MISS.ISS.IPP.I

We had our annual Biloxi Mississippi trip with the Cooper Family. It is always such a relaxing trip. We fly in to New Orleans and then drive down to Biloxi. It is a full day of traveling but the kids did fairly well considering. We had the best entertainment flying into New Orleans. Check this out, our own Elvis impersonator who doubles as a flight attendant. He actually does the Elvis thing in Vegas.

The kids were so excited when they got into what we thought was a shuttle to drive down to Biloxi. It was a decked out limo bus with a bathroom and everything. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.


Our first day we went boating to a little lake area where the kids loved playing and taking turns tubing. As you can see Reese loved chillin' in her vest (and no, that is not me behind Reese, sorry Jeff).



Had fun the next day swimming at the pool and going to the spa. We then got the kids ready for their big UNLV picture. As you can see, it is hard to get a good pic with 13 tired and hungry kids. Here is the best one that I captured:




Ashlyn can't get enough of Justin, Annie and now baby Ruthie.



The next day was a fun filled day at the New Orleans Zoo and Aquarium. The Zoo was really cute.




We had the best dinners every night. There was so much food at every one! Jeff and I always woke up still feeling full the next morning. Here is the crew at dinner the last evening (some family members had to leave early so are not in the pic).



The highlight of the trip was pulling up in our ride to church. The faces of the missionaries and members who saw us pulling up in our casino shuttle is more than words can say. I think we all walked into church laughing. Talk about an oxymoron.


Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Cooper for a fun and memorable trip!

Blogging is like laundry........

it piles up. I put both off until there is so much to do it takes me all day (laundry), or all night (blogging). So, what have we been up to this summer? I have a camera full of pictures. Once again, due to my procrastination, I will post pics and some captions. Here goes.....


Max played baseball this summer and loved it. Jeff enjoyed helping coach the team. Alexis was on the Lenexa swim team. She is a good little swimmer and got first place in backstroke at a couple of the meets.



We took a weekend getaway at our friends (the Klusmans) parents cabin. We got to play with the Klusmans, Bishops and Evans families. The kids had so much fun playing in the stream, petting and feeding the horses, making smores over the bonfire and catching fireflies.





4th of July!!! We kicked off the day going to the annual Lenexa 4th of July parade. Lexi was in it marching with the Lenexa swim team. The kids loved it because they got loads of candy. After, we were off to the annual Merriam 4th of July celebration where Grandpa Rowe was offering the opening prayer. Merriam and Shawnee had thousands of flags lining several streets. The flags with yellow ribbons were donated to vets. It is really neat to see. Following that we swam and BBQ'd at Grandma and Grandpa Rowes with the cousins. We went to Shawnee Mission Park that evening where the kids played and we watched the fireworks display. I love the 4th of July!!!




Deanna Rose Farmstead. We had fun hanging out with the Geddes's for a couple of weeks. The kids got to feed the animals, play in the school house and walk through Indian tepees. The best part about this awesome place is that it's free. You can't beat that!



We took the kids to Kaleidoscope. Another fabulous free activity for kids in Kansas City. It is owned and run through Hallmark. The kids get to make crafts and get to be creative. The thing the kids love the most about Kaleidoscope is they get to make a puzzle. They can draw a picture on a piece of cardboard and there is a machine that cuts it into puzzle pieces. Too Cool!



Lake Lenexa. We got a cool new park near us. It has a lake with a walking/biking trail around it. Here is the crazy sculpture that is under the damn. I think it looks like it could be a UFO landing but, very cool and abstract anyways. The kids had fun playing on the play equipment and skipping rocks.






We took the kids along with the Geddes's to a dairy farm. Jeff thought we had gone crazy wanting to drive an hour and a half to a smelly cow farm with the gas prices the way they are. Well, we all left thinking this was one of the highlights of our summer. We got to see how they get all the cows milked, make and bottle the milk and everything else you would want to know about how we get milk from a cow to the bottles on the shelf. The kids loved feeding and milking the cows. Well, at least trying to milk a cow. We got to taste strawberry, chocolate, orange and even root beer milk. The root beer milk tastes exactly like the root beer leftover after the ice cream melts from a root beer float. YUMMY!



Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. The girls got invited to go the new American Girl Doll movie with several girls in our ward. Good times!





We took the kids to High School Musical at Starlight Theatre. So fun to watch one of their favorite movies played out on stage. We were a ways back but, the binoculars were a life saver. We even got pictures with Zac Efron following the play!!



Just loved the first pic. One of our swim days with the Geddes's at the Chambers pool. The kids had fun swimming all day with friends. The second one is of the kids in the backyard. Geddes kids, Regan Evans, Derek and Peyton (cousins) and our kiddos. The kids set up a stage to perform music for us that night. The chairs are facing what the area they were performing on. They gave us all tickets and gave a marvelous performance with songs that they wrote and played the drums to.





24th of July. Seriously, how cute is this! My Grandma and Grandpa Rowe have made this cute tradition every summer. We get together with all of the cousins (there are 6 kids that live in town now, we are so lucky) and Grandma and Grandpa. We park at a church that is near a walking trail just down from a park. We walk to the park and enjoy a pioneer dinner. This year there was soup, biscuits and homemade doughnuts. My mom made cute bonnets for all of the girls and had hats for all of the boys. They even played games that pioneers played. The kids love it and look forward to this every summer!





Reese is doing so many cute things we had to post the pics of them. Reese has claimed her favorite spot in the kitchen. She loves to get in the lid drawer and throw them all out. Then she turns around and gets going on the next drawer up. So funny. She also loves to put things on her hands and crawl around. As you can see from the pics above she is getting creative at what she is using. We joke that she is getting as creative as she can crawling so she wont have to walk. She is also starting early on the piano. She wants to play just like Lexi and Max!

Happy Birthday Reese!

Reese turned 1 on May 27th. Exciting and sad. She was sick and couldn't care less (like most babies first birthdays). Her first year breezed by. I wish I could slow it down sometimes. At the time of her birthday she still wasn't walking and did not have a tooth coming in. Finally, this week her first tooth is through the gum. Yeah!!

Reese enjoyed her jello cake, a perfect cake for a 12 month old

Fun facts/things about Reese:

1. She is one of the most laid back babies I have seen.
2. She loves to ham it up when people are watching her (hmm, I wonder who she gets that from?). She likes to make this funny face where she wrinkles her nose and squints her eyes.

3. She loves to play with her brother and sisters......even after they play doll with her (Reese being the doll). In the pic below, we were at Max's piano lessons. The teacher had this third car bench seat in the room. I looked over to where Ashlyn and Reese had been playing and Ashlyn had carried Reese and put her on the bench and buckled her in. At least she gave her toys to play with.

4. We love the fact that Reese has blue eyes. We never expected that with the rest of us being brown.
5. Reese always wants to get in the shower when someone is taking one. She will just sit on the floor and splash.
6. She love to be outside and if she can't, she loves to watch the other kids outside.

7. Grahm crackers are her favorite food.
8. Reese still loves her naps (just like her momma). When I put her down she turns to the side and puts her two fingers in her mouth (a comfort to her but, a habit that will be hard to break).
9. She gets so excited when Jeff walks in the door after work.
10. Reese has become more affectionate lately. Laying her head on me and patting my shoulder, etc. It has been fun since she has not been a cuddly baby.

This year will bring many more fun memories and milestones. We will try to absorb each day as they come.