Cooper is here!

Cooper was 8 pounds and 6 ounces. He is a cutie! His long dark hair is so fun to play with. He is such a good baby. Julia is a great mom. She has bounced back from the delivery so fast. I am so proud of her and Cody. They are working together so well.

Rain, Rain, Rain

It was rainy this morning. The clouds were low and dark. They passed with a sprinkle and then it really started raining. It rained, and rained and rained. Ok, it flooded. It rained all morning and into the afternoon. There were thunderstorms with it, but mostly rain. We wanted to go to Julia’s and pick up Kurtis and drop off the girls. It was too rainy at 1 when we planned on going. In the mean time I cleaned the girls carpet. They packed their bags. Jace put their beds into bunk beds. I have just a bit more to do in their room to finish the carpet.

I found the receipt for the washer. I called and the repair man will come out NEXT Tuesday. I sorted clothes and Julia said I could use her washer. I wanted to go at 2. There was a lull in the rain. Then it started again. We could see how flooded the back yard was. The stream to the pond was no longer a stream. It was a river that was trying to overflow it’s banks. The front yard was flooded and the ditches were full. Finally at 3:30 Julia called and said it wasn’t raining there and they were bored. It was only sprinkling here. That was all I needed. We loaded kids, clean and dirty clothes and a freshly baked cake into the car and we headed out. The pond was at capacity. On Parker we were looking at the area the pond drains into. It was flooded, over the road. I could still see the bottom of the road so I went through. I followed 2 other cars. It was flooded by Sycamore as well. I went on the edges of it and it wasn’t so bad. That was the worst flooding we encountered. We went up 75, which was slow, but safe. Just before we got to Julia’s the rain started to get heavy. We did make it safe. I was really glad I hadn’t tried it earlier when it was raining harder. We got at least 4 or 5 inches of rain.

Julia is doing well, and so is little Cooper. The girls got to stay the night. They were so excited.

I brought Jace and Kurtis home. We watched American Idol with Dan. David Archeletta did great. Brooke White did pretty well. She tried to do stuff out of her comfort zone. She just makes you smile when she sings. The judges didn't like it as much, but she is still really good. I’d like to hear her sing “Yesterday”, which one of the other contestants tried to sing. Brooke would have nailed it. I had just said that to Dan and then Simon said the same thing in his review of the other girl.

Charlie:Freedom--Gone

We have a dauchsund named Charlie. He loves to go outside. He has an electronic fence that has been wonderful. He can go outside and not run away because he won't go past the electronic fence--as long as it is working.
Charlie’s electric fence monitor that he wears around his neck broke apart today. The screws that hold on the lid came off when the plastic broke. I noticed the lid when I was cleaning up. I recognized it, but didn’t recognize what it was. A couple hours later, after my VT left, I noticed a short fat battery on the carpet by the door. I picked it up, wondering where it came from. Then I remembered the lid I had found earlier. CHARLIE! No Charlie. He went out with my VT. He was long gone. He came back a couple of hours later. Jace came home for lunch just after Charlie got back. We took off his collar and put in the battery and put on the lid and taped it on with black duct tape. He won’t be wondering the neighborhood tonight!

I CAN Blog!

So far this blog has been mostly letters to and from Andrew. I really do have more children then just my missionary son. Thanks to Christi, who set this up for me and has encouraged me to write on the blog, I am being brave enough to post.

Christi and her girls, Kaitlyn and Emily, got a new play kitchen set. Kaitlyn and Emily spent hours playing with it this morning, giving Mom Christi a little break. Yea! Thanks Ryan for bringing it home for them.
We are anxiously awaiting Julia to go into labor. She is very ready to have her baby boy. Cody is waiting just as axiously as the rest of us. They will make really great parents.
Andrew just got transfered to Lumberton, NC. It is located 1/2 way between Miami and New York in NC, close to the SC boarder. He helped at a 5K race and then went to a chili cook off where he ate deer, Beaver, and Bear meat. He thought it was good.
Jace is running track this season. He has been doing well. He has been running the 4 X 800 and the mile.
Kurtis just went to his Order of the Arrow Ordeal this last weekend. It is part of Boy Scouts. He had a great time and really loved the experience. His best friend is in OA, and so is his Uncle John and his Grammy Joy.
Jessica is performing in her school's PE show on Thursday. She is in the gymnastic group. The theme this year is Elvis. It should be a lot of fun. Coach Edwards needed a big bear for one of the performances. Jessica was given a huge white bear several years ago by our neighbor who was moving to California. Coach Edwards loved the bear. It will be fun to see if the bear makes the show.
Tiara is loving school. She is in the Discover program. She gets to go see Julia's 1st grade teacher once a week to do fun extra things. Julia loved Mrs. Lauten when she had her and Tiara loves her now.
Dan, my wonderful husband, has been very busy lately. He is the track booster club president, the 2nd councelor in the Stake YM, which means he has many scouting roles as well. He was intrumental in the very successful EDS Merit Badge College this last weekend. All this and he is a great husband and fathe as well.
I am kept busy keeping everyone headed in the right direction at the right time. Primary also keeps me a little bit busy. So that is just a little bit more about our family.