Memorial Day

31 May 2010

This year we had the other Coopers over for a Memorial Day BBQ! Jared planned, purchased and prepared all the food. It was great! We had hot dogs, hamburgers, egg salad sandwiches, salad, beans and homemade strawberry ice cream. Deeeeeeelish. Before lunch the kids played in the sprinklers and set up some "action shots" for me to capture with my camera. After lunch we went to the pool for some swimming. Tyler and Derek were scared at first but after they got used to their floaty tubes they were happy. However, we still need to work on kicking. When Derek kicks he moves forward at approximately .00001 mph. Tyler goes backwards when he kicks - we're not sure why. Holly loved the water. For her it was like one big bath for the whole family. She doesn't have a swim suit so she got to go euro-style. She said, "Am I a baby girl or a baby boy? You don't know cause I'm bare chested but wearing a pink Little Mermaid diaper. Did I just blow your mind or what?"

You Shall Build A Turtle Fence

19 May 2010

Thank you Kay for the best turtle fence music video ever!!!!!

We Demand A Turtle Crossing!

17 May 2010

Today on our way to Walmart Derek and I saw a turtle in the road. He was pretty big and looked like he was trying to figure out a way to cross the street. It was a really busy and fast street so we stopped to help him out. There was a big pond just on the other side of the road so we put him on a rock over there. I tried really hard to get Derek to hold him for the picture but he was too scared of getting bit. The turtle was scared and his shell was coved with moss.

Derek Takes A Picture

11 May 2010

Derek begged me and begged me to let him take a picture.

The Duck Pond

10 May 2010

Today for family home evening we went a duck pond that I found one day when I was using the back roads to get to church. It wasn't the grassiest or best smelling place in the world, but there were a LOT of ducks and a cute little path that went all the way around the pond. Derek wanted to go back immediatly after we left. We finished up the evening at Double Daves Pizza Buffet.

Suzie's Ode to Double Dave's Buffalo Chicken Pizza
O pizza that I love. O pizza that I love. Your cheesey chickeney goodness draws me ever near. Oh how I long for your slightly spicy sauce that is ambrosia on way-too-thin-and-floppy crust. I long to never leave you - and yet...you are no good for me. At the buffet you call to me too many times. I must go, never to return. I love you buffalo chicken pizza and I will always remember the good times that we had. So long and farewell...forever *sniff*

Take These Broken Legs and Learn to Walk Again

8 May 2010

Happy Anniversary to Me (and Jared)! Oh and Happy Anniversary to Kevin and Karen (even though they never look at my blog **humph**). We didn't do anything awesome - just went to Home Depot and tried to find some fungicide for the downey mildew that is growing on my grape plant. BTW - they don't have anything for that.

In honor of Mother's Day - here is a video about how sometimes we just need our mom...or our mom's stuffed toy dog - whichever.

Japanese Tea Jardin

7 May 2010

When Grandma James came to visit we went back to the Tea Gardens. We've been here several times but the kids really wanted to show Grandma the fish. It wasn't as lush and green as I remembered it, but it was still really nice. They are doing a lot of construction so we didn't get to see the cool bridge or the front half of the tower. Maybe next time.

After the Tea Gardens we took a jaunt over to the zoo (which I now call the Sazoo because I saw it stenciled on a folding chair while we were there :) The zoo is in the same park as the gardens . We went to the aquarium and the gift shop. We also saw the cutest little baby monkey doing tricks on a rope. I was so excited about him I forgot to take a picture. But believe me, he was dang cute! So are these little monkeys!

Fathers and Sons Camp Out

6 May 2010

Jared took the boys to the Fathers and Sons campout last weekend but he didn't take any pictures. Stinky boys.

How To Look Innocent - But Not Really

5 May 2010

So the light bulb burned out on our oven a few weeks ago. Weird, cause it's brand new, but not a big deal - heh heh. So Jared gets in there and there's a globe-like cover over the bulb. The instruction manual says to turn it to the left. Jared turned it to the left but it wouldn't budge. He tried a rubber jar opener thing to get a better grip and it just started turning the whole fixutre - socket and everything. (It's because he's so strong and he changed the rotation of the Earth because he twisted it so hard.) So we decided that we didn't want to break it and called the appliance warranty guy to come fix it. Really?!? To change the light bulb?

When he got here he was all cocky and like 'I'll totally fix that in like 10 seconds, blah, blah, blah..' So he gets in there and it's really stuck - duh. He gets his rubber gloves and a knife thing and starts turning it and turning it. I mentioned the fact that we thought it was just spinning the whole fixture but he didn't listen. After several turns there was a big pop and a flash. The guy didn't seem to notice. So I told him to stop and open the back of the range. He did, reluctantly, and the wires going to the socket were all twisted up and one was disconnected and really burnt. He quickly unplugged the oven and said, "Oh, there's your problem. The socket is all shorted out. It's a good thing you called me." Then he proceeded to try to hook the burnt wires back up and test them to see if they were working. I asked if the wires would start a fire if I tried to use the stove and he said, "Um...yeah. They really would. We're going to have to replace this whole set up. The board, the socket, the wires and everything. I'm really glad you called me even though you thought it was just a burned out bulb."

Thought it was? That IS all it was. Nice.

He finally did get the cover off and replace the bulb. But it still doesn't work. He's supposed to come back today to fix everything else. He's my hero.

Ride? Ride?

4 May 2010

I was out in the garage organizing all my junk. I came in for just a second to use the bathroom. When I returned I realized that I'd left the door to the garage open and that Holly had escaped! I found her here. I wish I had taken a picture of the maze of yard tools, building supplies, and garbage that she had to navigate to get here but you'll just have to believe me that it was a real feat. She still can't walk but she's standing on her own more and she knows where her bellybutton is. Whenever she thinks she's in trouble she lifts her shirt up as high as she can and screams in joy (she knows that her belly makes me happy.) I love her so so so much!!!