Cooper Christmas card 2013

Merry Christmas friends and family! Sorry I didn't get around to mailing these out this year, but we got really busy moving into our new house (photos to come....someday).

 

The eve of Summer and the dawning of Fall....

End of summer summary:

Went up to Idaho a few times....

Went on a spontaneous road trip to Las Vegas and Arizona...

 The Bellagio in Las Vegas

  The Bellagio in Las Vegas

 Went up to Flaming Gorge with the McKeens

 Whoah, how did that photo get in here?

Do I love naked babies? Yes I do....

Night swimming at Flaming Gorge 

Scavenger Hunt at City Creek with my family 

 Ezra learned to walk like a rock star

 Me and Randy Cooper at the Cooper Family reunion in Payson

 Grandma Cooper and Geneve

 We did a quick family history jaunt through Payson and Genola (where Randy grew up).

Thanks again for organizing that, Randy!

 Taking a walk through Wheeler Farms

 Wheeler Farms 

 I love my Geneve

 Gawking at the animals at Wheeler Farms

 The McKeen grandkids making cookies with Cookie Man (Brad) and Cookie Boy (Jason)

We adopted a little girl, "Jezra". Isn't she beautiful?

We went to the optometrist for the first time in 4 years and Austin got new glasses! What a stud muffin he is!

The Cooper Family 2013 

No matter how old we get, I want to always have lots of photos of just me and Austin displayed in our home. It's something I feel strongly about. I've noticed that all newlyweds have photos of themselves together all over their house, computer, fridge, Facebook page, blog, etc. However, after a few years of marriage these photos get replaced by pictures of ultrasounds, babies, kids, etc. This isn't bad! We welcome these sweet spirits into our family with great joy! 

But I never want to forget the foundation of my family: 

Me and my spouse! 

I want my kids to know how much I love their father, that our relationship comes first. Maybe having an updated, cute, lovey-dovey photo of me and him on the wall will help them understand and appreciate this.

Things we've been up to lately:

Austin's graduation back in April. We're so grateful Austin's parents came up to support Austin!

Austin Cooper is amazing: he completed 10 semesters in three years (no breaks); he consistently maintained a part-time job the whole time; he had two children; he raised his grades from a C average to a A- average; and he put up with ME the whole time! WOW, congrats my honey!

The next day, we left Rexburg for the last time and made the drive down to Utah... only to end up stranded at a rest stop over Malad Pass with a busted engine. Thanks Randy and Trudi for coming to our rescue!

Our new 2008 Honda Fit.... may our Toyota Camry rest in peace

My two boys: Austin and Ezra

The Milo Graveyard on Memorial Day

Geneve standing next to her Great Grandpa Bird's grave

Mommy and Nevy being silly at IKEA

Me and Austin bought a bike trailer for our birthdays. The kids love it!

It doubles as a jogging stroller, so we took the kids out on a walk last Sunday morning.

A family walk on the Lagoon Trail

Featuring.... our new bike trailer... again! We're kind of obsessed with it these days. 

(I love Ezra's  blank stare in this pic)

I love my boys!

Wow, gotta love that grin! It's huge! You can probably see it from space!

I love my Nevy girl....

... and my Ezra kid!

Still walking on the Lagoon Trail

We wanted to show Nevy the Salt Lake City Temple, so we went to Temple Square last week

Ezra's favorite part was the fountain....

Me, Justin, Ezra at the Botanical Gardens in Kaysville

Enjoying a shake at Pace's after Justin's graduation

Me and Geneve, changing our babies' diapers. She grabbed some wipes and a diaper for her baby, and I grabbed some for mine :-)

Ezra learned how to pull out the metal cover on the vent in the floor. It's hard to see, but his right leg is down in the vent. He's fascinated by this big hole in the floor, but he can't seem to figure out how to squeeze more than 25% of his body mass down into it. How cute!

On Ezra's birthday, we pulled out his paddle pool and let him and Geneve play for a while.

..... then we visited the fountain at Station Park in Farmington. 

 Happy Birthday Ezra! June 11th!

Geneve at the Kaysville Splash Park

I found the bike helmets for this kids at the DI for $4 a piece (they're $20 at Walmart... I love Deseret Industries)

This morning, Austin and I took the kids on a 5-mile bike ride around Farmington

Geneve took the leftover wrapping from Ezra's presents and decided to make "cupcakes" out of them. She put them in some muffin tins and asked me to help her put them in the oven. It was so cute!

Dinner at Mueller Park in Bountiful. I caught Ezra in an ornery moment :-)

Even when he's mad, those two goofy, front teeth just crack me up!