Sea World with Grandma Cooper

5 Apr 2010

While Grandma was here we took her to Sea World. I think it's the first time she's ever been. We had a really good time.

Derek cut in line to give Shamu a hug. He just ran up there so I hurried and snapped a picture.

This is Jared taking Tyler for his first roller coaster ride ever. He said it was 3/4 fun and 1/4 not fun.

This is Derek on his first roller coaster ride. It's called Shamu's Oasis. Derek loved it and Tyler says it's for babies.

Rub A Dub Dub

4 April 2010

Here's just a few things that have been going on at the Cooper house lately:

The kids finally took a bath.

Tyler turned 8 on March 21st. He wanted his cake to be strawberry with blue icing. Unfortunately Mom can't see inside his mind and though he was thankful, he said that his cake looked like a cake that would be for a baby shower. Oh man!

Tyler got great gifts for his birthday. He's well on his way to reaching his #1 goal of owning a $100 bill.

The pine wood derby was 2 days after Tyler's birthday. We didn't know ahead of time so we had to work quick. The result was that Tyler showed up with a really good looking car that you can make from a kit you get at the craft store. They come with add ons, paint and stickers. Those rich doctor's kids are always ruining all the fun for everyone else. (Tyler's is the one in the middle).

Tyler won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place. We'll never know which - cause everybody's a winner in Cub Scouts!

We went to Walmart and the boys were being naughty so they had to go to time out while we were in the checkout line.

Tyler repented of his naughty behavior and got baptized on Sat, April 3rd. Way to go Tyler! We love you!

During the baptism Derek and Grandma were cute.

After the baptism the whole family was cute.

Mom and Holly were happy that the whole family was cute.

We had an Easter Egg hunt with Joseph and Amanda and their kids and our neigbors (the Smiths) later that day. Tyler is doing his impression of a pirate and Derek is being a mime.

Holly....Holly....show me how the piggies eat. That's right! Oink oink.

The Real Reason for Babies

27 Mar 2010

There are lots of reasons to have kids. I didn't know it before-hand, but the real reason for babies is so that you can attack your lazy husband. If Jared is napping when he should be unpacking, all you have to do is plop the baby on him.

At first she is cuddly and cute. Dad is glad that he has a cute baby to love him. Little does he know what she has in mind.She begins by checking out her surroundings to make sure that the coast is clear.

She assumes her attack stance.
The attack begins. Dad is especially bugged by the famous "wet diaper in the face" maneuver. Mom and baby are happy. Dad is mad, and still sleepy.

All is right with the world.

Do you like...stuff?

20 Mar 2010

Here are some pictures that I took this last week. This is Tyler and Derek in a field of wild flowers by the Freddy's Frozen Custard. The flowers are starting to come out all over the place. The Texas Blue Bells are especially pretty.

This is how we spend the third hour of church each week. Notice the tear in Holly's eye and the glazed over, sleepy look in Jared's.

This is what my girls made at our Faith in God activity this week. We learned about the Word of Wisdom and the food pyramid. The girls drew all the food except the carrot and the the broccoli. One of the 9-year olds is a really good artist. She did the apple and the peas with shading and everything.

Still Moving In

18 March 2010

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Some of you may be wondering how our move is coming along. Well........the old house is mostly cleaned out. We have two or three more things over there that we need to pick up and we still have lots of cleaning to do. Problem is that the old house has a broken pipe somewhere so the water is shut off and we can't clean. There wasn't a flood or anything (as far as we know) but there is something really wrong with the water. For the last couple of weeks the whole house sounds like it's going to shake apart whenever you flush a toilet or turn on a faucet. It's really bad and pretty scary. Good thing we were only renting.

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The new house is coming along...kind of. I just walked around the house 5 minutes ago and took these photos.

Clearly there is lots left to do. Here is what Jared's doing right now. I guess you can tell what I'm doing (ahem - blogging). Yeah...well...I sure hope someone puts all this stuff away soon.

Mario Wiiiiiiii!

17 March 2010

Tyler was playing Mario on the Wii and I wanted him to do some chores. Here is how the conversation went.

Me: Tyler, I need you to do some chores. Can you please stop as soon as your guy dies?
Tyler: Sure
Derek: TYLER! IT'S TIME TO STOP! TURN OFF THE WII!
Me: Derek! It's okay. He doesn't have to stop until he dies.
Derek: Tyler, can you please die?

Home Depot Car Carts

11 Mar 2010

So we're almost all moved into our new house. The boxes are here, the furniture is put back together and the computer is set up. Yay! Things are almost normal again :) Tomorrow Tyler is going to take his first ride to school on the bus. He's pretty excited. I will take pictures and keep you updated. In the meantime, here are some Cooper family gems:

Holly thinks moving is stinky. We all think that her diapers are stinky.

I bought this TV box from a lady who was buying a TV at Costco. When the missionaries came over to help us move, one mentioned that the way the woman on the box was looking at him made him feel uncomfortable.

All our food was packed up so we went out for dinner.

I temporarily suspended my "no car cart" policy on one of our many trips to Home Depot this week.

Why is the grass in the backyard so lumpy?

14 Feb 2009

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

I like Valentines Day because I like Valentines Day cookies and cupcakes. I'm not really one of those super romatic types who insists on lots of presents and flowers. However, Jared always goes out with the boys to get me a present and they love it so much. This year they got me a book about how to do landscaping in Texas. See, I grew up in the frozen north (before I moved here to what is now apparently the frozen south). In Utah I know that you can grow lilacs, elm trees, apples, pine trees, roses, grapes, and pumpkins. I have no idea what grows here but I know that it isn't any of those things. All the flora is alien to me. I just got the book today and I've already read most of it and drawn out the plan for my back yard. I plan to hang this plan on my fridge and leave it there for the next 15 years. **wink**wink** Right Mom? I know you know what I'm talking about :)

Here is the book Jared and the boys gave me today.

Here is a book that I bought last summer when I bought the house in North Dakota.

Here is the yard plan that Tyler made. You might need a magnifying glass to see the labels. I think it's pretty good.
P.S. In the comments on my last post Kevin asked why the grass in the backyard was so lumpy. Um..well, cause it's crappy bermuda grass, the rain turned it to mud and then I walked all over it to take the pictures. No kidding, they put in the grass and then the next day we got 2 inches of rain. The whole place was a swamp - it still is. I plan to replace the weeds - I mean "grass" - that they installed with St. Augstine like we have at our house now. Jared says that there might be a city ordinance against it because it uses more water, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'll get it on the black market if I have to.

Our New House

13 Feb 2009

Okay. So now that everyone has read The Air Force Story (a drama), I'm ready to start my regular old blog posts again. As many of you already know, we sold our house in North Dakota at the end of January. Luckily the market picked up in that area because of oil drilling and even with all the double house payments we made, we only lost a couple of thousand dollars. It's a lot, but it could have been worse.

Now, we get to get a new house. And here it is! It's about 10 miles from where we live now on a cute little cul-de-sac in a gated community called Cobblestone. It's brand new, has 4 bedrooms and sprinkers. Our loan looks good and I just found out today that our mortgage company wants to close on Feb 26th. I'm so so excited to finially live in my own home again! Yay.

Here is the front of the house.

Here is the backyard.

Here is the dining room and living room.

Kitchen.

Hallway upstairs.

Old timey stair-ladder into the attic where the furnace is.

Here is a link to the model home on the builder's website. It's just like ours but the floorplan is flipped. http://www.kbhome.com/Plan~PlanID~00865210-A-2183.aspx

Aim (less) high. [Jared's post]

I surprised a lot of people when I volunteered to join the Air Force in order to complete my internship and PhD in clinical Psychology. I knew going into it that I wasn't a traditional 'Airman,' but from all my years of working in the mental health field I'd learned that different patients need different therapists with different personalities in order to help everyone find a good fit. I hoped that I would find my niche and that I could prove myself.

As I went through training, I grew to love the tradition, the camaraderie, and the respect that I experienced as I served. I quickly decided that I was going to make a career of mental health in the Air Force. It would mean substantially less pay than if I were to pursue a mental health career in the civilian sector, but I was looking forward to seeing new places and most of all, I loved the patients I served in the Air Force--brave men and women who have been to hell and back and simply need to tell their experiences to someone who won't react in horror, repulsion, or disgust.

Something that I didn't grow to love was paperwork. All through grade school, junior high, and high school, I always struggled with completing homework. When I finally made it to college, I performed a lot better because the focus shifted to midterms and finals, and I've always tested well. But when it comes to remaining on-task and being detail oriented with paperwork and administrative tasks, I have to work doubly-hard.

Perhaps it was inevitable that I would get written-up for paperwork problems. Then during the remediation process that followed, my illustrious Director of Training (a 100-year-old civilian) repeatedly gave me wrong or incomplete instructions for what I should do to alleviate my supervisor's concerns. Despite her interference, I finally demonstrated that I was qualified to be an independent mental health provider at a nuclear weapons base. I was less than a week from moving to the new base when my Director raised concerns about how I had conducted research for my dissertation. After she presented her case to my other supervisors (using 'facts' about my past which were patently false), they voted to dismiss me from the internship. I followed due-process to fight the decision, which involved Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, and at least one Major General, from all over the Air Force coming to San Antonio to review my case.

Ultimately, the independent review demonstrated that my training had been deficient and the Director's remediation efforts had failed to follow due-process. Unfortunately, the review also decided that I was no longer considered a good fit for the Air Force. At this point, we are awaiting the Installation Commander's final stamp on my dismissal from the internship. Following that, I will most likely be dismissed from the Air Force all together. To make matters worse, I've been told by my professors at BYU that being asked to leave the internship will mean the end of my graduate program, with virtually no chance of moving my credits to a different degree or university. Bottom-line, I will not be able to complete my PhD.

So now what? Suzie and I are going to be teachers! I've always loved teaching, and I've had the opportunity to teach at Provo College and BYU, not to mention Sunday School and Gospel Doctorine at church. I've always enjoyed it regardless of the subject. My mom is a math teacher and Texas offers a teaching certificate for people interested in teaching math or science with relatively little time and expense. We're buying a new home in San Antonio, new schools are opening up in the area, and we like the city and the weather. I've got thousands of dolloars of knowledge rattling around in my head about the psychology of human behavior, and years of hard-won hands-on experience with the most difficult populations imaginable (mental patients, imprisoned sex-offenders, and BYU freshmen). Suzie and I will finally be able to spend time with one another after the workday is done, we'll have summers off, and there is very little risk that I'll be sent on a business trip to Afghanistan.

We're happy about where we're at, we truly feel the hand of Providence is at work, and we're excited to begin our next adventure. We are sincerely thankful for everyone who has expressed their support throughout this process. We love you all, and we're humbled to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family.

Jared