Tree and Christmas Gifts

Kris was so kind to go pick out our christmas tree this year. We had decided that since money is tight we would just get a small tree. Lets face it, it doesn't feel like christmas until the tree is up! Cooper loved to try and re-arrange the ornaments until he got in big trouble one night.



So trying to find cute xmas gift ideas for my neices and nephew when I thought about this one. Its great because I can do all of them for $10 or less a piece. They are all getting a Monogram patch shirt with matching scarf(girls) or beanie(boys). I can't wait to see them with their shirts on I think it will make a super cute picture as well.

Updating

So it has been a very busy three months since my last post. I have started 2 new jobs. Which makes 3 part time jobs and a 70 hour work week. I work Tues-Thurs at Gold's gym in the daycare. Its not alot of $$ but I can bring Cooper with so it evens out. I have also been working at the Post Office doing data entry since Nov 7th. I work from 6:30p - 12:30a Wed-Fri and 5:30p - 2a on Sat and Sunday. I am not really looking forward to the next three weeks as I will be working from 6:30p-3a or longer. Obviously this is the busy season for the Post Office. I wont really be a functioning human but I will physically be present. Definately worth it in the long run.
Other than that the most recent action was a date night with my mom and Juanita. My mom wanted to purchase a Tree that her friend donated to the Festival of Trees. April along with her mom and sisters decorated a tree in memory of their sister Candice. She passed away 2 years ago from HELP. Its something like Toxemia but worse. Anyway of course it really touches me and the fact that Candice's little boy survived only makes the chills and tears start. Their tree was perfect! Not too goddy and not underdone. It was Candy themed and so adorable. Unfortunately my mom wasn't able to win it. She got out bid by someone who was donating the tree to a family with disabled children. So it was all good.
I really love the Festival of Trees it gives me such good ideas for my own tree. We did decide that next year we are going to decorate and donate a wreath. If all goes well we will do a tree the following year. I know its a year away but I am already excited for it.

Turkeys

I was scamming the internet this past weekend when I came across a very cute onesie with an adorable turkey on it. It was hand made and the stitching on it was amazing. Unfortuneately the lady wanted $35 for it. NO is my first thought, " I can make that" is my second. After a couple of tries here is what I ended up with.



So now I have all this extra fabric so I am thinking I can make more! So to my friends whom like this and have an extra $10. I am selling a version of the turkey pictured above(no legs). I made them into patches so you would just have to iron them on. If you would seriously like one. I can have them for you the next day. I also make a girl version with more pink in the fabric instead of blue.
Pictured below is the girl version and actual patch.


Please contact me at nottley@yahoo.com if you are interested.

PUPPIES

Optimus bred with a sweet female named Tonka in June. She was lucky enough to have 3 beautiful babies yesterday! One female($500) and two males($400). I just had to share because Boston Terriers are the cutest puppies. I just can't decide if they are little cows or pandas?

When snails escape

I want everyone to take a look back into your childhood and remember that phase when you liked to catch bugs. It used to be you would get a jar and poke 50 holes in the lid, then stuff the jar with some leaves and a twin and then find EVERY bug in your moms garden until it was full.
Now-a-days it is a whole different ball game. I have been watching my three nieces every Tuesday this summer. They are 12, 8 and 5. Not bad they usually end up entertaining Cooper all day. It works out very nicely. A couple of weeks ago the youngest brought over a sour cream container with 20ish potato bugs in it. That is cool! So I proceed to tell her there a ton of snails in my yard and she can have as many as she wants. *Special side note:she already told me she likes to torture them. After lunch I took her out in my garden and we found a big snail. She put some leaves in this new age bug cage and tossed the snail in.
A while later I am in my office, Cooper is sleeping, and the girls are watching a movie. All the sudden I hear Kammi start to say something I can't make out because it is super high pitch and whiny! As I round the corner I hear "Lexi its gone, Its not here, what did you do to it." The "cage" that was once contained a snail is empty and sitting on my couch. This is not a serious thing but the girls start freaking out. So I go in to investigate and start moving pillows around on the couch and there he his!
I almost busted a gut. I was laughing so hard. Here is the escapee!

I wish you could see it better but there is a wonderful snail trail all the way up the pillow. Thank goodness for microfiber!

Cooper's Surgery #3

I have been wanting to post about Cooper's surgery for a while but things have gotten hectic.
Anyway His surgery was on June 4th and luckily it was in the first set of surgeries that day. We had to be at Primaries Same Day surgery at 6a.m.! That part sucked but the rest went great. He was slightly hesitant when I handed him over to the anesthesiologist but who wouldn't be! This man was at least 70 and shorter than me. After 3 1/2 hours the Doctor Si came in and talked to us about the surgery. He said everything was much easier to work with this time. He was very hopeful that this one would work. Gave us the run down on how to care for Coop's pee pee in the weeks to follow and told us to take off the bandage in 48 hours. He had put steri strips over the incision to help hold it together a little better and that those would take 10 to 14 days to fall off on their own.
After another 15 min I was called back to go be with Cooper while he was in post-op. He was unusually tired so they let him sleep for 30min and then transferred him to recovery. He drank some juice and they let us go home.

**UPDATE**
Two weeks later everything is looking great! There is some "breaking down" of some of the incision but it all on the surface. He actually pees out the tip of his penis now!! We go back in on Cooper's birthday for his final check up.

Florida Vacation

Oh where to begin...
How about the beginning!

Our flight left SLC at 10am Saturday morning.

After 4 hours on a completely packed plane we landed in Orlando around 4pm and proceeded to get our luggage and then go pick up our rental cars. We waited in line for and hour and 15min to get to the counter. Then then told me they need a credit card so I handed them Kris's credit card. OH NO it needed to have my name on it. Well folks I don't have a credit card. So they were trying to put a $400 hold on the card. I had maybe $30 in my account. None of my cards would allow a $400 hold. So after much discussion with the manager and since we booked them on Budget.com she was able to change it to Kris's name and off we went to pick up our cars. Now came a serious challenge. We rented two standard cars. Ford Taurus like vehicles. We had 8 adults all with 1 piece of luggage and some of us had a carry on. We also brought our stroller. Hahaha it was a gong show watching us trying to organize the trunks so we could fit all our luggage. Thank god there are only 2 times on our trip we had to do that.
After finally getting packed into vehicles we were off to Dayton Beach! It was at least an hour drive there. It was a very long day of traveling so we picked up a couple of pizza's while my mom and dad met with the caretaker of the condo we were renting. Ahhh kick your shoes off have a much needed beer and put the baby to sleep.

Our first real day of vacation was spent hanging out at the beach and walking the pier in downtown Dayton. There is some of the best people watching in places like that. Not to mention we were being watched ourselves. Cooper thought it was super funny to stick not just one but both of his fingers up his nose. While we were walking down the pier. It was hilarious and everyone who passed was laughing, but also gross! Then we enjoyed an early dinner at the restaurant at the end of the pier. Mmmm


Day 2 we decided it was a good day for the Kennedy Space Center. So we packed up and hopped in the car for an hour car ride south to Cape Canaveral. Arriving around 11 we wandered the immediate area for a minute. Checked out the "rocket garden" which displayed old rockets and stated what milestone they accomplished and facts about them. Some more wandering then lunch. After lunch we kept thinking this can't be all there is. So mom went and talked to someone and found out there is a whole tour that stops at three different places in Kennedy and lets you see an old launch site, the Saturn 5 rocket, and I cant remember the last stop. But we had already bought tickets to see the new Star Trek in the theater there and 6:30. So we only had time for one stop in the tour and we picked stop #2. It was so cool to go in there. They show you the original launch room and go through what it takes to launch a space ship and then do a demo of what it would have been like. After that you can go into the next room, which is a warehouse, where they keep the Saturn 5 rocket on display. It was truly amazing to see how big it really is. They had it broken apart into its respective pieces so you could see all the electrical work and hatches. It was such and interesting stop in our vacation. It really put into perspective that we go into space! People have walked on the moon, and soon with their new Ares project possibly Mars!


Day 3 was much like Day 1. More hanging out! I like the down days. It really makes the vacation relaxing.


Day 4 Disney World! Another hour ride into Orlando, but I was semi excited because I had never been. Also slightly excited to see what Cooper thought of everything. Honestly could have not done it in fore thought and been ok with that fact. So many things have changed since I was a kid. First of all back in the day... Characters walked the park willy nilly and signed autographs and took pictures. Now they have body guards and you have to wait in a nice line to get any pictures or autographs. There for I didn't do it! Most of the rides in the park are geared towards small children. 1 in 5 maybe is fun enough for an adult. Space Mtn was closed so we were all pretty bummed because that is the only ride we remember which means its way fun right! Anyway we toured the park and Cooper on the rides that he could ride. He loved the carousel, The Dumbo Ride, and the Buzz Lightyear. My Mom and Dad were kind enough to hang out with him while we waited an hour to ride Splash Mtn. While we were waiting they watched the main street parade that had all the characters out. After that we were all fairly spent and decided since we were in Orlando we would try to find the Corona Cigar Company. It was just a short 15 min drive on the freeway. Now for those of you who know my dad. He is infamous for turning a short drive into a "3 hour tour"! Long story short it took us an hour and a half to find it. Kris was just lucky that there was a sushi place right next door that we could eat at!


Day 5 was another down day. My dad and Austin went back into Orland to a Wakeboarding park. They said it was an awesome set up and well worth the $40 bucks it took to get in. Everyone else hung out at the beach and condo.
Day 6 was our day in Saint Augustine. It is the oldest city in the US. There was so much history there. We saw the oldest wooden school house. There was a re-enactment of the cannons firing at the fortress. It was an awesome place to visit. I just wish it wasn't the hottest day. It made it really miserable and we didn't walk around and see all the cool things because everybody was getting grumpy. I did however manage to lose our camera somewhere. I believe it was in Ripley's Believe it or not, but nobody has turned it in yet!
Day 7 we flew home. There was more stupid drama, but I wont get into it. Airport security is so frustrating!

A Plethera of things

It has been 2 months since I last posted and I apologize. Things have been a little busy for us. Since I last posted here is what has happend:

Cooper got sick 3 days before he was supposed to have his 3rd surgery on April 9th. We had to cancel it and reschedule for June 4th. (tomorrow)

I had an AWESOME girls night out with my friend Kammi. I had so much fun dancing! Its been a very long time since I went out to a club with just the girls.



Kris and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on April 28th. He took me out to dinner at Flemmings Steak house. He was so excited to give me my new ring he couldn't wait till after dinner. He bought me a new ring because my wedding ring is M.I.A. somewhere in this house. Yet to be found!



I started watching my friend Amber's little boy Russell. He is 9 months old and him and Cooper get along alrighty. Its only 1-2 days a week so its not bad.

Kris and I celebrated our birthdays with our annual birthday party bash. Tons of friends, food and fun.

We went and saw Dane Cook on May 22nd with our friends The Alvey's and D-wayne & Leanne. That was so much fun. His new stuff is good! Also we were sitting by the exit and he slapped my hand TWICE! Sigh


The next day I drove up to Bear Lake for my sisters high school graduation and dinner party. Then turned around and drove home because we were leaving for Florida the next morning.


I will elaborate on our Florida trip in my next post.

Last day of swimming

I was so bummed yesterday was the last day of Cooper's swimming lessons for this session. Summer session starts June 5th and we will be signing him up again but only for 1 day a week.
Anyway He is improving so much! He started slapping the water; when he was supposed to be doing strokes. Also he started kicking his legs which is a HUGE thing. It also sucks because of course it was his last day. I am afraid he wont retain what he has learned but I guess that is something we will have to see. Of course when the doc gives him the go ahead to be in the water again we might just do some more lessons. Who know.
Here are a few videos of the week.
BTW the screaming is from another baby in the pool.
From Tuesday:


From Wednesday


From Thursday

Seattle

Friday Cooper and I headed to the airport around 5:30. Thinking the security lines might be a little bit longer, but no! We cruised right through and then found out that our flight was delayed by 45 min. Not to bad but bad enough when the terminals are packed and you have a toddler how wants to run. When our plane finally arrived and we boarded the plane I was trying to point out ever little thing on the plane to get Cooper distracted from the sound. He was so good during take off. As soon as I felt that my ears needed to pop I gave him some milk and he didn't have any problems. He stayed awake until the pilot announced we were decending into Seattle. Then he fell asleep. You never realize how heavy 22 lbs can be until you have to carry it through an airport and try and pick up your luggage while juggling a car seat as well. Of course I finally got it figured out and then he woke up.
Anyway... Friday night when we got to her apartment we set up the crib for Cooper to sleep in and then layed him down because it was 2 hours past his normal bed time. Then Abi, Kip and I just hung out talking till 1a.m. (2a.m. our time).
Because it is vacation doesn't mean we get to sleep in! Cooper woke up at his normal time. Which just happened to be 6a.m. Seattle time. NO WAY man. I forced him back to sleep; after 30 min of crying. Then Abi's little boy Nathan walked in around 8 a.m. and started playing with toys in the room. It scared the fart out of me. So I got up with the kids. Because if you know Abi you should know that any time she can, she will sleep till noon! She didn't this time. I was shocked to see her out of bed at 9 a.m. Of course she did take a 3 hour nap later in the day. We didn't do anything all day. Her family came over at 6 and we ate and played a couple of games and then I hit the sack at 10 because unlike Abi I didn't take a 3 hour nap.
Yesterday was a much better day. Cooper and I woke up and got in the shower while everyone was still sleeping. After playing with the kids for a couple hours and watching Role Models we decided to go to lunch. La Hacienda was fairly good. Cooper totally dug his lunch. It showed all over his face and clothes. When we were done the sun was still out so we went to a local park that was right on the beach. Cooper really likes going down the slide so we did that about 5,000 times. We all walked out on the bridge/ walkway on to the water. Then back to the park for maybe 2,000 times more down the slide. I thought for sure this would wear out all of the kids but oh how I was wrong! They stayed awake while we drove to Snoqualmie Falls. Its a waterfall that isn't too far. It amazed me. Only because the Seattle area is all rolling hills. When you park you walk up this hill and all of the sudden there is a canyon with this beautiful waterfall. WHAT waterfalls are in the mountains. Not in hills!
After that we headed back to the apartment so I could pack and then we had to head to the airport. The flight back was even better. I gave Cooper a little bit of Children's Benadryl. He fell asleep while the plane was taking off.
I miss my Abi and am grateful that I am able to go visit her every once in a while.
Here are a few pictures.
Alyssa, Cooper & I

Nathan & Cooper playing together

All of us at the park by the beach

Going down the slide by himself

Snosqualmie Falls

Cooper watching the planes take off. Really pretty sunset as well.

Things

Yesterday morning Coop had a doc appt. to get his last Synagis shot for the season and his last testosterone injection before his surgery (April 9th). YEAH I hate shots and especially when I have to hold him. Its sad when he cries so hard there isn't any sound. (nice, but sad)
Yesterday Cooper had a "break-through" in his swimming lessons. He cried when I handed him to the instructor and then....
NOTHING He actually smiled multiple times and even giggled once. Holy cow how things can change over night. He did so good with every thing. His floating has been especially bad for the last two weeks and yesterday was AWESOME. I know its weird to be so happy about this but for a while I was afraid that it was just making him scared of water. Not a good thing in my family.
Here is a video of him practicing his "scoops" and smiling!

Swimming Lesson-Week 3

Today marked Cooper's 6th lesson so I thought I would share with you how he is doing. He has been consistently good with floating. He usually holds very still and is even floating on his own for a couple of seconds. Today was the exception on that one though. He is also getting better at closing his mouth when they go to put him under water. No more choking but he is still crying most of the time. He will calm down half way through and then start back up the last couple of minutes. They also have him grab rings out of the water that are on a step; he wouldn't do until today. He is doing so good! I am proud of my little fishy and can't wait to go swimming with him myself.
Here are a couple of video's:
He is so calm in this one


Not so much in this one

Friends

I know in our last post I had mentioned Zac & Staci. So this post is a tribute to our new BFF's. Zac and Kris bowl on a Monday night league together and have for the past few years. It wasn't until a couple of months ago that we started hanging out on a semi-regular basis. We all get along so well together and that is hard to find for us. I have found that once you are married most of your friends come through your husbands friends wives and girl friends. I never really wanted to believe that but my denial is over!
I have 3 friends that I call my own. Meaning I had them before I met Kris. These are my best friends and they know who they are. Unfortunately we are all at points in our lives that are very busy and we don't get together as much as we should.
Anyway it seems that this last week except for the 3 days we were all sick. We have hung out with Zac & Staci. Mostly they come over to watch Jazz games or other sporting events. Friday night Staci had a Scentsy party that I did for her. Zac went over to our house to hang with Kris and Cooper. Saturday Morning they came over and watched the Jazz game and we grilled Hamburgers. After the game we went bowling. Then they had to go meet up with Zac's family for a while. Well they ended up calling a couple hours later and wanted to come back over and play games and hang out. We ended up playing a couple of drinking games (after Cooper went to bed). Party of 4 was over at one in the morning. Today they came back over for another Jazz game and dinner and then we played some more card games (sober this time). Its weird to find a couple that you can spend this much time around and not get sick of each other. One of the best parts about them is Cooper LOVES them. He and Zac give high 5's all the time its so cute!
I just think that friends are so important to a person's sanity. Its even better to find couple friends that both of you love to be around and like to be around you too. Mine and Kris's personalities balance each other out so I always love to find other couples who are the same as us.
Ottley's Bowling

Drunken Farkle

Wendover Fun & Not

Our newest set of friends Zach & Staci invited us out to Wendover for Staci's 21st birthday. I made it my personal mission to make sure she took 21 shot for her 21st birthday. Only because a friend did the same thing for me. Kris and I got off work at 3 and had our old room-mate Dave come and pick up Cooper. It gets harder to leave him behind because he is so attached to me. His hysterical bawling makes my heart break. Anyway on our way out we picked up a coke and took a couple of swigs off of it and filled up the gap with Captain! Ummmm good
Kris got the Mazda up to 119 mph on the straight before the gov. kicked in. Its amazing because out there I never would have realized how fast we were going because that car rides so smooth. Obviously we made record time. We checked in and when we walked in was I suprised! Kris splurged and got the suite. It had a very nice jetted tub in it. He said he knew that I would love to take a bath in it so he paid the extra money. He is the sweetest man!
After we got settled we met up with the group of friends and got on the shuttle to head over to the Rainbow. (my fav place to gamble) From there on out we kinda split up and played Black Jack, Three Card Poker, and slots. After a few hours of playing we got a few of us together to go eat and absorb some alcohol. Unfortunately our dear friend Zach was WAY beyond gone at this point and his dad was nice enough to take him back to their room so Staci could stay with us and keep drinking her way to 21. After dinner we headed over to the Nugget to cash in a couple of tickets and then walked across the over street walkway. Well everyone wanted to do a cartwheel so there we were doing cartwheels. Thank fully we were the only ones on it. Then Josh and Kris raced to the casino floor. Kris was ahead and thought it was a good idea to do a victory jump and skip the last 4 stairs. NOT a good idea when intoxicated or ever really. Thankfully he just sprained his ankle and we helped him back to our room. That was really the end of the night. Buzz kill!
Kris was in so much pain in the morning that he woke up at 7a.m.! Not fun for me I wanted to sleep in because there was no baby around. After fighting sleep for a while we got up and called Zach & Staci to see if they wanted to hit up breakfast. Then a little gambling and then home.
It was so much fun to take an overnight trip. I really like when I have fun like that. Usually I dont. I am always babysitting drunk Kris.


Here is Kris's Ankle:

1st Swimming Lesson

Yesterday was Cooper's very first swimming lesson. We signed him up for private lessons with "Swim Kidz". We are trying to "fast-track" him for learning before we go to Florida in May. Unfortunately inbetween then and now he has a 3rd surgery. So we are trying to get in 10 lessons before the surgery and then we will take a month break and hopefully get a few more lessons in before we leave.
He was very good before the lesson sitting on the steps in the water splashing. As soon as Katie (instructor)took him started crying. Mommy issues! He boobed the whole time. Katie says he did really good. He lays still when he floats on his back, and he went under water a few times! I love that he likes the water so much and I hope he will be a fishy!

Cooper's Awesome Talent

He has been dancing for a long while now. Though it is mostly turning in circles, clapping, and high stepping with one leg. We still love it! Everytime he hears any kind of music he will start dancing. Even some commercials! So I wanted to share with everyone.
As for an update there is so much coming up over the next month. This weekend we are ditching the kid and going out to Wendover for some "US" fun. Its a friends 21st birthday and I am going to be there with her making sure she NEVER forgets it. We are signing up Cooper for private swimming lessons in hopes that he can get in some good lessons before he has his next surgery on April 9th. Cooper and I are going to Seattle for the weekend of March 27-29. I am way excited to take him and go visit my friend Abi. IT will be a busy month so there will either be lots of updates or none. Until then enjoy the video.

Happy Love Day

So a while back I had posted that I was so excited about Kris's Valentines present and it was the best thing I had ever done for myself. Well I can spill the beans now because Kris doesn't read this often enough to know before hand what he is getting. While he was on his annual "man" trip snowmobiling in Jan. I had scheduled an "Intimate" photo shoot with a wonderful photographer in Mapleton, Ut. I was kind of nervous at first and then after an outfit change I had guts!!! Now ladies seriously there are NO excuses when it comes to doing one of these shoots. I am over weight, have serious stretch marks, love handles and saggy boobs! Its all about choosing the right clothing to wear and Kristi (photographer) is a miracle worker with photoshop! Here are a few photos that are appropriate enough to be placed on the internet. I hope you like them as much as I do.
Here is Kristi's website www.intimatephotographybykristi.com

Suprise, Suprise PUPPY suprise

Lets start where most stories usually do...
We have been discussing the possibility of trying for another child this upcoming June because I wanted a Spring baby. It had never been an issue and still isn't; but since Cooper looks like he will most likely need a couple more surgeries we both decided we need to make sure our #1 is our priority. So we won't be trying for a 2nd child this summer, and I am stubborn and want a Spring baby so I am set on trying next year.
Which leaves us feeling slightly empty because we are wanting an addition to our family. I have this puppy craving apparently when ever I really want a child. I started looking at puppies on my favorite website www.puppyfind.com because they have TONS of puppies located all over the country. I was also set on finding a female and lifetime mate for Optimus. We are undecided about breeding because we see the pro's and con's in it. Anyway I still want a girl and I wanted her to have "perfect" markings and be of a good size. Just in case we do decided to breed I want her qualities to balance with Optimus's bad qualities. There for bettering the breed it self. No low-quality puppies on my watch! After much searching and losing the bidding battle a couple of times we finally got our girl. She will be old enough to fly on Valentine's Day so we get to go pick her up from the airport at 4:55 pm and I am STOKED!
PLEASE give a big welcome to Morgan Spice....

Rock Star

Cooper has definitely hit the "copying" phase. He loves to listen to music and dance. Also he has found a new love in playing with our guitars. So I shortened up one of the straps so he can carry it around and still flick the "strum" key. Its so cute how much he loves music. Here are so pictures and a video. Sorry the sound on the video is so bad it was sitting right next to the speaker on the TV.

Giddy

I have to say something!! This past weekend I did the funnest thing I have ever done for myself. Unfortunately it involves a gift to someone so I wont be able to share with EVERYONE until after I give it to Kris for Valentines. But I really think that at some point in every woman's life they NEED to do this.

Have fun guessing what it was!! MUHAAHAHAH

2008 In Review

Where do you start to describe what an entire year brought to your life!? WELL I will start with Cooper, because once you have a baby that is all anyone wants to hear about anyway. ;) January Cooper turned 6 months old and developed his first noticeable roll on his leg weighing in at 10 lbs. He transitioned from breast milk to formula, started sleeping in his crib, and giggled for the first time. February Cooper discovered his toes! He also started actively baby babbling, and started eating Rice Cereal. March Cooper starts HIGH pitch squealing, mock walking, started rolling over, sleeping like a "stink bug", and had his first visit from the Easter Bunny. April Cooper had his first surgery to repair his Hypospadia/Chordee. That was successful! He also found that talking into cups was funny because of the echo. May Cooper's future wife was born.(Evvy Brown) He started to army crawl and cut his first tooth. He also weighed in at 14.5 lbs that month. June Celebrated Kris's first fathers day, made Cooper giggle. "Nothing too exciting." July Cooper experienced his first: water slide, Hogel Zoo trip, Carousel ride, &playing on the beach in the sand. He also turned 1 and weighed in at 15.5 lbs. August Coop weighed in at 16lbs 2 oz! Went to his first demolition derby and hung out downtown SLC for a music festival. September We took Cooper camping for the first time. Ate his first "Animal cracker". October He started trying to walk. Carved his first pumpkin and actually liked touching the "guts." He was also the CUTEST Elephant EVER for Halloween. November Cooper had his 2nd surgery to fix his Hypospadia. Completely un-successful! He was a champ after surgery though. He also had his first Thanksgiving. Yummy Turkey! December Weighed in at 19lbs 10 oz! Started carrying purses around. Loved opening presents on Christmas morning. Got completely spoiled by everyone.

Here is a slide of the last year in pictures!

Kris & Natalie:
Besides our usual events like; Kris's bowling league every Monday & Tuesday and visiting Bear Lake as much as possible here are some of the fun things we did this year.
March we were lucky enough to go to Vegas. Without Cooper! It was the 1st time away so it was good it was only a weekend, but we had so much fun. Tag Co. flew all of its employees down for a get to know your co-worker weekend. Kris and I went to "Bite" a topless Vampire themed show. If your into vampires it was good!
April was jam packed with adventure. I got my 2nd tattoo of a Taurus symbol on the back of my neck. I also went to Seattle for a weekend to visit my best buddy Abi. Kris's bowling team were the League champs. WE had a HUGE birthday party for my Dad, Kris & I since our birthdays are all really close. Kris and I celebrated our 1st anniversary at Johnson's Mill Inn. It was so nice to sleep through the night and we got in room massages.
MayI started a new diet/ lifestyle change. Weighing in at an embarrassing 220 lbs!! Kris, Austin, Ashley & I were lucky enough to score 3rd row tickets to a Jazz playoff game!(Thanks Mom & Dad) Some of our best friends had their little girl Evvy, whom I am in love with. Cooper needs to marry her!
JuneHappy Fathers day to Kris! We also went to the Pickleville Playhouse in Bear Lake for the first time. It was so much fun. Good food and a hilarious play. We also undertook a very large yard remodel project that still isn't finished.
July Went to Bear Lake with our friends the Gates. We also took our 1st official family photos.
August Our friend Nick's band played their 1st of many gigs at our favorite bar 5 Monkeys. We were there celebrating in style(drunk). We all went to the Laketown Demolition Derby where Ashley and I were part of the half time entertainment. Racing 4-wheelers around the track with balloons taped to the top of our helmets and trying whack the others balloons off with plastic bats. It was so much fun.
SeptemberWe went camping for the first time in 2 years. I love camping and we had a couple of friends come with us it was a blast. Kris and I played "Drunko" (Bunko with a keg) for the first time with my parents and a handful of their friends. I am now addicted and want to start up a couples league in the valley if you are interested!?
OctoberKris & I both made our own costumes this year. They turned out great. Kris was the "Lord of Darkness" and I was a 1950's housewife. We also hosted our annual Halloween Party and Kris out did himself. He decorated our entryway with black lights and glow in the dark paint. It look awesome.
November We had thanksgiving at our house with us and Kris's mom.
December Other than lots of family parties and work parties we kept things to a minimum. We had a wonderful Christmas though.