Halloween 2007

31 Oct 2007

Here are some photos from Halloween. Instead of the traditional trick-or-treating, we took the kids to the mall to get candy. It was lots of fun and lots less cold that I remember trick-or-treating being when I was a kid. This year, Derek was Dipsy the Teletubby and Tyler was a spider.

Chirstmas Eve 2007

24 Dec 2007

I usually don't take a lot of pictures on Christmas Eve, but this year was a pretty fun year and I took a few:

Derek playing with Kevin's Playskool Christmas train.

Jared reading a Christmas story to the kids.

Tyler showing off his new Christmas pajamas.

Tyler with the little wooden town that he built.

My Dancing Jared vs. My Dancing Derek

2 Jan 2008

As many of you probably already know, the vs. segments on America's Funniest Home Videos are my favorites. (If you have never seen any of the AFV vs. videos, you should go to YouTube and look some up - they are hilarious!) Anyway, here is my version - My Dancing Jared vs. My Dancing Derek.

Derek's 2nd Birthday

29 Dec 2007

So hopefully I'm getting better at this blogging thing. I went to Joseph and Amanda's page and it was all professional and awesome looking and all their pictures were cute and fit with the words. So I downloaded some picture editing software (not really - I just downloaded a program that turns my .doc files into .jpg files - picture editing in MS Word is actually pretty easy) and you can all see the results below.

It is a little unfortunate for Derek that his birthday is 4 days after Christmas and 2 days before New Years. Hopefully he won't hate me too much for delivering him 2 weeks before his due date so that we could get an additional child tax credit in 2005 (he was due on Fri the 13th anyway and we all know that that's not lucky). Anyway, for Derek's birthday this year we went out to lunch with all of the Cooper's at Wingers. The kids love Wingers because the kids meals are really good for kids (even though they're a little expensive for parents). Brian and Janet paid for us all with money that they got for Christmas from Grandpa Johnson. Thanks Grandpa!

This is Jared and Derek at the restaurant.

After lunch Derek got to open presents at Grandma Cooper's house and Grandma James' house. He got a big box of Legos and this cute pushey stroller car (above). I tried so hard to get him to look at me and smile for the picture but almost every time his eyes were half closed or he was wiggling so much the picture was blurry. So, this picture is the best that I can do. If anyone else takes a cute picture of my son, please send it to me. After presents we had cake at Grandma James' house. Below is my best effort at a demonstrating the progression of the fun.

Written by Suzie

More Pictures of Christmas Day 2007

Christmas Day 2007

This Christmas was AWESOME! We got up and opened presents at our house. Then we went and opened presents at Grandma James' house. Then we went and opened presents at Grandma Coopers' house. The kids got what they asked for and lots more and Jared and I got to experience all the fun and excitement of Christmas through the eyes of a 5-year old and 2-year old.

Tyler's favorite present was a Ghost Rider action figure that is lost right now (it might be at Grandma's house). He also got a remote control spider, a cowboy hat, a stick horse, some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and 2 Star Wars computer games. Derek got lots of toy cars from the movie Cars and a Tickly Me Elmo that scared him (we took it back). Jared got a lot of new Darth Vaders, some movies, some tools and $100. I scored big with a cookbook from America's Test Kitchen (not even kidding - the BEST recipes in the world), an apron (so my clothes don't get dirty making all of my new recies), a great digital picture frame and a new camera to take pictures for my blog. Jared also got me some new jeans and a gift certificate for a 1 hour massage. I went to get my massage the next day and I liked it so much that I bought one for my mom.

Christmas night was very nice - we spent it at home with Nathan and Kevin and Nathan's girlfriend Stephanie watching our new "Fly Boys" DVD. The next day I had to work, but the boys stayed home with Dad playing with their toys and watching movies. Later that night I used my new book to make some really really good egg-nog.

Christmas is such a great holiday!

Tyler's First Day of School

Tyler started Kindergarten in Sept (2007). I was in Washington D.C. visiting Kay Lynn so I missed the big day, but Dad took care of everything and even took some pictures. Tyler was really really excited and couldn't stop talking about how great it would be to start school. Now that he's been going to school for about 4 months he is less enthusiastic but he still really likes it. His teacher, Mrs. Harris, says that he is doing very well with his reading and math. He even figures out how to spell long words all on his own. Today he spelled "rampaj (rampage)" and "siclops (cyclops)".

Suzie

30 Dec 2007

Air Force Open House

The first week of December Jared and I went to San Antonio for the Air Force Psychology Residency open house. We flew into Austin and stayed with Joseph and Amanda the first night we were there. The weather was really nice the whole time. I think I will enjoy winters with 80 degree highs (the summers - maybe not so much).

The next day we drove 100 miles to Lackland AFB where we looked at some houses and attended an Air Force social. The next day we were on the base the whole day meeting with Air Force guys and looking at stuff. It wasn't as cool as I had hoped. Apparently Lackland AFB is the boot camp of the Air Force and so they don't really have very many planes there.

We really hope that Jared gets accepted for this residency. It is a big boost in pay and I will finially be able to quit work and stay home with the kids. If he is accepted, Jared will do his residency in San Antonio for 1 year and then be assigned to another base for 3 more. He might be deployed for 4 months to the middle east or Korea during those three years but hopefully not. We will find out for sure if Jared is accepted in Feb 2008.


Dopey picutre of Jared at the airport. We had a snow delay of 7 hours in Denver. It was extremely boring and kinda stupid because we can drive from Denver to SLC in less than 7 hours.


Dopey picture of me at the airport. I was too scared to take my camera onto the base for pictures so we don't have any. I also forgot to take picures of Joseph and Amanda and Emily.

Suzie

30 Dec 2007

Festival of Trees

Tyler and Kevin posing for a picture


This year we took Kevin to the Festival of Trees with us. For those of you who have never been to the festival of trees, you should really go. The Primary Children's Medical Center takes thousands of Christmas trees and decorations as donations and then sells them to raise money for hosipital patients who cannot afford to pay for their medical care. We go every year and it is always so much fun. Mom and Dad and Kevin like eating cinnamon scones and looking at trees. Tyler really likes looking at the ginger bread houses and talking to Santa. Derek just likes going places with Tyler. This year was especially fun because we didn't stay too long and get all tired. Tyler asked Santa for a Ghost Rider action figure and a cowboy hat for Christmas. Thankfully Santa came through and he got both.




Tyler and Derek with Santa




Tyler after he ate some cotton candy


Derek after he made a mess and lost the privilege of wearing a shirt




Suzie
29 Dec 2007

Fall Leaves

I really wanted some cute pictures of my kids playing in the leaves for my scrapbook. So I had them come outside and pretend to rake leaves earlier this Fall. It started out pretty fun and I got several good pictures. Eventually however, the rakes turned into light sabers and full scale battle had begun. After a minute or two Derek decided he wanted both light sabers and tried to take Tyler's away. Needless to say, the fun fall frolic I had planned ended up in sorrow, tears and a little blood. We all went in for some hot chocolate - even though it wasn't cold.











Suzie
27 Dec 2007