Uber Long Post....

About a week and a half ago, Brandon and I headed off for a vacation just the two of us. We haven't been away by ourselves since a weekend in Park City for our first anniversary...so with another kidlet on the way, we decided it would be the perfect time. After Brandon got off work on Friday we headed down to St George and stayed the night at our friends Brett and Jennie. Jennie made the most amazing dinner and they spoiled us with hospitality. We watched a movie and just talked. It was so nice, and we wish these guys lived closer. The next morning, we went to, my favorite place in St George....Bear Paw, and as usual it did not disappoint. Then we hit the road and were off to Sunset Beach. We did a lot of this. We went to a few beaches, piers, and boardwalks. We loved them all, minus Venice Beach Boardwalk. It smelled like urine...maybe that is was bulked up Arnold while he worked out there. This pelican sat here the whole time we were there. It was one lazy pelican. People were coming up to it getting really close to get it's picture with it, then he would open his mouth and just slowly move like he was going to bite you, but was too lazy in the end. We went to a local ward on Fathers day, and let me just say, Brandon got spoiled. The ward, for Fathers Day, gave every male over 19 a Dad's root beer, you know the ones in the old beer bottle or whatever, popcorn, bookmark, and a universal remote. Then we spent the day on Main St in Huntington Beach. They had the street closed and little vendors along the road. Since it was Fathers day, we of course went to a BBQ place called Mo's Smokehouse BBQ. It was fabulous!! Bran got a pulled pork sandwich, and we've decided we like the places that serve them naked, then you put on the sauce that you want. That way you can tell it's a really good smoked meat...they're not trying to cover anything up by adding lots of sauce. I got their chipotle lime tacos....mmm....we highly recommend the place. Then we sat on the street listening to a guy playing the guitar and singing....he had a nice James Taylor voice.... Another day we spent in San Diego. We went to a session at the temple, and if you have never been, oh my heavens, every temple is gorgeous inside, but this temple is amazingly breathtaking!!! We couldn't get over it. We also went on a dolphin safari. It was the coolest thing I think we have ever done. 92% of the time they go, they see dolphins...of course, the time we go, we didn't see any. But we saw 5 whales!!! The camera isn't zoomed, this is how close we were to them. We would get sprayed each time they blew their blowhole. It was the most amazing thing to see them swim along side us. This guy we named chunky because his fin had a bunch of chunks taken out. He was about 70 feet long and I think the captain said probably around 140 tons! Isn't that crazy?! They're huge. I have a couple videos that are pretty cool, but they're taking too long to upload, so I'll try again later. When we were driving back to dock the captain was telling us all about whales and dolphins and asking us a bunch of questions. Cooper has a book about whales and dolphins, so I felt pretty smart when I could answer most of them. Haha, the things I learn by having a kid right? I remember when I was really little I wanted to be a marine biologist, so it was really interesting to learn more about whales and dolphins. We went to Hollywood to go to a taping of the Jimmy Kimmel show. Brandon wanted his picture with this transformer and the Halo guy, but we didn't want to tip them, so I just took a pic of this random kid. Hollywood, eh, it doesn't impress me much. It's kind of dirty and way too crowded. The taping was fun, but it only lasted about 30 min and we had to wait standing out on the street in the hot sun for about 2 hours prior....which was uber lame. We went to an Angels game. Brandon was telling me about all the players who had played for Bees, (since it's their farm team or whatever) my husband amazes me. He knows so much about the most random things. We spent about 45 min in the fans store trying to find a hat that would fit my over sized head, oh what a blessing it is to have a huge noggin.Can't go to a game without getting a hot dog!! Sorry, I was hungry and had a bite before we took a pic. But really, only one bite, look at the difference in size in our hot dogs. Yowza. We had so much fun getting away just as a couple. We miss the beach, and mostly the weather, but we missed this little guy way more. Thanks Marci for watching him. He was spoiled and got to do so many fun things with his cousins while we were gone, which, if you look closely in this picture, included getting his fingernails painted. Dad wasn't too happy about that adventure, but he loved it. The day we got home, my other sister finally had her little boy. Well, not so little. He was 8 lb 11 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. He looks so much like his big sister and is adorable....oh so cute. Aren't babies amazing?! Speaking of amazing, my sister did the whole thing without an epidural!! She's superwoman in my book! Baby Evan James, I love baby feet!! Then the next day Cooper and I headed up to O-town. Our nieces were in a little pageant..it was so cute. Miss Graci got 2nd princess in her division, Hannah got Queen in hers, and Kinli got 2nd princess in hers. Way to go girls!! They were so stinkin cute and I loved listening to their little answers that they gave to the questions they were asked...I heart them. The next days was Founders Day and my BIL was putting on a 5k in the morning, so the fam went up to help. I was very impressed with the turn out. It was the first year and I thought John did great, especially since he had never put on a race or anything. Thanks everyone who came, next year they will definitely do an awards ceremony and have prizes and what not. After the race we went to the parade. Coop and Maddi found this potato bug and were thoroughly entertained with it. Coop would only hold it on the stick, so then when he would drop it, Maddi would pick it up and put it back on the stick for him. Haha, I think it's supposed to be the other way around, but whatever. Then they had a little area with all these inflatables and Cooper was in heaven on this slide. I thought he would be scared to do it all by himself cause it was pretty stinkin high, but he was in heaven, and screamed when I got too hot and took him home.

The other week I went up to Ogden and was able to spend a lot of time with both fams. We went to Kinli's baseball game. I heart this pic of Coop and Hannah...oh how he adores her.
We stayed at my moms one of the nights and these three started out in the bath together...then when someone did their business in the tub, got moved to the shower. :-) Bless their hearts. My son is usually terrified of the shower, but had so much fun this time. I think it's because their shower is big enough that he has a lot of area to play where the water doesn't touch him, he's a goof I know. I love listening to him giggle with the other little kids though, such a sweet sound.
Another night we were able to go to little Miss Bradee's dance review. She had 2 dances this year and did so great!! Ah it cracks me up every time to watch the little kids. At intermission we were all wanting to bail, since Bradee was done, but Bradee wanted to stay. We were having a hard time convincing her to go, until someone pulled the fire alarm at Weber State. When everyone had to evacuate and clear the area for the firemen to come and search the building before anyone could go back in, she gave in to the idea of leaving for ice cream. Thank you mystery alarm puller!
Yesterday my sister (the one pictured above) had her baby!! Her pregnancies are always a surprise, in the way that we don't know the gender until it's born. They had a sweet little baby girl!! They are still deciding on a name, but when I talked to them this morning, they are thinking she will be little miss Sophie Jay.Ah the Thompson clan. My sister is a trooper!! She got started early in the morning, and had to wait about 5 hours for our doctor to make it over to break her water. She had her water broken at 3, was to a 10 within the hour. Pushed for 4 min and she was here!!! Amazing right?!
These 2 big sisters already can't get enough of her! Congrats guys, she is beautiful!!!!

Happy Birthday Bran!!

Tomorrow is Brandons Birthday!! Since he is turning 29, here are 29 things I love about Brandon:
1. He is an amazing Dad, and if Cooper had it his way, I'm pretty sure he would rather Brandon stay home with him than me, he's such a daddy's boy.
2. He works his tail off so that I can stay home.
3. I have learned that I sleep on a diagonal, I think it's worse with this pregnancy. Instead of waking me up and having me move so that he can fit on the bed, he always lets me sleep, and he gets up and moves to another bed. Sorry babe!
4. How nervous he was to kiss me for the first time.
5. How nervous he was when he told me he loved me.
6. His eyes. I didn't care what Cooper looked like, but I prayed he had Brandons eyes and eye lashes.
7. He always gives me a kiss when he leaves for work and when he comes home.
8. After a LONG day at work, he's so excited to see his son and play with him.
9. The way he still laughs like a school boy at movies he practically has memorized. (ie. Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman)
10. He appreciates me fixing dinner, even when it's the simple staples that I seem to make every week, and always thanks me.
11. His style. (check out those pants) Before we got married, Brandon spent so much money on clothes. Now when he's not working, he sports the t-shirt and shorts, but I love it. It makes the times he puts on a button up collared shirt all the better.
12. He supports my food hobby, even though he doesn't love sweets, and I know he thinks I'm silly for caring so much about good food. (though he has started appreciating a good restaurant)
13. He honors his priesthood and is the patriarch of our home.
14. He makes the best breakfast.
15. He hates to sit around and is always wanting to be out doing something and making memories as a family.
16. He still wears this shirt. (if you can't read it, it says "love is for losers"
17. He never makes me feel dumb about all of the stupid questions I ask and I promise, I ask a lot.
18. His desire for us to be better people and better parents
19. His ability to push me to have more confidence in myself
20. That he sits on the deck with me every night to just talk and be together.
21. His family. The way he was raised and their ability to accept me and ALWAYS be willing to do anything I need. I love them all more than I ever thought a person loved their in laws (I hate that word, in law) I have truly been blessed in that area.
22. The trials we've encountered and how strong it has made us as a couple.
23. He encourages me to have girls nights and takes Cooper places with him quite often so I can have some me time.
24. He irons his own shirts, and mine if I need him to.
25. He helps around the house and if I'm cleaning when he is home, he always offers to do it for me.
26. He is passionate about sports. He can sit and talk to my dad forever about everything that is going on in the sports world. Though my dad was sad I didn't marry a Yankee fan, I know how much he enjoys having a son in law to talk with, go to games, and go golfing.
27. Though he usually rolls his eyes, he watches dumb shows with me that I get a kick out of. Things like the Bachelorette, Platinum Weddings etc.
28. He laughs at my dumb jokes and always makes me laugh
29. He always tells his son how much he loves him.

I could go on with ease, but for your sake, there is just a few! Happy Birthday Bran, we love you!!
On another note, my brother in law John is putting on a 5k for Pleasant View Founders Day this year! The celebration has never had a 5k before, so we want to make sure that enough people sign up. So tell everyone you know, please! Come on now, if the pregnant girl can be there at 6 in the morning, I think y'all could be there too!! Here's a little info about the race:

Race Begins…. At the sound of the Founders Day Cannon 7:00 a.m. Saturday, June 27^th 2009

** Packet pick up 6:00-6:45 day of the race **

Course: Race begins at 896 W Pleasant View Drive (Red Church across from Pleasant View Park) and will end at Pleasant View Park. (To view the exact Course www.pleasantviewcity.com)

Pre-Registration Fee: $10.00 before June 25^th at 5:00 p.m.

Race Day registration: $15.00 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. Pleasant View Park

It's only 10 bucks!!! You can sign up at the Pleasant View City Office or if you live too far to swing by there, contact me and we'll work out a way to get you registered. Any takers? I would love to see you guys!

Memory Grove

Shortly after my last post, my son decided to be on his death bed with a bug. That's what happens when you live in a county where the small children outnumber the adults I guess, cause it seems everyone got it. So after a week of him throwing up and not eating, I'm happy to report we've been healthy for a whole week now and Brandon and I can probably recite the whole movie Horton Hears a Who. And boy is he making up for not eating too much for so long. I was cleaning the bathrooms one day and after I finished cleaning the toilet and moved on to the tub, I noticed my small child was not by me anymore. Turns out he took matters into his own hands and got a head start on the other bathroom.
Every morning Coop and I go to the park. It's a good way to get out of the house, try to get some sun on my albino skin, and for Cooper to burn off some energy. Today Brandon had to work, and I was bored with all the parks around us, so we ventured down to Memory Grove.
At Memory Grove, you can have your dog off the leash, free to run around and jump in the water, and run up the canyon with you, so there is always a lot of dogs, and he was in heaven. "Look another dog, one, two, three, four, hi dog!"
He was fascinated by the river, but was not interested in the slightest in putting his feet in, he insisted it was too cold. Which he was right, it was freezing.
He loved wandering around all the different places, turning to me, and saying cheese.
Again, earlier I had bribed him, saying that if he said cheese while we were here, he could have fruit snacks when we got back to the car.
Too bad I didn't realize until we got home and uploaded the pictures that there was a shadow of a plant covering half of the picture....oh well.
By this point he was done. He went down all of these stairs by scooting on his bum and telling me, "No! No more cheese mamma." After that we headed over to Trolley Square to watch them make taffy and of course purchase some for ourselves. I think if I would have put a chair in front of the old taffy pulling contraption, I could have found myself a free babysitter. Oh my heavens, each time I get taffy from here, I forget how it makes the store bought taffy taste like poo....though Cooper was a sticky mess when we got home, we were happy and he kept telling me, "Mom I had fun! This is delicious!" I heart this little boy!

For Mothers Day this year, all the Grandkids on the Toyn side got their picture taken. Kellie did amazing, and she definitely had her hands full with this group. Let's just say my son slightly struggled in the group pictures. He didn't quite understand why he couldn't stand by this person or that one, and why he had to stay still in one spot.
After, we went over to Farr's and got all the kids an ice cream cone and she took some more pictures. I love these. Poor Henry, he thought the ice cream tasted so good, the little guy couldn't get enough in his mouth fast enough.....resulting in what I'm sure was a major brain freeze. It was so sad, yet so funny at the same time. He didn't want to stop eating the ice cream, and couldn't understand what was going wrong.
My son takes the daintiest little licks, it cracks me up. Had I not helped him with this cone, which I so generously offered to do, he still probably would be working on it to this day.
When it was time for us sisters to get our pictures taken....we were probably worse for Kellie than the kids. :-) We couldn't stop laughing!
I know, my sons pants are floods in this picture, but it cracks me up. I love it! I told him if he sat up there and did what Kellie told him, and said cheese, he could have some fruit snacks. So that's what he did, such a cheeser. Bribery often works well in our relationship. :-) If anyone needs a great photographer, check her out http://www.kelliehalesphotography.com/
I also took the little man in for his 2 year check up yesterday and his stats are:
Weight 27 lb 35%-40%
Height 33.5 25%
Head Circumference 48 25%
So he's trimmed down and has actually had a growth spurt. I know you're looking at that again and thinking 25%, growth spurt? But hey, we're moving up! We also had a proud parenting moment when he asked what things Coop knew. We told him he knows his letters, what sounds the letters make, his numbers 1-10, his colors (we've now mastered them with the help of flash cards, but still get green and yellow confused), his shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, and diamond), and his ABC's. He told us that they don't even expect that from a 3 year old! Atta boy Coop!
Last week we also had a get together with the girls from the ward we grew up in. I wanted to dig out some pictures from girls camp of all of us, but I wasn't up for searching through the box. We had so much fun and talked and reminisced for 4 hours straight before the girls needed to start heading home. It was so much fun and I hope that we really do start to get together more often. I heart them.If I have seen you in the past little while, then this really isn't an announcement at all, but I figured we better post about it on the blog. We're having another little kidlet!!! We told our families a while ago because a) my stomach sure didn't have a hard time remembering how to expand, so I haven't been able to hide it like I could with Coop and b) we had so many family get togethers and I have been a lot more sick with this little one. However, when I went in for my first appointment they found out that my thyroid was high, so after being put on medication for that, I haven't been feeling nearly quite as dead. This first 9 weeks or so, I pretty much laid on the couch all day long, I was nauseous and just SO tired, so it was good to hear that it wasn't just cause I was pregnant!
Here is the little one sucking it's thumb. Coop always had his hands up by his face, but wasn't a finger sucker...this one, however, looks like it is. I'll be 13 weeks on Sundays, and we're not due until November 22, so we still have a LONG ways to go, but we're excited, and a little nervous, to have 2. Brandon has been amazing! He's been so good to me to go get me soda crackers or ginger ale late at night, listening to me puke in the kitchen sink (I never seem to make it to the bathroom), and up until this week having things like Mac n' Cheese and frozen pizza for dinner. He always made me feel better about not getting too much done during the day, but I'm sure he's glad to finally have his wife back, and a good home cooked meal. Thanks babe, you're the best!

A Trip to the Zoo

Last week for Brandons day off, we decided to hit up the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo since I was much older than Coop, so I think we were both pretty excited. If I could sum up our trip with one pic, it would be the one above. We loved it!!
Cooper would get excited every time he saw a new animal, he'd point and say what it was, or guess what it was, and in a 2 year olds version, describe to us what the animal was doing. It was so cute.
I'd have to say of all the animals at the zoo, for some reason, this turtle was his favorite. He walked on his knees along side the turtle as it went back and forth and said, "hi turtle, hi turtle, cheese turtle." (I was telling him to look at me and say cheese, apparently he was more concerned with the turtle smiling)He loved the train ride, and his favorite part of this was going through the little intersections and waving at the people waiting for the train to pass by, "Hi everyone"
He was a little apprehensive of the big metal gorilla, but as long as dad was there with him, he thought he could handle it.
You can't go to the zoo without getting your picture taken with this lion, though no water was actually coming out...Cooper was a little disappointed.
This was another favorite of his. It was so warm that day, that it was a nice little way to cool off. Look at that cheese, he's lovin life.
The elephant, also knows as "Porton" from Horton hears a who. Not sure if this the one that a couple days later had it's baby or not....Brandon was reading an article on that....this might be more than some want to know, if so, skip on. It was saying it's hard to weigh the baby elephant because it's weight can fluctuate around 20 lbs due to urination, and 150 lbs due to defecation!!! Holy crap...literally!!
Haha, the bears make me chuckle. I can't look at them and not think of Anchorman. I kept waiting for Baxter to come and speak peace to the bears for us. We had so much fun, and it was a great way of wearing Cooper out so he could take a good ole long nap. My favorite. Hopefully when we put up some black out curtains, the kid will take good naps more often. :-)

Blessings & Birthdays

This past weekend we ventured to O-town, yet again. One of these weekends we're going to make it to our ward...hmmm. We went up to celebrate Coops 2nd birthday and the blessing of our niece Scotlyn. Saturday night we spent at my parents. We ordered a pizza and by the time we were all done, none of us wanted cake, so Coop sported some candles in a Krispy Kreme donut! We're so cool right?! I think my sons favorite part of his birthday was blowing out the candles. We had to relight them quite a few times cause he wanted to do it over and over again.

Sunday was Scotlyns blessing and it was such a beautiful blessing and spirit there that day. This is my fave pic from the day, I love the funny face that she is pulling. It cracks me up.
The happy Fronk family. It rained that morning, and then picked up again as soon as they started putting the tables away outside...these guys must be living right. :-)
Since all the family was there, we stayed at Scott and Shawni's and celebrated Coops birthday with the Toyn's there. Here is his cake this year....my son is slightly obsessed with Elmo, and was so excited from the time he saw me baking it. He kept saying "my Elmo cake, mommy, I eat it!"
Again, blowing out the candles. As I was uploading these pics, Coop was sitting by me, and he got up on his knees, and started blowing, and said "I blow out the puter!" He cracks me up! Though he is at the age where everything is 'MINE' and I hear 'no i don't want it' at least 5 times a day, the other things he says and does make me laugh so hard. He's such a little boy who understands way more than I give him credit for, he's one smart cookie.
Taush, I just had to throw this in for you. I think this pic of Graci is darling. Whenever I get my camera out, she comes running, and says, "chelsie take a picture of me." She makes me chuckle.
Who is loving this weather we've been having?! Scotlyn's ready for summer, and could she look any cuter in her little two piece....oh my heavens I just want to kiss her!