them. He finally had his turn! Jeff has a little snowboard for Jackson that we borrowed for Brennan and he loved it!

 

 On the practice hill, ready to go!

 

He did a couple runs with someone holding the leash, but he was soon ready to do it all by himself!

 

He had such a blast!

 

Tyler and I took turns lugging Brennan to the top of this little (but steep) hill so that he could slide down. He enjoyed this as much, if not more, than the snowboard.

 

 Lexi and Olivia hanging out at the lodge.

 

Our group on Day 2. (We were missing Jackson who needed a little down time.)

 

 Our last night there, we let Olivia have a "sleep over" with Lexi and Landon. Jackson and Brennan mistakenly thought that this included them as well. We snapped a cute picture of all of them before we had to pull the little ones out and put them in their own beds.

 

 All the kids on the front porch looking stylish in their shades Uncle Jeff gave them.

 

 The roads were a little snow-packed on the way home. The wind blowing the fresh snow off the trees really does look like smoke. So beautiful!

 

 We stopped at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone on the way home. I was a little skeptical that we would see much, but I was wrong! We all had fun watching the bears find food that had been hidden around their enclosure.

 

 The best was watching the adults wrestle for a long time!

 

 I thought the wolves were cooler that the bears. There was an indoor building with big glass windows that you could sit and watch them through.

 

We had such a great time! Our thanks to the Coopers for their accommodations! The kids keep asking when they are going to see their Montana cousins again. Hopefully, soon!

A Batman birthday

I decided that my gift to Brennan would be to try really hard to say "Yes" to everything for the entire day. He asked to stay in his PJ's until lunch. "Sure, buddy!" He asked to watch Batman cartoons all morning. "Yep, but just for today." He wanted ham and cheese for lunch with lots of Cheetos. "No problem!" He wanted me to play Batman with him. (I got to be Wonder Woman.) The kid is obsessed with Batman! He wanted me to take a picture of him "flying" like Batman. "Of course!"

 



He wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner. "Ahhh... how about that yummy sub shop?" I didn't say no, right?!

 



 

He got to eat Cheetos again so he was perfectly content!

 

 

He loves to play this Sorry-like Batman game using his own rules.

 

 

This alligator game that chomps your hand when you push on the right tooth was a big hit with all the kids!

 

 

His favorite was this "Batmanbile" that he carries around with him everywhere.

 

 

He picked out this cake at the grocery store. Overpriced, but very delicious!

 

 

I keep telling him that he is my baby and that he is not allowed to grow up. He is fine with this for the time being. We got him a big-boy bed for his birthday and he was really excited about it until he saw his crib being taken apart and put into storage. He cried and asked if we could take the bed back to the store. It tore me up!

Brennan is the best little boy! He is adored by everyone who knows him, and even those who don't. I'm now used to complete strangers coming up to us at the grocery store or just out and about to talk to Brennan. He draws people to him with his infectious smile and delightful personality. We love you buddy!

Fall Fun

Lexi Turns 9!

 

Lexi wanted to have a picnic at the park for her birthday. It worked out great because the kids were off track and it was a beautiful day!

 

                                                                             
                                                                 the princess in her tower

 

opening gifts

 

 

 

 

So my sweet Lexi was pretty emotional the whole day because she does not want to grow up. In her own words..."I don't want to grow up because I always want to be able to crawl up into your lap." Her face is still a little pink after a few tears were shed, but birthday cake can cheer up anyone, right? She told me later that she wished that she wouldn't cry anymore for the rest of the night. Her wish came true.

 

Yellow Fork Canyon

 

 

We took a little stroll through Yellow Fork Canyon by our house in between sessions during General Conference. The fall leaves were so beautiful, and it was nice to get out of the house and run around.

 

 

This was my favorite picture.

 

 

 

 

Lexi calls this picture the "ta-daa picture".

 

 

Cornbellys

 

 

 

This was our first trip to Cornbellys. The kids had a blast! Brennan is just barely tall enough to peek through the pig's head.

 

 

 

The boys had fun playing on all the wooden playsets.

 

 

Brennan had to ride the motorcycle made out of tires. It wasn't the most comfortable swing, but he still loved it because it was a motorcycle.

 

 

 

 

Going down the big slide all by himself.

 

 

Driving the firetruck.

 

 

We got a little lost in the corn maze, and probably did break a few of the corn maze "rules".

 

 

The kids could have spent hours covering themselves in corn if I had let them.

 

Halloween!

 

Grandma and Grandpa Coops grow the best pumpkins to carve!

 

 

Landon's vampire pumpkin.

 

 

Lexi made a frankenstein pumpkin that turned out so cute, but I didn't get a picture of it after she had it all painted. I also didn't get a picture of the scattered pieces of pumpkin all over our front porch after the deer ate them for dinner. At least they waited until after all the trick-or-treater's came!

 

First Snow Fall

 

 

We had a pretty impressive early snowfall and Brennan couldn't wait to get outside and play.

 

 

Our snowman turned out pretty good too!

 

Halloween Continued

 

 

making candy haunted houses with the cousins

 

playing halloween party games

 



I did not complain when Landon wanted to be a vampire again. He really has the role down!

 

 

Lexi knew what she wanted to be early on. I looked and looked for a Frankenstein's Bride costume, but did not have any luck. Then I remembered that I had a white sheet in the closet. So, my cute and talented neighbor helped us turn the white sheet into this cute costume.

 

 

My swashbuckling pirate! We tried to get him to say, "toss me your loot, matey" but he wouldn't do it once we were outside of the house.

 

My monsterous crew!

 



 

Going trick-or-treating at dad's office. He definitely got a lot of loot!

 

Gardner Village

 

It was great weather for our annual trip to spot the witches! We invited our Bushman cousins to join us this year. We also decided to do the official "Witch Find" this year where you fill out the piece of paper when you spot the witches and you can turn it into the bakery after for a delicious cookie!

They are the cutest! (I'm not biased at all.)

Eating our delicious cookies.

Silly or scary faces?

There was a stage that the kids loved dancing on to some Halloween tunes!