2009 Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Christmas Eve day we went up in the morning to my parents' house. Wes and I went shopping for a few last minute things while the boys stayed with grandma and grandpa. Mel and Jacob came down for Christmas Eve and it was fun to see them and their adorable kiddos. Dessie and Andrew are such happy cute kids that we all have fun with them. And of course all the uncles were there, and the boys LOVE that.

We had an amazing dinner and then did our Christmas Eve program. I took wonderful pictures of everything. Christmas morning after we were almost finished opening presents, we discovered that the card wasn't in all the way. No pictures of Christmas Eve. No pictures of kids seeing what Santa brought them. No pictures of the stockings being unloaded. No pictures of the happiness on their faces when they opened their gifts. Dang it all!!

We took a few pictures afterward, but it's just not the same. Oh well. Wes had a great idea this year to have the boys make gifts for each other. It was a little stressful because we started late, but they all had fun. We will definitely be making it a yearly tradition. Here are the gifts they made for each other:

Brandon made Justin a bank:

Spencer made Tyler a frame for his favorite poster:

Tyler made Spencer an over the door basketball hoop:

Justin made Brandon a pencil holder that was filled with Oreos that he dipped in chocolate:

They all loved their gifts and it was fun to see how excited each one was to watch the brother open the gift that they had made. Loved it!!

We hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas. We hope that 2010 is a fabulous year for each of you!!!

Counting down to Christmas

It seems very strange that Christmas is only 5 days away. Usually by this time I am totally stressed out, but I am feeling relaxed this year. We have almost everything ready; I should be able to finish the last of it tomorrow or the next day.

We delivered the gifts to our Sub for Santa family last night. That is always one of my favorite things every Christmas. This year we got a family with two girls ages 8 and 6. Their mom had a baby 7 weeks early and he is still in the NICU. It was so much fun to shop for girls and a new baby! I think even the boys enjoy it, but they don't let on. ;)

The mother was so appreciative. She has moved in with a relative who lives closer to the hospital, and they made us a plate of goodies as a thank you. They were delicious! I'm sure the boys will remember this year for a long time. It is such a good feeling to make a difference in someone's life.

We made and delivered more of our neighbor gifts today. I did things a little differently this year. Usually I give everyone the same thing, and by the time I'm done putting together 50-70 plates, I am really sick of that treat. This year I had a lot of recipes I wanted to try, so every day I would make up a batch of something and deliver it to a few people. It has been a lot less stressful, and a lot more fun for me. So far we have tried Gooey Cornflake Treats, Gumdrop Cookies, Andes mint cookies, Cake Bites, and Gingersnap White Chocolate Blondies. We still have several friends left on our list, so I will be experimenting again tomorrow. Yum!

Brandon's Busy Day

Brandon had quite the full schedule today. He stayed after school for basketball. I was finally able to go to one of his games. They played their rival school, and ended up winning. I think the final score was 42-35. It was so fun to watch him play!!

After the game we raced home. He showered while I made dinner. We all ate, then Wes and I took him back down to the school for his band concert. What an evening!

The sad thing is that I forgot to take a camera. Both times. What a dork I am. :(

Getting into the Christmas spirit

I am really excited for Christmas this year. I'm not sure why, but I feel more relaxed this year. Maybe online shopping has helped with that. ;)

We started a new tradition this year and we are really enjoying it. I made an advent calendar with activities. You can see the details here. So far we have been able to do something together as a family every night but one. It has been so nice to just relax and be together. Tonight Spencer taught us all how to make 3-D snowflakes. They are beautiful. I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. Ooops.

Last week we put up the Christmas tree and the boys slept under it that night.

We went to the ward Christmas party on Friday and they got to see Santa.

And Brandon, Spencer, and Tyler had their Christmas piano recital. (Wes and I of course enjoy this activity way more than they do.) They all did a great job though.


Brandon played "Were You There?"

Spencer played "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer":

Tyler played "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

We had stake conference this weekend and it was wonderful and uplifting. Our stake president told a story that really touched me. He said when his kids were little his wife was struggling with having them pick up after themselves and keep the house clean. His 4 year old daughter was the worst offender. He said he planned a family home evening lesson about the importance of having a clean house. He talked about the temple and how it is always beautiful and clean, because it is a house of God. He talked about how our homes should be the same way, that they should be a place that Jesus would feel welcome. Then he said he looked right at the 4 year old and asked, "If Jesus came to our door right now, would he like it here?" He told us that her eyes got as big as saucers, and she exclaimed, "Oh yes daddy, he would love it here! We would sit on his lap and give him hugs and kisses. And if he was hungry we would give him something to eat."

Wow. Kids really have a way of teaching us, don't they. I need to try harder to focus on the spirit in our home, and not just the way it looks.


My boys' favorite part of conference was a story that Elder Gonzales from the Presidency of the 70 told. He said he had always loved singing, but didn't have a very good voice. He said a few years ago he was sitting next to the bishop during sacrament meeting and of course singing all the songs. At the end of the meeting, the bishop turned to him and told him he would like him to sing at his funeral. He was kind of surprised, and asked the bishop if he was having health problems. The bishop replied, "No, I'm fine. I just want you to sing at my funeral so that my wife will know there are some things worse than death."
It was a great meeting!! :)

This is not a good pattern. Not good at all.

So, Halloween evening I went to bed with a sore throat. It turned out to be strep.

Thanksgiving evening, I went to bed with a sore throat. It turned out to be step.

Maybe I should just plan ahead and ask Santa to fill my stocking with antibiotics.

Oh, and apparently filling in for mom by cooking,cleaning, and doing laundry is taking its tole on Wes and the boys. Yesterday I found Brandon like this:

I guess next time I get sick, it's time to call in the Relief Society?

I guess I shoulda knocked on wood

Apparently I spoke a little too soon about the week of health we enjoyed. While working at the Book Fair last week, I picked up a head cold. It moved down to my chest, so it was just a bundle of fun. I am feeling much better this week, and I am staying AWAY from the elementary school. It is a germ smorgasbord! Justin had a Thanksgiving feast in his class today, and I was planning on going, but changed my mind. I'm not taking any more chances!!

Brandon has his first basketball game today and we don't even get to go. It is up in Orem at 3:30. Wes is holding basketball practice for Spencer's basketball team at 4, and Spencer and Tyler don't even get home till 3:45. We all have the sniffles though, so I guess it's all for the best. I sure do feel sad about missing it though. :(


I came down one morning and found Tyler reading to Justin.

Like most brothers, they do their fair share of arguing, wrestling, and bugging each other, so it is always great to see them getting along. When they are actually helping each other, it is even better!

Six straight days with no on sick. Woohoo!

I am crossing my fingers that we will all be healthy for awhile now. It was sure a nasty month and a half at our house.

The last week was super busy, as it always is when you miss two weeks of your life and have to make up for it.

Brandon made the Freshman basketball team on Tuesday. He is not one to show any emotion, so we're not sure how excited he is, but we are sure proud of him. Way to go Brandon!!!
Several of his friends made the team and they are really a great group of boys. It will be fun going to the games. Brandon's not sure how much playing time he will get because there are 13 on the team. He came home from one of the practices and told us he thinks he will be playing "Starting Left Bench". Cocky he is not. :)



I finally got to go to one of Spencer's accelerated basketball games. Unfortunately it was their worst one so far. They were missing several very key players because of the BYU Pow-Wow. It was ugly. They got one look at the other team and were totally intimidated, so mentally they had lost before they even started. The final score ended up to be 60-7. OUCH!! We really could have used the height and aggression of the missing players.


Tyler just got a new Wolf den leader. And yep, you guessed it, it is me. Since I already have two other callings, I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure how thrilled he is that I am his leader, but I am excited to spend time with him.


Justin is thrilled that we finally have snow. Yesterday was sunny and he headed outside right after lunch. When we looked out, this is what he was doing:

Yep, mowing the grass. Don't you just love the look of snow boots and shorts?
I sure hope he still likes mowing the grass this much when he's 12. But I'm not counting on it.

Yes, we are still alive

Well, it has been a long couple of weeks, to say the least. October was a very sick month at our house. The kids all took turns being sick, one at a time of course, so it dragged out forever. I ended up getting swine flu. Yes, it is horrible.

After five days of misery, I was feeling better, so I helped with the boy's Halloween parties at school.

Justin's class did a Halloween program and it was so cute. They sang songs and everyone had a part to say. His was: "I" is for icing on cookies to share, "J" is for jack-o-lanterns smiling, BEWARE!"

The next day, I helped with Tyler's party. Tyler's favorite part of the party was painting the pumpkins.

Justin really wanted to paint one. I felt bad that I hadn't brought one for him, I thought he would be staying home with Wes. Lucky for me, one of the other moms had sent in a bunch of extras from their garden.

He was soooo excited.

Unfortunately, I overdid it and overwhelmed my immune system. Halloween day I started coming down with a sore throat. Sunday morning I woke up feeling horrible. Fever, chills, body aches. Kind of like swine flu, except for instead of a dry cough, my throat felt like I swallowed a bunch of nails. I could tell right away that I had strep. Plus major head congestion. Luckily I was able to call our doctor and he called in a prescription for me. I was so wiped out though, that it took a full two days before I even started to feel better. So, I was out for a week with swine flu, than another week with strep. Wes and the boys were real troopers and took great care of me.

It is so good to feel like a human again!!!

Oh, I didn't get very good pictures on Halloween because I felt so cruddy I went to bed early. But here are the boys in costume:

Justin was a lego:

Tyler was a mummy:

and Spencer was a Rubix cube:

Doesn't he look excited? What a turkey!

Fall Break Fun

The boys were out of school Thursday and Friday, so we went up to my parents house. Mel was there with Dessie and Andrew, so that made it extra fun. I did baby duty Thursday night so Mel could be home helping Jacob paint. It's been a long time since I've gotten up in the night with a baby. Dang that Andrew is a happy easy going kid. I just fed him his bottle and he fell right back to sleep. He is so cute!

Friday we went to Kennecott, which we had never visited before. They had an interesting visitor's center, but I was disappointed that they didn't have a truck you could walk up to and see. They are huge, so I thought that would be really cool. They did have a tire though, just so you can get an idea of how massive they are.

I took a picture of the kids in front of an old mine car. Dessie would only be in the picture if grandma was holding her, so grandma got to be a kid for the day. ;)

It was a fun weekend. Now we are back to piles of laundry, a messy house, and sick kids. Sigh.

Maybe he has a future in photography?

I got our adoption profile finished and e-mailed the pages in for them to preview last week. The adoption secretary recommended that we add more photos of Wes and I. Dang. We didn't really have any, because, well, when we're together we are usually alone. Most people think it's a little awkward if you invite them on your date so they can take pictures of you. Just sayin'.


Sooo, we had to stage some photos. We recruited Brandon to take some pictures of us. We took some in the yard and they would have been perfect except that the wind started blowing. Long hair+ wind= not so good photos.


So we tried again. More pictures in the yard and some up the canyon. Brandon was really a good sport. He took a few pictures that I really love. I think they are my favorite pictures I've ever had of me since we were married.

Seriously, I don't think I really look this good in real life. ;)

Thanks Brandon for making me look so good!

Too busy livin' to blog about it

So, what have we been up to lately?

Wes has been coaching Tyler's football team:
Tyler has been doing a lot of this:

And some of this:

Spencer has been doing a lot of this:

Brandon has been reffing soccer games. He also plays the piano for his seminary class, so he has been doing a lot of this:

Justin has been doing a lot of this:

We finally got the concrete pad poured in our front yard.

And me? I have been driving everyone to ball fields, cleaning the house, canning, running errands, decorating for fall, making hair bows to sell, trying to keep everyone fed, and working on our adoption profiles. We almost have all the paperwork done. I just need to get copies made, have everything bound, and mail it to Little Angels, the adoption agency in California.

Family Photo Shoot

We were in serious need of a new family photo. I needed one that didn't have a copyright because I need to be able to make copies. My friend Amber was nice enough to shoot some photos of us. We went up the canyon at about 5:30, and the lighting was perfect. She was totally creative and took some really fun pictures of us.

Getting all four of the boys to smile and still look somewhat natural is a feat of gargantuan proportions!! I swear I am going to have to make them start practicing in the mirror. ;)


Amber was a real trooper and took lots of shots. Here are two of my favorites:

Amber is also a Photoshop wiz, so she edited them and made them look really cool. But I'm not going to show you, because I want you to be somewhat surprised when you get our picture in the mail this holiday season. :)

Oh, and did you notice that Tyler is not looking in the last shot. That is so Tyler. Crazy kid!


Thank you so much Amber!!!

Wow, kids really do grow up too fast!

You know how when kids are little and they call each other? They ask, "Can you play?"

As they get older, it is no longer cool to say "Can you play?" It becomes "Wanna hang out?"

Apparently at the ripe old age of 5, Justin is too cool to play anymore. I picked him up from a friend's house today and we had the following conversation:
Me: "Did you have fun?"
Justin: "Yes, we played with cars!"
Me: "What else did you do?"
Justin, rolling his eyes: "I don't know mom, we just hanged."

Adoption Ups and Downs

We found out that the birth mother we have been waiting to meet decided to get married. She is having a little girl. It is a huge disappointment, but I feel more at peace than I thought I would.

We just feel very sad for her because we think the birth father's parents talked her into doing something she didn't want to do. Right from the start she wanted to place her baby for adoption. I hope everything works out for her, but I know they have a very rough road ahead. So very sad for everyone.

We have pretty much given up on LDS family services, so we are going to contact the agency we found in California called Little Angel Adoptions. We planned on working with them way back in May, we just stopped because we really thought that this girl would be the one. Now we're right back where we started. We are hopeful that this agency will be the right one for us. All you can do is just keep moving forward, right?

Labor Day Week

It was another busy week at our house. We had a family reunion in Idaho over Labor Day weekend. We were in charge, so it was more stressful than usual, but I think everyone had a good time. They are always over too quickly! We didn't get a lot of photos because we were busy running things, but here are a few:
We had fun playing games:

We hiked up to a lake:

We celebrated Grandma's birthday:

Here is the whole crazy gang:

We drove home on Monday, so Tuesday was a fun filled day with un-packing, laundry, and housecleaning. Tuesday night Justin had a soccer game, Spencer and Brandon had to ref soccer, and Tyler and Spencer both had a football game.


Wednesday was crazy hair day at school in Justin's kindergarten class. He was afraid he was going to miss the bus, so I didn't get a great picture. But you get the general idea:

Wednesday night Justin had a soccer game, and Brandon and Wes had scouts.

Thursday Brandon had to ref two soccer games, Tyler and Spencer both had football games. They were both thrilled because their teams won. Yay!

Friday I spent the day canning 20 pints of salsa, running errands, and doing 8 loads of laundry. Friday night Wes and Brandon went on a 25 mile biking/camping trip with the scouts.

Saturday Spencer, Tyler, Justin & I cleaned the house while Brandon and Wes rode the 25 miles back home. Everyone else watched the BYU game while I ran stinkin' errands again.

That evening we got our family pictures taken up in the canyon. We just got the CD back, so as soon as we download them I will get some pictures loaded. Thank you Amber for taking our pictures!!!

One Nation Under God

Our neighbor is an artist. A very talented artist. His name is Jon McNaughton and not only is he a great artist, but he is one of the nicest guys around. Totally down to earth and friendly. We just love their family.

For his latest painting, he used Justin as a model. He has it finished and it is totally amazing.
His images are copyrighted, so I can't show one here, but you can see it on his website. Just click this link, then click on the picture to enlarge it.

One Nation Under God

The little boy in the yellow shirt is Justin. Is that cool or what?

Oh, and he used him as a model for another painting too. This one will have him sitting on the Savior's lap. We are sooo excited to see it. He told us it is finished and is being sent to printing. We'll let you know as soon as it is done.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Conversation with Justin as we walked in the door from the bus stop:

Justin: "Is dad here?"
Me: "No, not today."
Justin: "Aw danggit, I wanted to be able to ignore him!"

Bittersweet

My cute little Justin started kindergarten yesterday. He has been looking forward to it for months and was so excited. He was actually totally ready at 7:00 this morning and was not happy that he had to wait till 8:20 to catch the bus.

He couldn't wait to get out the door. He was not thrilled that I made him stop so I could take his picture.


In every way; academically, socially, and emotionally he is completely ready for kindergarten. I am thrilled that he is excited, but I can't help but feel a little sad. I am not ready to have an empty house. This was not supposed to happen. I totally expected that we would have a baby girl by now. All of us did. Apparently Heavenly Father has different plans for us though. I continue to have faith and keep a positive attitude, but some days it is really hard.

I missed him while he was gone. The house was eerily quiet. I just have to believe that we will have another little spirit or two joining our family. Because the thought that I will never have another first day of kindergarten, another first step, another first smile, is so heart wrenching that I can't bear to think about it.

Why my family had cereal for dinner tonight

Here is a list of the things I did today:
-Wake up, make bed, and straighten room
-Type up the papers for soccer drafts
-Eat breakfast.
-Send e-mails to soccer coaches
-Get boys ready for school and out the door. Forget to comb their hair. Hope that they brushed their teeth.
-Call players on Wes's football team to let them know about change in practice location.
-Shower and get ready for the day.
-Help Justin get ready. Make him change out of the shirt that he's been wearing since yesterday.
-Drive to the city park to ask if the soccer goal posts can be fixed before I put the nets up.
-Drive to the doctor's office to pick up Justin's immunization record.
-Head to the hardware store in Payson to buy nylon rope to finish hanging the soccer nets (we ran out last night.)
-Drive to Rod Works in Springville to pick up iron scroll for master bathroom.
-Stop at Walmart to get Brandon some school supplies. They were out of what he needed, but I managed to find a few other things. :)
-Tell Justin for the 15th time that I am not buying him a matchbox car just because we happen to be at Walmart. Or a box of fruit snacks. Or candy.
-Stop at the church cannery to buy more wheat for our food storage but realize I left my checkbook at home. And they don't take credit cards.
-Drive to American Fork to take Justin out to lunch with Wes.
-Wes is in the middle of a conference call; stop at DI.
-Go to a late lunch with Wes and Justin.
-Drive to the bank in Salem to drop off the car title.
-Drive to the elementary school to drop off Justin's immunization record.
-Come home and recruit Brandon to help me hang the soccer nets because I am not tall enough to reach the posts.
-Hang soccer nets
-Come home and return all the calls I missed while I was gone all day.
-Drive Spencer to football practice
-Arrange time for photographer to drop of picture packets for all the soccer teams.
-Drive Tyler to Salem for football practice.
-Load up all the soccer equipment and head to the park with Brandon and Justin.
-Set up fields for kindergarten games, answer questions, and hand out equipment and picture packets to coaches.
-Keep time for the kindergarten games while trying to oversee the 1st & 2nd grade games, and watch Justin play.
-Help 3rd & 4th grade players find their coaches for the first practice of the season.
-Clean off the fields and come home
-Hold drafts for the 5th & 6th grade soccer teams.
-Eat the scrambled eggs Wes made for me because he knows I don't like cereal.
-Hold family prayer, and listen as Justin gets a father's blessing in preparation for his first day of kindergarten tomorrow.
-Install the toilet seat in our master bathroom.
-Look at the wreck that is our home and decide that I am much to tired to tackle it tonight.
-Go to bed early and hope that tomorrow will be a less, um, productive day. Staring at the wall and muttering to myself maybe?

End of a Pathetic Summer

Brandon, Spencer, and Tyler started school this morning. (Justin starts next Wednesday.) I was totally unprepared this year. I am never ready for summer to be over, it always seems like it just flies by. We had plans to go camping, hiking, bowling, swimming, and golfing. We had plans to invite neighbors over to watch movies projected onto a screen on our deck. We had plans to have BBQ's and relax on our new deck. But we spent so much time working on darn house projects that we didn't even get to enjoy our time together. I think this will go down on record as being the most boring summer ever at the Cook house!

Don't Try This at Home!

Just in case any of you have ever wondered.

This is what happens to a pair of sunglasses that you accidentally leave in the cargo pocket of your shorts, (which your wife doesn't happen to check like the regular pockets when she does laundry), and they go through the washer.