Let the Games Begin!

Thanksgiving always kicks off "The Holiday Season" for me. I love the lead up to Thanksgiving: which family are we going to, what food will I make, what food is everyone else bringing (ooo, someone made this yummy peanut butter pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake, heaven) what games will be played and Black Friday shopping with the Coopers.

Last weekend was so busy, but the good, fun, love my family, kind of busy. We spent Thus. at the Coopers eating, talking, playing games, looking at the ads, making our game plan, reviewing our game plan, making our husbands laugh at our obsession with the ads. (You don't think six copies of each ad is excessive, do you?) Got to bed at midnight on Friday, and was up at 4:15 am to bag the sales. With 7 of us to tag team the store, and cell phone, there wasn't much we missed. Not even breakfast at IHOP at 10 and on to more shopping. (We missed you Stacy, we really needed one more person at Walmart.) We all got back to Coopers around 3 in the afternoon. I took a nap. (can't imagine what could have made me that tired.) Ate left over turkey, and played games with the family until late, again.

The next day was "THE GAME" Eric lamented that he didn't have a BYU shirt and a Utah shirt that I could sew together half and half. So he could cheer for both teams. I guess he hears a lot of smack talk from his uncles and aunts and wants to make everyone happy by cheering for both teams. And a big thanks to Dera for hosting the party! Although I went shopping with my Mom during the game. (In my defence shopping is my sport, and Roberts Craft was having a 40% off your entire purchase sale that Sat.)

Sunday came bright and early, and I woke up with a sore throat, and head/neck ache. But who lets a little pain slow them down when their newest niece is being blessed? We loved seeing the other side of the family and hearing about their Thanksgiving. and Kaia looked like a little angel in her blessing dress. Every time I see her she looks cuter and cuter. Of course I couldn't hold her because I felt sick, but she got plenty of attention from all the rest.

We tried to get home so that Eric could go to bed early enough for school the next day. But it turned out that he woke up Monday morning with a sore throat, and head/neck ache. We went to the Dr. on Tues. to see if it was Strep, but it's not. And he is back at school today. Although he probably isn't feeling 100% yet, I don't think I can stand having winy-cranky-obstinate-board-boy at home one more day. The sore throat is getting better and hopefully we will be back to normal (if you can consider us normal) by Friday. I hope that Avery, and Paisley are feeling better too, and that no one else gets sick.

Anyway, that's life at our house this week, and I will be lucky if we can get over this and not have anything else this winter. I'll keep my fingers crossed. (Lucky Stacy, you missed the cold and flu season completely. I bet Rylee won't even get a cold her whole first year!)

Happy Eating

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving, But I just couldn't sleep...
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned...The dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
And gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Stuffing with gravy, green beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Till all of a sudden, I rose off of the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouth full of pudding and a handful of pie.
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...
Happy eating to all --pass the cranberries, please.

The Art of THANKSGIVING

The art of Thanksgiving is Thanksliving.
It is gratitude in action.
It is thanking God of the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for opportunities by accepting them as a challenge to achievement.
It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others.
It is thanking God for each new day by living it to the fullest.
It is thanking God by giving hands, arms, legs, and voice to your thankful spirit.
It is adding to your prayers of Thanksgiving, acts of Thanksliving.

Russell

Some of you may have met Eric's pet rabbit. "Russell Cooper BunBun" We got him just before Easter this year. Eric is doing a great job of taking care of him, and Russell has been great at relieving anxiety with him. (Most of you heard our school woes from last year.) Every day after school last year I would send Eric out to "check" on Russell. He would hold him and talk to him, kiss him and laugh at the funny things he did. When Eric came back inside the black cloud that was hanging over him from his school day would be gone. Russell is truly a blessing in our life.

Russell roams our back yard during the day, and at night Eric catches him and puts him in his hutch.

One night this summer Eric forgot to put him in the hutch. I woke up at 5 in the morning, I thought I had heard something like a squeaky toy outside. I went to investigate, I had a feeling something was wrong with Russell. I opened the curtain at the back door, and saw a cat at the bottom of the stairs. I ran out and scared the cat over the fence. Then I looked under the porch for Russell. (He has a spot under a couple of boards that he likes to hide under.) He was there but I was afraid he was hurt, remember it is dark and I can't see much. I didn't want to try to chase him if he were hurt and I thought he might bite me because he was so scared. So I woke Robert up to come help me. We used a flash light and he wasn't covered in blood like I had imagined, in fact he looked fine. Robert picked him up and I looked him over. The only injuries he had were a bite on his rear leg that was bleeding a little and a patch of fur missing from his neck.
We put Russell in his hutch, and the next morning I called my friend Julie.

Julie has a cat who likes to get in fights, so she knows how to care for cat bites. She told me what to do and Russell healed well. We never leave him out at night anymore. Eric and I also gave him the title of "Brave Bunny" for fighting off a vicious cat.

Russell also has the title of "Runaway Rabbit". Sometimes the gate doesn't get locked and the wind blows it open. Away he goes and hides. Once we searched for two hours before we found him in the front flowerbed.

Even with all that we still love Russell and the funny things he does: When he yawns and stretches after a nap. His curious nature. That one of his favorite thing to eat is morning glory. That he digs tunnels to hide in. How he carries his toys in his teeth. The funny way he washes his face and head. If you stand very still he likes to nibble the sole of your shoes. And that he likes to nap under the slide.

8 things you may not know about me

Sorry it took so long Julie.

1. I wanted to be a bank robber when I grew up. It sounded much more exciting than being a teacher or a nurse.

2. In junior high my best friend and I went to every Charlie Sheen movie. Now he seems so old, Robert is much cuter.

3. I hate to swim.

4. I love to get dressed up, and yes I do like wearing dresses.

5. I like fairy tales, one of my favorite books is Fabelhaven by Brandon Mull.

6. I read 12 books in Oct.

7. Robert and I took two ballroom dance classes at the U, but he never took me dancing.

8. I was on the Debate team that won the state championship in high school.

Guess what this is...

This is a mountain of SALT. Eric was curious about how the salt got from the water to the dry stuff at the dinner table. Here are some more salt pictures from the west side of the lake.
If you look really close you can see a buldozer that is pushing the salt around.
This may look wet, but it is bone dry. It is so amazing, all salt.

UEA Weekend

Over UEA weekend we decided to use our gift certificate to stay free in Wendover. I had never been west past Grantsville so I really enjoyed the scenery. I didn't realize how different the desert landscape could be.


My pictures start out leaving the Salt Lake valley. Notice how tall the vegetation is in each progressive picture.






This is Tooele Valley. I imagine this is what Salt Lake Valley must have looked like to the Pioneers.









As you travel farther west out of Tooele Valley the land becomes very flat because of the flooding of the Great Salt Lake. By the time we reached Wendover vegetation could not even grow. If I was going to film "Eragon" I would use the salt flats.


Here are Robert and I on the Salt Flats near Bonneville Raceway. We could not drive out to the race track though the ground is too soft from the rain. I guess people can only race when it is dry. (probably in July and Aug.)


Last of all here are Eric and I at the Pool. We had fun playing board games, swimming, eating at the buffet, and watching cable TV (all football and cartoons) We came home Tues. afternoon and had a beautiful drive.

The Great Knight!