Christmas Morning 2011

Christmas morning at Mom and Dad's house wouldn't be complete without reading Luke 2 together once everyone is awake, and then lining up on the stairs, youngest to oldest before going to see what Santa brought.  Cooper was excited, as was Cassady.  Chelsey and Stettsen had been up all night with his family, and were barely coherent.  I was FINALLY able to dodge being included on the stairs, declaring myself no longer a child, since I have on of my own.

Santa brought Cooper lots of great loot since he was such a good boy this year.  He instantly got to playing with the duplo legos.

Stettsen tried to explain to Coop what a sit and spin is.  Once we put it together, he LOVED it!

Ah the chaos of wrapping paper, lots of people, and lots of presents...

Had to snap a portrait of me and Nate.

Nate was eager to model his gifts.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is all the great little stuff in my stocking!

Nate was excited about this one...what could it be?

"Poopourri" from Mom!  His wife was thankful for this little bathroom addition. ;)

Cassady was EXCITED about getting a new camera to explore her photography talents.

And she looked adorable in her new beret.

Cooper and Papa checked out some toys.

Chelsey and Stettsen were thankful for eachother...awwww....

Mom modeled her new clock.

I've never seen Dad so excited about home decor!  "Life is good," as Dad always says.

Pretty soon Jayson and Anna joined us.  Cooper was excited to show them all his new stuff.

Anna and Aspen modeled some of the scarves I made all the girls.

Tyler was SO EXCITED to show us his new remote control helicopter.

Alex got one too.  But I think Jayson (their Dad) was more excited to play with them than they were!

Alex was excited to give Grandpa a special gift he'd worked on.

It took Dad a minute to realize what it was, but then he really liked this thoughtful gift-- a model Mach One!  The exact car Dad had back in the 70s.  They also gave him a framed picture of him with his car, one of the only photos he has of this awesome car.

Pretty soon baby Jaisie and Camyll joined us.  Can you find the baby in all that wrapping?

Can't get over this cute picture of mommy and baby.  They have the same eyes.  Too cute!

Calvin didn't get to come over that day because he was too sick, but Cooper enjoyed being with baby Jaisie.

It was a WONDERFUL Christmas Day full of family and lots of memories.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve day we went bowling as a family.  It was Cooper's first time, and he thought the shoes were pretty neat.  We had such a good time!  Dad showed us all that his bowling class in college still paid off, and took first place.  Can't remember if Mom or Jayson took second.  Nate came in third.

 Here's the little man watching his ball.  With a little help from this "high tech" bowling stand, and some awesomely high tech bumpers, Coop bowled something like a 45.  Go Coop!

 No visit to Jack & Jill's Bowling Alley would be complete without an order of those yummy greasy fries with a side of FRY SAUCE.  Another first for Cooper, he decided he liked fry sauce enough to just use his finger.  Who needs fries?

We were sure to include Bryt in our celebration of the day, being his birthday, even if just by phone.  Here's Jayson talking to Bryt on the phone whilst bowling.  I don't know why it struck me so funny.  And Jayson can be thankful that I used this shot and not any of the bending over bowling shots. ;o)

Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without a new pair of pajamas!  Tyler, Cooper and Aspen were ready to celebrate in theirs.

 Then it was crash time; two tired boys ready to go to bed so Santa could visit.

Christmas 2011 - Utah Day 1 and 2

 For weeks before Christmas, I'd been telling Cooper we were going on an airplane to visit LOTS of family like Grammie, Papa, Chelsey, and Calvin.  He was SO excited to finally see Calvin, and hasn't stopped talking about "Cowben" ever since.  So excited we get to go to Utah again in a few weeks for Chelsey's wedding and to see Calvin again!  Except for a few days when Cal was too sick, these too were INSEPARABLE!!  (Calvin 2-3/4, Cooper 2 --7-1/2 months difference in age)

Our second night in Utah, we went to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.  Cooper has been learning that temples are special places to be married so families can be together forever.  This is Cooper's first glimpse of the Salt Lake Temple, and we was ecstatic!

For Cooper, the night wasn't so much about seeing all the amazing Christmas lights, but about finding water fountains, and fighting with us over whether or not it was too cold to go swimming in them.  BOY WAS IT COLD, and CROWDED.  But we still managed to have a good time, despite the screaming toddler who was mad that we wouldn't let him play in the water.

\

We somehow managed to get some group photos.  Here's all the girls:  Chrystal, Camyll, Cassady, Aspen, Anna, Mom, and Chelsey (Jaisie was in the stroller keeping warm)

There's that adorable baby girl and her Mommy!

 And here's all the guys:  Calvin, Poulson, Dad, Alex, Cooper, Stettsen, Jayson, Tyler and Nathan

No trip to Temple Square would be complete without going inside the old Tabernacle.  We all had to go see the place where Grandma Great (Grandma Christensen) used to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Alex and Cassady were good sports.

Everyone was just happy to get out of the cold and the crowds for a second.

Cooper and Calvin were too busy to stop for a photo op.

"What were they too busy doing?", you might ask.  Playing swords with their neon light strips inside the reverent Tabernacle.  Yeah...sigh.

Back outside to see some more lights.  Camyll and Cass really liked this huge old tree decked out in red lights.

Spiderman and his sidekick, I mean, Calvin and Cooper, were happy to get a ride on their dads' shoulders.

Up the temple steps to touch the doorknob of the temple.  Coop thought that was just AWESOME!

Cass was too cute in her red coat.

Finally a good picture of the Coopster

We were all being goofy--I think it was the cold making us all go insane!  Either that or we were all trying to convince ourselves that being in huge crowds to see some Christmas lights at the temple in the bitter cold was FUN. ;o)  Actually, I really enjoyed it.  Thank you to the whole family for indulging me.

 As we made our way over to the reflecting pool, we passed the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where Nathan and I had our wedding reception 6 days shy of 7 years earlier.  As we walked around Temple Square that night, it was very nostalgic for us because the lights and the crowds were much the same on our wedding night as we came out of that side of the building for our reception send-off on our wedding night.  It was fun to have our little family of three there with my immediate family to celebrate Christmas, but also for Nathan and I to remember our wedding as we approached our 7th anniversary.  

 And of course, on the way back to the car, as Cooper screamed and cried because we left the "big water" and wouldn't let him play in it, we stopped in front of the Conference Center to see one last water fountain.

 It was a great way to start a GREAT Christmas vacation!

(Now that I FINALLY have all the photos uploaded and edited, more of Christmas to come as I have "spare" time to catch up.)

Thank you for the swing set

Cooper has LOVED his new swing set.  To those of you in the family that went in on this gift for him--THANK YOU!!!  The first day we had it up, he spent 3 hours outside playing nearly all by himself while I watched from the kitchen windows.  So we BOTH thank you. :o)
Nate found Coop outside without shoes on, just socks.  Shoes at the bottom of the slide.  He said he took them off so he could slide better.  What a kid.  We moved it to another spot in the yard so that the slide has more of an angle than what is shown here.  Many hours are going to be spent playing on this.
Thank you again, and Merry Christmas!

A Smattering of Christmas Fun

Cooper was excited when we finally finished decorating the Christmas tree.  He's been very good about not redecorating it, except to remove the "jingle bells" now and then, which apparently MUST be shaken while singing "Jingle Bells."  I've tried to capture his singing on video, to no avail.

 Here's the wreath on our front door,

and a little garland up the stairs. 

 Cooper LOVES having all the Christmas decorations around the house, especially the lights.  He is excited to come down the stairs every morning and plug in the Christmas lights "by self," while Mom is carefully supervising.

Last Friday I had the day off after working enough hours earlier in the week, so Cooper and I spent the afternoon outside.  He was excited to drive his car up and down the driveway.  Our driveway is sloped, so he can pick up a bit of speed going down.

 Then we went for a walk down the street, a treat because we have no sidewalks, and I won't let him ever go in the road.  He was ecstatic to drive his car down the street, and not at all happy when I told him it was time to turn around and go home.

 Then he decided it was time to ditch the Fred Flinstone-like car (pushing with feet), and ride the motorized one he calls his motorcycle.  It was a fun afternoon just Coop and Mommy; not something we often get at this point.

Last Friday night was our church Christmas party.  Santa made an appearance at the end.  It was rather rushed, so the pictures are crummy.   Coop was all eager to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.  He told me he wanted a "beeg choo-choo"  (a big train).

 But then when it was his turn, he got all shy and wouldn't speak.  He just stared the candy cane Santa was holding, and then finally reached out and just grabbed it.  Since he never told Santa he wanted a train, I guess he'll just have to wait and see what Santa brings him. :o)

 Saturday night we traveled to Columbia, SC to visit Aunt Denise, Uncle Jim, and Allison.  After a nice dinner and exchanging of gifts, we went to the Riverbanks zoo to see all the lights.

 It was a perfect night, not too cold, and Cooper enjoyed all the lights.  But he was gravely disappointed that all the "amals" were sleeping.  He did get to see one zebra awake!

Daddy took Cooper on the carousel, while Mommy, Aunt Denise, and Allison waved from the side.  He rode a fast cheeta, and LOVED it.

Thank you Aunt Denise, Uncle Jim, and Allison for a fun and memorable night!

Some packages arrived from Nana and Grandpa Gunning, and I had put them under the Christmas tree.  Sunday afternoon I came downstairs to find this...

 So we decided to go ahead and open the presents.  Coop loved his new clothes and books and such.  Here he is, proudly showing his loot!

Thank you, Nana and Grandpa for all the wonderful gifts!  We look forward to going to Chapin's with you!

"Jinkle" Bells in the Microwave

To those of you who follow face book, this is some repeat, and some new.  To those who don't, and so I can record this for Cooper's photo book, here are a few Cooper-isms of late.

Cooper recently learned that sometimes when people sing, they use microphones.  [I think Santa just may be getting him a little microphone for his stocking.]  The other day Cooper said, "Mommy, I'm donna sing "Jinkle Bewls" in the micro wave!"
"You mean microPHONE?"
"Oh. Yeah."

A Toys R Us catalog came in the mail today. Coop immediately grabbed it and has been looking through it all night, making comments like "Oh wow look at that!" and "Whoa!" I didn't realize he'd even know what it was. Our kid is growing up too fast.




Lately Cooper has been all about buttons.  He thinks that every toy must/should have button of some kind.  Last night he examined his snuggle puppy (stuffed animal), and then said, "Puppy no buttons," all forlorn.  Tonight Coop was looking at the bottom of our dog's feet when suddenly he exclaimed, "Mommy, Brody has buttons!" He was talking about the pads on his paws.  I couldn't stop laughing.


I love our little comedian, even if most of the time it's not on purpose.