Bike Ride

I loaded the kids up in the bike trailer today and thanks to our neighbor and friend April filling our tires up, we were able to bike over the the park for a picnic. The kids and I needed to get out of the house and we had so much fun! Benton and Emmie played on the playground and went down the slides together. They are getting so big! It's great when you don't have to follow them around the playground the entire time. Mae slept in the bike trailer while we played. She is spending more time awake and loves to be held by her brother. She is a great baby, although can be a little gassy! We are really enjoying our time together!

Happy Halloween

We spent Mae's first Halloween in our new home. We went to the ward trunk or treat, trick or treated our neighborhood, attended a b-day bash for Tiffany, and watched Monsters vs. Aliens. Great evening. Even Uncle Greg, Aunt Kera, and cousin Gage joined in on the fun. We had tons of trick or treaters come by and got to meet some great neighbors. We love our new neighborhood!!! The kids dressed up and had a blast wearing their costumes...next year we'll go all out, this year was just too busy! I had two fairy princesses and a pirate most of who were bouncing off the walls due to sugar intake. We had a wonderful time!

Loving Life

These were the last few days we spent in our very first home. We packed and moved a few blocks away just before Halloween!! Now we are in a bigger home with even more space to run laps and jump off of things. We are loving life!

We Love Mae!

Here are some more pictures of our newest member. Benton and Emmie love their baby sister so much!! Emmie calls her "baby" still, and Benton loves touching his sister who he hopes will grow up to be a boy. I think he's finally come to grips with the fact that she will always be a girl as I promised we'd have more babies later!

Mae Lee Cooley

She's here! Mae was born Sunday morning at 9:22 am. She was 20 inches long and weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. We had a schedule c-section so it was no surprise. Adam and I dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa Francois' at 6:30 am and headed over to the hospital. It is all surreal when you basically just "go to the store" to get your baby!! I was admitted right away and hooked up to lots of monitors and then we waited. 9 am rolled around and I walked my way back to the Operating Room and got situated. After I was sufficiently numb, drapped and sterile and Adam joined me I realized how much I really hate surgery. Too late now! I just breathed deep and focused on the precious spirit soon to enter the world. I didn't have to wait long, it seemed as soon as they said they were starting they were telling me to buckle up for some pressure and pushing her down and out of my abdomen. Mae was born! They cleaned her up a little and Adam held her close for a few minutes of bonding before taking her to the nursery and stitching me up. She was able to meet the Francois crew who were waiting her arrival (including the soon to be newest member E.B.) We spent hours in Triage recovering and waiting for a room. Mae and I enjoyed our bonding time and I half slept while holding her close. Finally a room was ready and we made our way to the second floor. We spend the next two nights loving Mae and missing the other two kids, although Adam spent some time with them at my parent's home. We were released Tuesday evening at 5pm and took Mae to meet her big brother and sister. Emmie was definitely jealous at first and threw a binkie at Mae, followed by the booger sucker, followed by a stuck out tongue...but now she loves her so much and is always trying to help out and "touch her". Benton loved Mae right away and was very soft and gentle. He loves to hold her and laughs at everything she does. We spend some time watching her as she lay on the bed and Benton loved seeing her eyes open. We are so happy, tired, probably still in denial, but happy. We love being together as a family and are enjoying our precious bonding time. We have another beautiful baby to love and raise and thank our Heavenly Father for such a smooth operation/delivery.

Summer Fun

So for our summer fun Benton and Emmie love to destroy the house. They pull pillows off of the couches and make tents or boats, take every toy out of it's place and strew it about the house, turn over their play kitchen and rocking chair to form a fort, "cook" in their kitchen by removing every piece of food from it, push toys down the treadmill or make it turn manually and give the toys a ride, push each other in boxes or laundry baskets, and get into the bathroom to brush teeth or wash toys while spreading toothpaste and soap across the countertops. Benton has also enjoyed his photo sessions and loves to takes pictures of his favorite things...or whatever happens to be nearby! Emmie thinks this is hilarious and loves to pose for the pictures, of course she'll never pose for someone who could actually get her entire face in the picture or capture it at just the right time! (the last two photos are mine)

July Manti Trip

We spent a week in Manti over July 24th holiday to enjoy the cooler weather, pioneer history, and family time with the Francois' We had a great time, but things started off a little bumpy! On our way to Manti we were rear ended outside of Kanab after a ridiculous truck driver ran at least three cars almost off the road (we were the front runner). Luckily we did not smash into the semi, nor did we get pushed into a raveen, we just got a nice big dent or two in the back of our van. We are all okay...they kids were coloring and just said "woa" and then proceeded to fall asleep in their seats while we worked out the many details. The Lord protected our family becuase it could have been A LOT worse! After an extended time to get to our destination we took a breather to relax and enjoy the weather. The kids swam in a little pool and ran through the sprinklers. We were all thankful to be out of the car!


Benton likes to shoot "rockets" and no he's not peeing...he's just excited to be running around like lightning McQueen. VRROOOM!!!

Benton and Emmie enjoyed a nice ride with Pa up and down the street in an old tricyle rescued from the dump and transformed into an antique gem.



It's always fun when Daddy is around to tackle!

We at lots and lots of otter pops...that was the crowd favorite. Benton crashed during dinner after a fun day at church. Both him and Emmie spent their time in nursery and Benton does such a good job watching over his sister! While we were eating he just disappeared and I asked where he went and started to search only to discover in an an effort to escape the dinner table, he fell asleep!





We ventured up Manti Canyon while on our vacation to see the beautiful wild flowers! There were so many it was unbelievable. We enjoyed a picnic next to a small stream which the kids loved. They threw rocks into it, and cheese, and tried to jump over it...I think missing the other side on purpose! We also took a few scenic rides on my parent's 4-wheeler. Jack and I went to the top of a beautiful hill/mountain and could see Manti Valley down below. We also spied a furry creature that looked like a beaver...not sure what it was exactly. The kids enjoyed picking flowers with Grandma and smelling them. Emmie tasted one or two with a lick, but mostly just carried them around.

We continued our drive and found some gorgeous resovoirs (about 3) which looked like postcard pictures. We also visited the dig site where a Wooly Mammoth had been discovered. The weather was beautiful, and the scenery matched! Brandon enjoyed a photo op or two as well and Emmie enjoyed loving her Uncle "Bugum".

We spent an evening fishing at Yearns Resevoir just up Manti Canyon. Benton enjoyed helping Pa until he lost interest when no fish were caught and decided to watch the fish we had strung up in the water instead. He thought it was pretty neat to see some live fish instead of the grocery store stiffers. Emmie loved relaxing and getting dirty. They both seemed to find mud where ever we went. It was so nice to just sit and relax enjoying the beautiful surroundings. I think Adam and I would like to try our hand at fishing that pond...maybe when we are willing to fork out the liscence fees!


The boys enjoyed a few games of Botchy Ball and Benton and Emmie enjoyed retrieving their balls whether they were ready to be retrieved or not!

We spent the 24th of July with Jeremy, Cori and their family and had a great time! We headed to Spring City for the 10 am parade which we all loved. They threw soo much candy. Benton and Emmie even scored some balloons and hats! They loved to clap and cheer for the floats and got a little groovy when the band marched by. Afterwards we picnicked at the local school where they had pioneer activities like roping, doll making, some pioneer toys, and other games like a rock wall, and rocket launching. Benton ventured to the field for the candy rocket and was super excited, until all of the big kids kept raining on his parade...so daddy to the rescue! Adam went out and helped him score a candy or two to lift his spirits. It's so fun celebrating holidays in a small town. There are so many activities and I love the parades! We even were able to light of our own fireworks at night without fear of being turned in to the police!








We headed home Saturday and returned without incident. We had such a wonderful time with my family and love to visit the cooler weather, beautiful scenery, and small time festivities. We also were blessed to perform some family sealings in the Temple which always makes for a special trip. Thanks for a great week!