Cory, July, Cayman & Cooper

Caymans Year so far in School!

2011-12-31T12:02:00.005-07:00

Here are a few pictures of what Cayman has been doing at her preschool Little Learners. Her teacher updates the blog all the time and you can see pictures of everything they do. If you can't go to a party its okay because she takes pictures. I love it! Here are a few from this past year.
Here they are coloring

A trip to the dentist office.

Wearing black to school.
Here is their Halloween party.

Making Cupcakes

A visit to the local grocery store.

Wearing Orange day.

Wearing Brown Day
Making Soup and eating Carrots.
Making Cookies
Cayman's Birthday party!
Cooking class.

Thanksgiving Feast and Party

Christmas Fun!

2011-12-27T12:37:00.015-07:00

We started Christmas week off with a few visits to the doctors. Cooper wasn't feeling too well and his eye was a little swollen so we took him in to see the doctor. He had pink eye and an ear infection that probably hadn't gone away from his first one the beginning of December. He spits out his antibiotics and fights with me to take them so Dr. Kim suggested we do shots of Rocephin to help speed up the recovery of both. This is very potent and use it in meningitis patients. It would be 3 days of shots and then he should be doing better. I hated to do it, but with him fighting on the medicine this just made more sense. The shot is really hard on kids, the needle is big and the serum is thick and is basically the worst shot to get. It hurts really bad. Cooper cried so hard and then had 3 baths that night to help with the pain. The next day we went in again and he got another shot in the other leg and cried so hard again and this time couldn't even walk. It was so sad. We did more baths and tylenol and went in the next day for his 3rd. He knew what was coming this time and tried hiding behind the chair and saying bye, bye. He was so sad and started crying even before they poked him. It was not fun. More baths that night and he is doing lots better.
We had the Vincent Christmas party on Friday and had fun eating and playing games. The kids got to be angels and shepherds, except Cooper wouldn't wear his hat. They both got to open a present and then the adults did a white elephant game.

I was so happy when I opened mine and found Justin Biebers singing toothbrush in my bag. Cayman was so excited! After that we saw Santa Clause, {Cory's grandpa Vincent.} The kids were so excited to see him!

After that we let the kids open their gifts from the cousins. Cayman was so happy to get a Justin Bieber microphone and a Cinderella blanket from Jackson. Cooper got a remote control car from Kenz and it is by far his most favorite toy!! That ended our night of Christmas and we headed for home. Cayman had to show her Justin Bieber stuff.
Christmas Eve we went to Connie's at 12 for a light lunch and to exchange gifts. Candice wasn't able to make it so it was just us and Cj's family. We had our lunch and then the kids were able to open gifts from grandma. Cooper got a toy castle with a knight and dragon and some clothes. Cayman got an outfit and lots of cute earrings.

After the gifts we were able to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and eat cake.
It was fun. We then went home to take naps and get ready for our Jesus Birthday dinner back at Connies.
We went back over around 6 to eat dinner of French dip. It was just our family this time and we ate dinner. We read a book about baby Jesus and then made a baby Jesus quilt out of paper.

We then had birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Cooper and Cayman got to blow out the candle and were so excited to eat cake and ice cream.

We came home and did our own family tradition of opening one gift, usually pajamas and setting out cookies. The kids loved their jammies.
Cayman got JEssie ones and Cooper got Toy Story. We set out milk, cookies and carrots and then went to bed.
Santa came that night and I have to say he did a great job! Here is Caymans stash:
Here is Coopers:
Christmas morning we had fun seeing what Santa brought and Cayman was so happy with her Justin Bieber doll.
Cooper was excited by everything. Here are some pics.

We started opening gifts and Cooper would open one, look at it, and then sign and say "more". It was pretty sad when there weren't "more" presents to open. I got spoiled and Cory gave me a mixer and a iPad! I couldn't have been more surprised. Cory got a new golf bag, golf passes, Utah scrapbook I made him, Utah book, and cologne. We then had a fast breakfast and headed to church.
Cayman sang in sacrament and it was very nice. We sat with Connie and Cj and Jackie. When church was over we all came back to our home and made a yummy breakfast of Cinnaburst french toast, hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon. It was so good. We then took naps and waited for my dad to come over. Him and Carma came and saw what the kids had gotten from Santa and then we went to look at the lights at Temple Square. My dad hadn't been there for years. He was taking pictures of everything. I took a few pics and most of them didn't turn out. Here they are.

Alli and Paul came over after we got home and we played for a little bit, ate yummy snacks and visited. It was a great Christmas day. Here is my little Woody cowboy!
We went Ice skating today at the Rec center and Cooper just had to have his own pair of ice skates. They were a little big, but he walked really well on them. He was having a great time. He went on the ice with daddy and did great! Cayman was happy to be ice skating again too. She had to have help from Cory but loved it.

Christmas time!

2011-12-21T09:19:00.006-07:00

We had to do our yearly tradition of going to Temple Square and looking at the lights. Here are some pics. It was really busy.

When we were plenty chilled we stopped for some hot chocolate and pretzels.

Cooper just had to have his picture taken with Joseph and Emma. He was ready to pose.

After looking at the lights at Temple Square, we went back to Grandmas and Cayman helped her make Donuts and hot chocolate!!

We had a little family dinner Sunday with my Grandma Betty Rose and my Aunt Kathie and her Daughter Becky. My sister Alli and her hubby Paul came too. We had fun eating and visiting. Here is Cayman with her Great-Grandma Betty.

We took the kids Iceskating at the Galivan center in Downtown salt lake. Cayman and Cory were having a great time and Cooper was okay for about ten minutes then he had a royal tantrum that lasted about an hour. He was crying and screaming and kept saying go Bye, bye. He had enough of the cold I guess. We had to cut our time short ice skating and take Cooper home. He cried the whole way and was so tired went right to bed. Cayman did have a good time while she was able to skate.

We went out and looked at Christmas lights the other night and as an added bonus, daddy treated us to Leatherby's icecream!! Yummy!
This is just one cute picture of Cooper gazing into the tree. I love that he is so content. Cute!!

Its Beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2011-12-12T18:52:00.019-07:00

We had a ward Christmas party the first weekend in December called Breakfast in Bethlehem that we started our weekend off with.

We had breakfast food for dinner and great company. A few people in the ward had practiced to do the Nativity in a skit and it was great. Then we had a visit from Santa. The kids were so excited to see him.

Cooper just couldn't contain his excitement. He was all smiles. Cayman told Santa she wanted a Justin Bieber doll and I think he rolled his eyes just a little bit. So funny. We had a fun night and it was a great start to December.
That Monday for family home evening we went to Zoo lights at Hogle Zoo. It was seriously so cold. The coldest night we have had so far this year. We bundled up the kids, picked up Grandma Connie, and met Jackie and Cj at the zoo. It is really so pretty and lights are everywhere. I recommend this to everyone to go to. We had so much fun and even got to see Santa again. The kids were loving it. Santa was darling and his little house was so cute. The kids got to write letters and mail them to the North Pole.

Once again, Cooper was just so excited to see him. They sat on his lap and told him what they wanted. We then walked around the zoo and had fun looking at everything.

We got to ride the carousel and Cayman went with Aunt Jackie and I was with Cooper. He chose the lion and it was so big that you only can see my gloves holding Cooper on it.

After that we went and ate and the Spaghetti Factory and had some good food. It was such a fun night. Our little elf has been up to a few more little tricks. He got into our sugar bag and decided to make a snow angel with it. The kids thought it was pretty funny. We made a gingerbread house later in the week and the kids always love to do this. They basically decorated the whole thing without any help except for me putting on the icing. It looks great!!

That Thursday Cory and I took Cayman to a Kurt Bestor's Christmas at Abravenal Hall. Cory brought Cayman and I roses for our big night. Cayman couldn't stop telling daddy thank you and kissing him. She was so excited. Cayman wore her new Christmas dress and got all pretty.
She looked so grown up. She kept saying how magical everything was. Here are a few pics of her.

It was a fun concert and hopefully one that we can keep in our Christmas traditions. Cooper got to stay home and have a date with Grandma Connie. He had fun too.
That Friday we drove up to Idaho for our Skidmore Christmas. We stopped by to see my Grandma Mead that night and then we headed to my dads. We hung out for little bit with them and my brother Ryan. The next day Alli and Paul came up and we all decided to go bowling. Cory thought it would be fun to get trophies to give out to the high scoring couple, the highest score and the loser. Let the games begin. It was so much fun except for Cooper. He was crying most of the time so there really aren't any pics of him. He was having a hard time. But here is one good one! The teams were Cory and I, Alli and Paul, Mel and Phil, Ryan and Alex,and Grandpa Jenns and Cayman. Overall winners were Ryan and Alex, they beat Cory an I by just a couple pins. We will get them next time! Highest score was Paul with me coming in second!! Losers who had the most fun were Grandpa and Cayman. It was lots of fun.

Here is our whole family!! This rarely happens to have everyone together! We had our Christmas dinner and opened gifts that night. The kids got lots of fun toys and were spoiled.
Everyone got fun presents and then it was time for games.

We played wacky six's and ate tons and tons of yummy treats. I think I had a belly ache all weekend because I kept eating everything. It was all so good. Sunday we just hung out and ate some more and then headed home. We had a really good time

Thanks to everyone who made our weekend great!! We had so much fun and can't wait for more Christmas festivities to happen! Happy Holidays!

Getting ready for the holidays.

2011-12-01T08:51:00.005-07:00

Its been awhile since we last posted. This is just a blog to catch up and have some pics. Cayman and I got new coats this year and although we didn't plan it, we got pretty similar ones. We match!! Pretty cute anyways! We had a great Thanksgiving out at Connies house. Everyone came and Cayman and Cooper got to play with their favorite cousins!! We ate lots of good food and played games. It was fun. The next day was our last Utah game of the season. It was nice weather but cold outside. We braved it but in the end we lost. Bummer. Can't wait til next season.
The other night we wrote letters to Santa!

Cayman and Cooper told me what they wanted and I wrote their list. It was fun. The next day we put them in the mailbox and hope they get to the North Pole soon.

We put Christmas up and I love the looks of Christmas in our home. It is so cozy and festive. I love it!! Here are some pics.

We put up trees in each of the kids rooms too. Cayman has a pink tree and Cooper has a regular green tree. It is Christmas all over our house! While we were putting up Christmas our friend the Elf came to visit. He stays during the month of December and reports back to Santa if the kids have been good or bad. He is usually a very good visitor but lately he has been up to some mischief of his own...he put polka dots on the kids face's one night and he hides in silly places

and then last night he toilet papered Cayman's room. Can you see Elf hiding in her tree? It is pretty fun to watch the kids reaction to the things that happen and Cooper loves to find where Elf is hiding everyday. It is really fun. Cayman however, is afraid of the elf now that he gets into trouble sometimes. She really doesn't like Elf in her room. This is a fun tradition that Grandma Connie started a couple years ago and the kids just love it. We will be going to our ward Christmas Party Saturday and then we have a full week ahead of Holiday fun. I will post more then!

Halloween night!

2011-11-04T13:09:00.004-06:00

Halloween is such fun for us. We always get a pumpkin pizza from Papa Murphys and have that before we trick or treat. Yummy!!
Here is Cooper dressed up as a witch..so funny. He loves to play dress up in Caymans clothes.
Here we are getting ready to trick or treat. What a cute little family.
It was such a nice night and the kids had so much fun. We met up with some of the neighbors and went knocking. Cooper was loving it! At the end of the night the kids dumped out all their goodies and had quite the stash. We didn't get too many trick or treaters so we had way too much left over candy. Here are the kids with our neighbor Sri. He made a cute cow!
Here the kids are with cousin Jackson! Cute little dragon!

Trunk or Treat!

2011-10-29T12:56:00.006-06:00

Cayman had a costume party at school on Thursday and she was so excited to finally wear her Strawberry shortcake costume.

It really is so darling! She looks just like her!! See for yourself....She then had to get her immunizations and well check at the doctor. Her stats for year 5 is weight at 37.7lbs, Height at 41 3/4 total of 30% for both. She is kind of small as well. Cayman got 4 shots that day and was not a happy camper. She cried so hard and I felt so bad that she was so scared. The bright side of this was that she was going to start Gymnastics that night and so after a little heat on her legs and some Tylenol she was ready to go. Cayman loved her class and I think she will like something different than ballet. Cooper was wanting to do gymnastics so bad...he kept pointing to himself and saying me, me, me. He can start when he is potty trained. Poor kid.
Friday Coopers speech teacher came over in the morning and we had a little class and Cooper and her played with toys and tried some talking. She brought me some sign language cards to start using with him. I hope this helps him with his speech. She comes 2 times a month and we work with him on our own the rest of the time. Cooper is just such a quiet little boy when he plays or makes noises. Besides when he is throwing a tantrum because we don't understand what he wants. It is really frustrating to not be able to communicate with Cooper because he doesn't speak. It is hard for him too because he is a really smart boy. He understands everything we say, and gets so happy when we understand what he wants. I wish he could talk. Some day soon we hope! Also on Friday, Cayman woke up with a headache, fever of 101.7 and tummy ache. I think the immunizations had a little side effect because she laid around all morning. She took a nap in the afternoon and after a little bath, more Tylenol and some loves was ready to go Trunk or Treat.
That night we had our Trunk or Treat at the church. We dressed up the kids as Buzz Lightyear and Strawberry shortcake, I dressed up a bit too and we were off.

We first played some carnival games like go fishing,

and then the cake walk. The kids did not win a cake. They did contests for the best costume, best decorated trunk, and pumpkin carving. Everyone kept saying how cute the kids were and I just kept saying Thanks!! Vote for them. At the end of the night, I was surprised when they said the winners of best costume went to both of the kids!! Yay!!! They were very cute!! The kids got so much candy I can't believe they even could carry their baskets. Very fun night! While we were there Buzz ran into Woody and we just had to get a picture!! Love it!!
Today we carved pumpkins. Cory, Cooper and Cayman all said they wouldn't touch the guts so I basically gutted all the pumpkins and Cory carved 2 of them. Don't let the picture above fool you, they were just using a spoon inside to move stuff around. Cayman wanted a Heart on hers and it turned out really pretty cute. We then carved 2 more and they turned out great too! I had to carve one too or else it wasn't really pumpkin carving! You have to do all of it to have the experience. I love Halloween! Can't wait for the game tonite and more Festivities on Monday!

Cornbelly's and Gardner Village

2011-10-25T13:03:00.012-06:00

We went to Cornbelly's on Saturday and had a lot of fun. We haven't been since Cooper was born so we thought we should try it again. Cayman loved it when she was Coopers age. We had to first start at the Princess dress up room and then do all the fun things. Sit in the carriage, dance on the stage, have a knight drive the carriage, play on the bouncy horses and play in this fun wooden house. We then went on a Cow ride in these plastic barrels. Very cute. Love this Cow bench too!

The kids loved listening to the chicken show. Cooper liked pressing the button to make the chickens tell a joke.
We then went on a ride on the Grain Train around the corn maze. We saw lots of different silly scarecrows.
We went down some fast slides and some small slides. Then Cayman got to milk the cow. She was doing a great job. Milk was coming out like she was a pro!
We then went to the big pillow jumps. Cooper loved this as he loves to jump on the trampoline.

The kids had fun on tire swings, and playing in all these different wooden play toys.
I told Cooper to smile in this picture and he just kept shutting his eyes. I was laughing so hard. He was being silly. Here he finally did it.They had fun playing in this little hay maze. No such luck of getting lost!
And ending the day with a delicious sno cone!
GARDNER VILLAGE
We went out to Gardner village on Monday night for family home evening to see all the witch displays. We go every year and usually do the ride to a witch but it is only on the weekends so we just enjoyed looking at the displays. It was a beautiful night, nice and warm for an October evening. Enjoy the pics.
I love Coopers look on his face in this picture! I look like Ive seen a ghost!

Cooper really wanted his picture taken by the Witches playing softball. He went and stood right in that spot and pointed to himself and smiled. I said you want a picture? and Cooper said "ya." Here ya go!

Cayman was a little grumpy in this picture.

We love this time of year and all the fun things to do! Can't wait for Trick or Treats!

Caymans 5th Birthday

2011-10-22T17:24:00.009-06:00

Cayman turned 5 on October 21st. How fast those years have gone. I can't believe we have a 5 year old. Cayman really wanted to do a My Little Pony party this year and so it was. I was trying for weeks to think of fun decorations I could make but nothing really stood out to me except for these really cute tissue paper poms and this candyland decor for outside. I made the suckers with foam paper plates, tissue paper, and cellophane. I then painted a wooden dowel white. I made the walkway with posterboard from the dollar store. 2 for $1. It turned out pretty cute. I also use the tulle on the chairs every year. I have been collecting different colors and make chair covers. It adds a bit of color and fun to the party.

We gave out gift bags for each girl and here is what we put inside. We also gave a My Little Pony color book and crayons. I had a girl from my work named Emeline come and do the girls face painting for their Cutie Mark. If you don't know what that is it is the design on each of the pony's bum. Called Cutie Marks. The girls got one on their face, not bums! Hahaha! Cayman invited 5 friends, Nyla, Georgia, Mckenna, Meggie and Miya. I had a couple of activities to do while waiting for Cutie mark painting. They painted a sun catcher Unicorn, made Froot Loop necklaces and bracelets and then had My little Ponies on t.v. to watch. It was lots of fun. Cayman was excited to open presents and she got some great things!!

A My little pony bubble blower, make your jewelry, Strawberry shortcake Dvd, Barbie Dvd, and Hello Kitty Nail kit. Very fun!! Thanks for the great gifts!! We then had cupcakes and ice cream. It was a huge success and Cayman had lots of fun!! Then it was on to clean up and ready for the next party. The family.
We had invited Cory's Family and mine. They all came except for my brother Ryan and Candices husband Dallas. It was lots of craziness, fun and eating. It was so crazy, that I forgot to take pictures of all this fun we had so there are only a few of opening presents and cake.
We had pizza from Little ceasers, Breadsticks and salad. It was great. We then opened presents from everyone and Cayman was just going crazy.She was sure spoiled. She loved all her gifts. An outfit from Grandpa and Grandma Skidmore, Barbie Princess Charm school from Mel and Phil, Justin Bieber doll and Cootie the game from Alli and Paul, something must have been really funny...look at her face!

Outfit and shoes from Grandma Connie, Justin Bieber magazine from Jackie and CJ and Barbie Mermaid doll from Cohen and Kenzley. Lots of fun gifts!! Thanks family. She is loving them all!! We gave her a Princess and me Ariel doll that is very cute!! A princess Celestia pony that lights up and talks, Jasmine dress up outfit, lipgloss, princess perfume. Spoiled for sure!!
We then sang Happy Birthday and blew out candles. We had a My little pony cake of course..and then we ate cake and ice cream and stuffed ourselves silly. It was a great night and we are so glad that our families were able to celebrate Cayman turning 5!

Halloween at the Cottrells

2011-10-22T16:42:00.008-06:00

Just a fun little post of the couple Halloween festivities we have done. Here first is our spooky house.

We love to decorate. It is more cute than scary. I love all my little crafts! I decided to try attempting to make Cinnamon rolls. I have never in my life made them and they actually turned out delicious. That weekend we went to Pack Farms in Farmington to pick out our pumpkins and have a little fun. You pick up your wagon and walk down lots of paths to find the perfect pumpkin. We found 4.

We let the kids play in the hay maze and get pictures by these huge pumpkins.

They were so big and Cooper thought he could try rolling it like a ball.

So funny to watch. Here they are on the corn maze trail.

Cayman was star student at her school this week because of her birthday so she got to make a poster of all her favorite things. We took cupcakes and I got to tell the class about her poster. She felt very special. It was fun. The next post will be all about Caymans birthday!! She will be 5!! Wow!

Happy Birthday Cayman!

2011-10-21T08:41:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to our Sweet Princess Cayman!! I can't believe that only 5 short years ago I gave birth to this little beauty! I can remember it like it happened yesterday. What a wonderful 5 years we have had and hope for many more!! We love you monkey!! I will post more after the party!!

Caymans Ear piercing!!

2011-10-15T14:43:00.001-06:00

Wow!! Cayman is going to be 5 next Friday! I can't believe she is getting so big. For her birthday we decided to let her get her ears pierced. We went to Claire's on Friday night and she got to pick out her earrings. She picked some pink flowers with a diamond in the middle. They are very cute. It was fun to watch her get her ears pierced, although she was pretty nervous and I was the one actually crying the most. She sat on a tall stool and they marked her ears with a dot. Then, they pierced her ears. Cayman was a little shocked at first and then the tears came. It was only for a minute or so and she was so brave. Once they put the antiseptic on her ears, she calmed right down. My little Cayman is getting bigger every year. She looks so cute with the sparkles on her ears. We then went and got ice cream because it cures everything! Here is Caymans happy face!I will post more about her Birthday Party next week!!

Catch up with the Cottrell's

2011-10-03T20:24:00.009-06:00

It's the end of summer and Football is here! Our brother in law Dallas made a special trip up to our house and painted a huge red and white U on our lawn. It looked fantastic!! He also did CJ's lawn too. We loved having it there. Thanks Dallas!

It only lasted 2 weeks but it was fun having it!
We have been to a few Utah games and can't wait to see what the season will bring.
We were lucky enough to be given free tickets to the Circus by our sister in law Jackie. She won them and wasn't able to go so she gave them our family. We were pretty excited. We took the kids and had a good afternoon. The circus isn't what I remember it. There was way to much Clown Action for me and Cory. Cayman was laughing quite a bit though. She had a very good time!

Last Sunday we went to Red Butte gardens to walk around since we have a pass and haven't been yet. It was really cool and pretty. I didn't take the camera and should have! We will have to go again soon. After that we came home to celebrate my mom's birthday in Heaven. Boy I have missed her so much. We let off ten balloons into the sky to send to her.

Cayman and Cooper loved letting the balloons go. I hope she had a great birthday! Love you mom!!

My dad came down Tuesday night for a work meeting and was able to stay with us and watch one of Caymans Soccer games. She was really excited to see her grandpa! It was fun hanging out with him and Alli if it was just a short time. We loved it!
Cayman had a field trip in preschool to the Fire Dept and Cooper and I were able to go and chaperon. It was really fun to learn about fire trucks and the kids watched a movie about finding a family exit plan in case of a fire. It was a cute cartoon and the kids did really good watching it. They even got to sit in a real Fire truck!!

At the end they all got red fire hats. Even little Coop!

This weekend we went to the Gateway to support the Red and white. The college is promoting the night before games with a parade, booths, and tattoos! We were so excited to have Swoop hang out with us for a little bit. He took Cayman and helped her squirt the water gun on a bunch of people and then when Cory took the picture, Swoop got him right in the crotch so it looked like he peed his pants. We all burst out laughing pretty hard. It was lots of fun. The next day we went to the game and Grandma Connie watched the kids. It was nice to have a night out! The following morning was Conference and so we packed up the kids in the car and went on a fall drive listening to the speakers. It was very pretty as we drove up the canyon and we had an enjoyable afternoon. Here are the pretty colors we saw on the mountain!

This is just a cute picture of Cooper trying on Halloween hats down the aisle at Walmart! What a cute boy!! How can you not love this face?!!
That is us catching up on the last couple weeks. We have all been fighting colds and coughs and hope that fall brings us a little more wellness than we have had recently.

Disney!

2011-09-14T14:38:00.031-06:00

We started planning a trip to Disneyland in December and had hopes that someone in either family would be able to go with us, but with no such luck, we went alone.
We left Tuesday night and drove to St.George. Stayed there until Thursday when Cory finished working and then hit the road for California.
Day 1
We stopped in Vegas to show the kids the Bellagio Fountains, the Ceaser Palace show, and pirates show at Treasure Island. Little did we know that the shows were only during the evening. How lame. We got a few pics and then left and headed on our way to Disney.

We arrived in California and checked into our hotel. We then made a dash to the beach. We went to Huntington beach and let the kids play on the sand and in the cold water.

It was not something Cooper was loving. He wanted to be held the whole time. He hated the water hitting his feet. Cayman on the other hand was having a blast picking up seashells and playing.
That night we went to Downtown Disney for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and looked around at the shops. Cayman was posing everywhere and dancing.
They tried on silly hats.

Cooper loved this car store. You get to custom make your own vehicle. It looked really cool but until he gets a little bigger we weren't going to spend 60 bucks on a car for play. Maybe in a couple years. It was fun though and Cooper had a good time playing with the models.
We called it a night after this and went back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.
Day 2
Woke up bright and early and made our way to Disneyland. We first wanted to see the fairies. Cayman was a little disappointed to not meet Tink this day but she met Rosetta and Terrance! I was excited to meet Terrance because he is Tinks best friend!

We went on Monsters Inc ride
Spent time in Bugs Land
Saw the Phineas and Ferb dance party parade
Cory and Cayman went on this Grizzly rapids ride and I love Caymans face in the picture!!
One of Cayman and Coopers favorite rides was the Little Mermaid! Cooper would keep asking for more every time we got off. It was really cute. We probably went 20 times during our visit.
During lunch, Cooper took off running and ran smack into a chair and it flattened him like a pancake on the floor. He was crying so hard and his forehead immediately began to swell. I felt so awful. I want to say this knocked him out for about 3 hours. Poor guy.
Sign in between Disney and California Adventure.
We met Gepetto and Pinochio
Cory and Cayman loved to ride Splash Mountain. They did it quite a few times.!! I love this picture!

We met Tigger and Pooh!
Cooper at the Honey pots just cheesing it!
Us on Orbit blaster in Disney land
Cooper got a big kiss from Sleeping beauty! What a charming boy!
Cayman loved to see the princesses.
My least favorite ride so I am never in these pics. These three love it!
Cooper on Toads car.
The dumbo ride.

I love this picture of Cayman and Cory doing the Tower of Terror. Cayman wouldn't go again.
That night we saw World of colors. It was amazing! Cooper fell asleep but we had a great view and it was worth the wait! All these things of water shooting into the sky to project a movie on it. It was pretty cool.

Day 3 started with pouring rain. It was the day for the USC and UTAH game. Cory was going to head down to watch the game with his brother CJ and friend Ryan. I was going to spend the day with the kids. We got Cayman a princess dress and Cooper a Pirate outfit to wear but because of the rain, Cayman wore the pirate stuff and saved the dress for the next day. Cory left around 11 to meet the boys and we headed to Disneyland. We went to California adventure first and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. The kids loved it. We then went to see Playhouse Disney live. They took off Winnie the Pooh and added Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It turned out pretty cute. Cooper loved it when the bubbles came down and Cayman loved getting the gold doubloons. Next we watched the Monsters Inc parade show. It was really fun and one of the yellow quarantine monsters was trying to get Cayman. She was not too happy.

We met Stitch from Lilo and Stitch and Cayman got his autograph.We then saw the Cars Mcqueen and Mater.

We saw Doug the dog from the Movie UP.

Here we are with Duffy the bear. You can read his story here of how he came about.
We went to Midway Mania and saw some Toy Story characters!

And we rode King Tritons Carousel.

After Disneyland we went to the hotel and went swimming then we walked down to Denny's for dinner. That night we watched a movie and went to bed. Cory was doing this:

He loved the game even though we lost and thought this was the best stadium and tailgating he had ever seen. What a neat experience for him and I am glad he got to go.
Day 4
We woke up early and met the Princesess for Cayman. She was in heaven. She wore her dress and kept posing and acting prim and proper.

Daddy and Cooper went to see the Cars one more time.
We met Jasmine and Aladdin
Met Eeyore!

Here we are in Toon Town.

Cooper loved Pluto.
Love Goofy! He didn't even have a line.
Meeting Minnie Mouse!
Just waiting in line!
Of course we met Mickey!!
Coopers favorite ride Buzz Lightyear!
On our submarine in Finding Nemo.
Disneyland Picture out front!

Day 5
Our last day in the Happiest place on earth. Disney had started putting out some of the Halloween stuff and we were lucky enough to see a little bit.

We had to do the Dumbo ride again.
Famous picture in front of the castle.
Had to do one more ride on Ariel
And we got lucky and saw Woody!
Here on Main Street we saw a ton of characters. Chip
Donald Duck
Cruella De Ville

Mary Poppins and Burt
The Mad Hatter, Alice and The Queen
We ran into Cinderella again,who amazingly remembered Cooper and even his name!
Waited in line for an hour to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.
Cooper on the Carousel waving!
And one more stop to Pixie Hollow to meet Tink!

Cooper trying to pull out the sword in the stone. I think he is too little? Haha!
This ended our last day and Cooper had to have one last rid on Buzz lightyear. He loved this ride more than anything and kept signing more after he got off each time. We rode it at least 5 times in a row once.

We went to Downtown Disney and let the kids pick out a toy to take home and Cayman picked out the Fairies of Pixie Hollow dolls and Cooper picked out a Buzz Blaster gun. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. Now what will our next vacation be?

Go Utes!!

2011-09-13T16:07:00.000-06:00

Cory and Cayman had a daddy daughter date to the 1st Utah Utes game of the season! Cayman was so excited to go. We got her a pink Utah jersey shirt and Cory said that she was worried she wouldn't get into the game because it wasn't red. Silly girl. She looked really cute and had a lot of fun with daddy. They of course had to get a snowie. It was Caymans only request! Here are some pics of the game...

Cooper and I went to Mcdonalds and then came home and he went to bed. It was a great evening by myself!! A little July time is what I need every now and then! Here are some pics of before the game!

Cottrell Family Pictures

2011-09-01T11:22:00.010-06:00

We gave Connie an Extended family picture shoot from Wink Flash Photography for her Mothers day and birthday present. We have a great neighbor Angalee who takes these and does a great job. We had a fun time and here are some of the pics!

Week of Firsts!!

2011-08-31T08:29:00.010-06:00

Last week I took the kids to the Thanksgiving point Dinosaur museum of ancient life. We have never been there before and so we thought we would give it a try.

It was 2 buck Tuesday's and I think every mom and kid from Utah county decided to go. It was pure madness. We waited in line outside for over half an hour and then once inside, we were smashed like sardines. It was crazy. If it was like this any other day, I would not have paid to go, but for 2 bucks I had to try it. The kids first went to this room that had activities to see how things work and move, like the discovery gateway.

Cooper had a lot of fun in here and Cayman was trying to see how fast she could pedal to light up the 4 lights. We then moved on to the rest of the museum of dinosaurs. Here are some pics.

They got to dig for fossils in the sand room and Cooper loved that!! Cayman loved this sand and water table.

Cooper wouldn't even touch it. We had fun and then came home. It was so crowded.
Cayman has started one of her preschool's this week.
She is going to Little Learners Preschool up on Davis Blvd. She goes here 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Her teacher is Miss Angela, who I know from Sugar Salem High School. Her name then was Angela Clinton and her mom was a teacher too. Cayman is really excited to be going to school and I hope she makes great new friends and learns a lot. She starts her 2nd preschool in 2 weeks at Orchard Elementary. I hope during Caymans School time, Cooper and I can get in some mommy and son time. It will be fun to be with just him.
Cayman also started playing soccer.

Her team is the green Jaguars and they had their first game Tuesday night. We had fun watching the little girls run around and make some points. Cayman actually made a few!! Way to go girlie!! She was pretty tired and it was a hot night but she did good! I hope she has fun. We got a sno cone afterwards and then ate pizza. It was fun!!
We went up to Park City this weekend to get Cayman some school clothes and my brother Ryan went with us. We ate at Rocky mountain pizza and then headed up the mountain. We had fun shopping and uncle Ry got Cayman a Justin Bieber t-shirt. Cayman has Bieber fever and it is so funny. Aunt Mel got her a Justin Bieber poster last time we saw her. On our way home from Park city we went on a little drive thru Guardsman pass and we happened to see 6 moose. Pretty cool!! Then we all took naps and Cayman had a good pillow! That night we had a BBQ with Alli and Paul and then went and saw the movie The Help. It was great!! I will post more next week after we return from Disneyland!! Yay!!

Idaho and Yellowstone

2011-08-22T08:17:00.015-06:00

We had another busy week! Starting out with Coopers doctors appointment for his 2 year check up. He weighed 21.9 lbs and was 31 1/4 inches tall. He wasn't on the charts for anything so he may just be a small kid. The doctor was concerned that he wasn't speaking at all and that I needed to get into early intervention with him. I am trying to get a hold of someone. Cooper is a really smart little guy and you can see it in his eyes that he knows so much. We will try to get him talking! We went up to Idaho this weekend and first things first we had to ride the toys. Cooper loves it and Cayman does too! That night we went to the nature park and let the kids feed the ducks.

Cooper was having a blast throwing in whole hotdog buns. He couldn't get the hang of just throwing in small pieces. After that we went to the Madison County fair. Cory said a couple times how he was excited to be a the fair. He has never been to a small town county fair! It was great. My dad noticed this big painting looked familiar and sure enough it was from my great grandpa Schwendiman. He was a painter and poet. He must have donated the picture to the fair a long time ago. The kids saw many animals and then rode a horse.

Cooper was excited to see the rodeo and the little kids riding on the sheep. So funny! It is always a fun time at the fair. The next morning we got up and drove to Yellowstone park. Once we got there, the kids had to ride in Grandpas car and Cory and I were childless the rest of the drive. We made many stops to look at waterfalls and animals.

I spotted a few deer and elk along the way and this one was right by the river. It was a mom and baby. So cute.

Of course where ever we go and there is water, Cooper thinks it is the perfect spot to throw rocks. We did a lot of that too!

We stopped at a picnic site by the river and the kids got to get wet, throw rocks and just have fun playing.

Here they are riding a tree as a horse. I remember doing this as a kid and loved it!!We had lunch and just relaxed in the nature. Cooper thought it was funny to have Cory take him upside down and get his hair wet in the river. He was giggling and loving it!
Dad gave the kids their own binoculars to use so they could explore just like the adults. They loved it! We stopped and walked around the geysers and hot pots, they are so amazing.

Very hot and smelly. This one here gets to 160 degrees and pours 500 gallons of water into the river every minute. I love the colors!

I love how this hot pot is so blue. Here is grandpa with the kids. We drove to Old faithful and since the kids were asleep, Cory, dad and I watched the geyser erupt.

The kids were beat! We headed home. After some dinner with Mel and Phil, we headed for the sand dunes. We had races to see who could jump the farthest down the sand hill and then some of the crazies, rolled down the hill and got covered in sand!

Cooper and Cayman loved playing at the dunes and it was nice to be together.

Cooper especially liked when Mel jumped down the hill with him in her arms.

He kept asking for more!! We had a great time! That night we roasted marshmallows on the fire pit and made smores for a treat. We had a fun weekend and love spending time with family!

Coopers Party!!

2011-08-09T08:21:00.009-06:00

Cooper had a Toy story party this year and had a great time! We decorated by putting Woody hats on the back of chairs, hanging streamers, table goods, and of course, Buzz and Woody cut outs. It was really so cute.

I think I may go a little overboard on the decorations each year but it really turns out so cute. Cooper loves Buzz and was really excited to see him. We had pizza for lunch and then had mac and cheese, ham, rolls and potatoes for dinner. These are all Coopers favorite things to eat. After dinner the Jackmans arrived and we went over to play at the splash park. Cooper was having a great time running around the water.

Pretty soon all the other party goers were arriving and the kids were now just playing at the playground. Cooper loves to cross this huge rock to get to the slides, it is scary. He is so small. He goes across with no problems. Here he is giving me his one more time finger. He does this for everything, one more minute? One more time? A little longer? It is pretty funny. Here he is with his towel on the slide because it is so hot. He also loves to hang on this bar and swing. He is pretty strong. He was scaring Candice to death.

Maybe because he actually fell and landed on his bum? He was okay. We left the park and went home to do cake and icecream and open presents. Once we got home, Cooper discovered this present:
a train table. He loved it! Once he got the train set opened, he was done opening anything else. It was a hit! Cory and I felt bad that he didn't want to open anything and just wanted to play with his train set. We should have done that last. He loved it though! He got a lot of cute gifts.

A little talking t-ball set from the Jackmans, Cars basketball from Cottrells, Thomas the train book and clothes from Grandma Connie. From Cayman he got a Buzz lightyear phone. From us he got a remote control CAT truck, Toy story jammies, Sound puzzle, Thomas the train set track, Thomas books, and Ikea track set. He was spoiled for sure. Thanks everyone for his gifts. He has played with everything!! The cake turned out really cute. We had to add the figures on top to make it a little bit more cute but Cooper liked it.

He started digging into the cake before he even blew out the candle. Cooper in his Woody hat and sheriff badge. The kids all got a hat and badge. It was cute. The moms were wearing them more than the kids. Haha! The party was a great success and thanks to all that came.

We had a lot of fun and I think Cooper loved his party. As well as Cayman loving Buzz! Silly!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

2011-08-08T12:13:00.003-06:00

It has been 2 years already since we had our little guy Cooper! Here he is 2 years ago!

I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Here are a few of his favorites:
1. Airplanes
2. Cars
3. Toy story
4. Thomas the train
5. Cayman is his best friend
6. Trucks
7. Popsicles
8. Trampoline
9. Baths
10. Outside
He still can't say more than a few words, but he understands everything. He is very smart and when you look into his eyes, you know he is hearing and listening to you. I love him so much. He is a wonderful addition to our family and makes everyday a new adventure. I can still cuddle with him and give him kisses and he likes it!! I hope it stays that way for a long time!
Happy Birthday to our little man!

The zoo and museum

2011-08-07T13:10:00.010-06:00

We have moved Cooper to a toddler bed and many nights we find him missing from his room and he is sleeping here:It is really too precious. They love each other.
My cousins came down to go school clothes shopping so we decided to hang out with them for a couple days. It is always fun to be with them. My Aunt and Uncle came down too! We met them at Hogle Zoo for a fun day in the sun.

We haven't been since they added the dinosaur stuff and it was pretty neat to see.

Cayman was in heaven with her 2nd cousins, Paytinn, Paxton, and Kirsten. She loved the attention! Cooper had a little friend too named Preston. He is 21/2 and full of energy. They were all great friends that day. We had to go on the carousel of course.

Cooper loves it!! We then got an Icee drink that was huge!! The kids both had to have one and they drank it all gone!! It is a fun cup! We rode the train and then headed for home. It was a fun day with relatives from Idaho!!
This past weekend we had a movie night out on the trampoline. Cayman had a couple little friends over to watch Tangled, eat popcorn and have fun.

After the movie, Cory slept on the tramp with Cayman and Cooper. They stayed outside all night and in the morning, Cayman was covered in bites. I checked on her so many times, covered her up each time and she just kept kicking off the covers. Cooper and Cory didn't get any. Here are Caymans bites.

They looked so awful! I felt really bad. Luckily they went away fast.
The other day the kids found a frog in the backyard. It was just a tiny little one and we caught it in a jar and the kids had a pet for a day. We later that night took it to the marsh and let it go. They were happy for the day with their frog Hoppy!
We went to the Airforce Museum with the kids and this was something that we knew Cooper would love. He loves planes and helicopters. As we got out of the car, Cooper was already pointing here, and there and running to whatever he could get too.

We had fun watching his face light up and his little finger working so hard to make sure we saw everything. He was so happy. I only wish that they had an airplane he could have sat in. They really need to make a replica of one for kids to play in. All in all it was a fun day for Cooper.
Cayman unfortanetly got a virus called Molluscum Contagiosum from a little friend who's mother never told us she had it. It is contagious in water and the girls went swimming together quite a bit in the back yard and shared towels. You need to keep it covered and wash your hands if you touch it and I was never told any of this. It is a big deal and its been taken care of. We have had to do treatments on the back of her leg to help get rid of it. It is a form of a wart that just goes away on its own within 6 -8 months or you can treat it and it will go away faster. We treated it not wanting the chance of it to spread and who can wait that long to go swimming? Not my little fish. It was very painful the first night. It blistered up and got all red and had puss inside This is a picture. It was really awful. Cayman said it was burning and itching. It is not fun. We have had to avoid swimming for the last 2 weeks waiting for this to scab over and be done. I hope we have no more breakouts and I am checking Cooper everyday since the kids usually bathe together. I hope he doesn't get it. Cross our fingers!
This Monday, our little boy will turn 2! I will post more then!

7 year Anniversary!!

2011-08-06T06:19:00.004-06:00

Happy anniversary to us!! I can't believe it has been 7 years! I love my husband more than ever. Here are 7 reasons why:
1. Hottie!! Just look at him!
2. Generous! He gives and gives and we take and take!
3.Best Daddy ever to Cayman and Cooper! Loves his kids!
4. Provides for our family so we can have fun, take vacations, live in a nice home, and many more reasons. We are spoiled.
5. Loves to be active and outside. We are always busy!
6. Helpful to neighbors, family and friends. He will always do a good deed.
7. He LOVES me!! I am one lucky girl!
The day he proposed we had packed a Subway dinner and decided to climb Ensign peak. I am not a very outdoorsy person so hiking was new to me. We started up the mountain and I swear I was going to pass out from hiking. It seemed like we were never going to get there and Cory was going to fast. I was having a hard time breathing and it was hot outside. I just kept going with a few complaints here and there. I am sure I asked a few times how much further? Cory was probably ready to kill me. We finally reached the top and we sat on the edge of the peak and I kept thinking I was going to throw up from this little adventure. Cory started talking to me about how, two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the hill to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build. Brigham Young claimed a vision from God directed him to lead his people into the Salt Lake Valley. It is said that Young recognized Ensign Peak as a prominent landmark in his vision, confirming his statement: "This is the right place." All the while I kept thinking I don't need a church lesson right now, I think I am going to puke.
He then proceeded to pull out a box, get on one knee and tell me he wanted to begin building a life with me and would I marry him? I was shocked to say the least. I don't remember much after that, except that Cory says I didn't cry, and I didn't say yes. I am sure that I said yes, because then I had to call my family and tell them the good news. That started the beginning of our 7 years together.
We have had a great life together so far. He is the best dad that I have ever seen besides my own. He is exactly how I would expect a dad to be with his kids. He plays with them, loves them, tickles them, teases them, hugs and kisses them, and just plain can't get enough of them. What a great husband to have. I love that he loves the kids so much.
Cory is always trying to make sure I am happy. He works so hard and then I work hard to spend the money. I appreciate that he is a great provider for our family and doesn't complain.
I love that we have been able to go on many vacations as a family and make memories. I know that there are families that can only dream about vacations but we have been blessed and are very lucky to be able to do all the things we have in the past 7 years. It has been awesome. I love that we get to show the kids all these fun places.
I am so grateful to have met Cory. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I love him!!
Happy Anniversary!

Partying it up in Idaho!

2011-07-25T11:40:00.014-06:00

We started off our 24th of July weekend with the parade in Bountiful. I was actually not feeling very well and went to the doctor right before. It turns out I just had an awful cold. I still made it to our festivities. The parade was busy, hot and crowded as usual.

We sat with our friends Trent and Angie and the Huggards. It was fun to watch the floats and be in the craziness of it all. Caymans highlight was when she got a glass slipper!! The parade was actually very short this year and lacked in candy throwing. I am not sure we will be back next year. We had a fun time though. After the parade Cory took the kids swimming and I went and grabbed a pizza. We ate and swam at the club house and then we watched the firework show from the pool. It was a fun night.

We woke up the next morning to drive to Idaho for my Skidmore family reunion. We arrived around noon and went to my sister Mel's new house. It is very darling and we had fun being shown around. Congrats to the new home owners Phil and Mel Ashton!! We then walked down the park where the reunion was being held. It was fun to see my aunts and uncles I haven't seen in years.

I got to talk to my best friend cousin Kami and Cayman got to play with her kids. We had a good time visiting and catching up. Cory and the guys played some ultimate frisbee and I wish I had gotten some pics but I didn't. It was a good picnic and some nice weather. After the park just my Skid family went to dinner and then to my dads. Miquel was visiting this weekend so we got to hang out with her too! Cayman loves to play with her. We got to play on the mini 4 wheelers, the tractor and the lawn mower. Yes, Cooper was adamant that he get to ride on the riding lawn mower.
It became the hit of the night especially after my dad hooked up the trailer, put on 4 lawn chairs and they drove it around the neighborhood like a parade float. Waving and all!! Pretty funny stuff.
Cooper loved riding on all the bikes and things.

Cayman just wanted to play in her house, the camp trailer. She would have stayed there all night too. We had fun playing around and there was only one casualty, Phil cut his leg on the 4 wheeler when him and Cory went off a little jump. This is their before picture! Pretty silly huh? We did a little birthday party for Cooper since my family won't be in Utah for his real one.

We had Toystory cupcakes, icecream and presents. He loved all his gifts. He got a cool Camero car that lights up, sounds, and moves all at the push of a button from Alli and Paul. He got Chuck the talking truck from Mel and Phil that moves and talks and does crazy turns and moves. He loved the toys. My dad and Carma got him some new summer clothes and money. It was a perfect pre-birthday even if Cooper had no idea what was going on. He loved opening the presents though. To end the night we had a firework show that Cory and Paul did. The 2 of them had bought a bunch of illegals in Utah and brought to Idaho. They were all illegals and my dad lives next to 2 cops. He went over and asked if we were okay to do them and the cops said yes and the show was on!! It was great!! What a great night!! The next morning we woke up and I didn't have much of a voice. My sickness was not getting better. I felt okay though and we went and picked up my Grandma Mead to spend the day with the family. We went to lunch at Buffaloes in Idaho Falls and then we went to the Tatphaus Park Zoo. The whole family went except for Carma and Miquel.

Although the Zoo was small, it had great animals. The monkeys were the hit of the show. It was like they knew people were there to see them and so they put on a show. It scared Cooper to death when they came right up to the window and one actually tried to kiss him through it. So funny!! Good things can't last forever, and so our day ended. We headed back to Utah and look forward to some relaxing at home.

2011-07-20T13:09:00.013-06:00

Another long post of the fun we have been having. We put up Coopers little bed and he loves to sleep in it. He does pretty good for the most part and the crib is still up so we threaten him with having to sleep in the crib if he gets out of bed. It has been working pretty well. He looks like such a big boy. What a cutie!
We made a trip to St. George to see the Little Mermaid at Tuachan. Cayman was very excited to meet them after the show.

It was so great and Cayman was very excited to see it. We had a great time and had a fun visit. The kids went to the splash park and they had put up a carousel.

It was great! We rode it like 4 times in a row. Cooper didn't want to get off.
We had to go on a little hike. No trip to St. George is complete without a hike up Dixie rock. It is always great fun and easy.

This last weekend we went to Bear lake for the day.

We didn't have a boat, jet skis, floating tubes or anything exciting, just our sand shovels and pails. The kids had a blast and it was so nice. We ate lunch up there and got a milk shake and then we let the kids play on Rendezvous beach. The water was very high and cold.

The sand was burning hot and blistered 2 of my toes and the bottom of Cory's foot. Yes, it was HOT!! Cayman was brave and went in the water up to her neck. We had fun burying her in the sand and then Cooper of course had to try it.

He only got as far as a few scoops of sand on top of him and then he wigged out. The kids played with a bunch of other kids there and had a great day. After we left, we found a campground and roasted hotdogs for dinner.

There was an old play ground there and the kids got to play on it. Then they threw rocks into the high river. It was fast and high and a little scary. Cooper loved it though and kept asking for more rocks.

It was a nice day and we were worn out. Monday we went to the Days of 47 Rodeo with Alli and Paul. It was fun to see the cowboys and cowgirls. We liked the bareback riding the best.

It seemed pretty cruel to watch the cowboys try to lasso a calf. It was awful if you want to know the truth. Those poor calves, thrown to the ground and then tied up by the ankles. Pretty awful. But the other things were fun.Cayman like the girls barrel racing and Cooper of course just loved the animals.

It was a fun night and who doesn't like a good ol' fashioned rodeo?

4th of July Festivities!!

2011-07-05T15:29:00.015-06:00

We started the 4th of July Weekend off by going to Kneaders for breakfast. It was my choice to eat for my birthday breakfast! It was so yummy! I love their french toast. Amazing! We then spent the morning at our new park that finally opened. They had a race, breakfast, raffle and of course the ribbon cutting to the splash pad. The kids loved playing on the toys and running around in the water.

It is going to be so great to have this right next to our house. I made homemade star suckers out of bubblegum and cinnamon. They turned out so cute!!
My family arrived in the afternoon and we had a BBQ lunch. It was fun to see everyone except my little brother Ryan. We had some good food, opened presents and then us girls went to get pedicures. Cayman got to come and she loved every minute of it!! After that we came home and had icecream cake, went back to the splash park and then just relaxed. We headed up to Eaglewood Golf course to watch the fireworks later that night. We brought lots of yummy treats and drinks and just let the kids play and visit. It was lots of fun. It was the first time the fireworks have been on my birthday and with my family visiting, they got to experience our 4th of July celebration.

It was a great night. After a long night we woke up the next morning and had breakfast with the family. Went to Gilgal, Ikea, and then to In n Out for lunch. We had a neighborhood party that night that we had to bring dessert to, so I made this beauty of a cake! It was red, white, and blue inside and turned out to be a hit!! We had a good time eating and letting off fireworks. Cayman unfortunately stepped on a red hot sparkle and got a burn on the bottom of her foot. It was not too good. She should have had her shoes on. That was a fun night and with arial fireworks now being legal, we had some awesome fireworks!
The next day was the 4th of July and we headed up to This is the Place with Connie. We first did the candy cannon and they shot out all this candy in a cannon down main street. It was awesome.

The kids ran in the street and picked up as much as they could. We walked around the town

and kids rode the horses, petted the goats,

played at the little play town and rode the train.

We panned for gold down a stream and whenever you found a piece, you could turn it in for candy. It was pretty fun.

They had so much fun. It was a perfect day of overcast skies so it was not hot at all. It was really fun. We had Alli and Paul over for a little BBQ that evening and then all our neighbors came over for fireworks that night. We had quite the show. With all the fireworks that were contributed we had a lot of arials, and boy did they not disappoint. We had such fun. The guys had fun setting them on fire and us girls and kids just watched.

It was a fun evening and a great 4th of July weekend. I love that my Skidmore family was able to visit and I am glad to have been able to spend this time with them. I love Cory and the kids so much and am so thankful that we are able to spend these fun holidays together.

West fest and a Sunday drive

2011-06-26T20:47:00.014-06:00

Cory had a business trip to Dallas a few weeks ago and lucky for him he got to visit the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Here are some of his pictures.

Here are just some random ones too!

Last week out at Grandpa Vincents, Cayman asked grandpa to play the organ. They went downstairs and Grandpa gave them a concert. How cute!!

Cooper started swim lessons with Cayman and we are doing a mommy and me class. Cooper loves it!! He is having such fun in class! Here are some pics!

We had a rough night Friday with Cooper running a fever all night. He was up and couldn't sleep and we tried sleeping in moms bed, the couch, the loveseat, the rocking chair and it all just wasn't working. Finally at about 5am, Cooper fell asleep in his crib. We got up that morning and Cooper seemed to be fine so we got ready and headed to West Fest where Grandma Connie was ready waiting for us. We looked at all the booths they had and then Cayman started saying she wasn't feeling good. We had 2 kids not feeling well and it was pretty warm outside. CJ and Candice's family was coming so we thought we would eat with them and then ride some of the rides.

Once Cohen showed up, Cayman was feeling much better.

Cooper was just not feeling well now. It was like they were switching ups and downs. After doing some rides at the carnival, we headed home because Cayman was now asleep in my arms and Cooper was ready for a nap. It was still a fun day but the kids were just not as excited as usual. Once we got home Cayman started not doing very well. She passed out on the couch and little Cooper was just loving her.

At 9pm her temp was 102.4 and after some tylenol and an hour later it had rose to 103.8. I was a little scared and not sure what to do. She said her tummy was hurting and threw up and then went to sleep. We kept a cold ice pack on her head and soon her temp was going down slowly. We watched her through the night along with Cooper who had a spike in his temp later that night. Morning came and all looked great! Cayman was her normal, out of control self and Cooper seemed to be okay. We opted out of church to go for a drive up to Mirror lake. We stopped at the Provo falls and couldn't believe how much water was flowing and how much snow.

It was so crazy. As we headed to Mirror lake we decided after seeing so much snow, we should turn around as the rode was getting narrow.

We headed back down the canyon and found a warm picnic spot by the river to eat.

We took our blanket and cooler and thats when Cayman said she wasn't feeling well again. She was burning up and luckily I had brought my tylenol. I gave her some and she basically just layed on the blanket and slept.

Cory found this tree stump that was cut off pretty high and tried to put Cooper on it. His face says it all, get me off of here.

He was not too happy. Cory then of course had to try getting himself on top. He succeded and here is his picture.

We ate our lunch and Cooper and Cory threw a bunch of rocks into the river. Cooper kept signing "more" with his hands, he just couldn't get enough of the rock throwing.

It was so cute to watch him throw as hard as he could to only get it a couple feet in front of him. He had a great time.

We headed home and the kids are still not feeling well. Hopefully this next weekend will be better. It is my birthday month after all!!

Jumping Jelly beans, June is Busy!!

2011-06-19T13:41:00.017-06:00

We started June off very busy. We had one last dance recital of Caymans. She performed at the Woods Cross Jr High school and did a great job! We love watching our little dancer. Candice and the kids came up to it and so did Grandma Connie. It was a fun night.

That weekend we went to Cherry Hill and saw some princesses and went swimming. We have never been swimming there before and the kids had a good time. The water slides were pretty fast and the kids didn't love that, but the pools were fun.
Cory found his fathers day gift a little early so we got it out and used it that night. I had gotten a fire pit for the patio and so we roasted smores. It was yummy.

Cayman and Cooper started swimming lessons that following Monday and they have been doing a really good job. Cooper loves to swim just like his big sister. Here are some pics of Cayman.
Cory went out of town that week so the kids and I picked up Aunt Alli and we went to the Ogden Dinosaur Museum. We have a year pass and it is a fun place to go. We took a picnic and played at the park. It was so fun. Cooper loved seeing all the Dinosaurs. We will go back a few more times for sure!!

That weekend we were asked by the Jackmans to come to the Sand dunes so we met them there on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. We took Grandma Connie with us and left early that morning. When we got there we set up our chairs and Dallas took Cory on a wild ride. They are in the green razor. They were gone about an hour and went off a huge jump. Cory had a great time even though he found out on Tuesday that the jump had fractured 2 of his vertebra and would need 4-6 weeks of recovery. He is on pain killers and can't do any heavy lifting or physical activity. So much for the fun, some one always gets hurt!! Back to the fun, we also had a good time letting the kids play together in the sand. We had lunch and good snacks to eat.

.
Cooper loved to sit on Cohens little dirt bike and pretend he was driving. It was so cute. After lunch and a little hanging out Dallas took our family and Connie on the Razor. We had fun going up and down the sand dunes, around trails, and doing the roller coaster. At one point Cory and I got a little wet and we looked down at Cooper and he was grinning so big that his drool was getting us wet! He was loving it!! It was so funny. He was giggling and laughing. Cayman was hanging on for dear life and had a fun time too!

It is always fun to get together and visit and play. After dinner, Dallas took Cooper on a little ride on the motorbike. Cooper got on a helmet and off they went.

It was only about 2minutes later that Dallas came to a stop, Cooper had fallen asleep. Cory went to get him and then he woke up. Funny! Cooper was so tired. He hadn't had a nap yet. We had fun at Little Sahara sand dunes and thanks to Candice and Dallas for the invite!!
This Friday was Caymans final swimming lesson and she passed preschool level 3 to advance to just Level 3. She is doing an amazing job swimming. Here are her last lessons and certificate.

That night we went to Gateway with Connie and Candice to go shopping and hang out. Cory was once again out of town. We had fun watching the Chalk art going on and letting the kids draw with the chalk and play in the fountain. No one got wet of course.

This Saturday was a BBQ at one of Cory's co workers house for achieving their goals. We drove all the way to Stockton to have some fun. Cayman was so excited because this is Penny's house and she has horses that they can ride. We got to ride Apache and Cayman loved it.
Cooper wanted to ride but wouldn't get on with out me. So, skirt and all I hopped up on that horse and Cooper and I went for a ride. He loved it!!

We had some good food, the kids played with other kids, visited and had a great time. Before we left, Cayman had to have one more ride on Apache and this time she even liked it more. Fun for sure.

After we left we headed into the Gateway again for the Chalk Art Festival. It is always better the last night because the Chalk drawings are usually completed. We saw some very great art work. Here are some of our favorites.

The kids got free sno-cones, cotton candy and then they colored their hair.

What a great day we had. Fathers day was today and Cory got toast and Chocolate milk for breakfast. The kids got him cards and a box of Mindy Mints and Madden 2011 football for the Wii. I got him a Golf GPS distance unit for his golf game and we had a good time at church. Cory is a great dad. He is loving with the kids, plays with them for hours, changes diapers, gives them love and is just the best. The kids are so lucky to have him as their daddy. Happy Fathers day!! We love you!!