He did it!

Brad is done with his 1st semester back at school. It was hard and hectic but his smarts prevailed and he ended up with a B average.

The Boys and I are very proud and we will take advantage of the 5 week break he gets before he has to get back into it.

Great Job, Honey! We Love You!

A picture worth a thousand words.

"No, Mom I wasn't the one who squirted you." Jake said. But the look on his face was a dead giveaway.

Thankful

Well, this year we all are thankful for so many things. But, the best part of life for us is family. So thanks to all of you! We love all of our family and friends so much, we hope you all know that. We always have you in our hearts and prayers. So thanks to all of you for all you do for us and we look forward to future good times. The Cook family.

WHAT A SHOW!

Okay, who would have thought that an airshow could be so awesome. Yesterday was Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base. Papa, Mom, and the boys set out early to get a good seat. We watched 3 different eras of war planes demonstrate what they could do. There was also 1 Heliocopter demo. Then the Thunderbirds.

Mom had never seen them fly upclose before. WOW! I really loved the part where one came up behind the crowd and scared everyone. It had me ducking and diving for the boys and had Brent and Jake crying. Teegan loved it too.

Teegan and Mom also dropped by the Navy booth in honor of Aunt Carla. It was also nice to see complete strangers come up and thank Papa for his service in Vietnam. He wore his Vietnam vet hat which was a giveaway, he really should be proud.
We ate hot dogs, french fries, pretzels, frozen smoothies, kettle corn, and drank soda.
We also ended up sunburned and hot. No one expected it to be 85 degrees and sunny.
Everyone had a great time and we hope to go again next year and see more of the boothes and get more close to some of the planes.

Imagine my suprise.

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Imagine my suprise when I came out of the kitchen and found that some houlagins had tiolet papered the house:)

Halloween Treat

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

New Program try

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

It's the most wonderful time.

It's holiday time. I love it. I get so excited when the weather starts to cool off and all the holiday stuff hits the store shelves. Is it bad that I already have lists for the different meals and gifts that I will be preparing? So; ready, set, go!!!

Picture Day

Brent's 1st school picture day was last week. I can hardly believe it. His and Teegan's schooling has certainly added some more hecticity (is that a word?) to my life.

Anyway, here is the picture I took before he left for school that day. I hope his school ones don't have that cheesey grin. But I know his hair was still stuck in place when he got home so atleast that will be working for him.

Welcome Home!!!

Carla is soon to be back in country. Her tour is over and she's begining to get antsy. She's ready to be back.

So we created a little video message. I hope this works. Let me know.

Grateful

Okay, I'm realizing how grateful I am for the blessing of being an eternal family. With Brad in school we hardly see each other anymore. So, my coping strategy is to keep telling myself he'll make it up to me in the eternities. We may not have alot of time now but I have faith that some day we'll be beggin' for some time apart:) Ha, Ha!!!

1st Day

Yesterday was Brent's 1st Day of School. He was so excited and had a great time. Luckily two of his friends from church are in his class so he was able to have some familiarity and not be so nervous. He came home exhausted and ended up going to bed early. I think he's giong to do really well if he can just learn that he can't be in charge all of the time.

Retreat

No matter how tired we are now and how difficult things may have been. Our vacation with our family was still really great. I loved it. Nothing is better to me than spending time with our family, all of our family and bad hotels or lots of time in the car are outweighed by the time we spent together. Thanks to all. We love you.

Teegan turns 4

Happy Birthday Teegan!

We love you!

Happy Day!

Happy 4th of July!

I love the 4th of July. Not only is a great day for the country we live in but I love the celebrations and all the memories I been able to make through the years.Today's memory will be that it will be close to 120 degrees outside and we'll be watching the fireworks on TV this year because it is just too hot to be outside.

I hope you all have a great 4th, I'm sure I will.

What is funny?

What is funny? I guess it depends on the moment and who you ask.

When we were in Newport last weekend we went to dinner at the local greasy spoon. The boys woudn't sit still after being in the van for the last 5 hours and Brad was getting annoyed. Just when I thought he had enough Jake turned and threw the last little bit of water from his cup right across Brad's face. I couldn't help but crack up but Brad didn't think it was very funny and begun to get annoyed with me. Needless to say humor is in the eye of the beholder and the boys and I waited in the van while Brad took care of the check:)

It does exist!

Brad remembers how to smile! I was so happy to see it come out for a while. Maybe we should try it more often.

Can't wait

We all had way too much fun while Carla was home. I loved having my sister back. We went to the movies, we took the boys to the water park, played outside, and she kept them in line military style. It was great to be able to just hang out. We can't wait to do it again.

An Introduction

We took the opportunity to take the boys to the beach for the first time. Brad had been missing the ocean and had a three day weekend so we headed for the coast. It was alot of fun. Brent loved the water and pretending to surf. Teegan and Jake made friends in the sand. Dad and mom loved looking at the sunset over the water and the cooler temps. I hope we can do it again and have the chance to spend a little more time playing.

Bump In The Night

About 1am Monday night I awoke to a thud, then came "Mommy." Brent had obviously fallen out bed but he wasn't quite awake either. He doesn't have any memory of what happened. This picture was taken the next morning after a long night of waking him every couple of hours just to ease my mind. I guess the bruises look worse than they really are and they look even worse now. But he's on the mend and seems to be no worse for wear. I've decided to start a picture collection of all the boys big ouches, just for future reference.:)

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Thank you Carla!!! We had alot of fun going to the store, the waterpark, having waterfights, and eating out with you. We love you and hope to do it all again soon. Be safe.

Joy

What is joy? I think this picture of Jake expains it all.

Great Times

We had a great trip to Utah and are still recovering from all of the fun. We are looking forward to July when we can do it all again and more.

Teegan's New Look

It was time for a haircut so I went to it. But the difference this time was a very figgity 3 year old. So after about two attempts at getting it right I gave up and took it all off. Thankfully he has grown into his head a little. And he loves it. He thinks that it's just like daddy's and for him that's perfect.

Fun Fun Fun

We had alot of fun at the WalMart fundraiser for Childrens Miracle Network. We all got the chance to make Brad swim in the Dunk tank. The boys couldn't get enough of that. Jakob discovered cotton candy and couldn't get enough of it. Brent and Teegan sat in a police car for the first time, hopefully it will be the last and only time they are in a police car. But they thought it was really cool.

Ahoy!

Laura did it again! This time Pirate Mickey Ears from Disneyland. They are just too cute.

Sugar High

Summer has begun. Atleast for us. We joined Laura for her company picnic last Saturday and took advantage of the free Cotton Candy and Snow Cones as well as the bounce house. It was nice to let the boys run loose for a little while. It was even more nice to have them crash for several hours afterwards.

Brent's Big Day

Brent graduated from preschool today. It was so much fun to watch him sing the songs and do the dances, but he seemed more concerned that Mom and Dad were watching. We started with lunch at Red Robin then we enjoyed the program the kids performed. Now he's a little sad that he doesn't get to have that class anymore, but I keep reminding him that he'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall.

Great job Brent, Mom and Dad are very proud!

IT'S Open

The boys are thrilled! The park with the water feature where they can run and get wet is finally open. We look forward to it every spring as the weather begins to really warm up. So the first day the water was on(Tues), we went. And I've been asked every day since if we were going to go again that day. Unfortunately the wind has picked up and it looks like rain for the weekend. Hopefully we can go again next week in celebration of Brent's graduating preschool. We hope to share this with those who will brave the heat someday.

So Proud

We are all so proud of Carla and what she is doing in Afganistan. It's nice for us to see she's enjoying some of her free time. Can't wait to see you again in person. We love you!!!

Talent

My sister asked Brad to take some pictures of Brittany for her to use as a Senior portrait. This is one of them. He sure has a good eye for it.

I can't believe Brit will be graduating and heading off to Reno this year. Then again it's already 2007.

Good job Brad!!! Congrats Brit!!!

An experience

We try to make the most of Brad's days off. It seems like his work days go on forever and his days off fly by. So in an attempt to make them count we took the boys to feed the fish at the lake. The kids love it and it makes me get a little grossed out. The fish are carp and they are the ugliest things, also the sound it creates with 50 of them slurping on the surface of the water and splashing around, well, I don't know how to describe it. Then to watch the boys inch their way closer to the egde of the gang plank around the marina just makes me anxious. I guess it's one of those things you kind of have to experience to understand. I hope we can share it with everyone someday. :)

Just Like Dad

Jake is ready to go. He loves doing everything and anything with Brad. Just the other day he wouldn't let Brad shave without being included. Cute!!!

90+ Degrees

Okay it's offically HOT. the boys have spent the last 2 days in the backyard playing in the little pool we have. I don't think I'm ready yet.

Lucky Ducks

Laura brought the boys these silly hats frome Graceland. It was Jakob's 2nd birthday. I love the silly moments in our lives when you just have to laugh. Thankfully the boys love having their picture taken and I can capture some of them.

Josh Rules!!!

The Josh Groban concert was awesome. I loved it. There wasn't alot of show but who needs all the lights and noise when you can just listen to great music. The opening act was a lady from South Africa and I wish I could remember her name because I'd introduce her to the music lovers in my life. Maybe I'll do some research and find her. I'd pay to see him again.

Trying

Well I thought I'd take a lesson from Ben and Laurel and start this blog. I don't know much about blogging, but I thought it would be a nice way to keep our family and friends up on what we are all doing. So here it goes.

I've included a picture of the Brent, Teegan, and Jakob. I can't believe they are as big as they are. And just so you know, I'm exausted.