B + J Wedding

Bryant & Jilli got hitched on December 7th. It was such a special & beautiful day. (weather isn't even in the equation) The temple is such a special & sacred place. I probably cried more than the newlyweds. I was overcome with joy & love. Words can't express the love I feel for these two. I'm so happy to have Jilli as my sis, Bryant picked a good one! I'm so grateful to have been included in their special days. (endowment, sealing, reception)

The reception was held on December 8th in Hartsville. It was held in such a great location & I hope it was everything B & J wanted & more. They both looked so awesome & happy. I had the pleasure of assisting the photographer with the couple's pictures & being head chef for the reception. Fortunately the place wasn't burnt down & the food all turned out amazingly with the help of SO many! (no way I could've done that by myself!) Let's just say I would only take on such a beating for the few that I love so dear. :) 

Here are a few pictures that I snapped. I can't wait to see the photos from their photographer, Rob!

P.S.

Mad love to Mom, Leslie, Geoff, MinDee, Kyle, Pat, Jen, Dawn, Renee, Ann & more. I couldn't have pulled the food off without yall!

Thanksgiving 2012

We left on the 21st (my bday) to head to Maggie Valley, NC for an Ensign Thanksgiving. Pat found a great house to rent on the side of a mountain. It had a great view! On our way to MV we stopped to see a Waterfall. It was quite a windy road to get there but it was such a beautiful sight to see! Kyle walked behind the waterfall while Coop & I tried to stay warm. I'm so glad Kyle finds these little adventures for us!

Our time in MV went by way too fast! Here are some of the highlights I can remember. (I was in & out of a food comma so forgive me if I don't remember it all)

-Good chats with great family

-Appetizer Battle (we should all swap those recipes huh?)

-King size bed

-Cooper falling down the carpeted stairs (yeah that was crazy scary)

-Kyle won the Guys Frolf Tournament

-MV has an awesome wooden park for adults & kids.

-Black Friday Shopping! (crazy lady in leopard print blanket, crazy lady trying to run over the people in Belk line, & then the crazy lady without a jacket with a towel wrapped around her head--that last one is me)

-Playing Celebrity & the Ladies dominating! woo hoo!

-Getting to hold baby Brighty (until a cold set in & my man voice took over)

-Cooper learned how to slide by himself & he loves it!

Here's a slideshow of all of our fun!

On our way home Kyle drove us up to the top on a mountain so we could climb the lookout tower & see out over NC & Tennessee. It was so high up & cold that there was snow on the ground! It was a breathtaking view but the wind was intense so we didn't stay long.

27 Candles

on MY cake! AH! I'm 27!! This can't be real, can it?!

This year we had a little shindig at our house with some close friends. We had pizza, a yummy salad from Sarah, & Erin was so nice & made a delicious PURPLE velvet cake for me. (I ended up freezing half of the cake so I am STILL enjoying it!) When it was time to blow out the candles I couldn't seem to blow more than 2 out so maybe that was the cake telling me that I'm not officially 27 yet. :) (thanks Sarah for helping me blow the candles out. what would I do without you?!) It was so great to have our friends & their kids over for a fun night. 

On my birthday we drove up to Maggie Valley, NC for the Ensign Thanksgiving Bash. While there Kyle & I went out on a late lunch/early dinner birthday date. (if you're ever in the area, you've got to eat at the Sweet Onion in Waynesville) Thanks to the family for watching Cooper for us. I love spending some solo time with Kyle. Later that night we had some cake with all of the family. The cookies n creme cake was SO good!

I am so grateful to have such wonderful family & friends that make me feel so special every year!

yeah those flames weren't going anywhere.

Man I wish I had some more!

Grandma & Poppa Visit

The weekend before Thanksgiving Marc & Pat came for a visit. It was so great to have them both here for the whole weekend! We had so much fun! We went did our usual Costco run, ate at Chickfila, made yummy pizza, shopped til we dropped, hiked up Stone Mountain, played frisbee golf, & MORE! Cooper thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Grandma & Poppa & their ipads. :) Kyle & I were also able to go on a little date to the temple.

THE WIND!!

18 Months

I have an 18 month old. That's right, Cooper turned 18 months Nov 8th. I'm still processing it. Where has the time gone?!

Here are so fun facts about Cooper:

-Climbs onto the couch

-LOVES Trains 'toot toots,' Tractors 'ta-tor,' & Trucks

-Would only eat fruit all day, everyday if I let him, especially bananas 'nanas'

-12 teeth at the moment with more close to surfacing.

-Doesn't say "hi" much but is quick to wave & say 'bye bye'

-If you read him a book, yall are best friends & he expects you to read to him the remainder of the day.

-Says 25ish words & lots of animal sounds.

-"Sings" ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Clean Up, & other random tunes he makes up.

-Enjoys any toy, instrument that makes music.

-Folds his arms when it's time to pray & says Amen.

-Has fun during bath time until it's time to wash his hair...you'd think we were trying to kill him.

-Likes to watch PBS TV 'deet deet' (Cat in the Hat, Curious George, Super Why, Sesame Street)

-Has started to count. (well he makes a noise for each number but hasn't a clue what the number is)

-Knows 8 body parts.

-Favorite animal at the moment is a Tiger.

-Loves to give hugs & kisses to Mom & Dad.

-Has so much fun in Nursery at church. (Who wouldn't love to play, eat snacks, & spend time with friends?)

-Doesn't eat vegetables unless they are secretly hidden in things like smoothies, eggs, quesadillas, etc.

-Has a "yum" sound when food is good whether he's the one eating it or not & an "ooOooo" sounds when something looks neat or fun.

-First 'hair cut' was the night before he turned 18months. It was just a trim by me. No more curly 'duck tail.'


Cooper is 32 inches tall (25-50%) & 28 pounds (85-95%) with a head circumference 51cm (off the charts).

LOVED the train pics Daddy brought home
 from work. (He didn't see them until the
next morning)

Exercised his right to vote.

Checking out the Costco deals

A little Yoga

'Airplane!'

We love you Cooper! Some of my favorite moments with you are when I get 'loves.' (hugs & kisses) It is also so sweet to cuddle up, read books, & then hold you just before nap/bedtime. & it's ridiculously cute when you use your imagination to make, eat, & share food. (always reminds me of the lost boys dinner scene in Hook)

Halloween 2012

Kyle's mom, Pat, bought Cooper the cutest Tiger costume for Halloween. We've had it for over a couple of months & almost daily Cooper runs up to it & wants to play with it. He loves the little face on the hood. We did a couple of practice runs with the costume to make sure he was ready for the big debut & boy was he ready! 

Saturday our ward had a Trunk or Treat. It was so fun seeing all the kids dressed up & to be able to enjoy it with Cooper. (Last year he was only 5 months & although he was quite the cute dragon, he couldn't have cared less.) This year he loved carrying around his pumpkin & he did a great job & saying "RAWR" when asked what a Tiger says. He can also say Trick or Treat when asked but it sounds more like "Tick-et-Teet!" 

Somehow we handed out 5lbs of candy at the trunk or treat & got about 30 pieces in return. There were loads of kids! I initially gave out handfuls but soon adjusted to just giving a piece or two due to the amount of kids & of those there were a lot of return 'costumers.'

On Halloween Cooper didn't go trick or treating the traditional way... I dressed him up in his Tiger outfit before we headed off to Kroger. He got lots of attention & even some candy from the cashiers. He said his "RAWR"s & "Ticket Teets" so it was all well deserved. :)

I can't wait to see what next Halloween brings! Hopefully more fun with Cooper & more candy for ME!! haha

Photo shoot before we took off to the Church.

LOVE that tail!

Cooper sitting in our slightly decorated trunk.

Off to Trick or Treat with Daddy.

Now they get to hand out candy.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Frenzy Part II

After our apple picking excursion we got some BBQ for lunch then we went pumpkin picking at Burt's Farm. This place was pretty packed too! I love seeing the HUGE pumpkins. One day we'll have a house, porch, & yard that I can decorate with these ridiculously big pumpkins.

We tried to take some cute pics with Coop & the pumpkins. It was a bit hard to do because of the amount of people & because Coop's nap was about 20 minutes long so he wasn't really feeling it at first. Once he saw a 4-wheeler & a few tractors then he was good to go. :) He did enjoy knocking on the pumpkins. It was cute. We let Coop pick out 3 little pumpkins before we left. 

We had a great day together. Being in the more mountainous region made Kyle & I want to go camping but knew it would be too cold for Coop. I loved watching all the leaves 'rain' down as we drove through the wooded areas. Cooper enjoyed watching Finding Nemo as we drove the 3ish hr round trip.

Thanks Kyle for planning our Fall Frenzy! 

Col Poole's BBQ

My little man. :)

Kyle hates it when I take pics of Coop
crying... idk why I do it but I do.

Knocking on the pumpkins.

Cooper's Big Green Tractor

Tiny Pumpkins!

Fall Frenzy Part I

Last Friday Kyle took the day off so we could enjoy a day together as a family. It was dubbed our Fall Frenzy Friday. We left around 9am & cruised up to Northern GA to try our hand at apple picking. We got to Mercier Orchard just 45 minutes after it opened & the place was packed! Fortunately we were able to get right onto the hayride that led us to the orchard. Cooper loved seeing all the tractors as they brought in trailer loads of people. He didn't care much for the whole apple picking business but if there was a John Deere tractor in eyesight then he was good to go.

We were give 4 choices of apples to pick from. I remember Pink Ladies & Braeburn... I can't remember the other two. We walked around & tried each kind but Pink Lady apples have always been a favorite. Kyle walked around with Cooper on his back & I loaded up our two plastic grocery size type bags up with apples. They don't really give you any instruction on how to choose the apple (as far as ripeness & all) so I just picked the ones that looked good. 

After loading up on apples we headed back on another trailer ride. We went in the shop hoping to enjoy some delicious apple treats but the place was overflowing with bodies. The bakery shelves were all but empty. Even if we found something to buy the 2 register lines were at least 30 people deep each & moving slow. We decided it wasn't worth the wait & left.

Overall it was really fun to go to the orchards & we're glad we went. Maybe we'll go again next year & pick a week day so we can get some treats from the bakery!

Look at ALL those apples!

We loved looking out & seeing the
Fall colors & mountains!

Cooper was a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Add caption

All Coop really wanted to do was look at the
John Deere work truck thingy. (yep that's what it's called)

Would you like an apple?

Coop having fun riding on Dad's back.