Digital Scrapbooking

17 Jun 2009

A few of my friends are doing this neat digital scrapbooking. It's cheap and fun and looks way better than the paper kind (I think). Here is my first page. What do you think?

Rachael A. Hudnall
Digital Arts-café
http://www.digitalarts-cafe.com/boutique/

Sea World!

17 Jun 2009

We haven't closed on the new house yet, but the good news is that we've been approved for the mortgage at 4.85% and the seller wants to live there for another few months and pay us rent. Yay! We don't know when we're moving exactly but Jared needs to work until Aug 15th and Tyler's school starts on Aug 24th. So....I'm thinking the week of the 17th? We'll see. Hopefully we won't have to move without Jared or have Tyler start school late.

So while Nathan and Stephanie were visiting we thought that it would be a good idea to take them out on the hottest, sunniest day of the year (so far) and make them walk around for a couple of hours (aka. go to SeaWorld). No kidding, it was 101 degrees last Saturday and with the humidity it felt like 106. I thought it was really hot, but okay. Nathan and Stephanie however, will probably need at least a month to recover. We saw the dolphins, the penguins, the sea lion show and the Shamu show all before lunch. Afterward we tried to get into the water park to cool off but it was full so we went back to our house to swim in our community pool. It was very refreshing but the water was super salty for some reason. Nathan said that it was from all the sweaty people in the pool - eww! I hope not!

Later that night Nathan and Stephanie babysat while Jared and I went back to the park to ride the rollercoasters. In the past I haven't really liked roller coasters but I've been more open to them as of late. We had a good time.

Holly, Nathan and Stephanie at the Shamu show. We sat in the splash zone and got totally soaked with stinky whale salt water.

Another picture at the Shamu show.

Stephanie and Derek looking at Dolphins. Well, Steph is looking at the camera and Derek is looking at his hand, but they could have been looking at dolphins if they wanted to.

Tyler getting a drink. The problem with drinking when you are really hot is that 5-10 minutes after you take a drink you are instantly drenched in sweat. Heat stroke here we come!!!

Roadkill

14 Jun 2009

Some of you have asked for a list of the roadkill that we saw on our drive from San Antonio to Minot. Well, here's something even better - a picture diary (not necessarily in order). As we were driving I started writing all of the dead animals I saw on an envelope so that I wouldn't forget any. Poor, poor things.

A wolf dog, or just a wolf.

One big wild turkey.

A squirell or two, or fifty.

Half a dozen skunks.

A couple of racoons.

A red fox.

Some rabbits.

Some kitties.

Thousands of disgusting possums.

A phesant.

Several deer. Many black crows.

A pet chihuahua - sorry Lucky.

I think it was a hawk, maybe not, but it was a BIG bird.

The ever popular Texas armadillo.

Last but not least, a porcupine.

We're going to freeze!

9 Jun 2009

Okay so every time I look at the temps on our blog, Minot (pronounced My-Not) is in the 40's not counting wind-chill (which I hear is CHILLING - he he). What in the world?!? Why is it 40 degrees in June? How can ANYONE live there? Here are some more pictures that were probably taken in North Dakota (at least there's no proof that they weren't taken in North Dakota).

Shopping

29 May 2009

Jared always really likes to carry our babies on his shoulders. It usually works well (unless the baby has a dirty diaper then it's kinda messy). But this day at Target, Holly was really tired and so she kept trying to lay on Jared's head. It was super cute.

The Drive to Idaho

28 May 2009

Kevin and Kared got married in the Rexburg temple so my parents and I all drove there from Orem. The trip was no where near as long as my trip from TX to ND but the kids apparently thought it was really long and boring. This was the scene when we stopped for gas in Ogden.

Tyler looks the most uncomfortable of all of them. Plus, where is his seat belt? Grrrr.

The Wedding Cake

27 May 2009

So about three weeks ago I made the wedding cake for Kevin's wedding (well, actually I made 2 wedding cakes but they were both the same so...) Anyway, I've been practicing for months and I'm glad I did. I made the bottom two tiers out of rice krispy treats and the top one out of cake. The work went quickly and I was very pleased with the result. After Karen got her hands on it and decorated it with all her flowers it was so so beautiful. I took this picture with my cell phone so it's not the best but here you go.

New Weather Center

Check out the new weather gadget I put up for Minot (aka "Coldest City"). On Monday at 2 p.m. it was 86 in San Antonio and 52 in Minot. At 7:30 pm it was 92 in San Antonio and still 52 in Minot. I don't know if I'm going to like this.

Our New House - Probably

25 May 2009

So I promised to post some good things about Minot. Well here's one - our new house. Apparently the people in Minot haven't heard that there's a recession or a housing slump so houses are going up in value (20% in the last year) and are selling 1 day after they go on the market. There were only 10 or so houses that cost less than $200k and I saw them all the Satuday I was there. The realtor told me that I should pick one and put in an offer because they would all be sold by the end of week and then I would need to come back later. I wasn't so sure she was right but I picked one anyway and put in an offer. Luckily it was slightly better than the other offer they got (again, after being on the market for only 36 hours) and we started the wonderful mortgage loan process. There are some hiccups because of our student loan balances but hopefully the loan will go through okay and we'll be good.

The house is really nice and was the only one I saw with a two-car garage (no engine block heaters for us - it's heated!) It is 1800 sq ft and has 4 levels and 4 bedrooms. The yard is pretty big and there's lots of room for a playset and a garden. The two downsides are the location (right next to the university and student housing) and the master bedroom (about the same size as our bed). Here are some pictures.

Where in the World Are the Coopers Moving?

22 May 2009

Aggg! It's been a month since my last post!?! I can't believe it! I have been so busy that my posting has really taken a back seat. First I went to Utah to see my family, then I went to Idaho for my brother Kevin's wedding, then I went back to San Antonio and then I drove to our forwarding base to buy a house. So much has happened that it will take several posts to catch up.
This post is dedicated to our forwarding base. Are you ready?

Minot, ND

Yep, we got assigned to the least popular of all the Air Force bases in all the world. But, as the saying goes, "Why not Minot?"

Well, I'll tell you why not - and I should know because Holly, Derek and I just drove there and back. Here are our top 10 reasons why not Minot:

1. Driving there from San Antonio takes approximately 30 hours each way.

2. Flying there costs $1,000 and the 900 sq. ft. airport only has 2 gates (actually there are cheaper flights but not on short notice so I guess that's just normal, not anything against Minot specifically).

3. It's in the middle of nowhere.

4. The Minot AF base is where they keep the nuclear missiles.

5. Are you kidding me? It's like 30 below for nine months a year.

6. Has anyone ever heard of an engine block heater - yeah, neither have we.

7. The next closest city is 2 hours away, and it's Bismarck, ND.

8. Canada is closer than Bismarck, ND.

9. (In your best singing voice) Minot, North Dakota where the wind goes whipping down the plain.

10. See the pictures below:

(This last one is really in England, but you get the idea.)

Please look forward to my next post where I will outline the good things about Minot, ND and display pictures of the house that I bought in one day. Plus, later this week you can see the wedding cake I made for Kevin and Karen and pictures of my babies being silly. Stay tuned...