Thursday, December 31, 2009

For Christmas Justin surprised me with a new 50mm lens for our camera.
One word: Heavenly!
I can take lots of close-up shots and fun ones of the kids with that natural "fuzzy" background. I've been having fun with it over the past few weeks. The kids love to be my guinea pigs...not that I know what I'm doing. :)

Here's a few of my favorites over the past few weeks.
This girl will stop and pose everytime I get the camera out. She loves to give me a big toothy grin and say "Cheese!"
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Gunner will most often pose in some super-hero stance. I dont know what he's doing here.
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More from the little lady in red:
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One of Gunner's favorite presents from Christmas was his battle gear and sword. And yet again, another fighting stance:
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Caleb's sweet smile:
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One Sunday after church I made cookies and Caleb downed about 5 in one sitting. I guess he liked them a little.
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That's all for now! More to come later!



Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas Eve & Day


We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We celebrated Christmas Eve with Justin's family. We all got together for a yummy dinner then shared presents with each other and had the kids perform Luke 2. It was SO GREAT to be together with family.
Before I put all the pictures together from our festivies, I wanted to post this picture: Photobucket For anyone that hasn't gone shopping on December 24th, dont go! I went to pick up a few last minute things that we needed for the parties and it was InSaNe! So many people! Anyway, I took a picture of Breezy that I wanted to share because she has enough hair for pigtails! Yay!
Okay, on to the fun...
Grandma & Grandpa Cook gave presents to the kids. Caleb loved and still loves his book! Thanks G & G Cook! Photobucket

Caleb's cute smile!
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Gunner told everyone the story of baby Jesus and how the wisemen "followed the star." He reminded us of a little missionary! Photobucket Photobucket

Grandpa Cook with some of the grandkids. He is adored by all the kids! Photobucket


It wouldn't be a family get together without a wrestling match! Thanks Uncle Scott! Photobucket

Alisa & Joe (and baby #3 due in April!) Photobucket
Uncle Tyson showing off his guns: Photobucket

This was the only picture of the Nativity scene I took. Oh well, at least we got a video! Photobucket

Bree played "the star" in the story of Luke 2, this is why Justin is holding her high in the air. We decorated her with leftover tree decor so she would "shine" like the star! Photobucket We had a great time being together and sharing together the most important part of Christmas...remembering the Savior's birth. The next day was very busy! We celebrated Christmas with our own family then went over to my parents house for brunch and then to Justin's parents for dinner and more presents! Whew! It was quite a day!

Gunner was all business on Christmas morning. Photobucket

Caleb enjoying his presents. Photobucket

GaGa (Grandma) Smith.
Photobucket Breezy & Papa, helping her with her new heels. :)
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Papa, cousin Corinne & BreezyPhotobucket


PhotobucketWe hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! The End!



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas card & letter

I love LoVe LOVE our Christmas card this year. I wanted to post it so I could let everyone see how cute it turned out. It's so bright and happy. Just my style! My sweet friend Summer designed it for us. She's incredibly talented! The pictures were taken by my other sweet friend Jill. She is a brilliant photographer! See for yourself!
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Then, Caleb wrote our letter. This has been our tradition since he was born. If you ask me he is quite the gifted writer! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas to all our Family & Friends! It’s our family tradition that I write our Christmas letter & I’ve heard I do a pretty good job! I am so talented.

I am now 7 years old and very handsome. I am in 1st grade (special ed) and I love school! I love riding the bus everyday and especially like it when the bigger kids (5th & 6th graders) come in and read with me. Even my principal comes in and plays his guitar for me. I still don’t talk but each year I get closer. One day I will figure it out and then make up for lost time. I go to lots of therapies but love my music therapy the most. It’s my favorite time of the week. I love dancing to music, wrestling with Daddy & playing with my dog. This year I took swim lessons & played soccer on the same team as Gunner. One of my highlights this year was going on my first “date” with my schoolteacher, Ms. Amanda. She is awesome. During the summer she missed me so much, she came and picked me up, took me to a movie & then we had a romantic lunch at McDonalds…she knows how I love my chicken nuggets.

Gunner is 4-1/2. He is a great brother to Bree & I. He likes to tell everyone that I’m his best friend! Gunner & I like to go “hunting” in the backyard and fight the “bad guys” all the time. Gunner really liked soccer this year & did great. His specialty was defense because when the other team had the ball Gunner would go after them like I go after ice cream…like a maniac. He scored lots of goals too. He is really smart and says great prayers thanking God for his family and not to be eaten by sharks. He also loves going to preschool with Mrs. Stacey. He loves all his friends from school & church and he also loves riding his bike outside. He loves swords, knives, anything superheroes & especially our Dad.

Bree is almost 2. She is doing great now. She kicked cancer’s butt! (Shhh, don’t tell Mom, I said that word!) She finished her treatment in April & in May her yucky tumor was removed. She was declared in remission on May 27th. Our family thanks Heavenly Father every day for this great blessing. Breezy still receives monthly check-ups and MRIs every 3 months to make sure the cancer stays in remission. Bree and I play really well together. We love to wrestle and laugh. One of my favorite things about Bree is her sassy personality. She lets me know when I get too rough but she is also sweet & quick to give me hugs & kisses. Her favorite things are her blankie, her babies (she has more babies than OctoMom) & our doggie. She loves our Mommy a lot because they spent a lot of time together while she was sick.

Dad is still working in Real Estate. He ranks within the top 1% of his industry. He is very grateful to loyal clients & friends who have allowed him to have another great year. He loves sports & almost had a dream come true when the Cardinals went to the Super bowl. My Dad took me to a couple of Suns game this year. After the games my Dad likes to take me on the court to shoot a free throw, but instead I just like to sprint up & down the court yelling as he chases after me! Mommy still loves to blog and enjoys jogging & the classes at the gym. She is training for a ½ marathon in January. She enjoys taking our pictures with her new camera and loves doing my sister’s hair, Bree finally has enough hair for a ponytail sprout!

We were able to go on a few family trips this year to celebrate Bree’s health. We went to SeaWorld to visit Shamu & play on the beach. Gunner & I loved how the waves would chase us. We also went to the cabin & got to play in the snow up in Flagstaff & go on the Polar Express where I saw my buddy Santa. We had so much fun!

This year we are so grateful to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. I love him so much. Even though I can’t say it out loud I try to show it by hugging and kissing as many people as I can. He has been with our family in so many ways this past year. We love to celebrate his birth and His life during this special ChristmasSeason. Merry Christmas!!

With Love,

Caleb Cook



Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas!!

With only 2 days left til Christmas, nothing makes me happier than these people right here!

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Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy your little ones on this wonderful day!


P.S. Gotta give props to my friend Jill Rich for taking these amazing pictures! More of these to come!



Friday, December 18, 2009

Soccer, Snow & Santa

The boys finished their soccer season the week before Thanksgiving. They had a great season. Their team name was the "Bulldogs." Gunner started out a little timid at the beginning of the season but by the end he was very aggressive and competitive! He worked really hard on defense and became such a good little player he still asks if he can play in his soccer game almost every morning.
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During the last game they played the "Transformers" and Gunner took this game very seriously and had some serious defense moves as well as blocked a ton of scores from the other team. It was really fun to see how athletic he is and how much he had grown as a player!
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Caleb did pretty well at the games but most of the time, this was his favorite spot...hanging out with Dad!
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Occasionally, he would borrow his friend's Dads to hang out with too. Thanks to Deacon for letting Caleb hang on your Dad too!Photobucket
Gunner showing me his muscles. What a macho man!
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Team cheer after the game! Go Bulldogs!
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I love pics like these, cute little boys! L to R: Carter, Gunner, Ryker & Deacon.
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Here's the whole team! (Thanks for the pic Rach!) Caleb is #7 and Gunner is #2. Way to go Bulldogs! We can't wait til next season!
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Last week we were fortunate enough to go to the Polar Express in Williams. We stayed with my parents in Flagstaff. My family goes up every year for a few days to get away. The weather is really cold and there's usually never any snow. This year was different! We found ourselves in the middle of a huge blizzard! Fortunately we drove up the day before it hit so we woke up the next morning to our own winter wonderland.
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For us desert rats, snow is rare so we were excited to see so much of the fluffy stuff! During our 2-day stay there was over 2-1/2 feet!
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Trying my luck at capturing an artistic shot.
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The kids had such a blast playing in the snow. Caleb wasn't the biggest fan of the cold weather. He tried it but liked hanging out by the fire and staying warm a little more. Smart kid.
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On the other hand, Gunner couldn't get enough of it. He loved being outside and catching the snowflakes on his nose & tongue. Notice the walkway behind Gunner. The snow was up to his shoulders! So fun!!
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Justin and Gunner jumped at the chance to make snow angels. Fun!
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Gunner and I made our snowman we named "Fluffy." He rolled the mid section all by himself. We didn't have any carrots and couldn't find any rocks (since everything was covered in snow) so we made use of what we had and used a hot dog for his nose, blueberries for his eyes and buttons and cheetos for his smile. Aw, he's so proud!
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Trying to make more snow angels!
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Breezy had fun in the snow. I bundled her up so well that she couldn't move her arms very well. We called her our "marshmallow girl" cuz she was so squishy & sweet as sugar. Okay, that was a bit cheesy!
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Breezy's signing "cold" here. She kept opening and closing the door to feel the cold air come out on her. Her hair was so wild, someone should tell her mother!
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That night we made our trek to the Polar Express. This trip meant so much to us this year. I remember last year we were able to go but under such strict circumstances. Bree's docs ok'd her to leave for 24 hours. I remember being nervous the whole time because she had just completed another chemotherapy treatment. We feared that her counts would drop & she'd get sick and we'd have to rush her to the hospital. Fortunately she stayed healthy long enough to enjoy the fun and we ended up having a great time.
This year we went with a healthy Bree. It was wonderful knowing that she is all better. It was great not to worry about germs or sickness! We enjoyed each one of our children's faces as they boarded the train, had their hot cocoa & cookies, saw Santa & received their silver bells. Simply marvelous!
So, on to this year's trip...
We traveled in the blizzard and it was pretty scary driving in the conditions but thanks to my studly husband he got us there safely! Thanks babe, you have some mad driving skills!
Looking out the window waiting to see the North Pole.
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Breezy loved looking out the window and also loved the fact that she had no car seat. She loved playing musical chairs the whole night!
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My parents were able to come with us and we had a lot of fun being together. Thanks Mom & Dad for a good time!
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The kids were so excited to see Santa! I dont know what Gunner was more excited about, Santa or drinking hot chocolate! (Notice the chocolate stains around his mouth!)
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Caleb had a lot to tell Santa in his own language. He was excited to receive his bell. Bree loved seeing Santa from afar and would even say "Danta" but when he got closer, she didn't quite know what to do. It helped sitting next to big brother!
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Gunner was ecstatic to see Santa and had just enough time to tell him that he was a good boy and wanted a Bumblebee transformer for Christmas.
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This was our best attempt at a family picture. 2 out of 3 kids looking straight aint bad!
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We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! The end!