Birthday Boy Keepin' It Young

I neglected to post anything for Randy's birthday -- September 17th!! He is now safely IN his THIRTIES. In August he kept our tradition alive and again participated in the Solon Beef Days BALE TOSS. I get a kick out of how strong he is without exercising, I have to admit I am a little jealous! If you've never picked up a hay bale, they usually weigh around 50 pounds or more. Here was his first throw:

It started to get dark, so this picture is not as good, but check out this one!

He even worked up a little sweat and threw over 11 feet, 6 inches.

Happy late birthday post honey - love you!

A few Utah pictures

I know, it's AUGUST and I STILL have not posted any summer pictures. So, here are a few from our UTAH trip since, let's face it, we have to make our yearly pilgrimage to the promised land where grandparents and babysitters (usually the same) are plenty. It also reminds me how NICE it is to be close to family.

Let's start out with me and my favorite buddy, Cooper. HIS favorite place was... Jumpin' Jacks with more inflatable bouncy houses than you could ever imagine.

We went camping with the McAffee clan, but AFTER C.J. burnt her hands touching the door stop on the front porch - aweful!! We're talking big BLISTERS up her fingers and everything. Randy and I passed her back and forth the whole time we were in the mountains since she STILL didn't want to walk, but cried every time she crawled. Here she is in a happy moment because she found a toy phone in Uncle Cliff and Aunt Jessi's camper.

It's amazing how fast babies can heal. Her bandages were off in 2 weeks.

Cooper had fun catching fish at Kids' Pond.

They both had fun with their cousins

Trevor, Caroline, Megan, Tyler, Cooper

And I had fun with my sister.

I wanted to run at least 1 race while I had so many babysitting options so my brother, Andrew, was a good sport to run with me. I picked him up at 6:30am to drive to Enoch for a 5k and asked how often he ran. He told me never, but thought it would be fun to do something with me. SERIOUSLY, I LOVE this kid. Of course I HAD to run WITH him but after 1.5 miles he told me to PLEASE go on without him and he would meet me at the finish line. It was my best time ever of 26 minutes. He didn't do too badly either, 32 minutes. Thanks for the run, little brother.

After the race we got to be in the parade in Cedar City on the Renaissance Fair Float. My Dad was in-charge so we couldn't say no. My mom makes the most amazing Renaissance costumes. Here is CJ and Cooper int their outfits. They got to ride in a wagon and eat, I mean pass out candy.

I had some GREAT pictures of all of us but my Dad stole them off my camera - I don't think he realized he did it. So no pictures of me in my dress - boo hoo.

Grandma Clark & Caroline

Grandpa Clark and Cooper

I have a funny story involving Randy, Cooper, cousin Sierra, throw-up, and streaking coming soon.
Hope you enjoy these for now and, if you live near family, you had BETTER give them a big HUG and tell them you appreciate them! I wish ours were closer - we love you guys!

June Catch-Up

Lots of family visiting these past few months, you know how it goes... here are a few shots of our JUNE adventures before I start posting our latest TRIP pictures.

[ Close your eyes, imagine all the CUTE pictures of the kids and me in FLORIDA and CHICAGO. Alas, they will never be seen because I LEFT my camera on the PLANE!! And, after daily phone calls to the airline, it is now gone FOREVER. ]
A moment of silence........

Ok, on to better things :)

Cooper finished preschool for the year. I was able to have the last one at my house and we decorated bird houses, then had a party in the backyard. I, and four other moms, participated in a preschool co-op this past year, rotating houses each week. We're doing it again this fall, it was a great success! 

Caroline is growing and learning so fast. Especially her fashion sense. She even has a

LITTLE bit of hair now, yea!

C.J. also says "cheese" when she sees me with a camera - I wonder who she gets that from :)

We were driving in the car one day, I looked back and saw this:

Cooper likes to hold her hand and give her kisses, though she's not always so cooperative.

We've been saying good-bye to a few friends this year as their residency experience has ended. Here is Cooper with Riggs and Luke at a farewell bbq for the Gurgell's (off to Stanford). The Iowa gear was not planned, it's just what EVERYONE wears on the weekends - go hawkeyes!

Shortly after this Riggs and his family (McKay's) were off as well to Philly. We're going to miss all our friends who have moved on - good luck to everyone!

Spring is always fun when we get to plant flowers with "Grandpa" Frank. He is our sweet next door neighbor (literally, we share a wall) who is so good to our family and adores Cooper & C.J. Cooper was all smiles when he was able to help plant this year. Shortly after this pictures was taken he sprayed us all with the hose, but it was ok because "it was just an accident, mommy."

 Pictures of our summer adventures soon to come!

Super Cooper is now 3

We may have gone a LITTLE crazy with this birthday, but Randy and I figured that next year we would be getting ready to MOVE so THIS was the year to have a big party for COOPER. Of course, Cooper picked a DINOSAUR bouncy house that we jumped in ALL weekend.

It was so COLD the day of his party but as you can see by the smile on Cooper's face, he didn't mind a bit.

Next, we had to have a DINOSAUR cake. I worked on this all morning and figured out it was much easier to make spikes out of taffy than rolled fondant.

The party wouldn't be complete without a DINOSAUR pinata. I tried to get Randy to use a stick and hold the pinata outside for the kids but (wisely) he chose to take it to the garage and monitor the activity from a SAFER distance.

We ate DIRT with DINOSAUR eggs. I caught C.J. helping herself to a few of these.

And opened lots of cool presents from FRIENDS.

Cooper even let Caroline play with his new BIG WHEEL. Sweet big brother!

Thanks to everyone who came and played with us, despite the weather.

We had a GREAT time!

Side Note: I left my camera on the AIRPLANE last week (it had a TON of pictures from recent trips/activities). Hopefully I will get it back soon but they said it could take up to 4 weeks to process my claim :( Keep your fingers crossed for me that I will get it back!

Our Newest Nephew

A big welcome to Mason who was born last month, March 8th, to Dan and Jane.

He's a cutie!

And we are Moving to...

SANTA MONICA, CA!!
Randy was accepted to SCOI (Southern CaliforniaOrthopaedic Institute) Fellowship Program in Sports after we finish here in Orthopaedic Surgery (JUNE 2011). It's Randy's first choice so we are SO EXCITED and it's suppose to be an amazing program.
That means 1 more Iowa winter
And all our $$ will go to rent in Santa Monica
And my kids will be able to PLAY at the BEACH
And I don't have to buy winter coats on clearance this year
Oh, so exciting!!!!

Caroline turns 1

My baby girl turned 1 last week. I'm so grateful to have her in our family. I remember the night before going to the hospital, putting Cooper to bed, and crying as I stroked his hair thinking, " I can't imagine loving any baby as much as I love him". I bet many mothers have thought that same thing. It's funny how your heart grows and you're able to love even more.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

She wasted no time digging in and threw cake all over the place but who can get mad about it on the birthday? Don't think it's an every day acceptance!

Caroline doesn't mind getting messy. In fact, she was out "helping" Randy and Cooper wash the car on Saturday and I caught her eating bubbles.

This is her favorite thing to do right now, I have to shut the bathroom door or she speed-crawls in to the bathroom:

Don't let the innocent look fool you... she KNOWS she's not suppose to do this!

C.J. also loves her food. Here's what happens when I give her an apple:

She won't eat it if I cut it up nicely for her because she wants to do this:

Love that baby girl of mine.

I wanted to post some video but can't figure out how with the new blogger layout. So enjoy the pictures and I'll see if I can post it later.

Love to all