Swimming Lessons

The boys are enjoying swimming lessons so much. Cooper goes twice a week and Charlie goes once a week. Charlie is in the clown fish class where he has to have a parent with him. We sing a lot of songs in his class. He really enjoys it. Cooper is in the tadpole class and really enjoys it. He does the back float, the front float, blows bubbles, gets to be on his teachers back, hold on and go completely under the water. He is very comfortable in the water. They practice kicking with a big marshmallow stick. They get to jump in (both boys love this), and they have to get themselves out by hanging on the side and climbing the wall to get out. It was hard for Coop at first, but he can do it now. The teacher recommended that he moves up to the next level, which is Turtle. We are very proud of him. Cooper has 7 more lessons. Charlie goes for about 8 more weeks. He gets to go as many times as his brother, but only once a week. Swimming is so much fun!

Genesee Community Days

We had a wonderful weekend! Saturday was Community Days here in Genesee. It is a day filled with non-stop, endless fun events. We started our day by doing the Cow Creek walk/run. Nate's mom, the boys, Yeager and I did the 2-mile walk. Nate ran the 5-mile with his brother Nic. After the walk/run we got set up for the kiddie parade. Charlie pushed his lawn mower and Cooper rode his bike. They had a great time! After that was the main parade. The boys got two huge bags full of candy. We had great food throughout the day. Cooper participated in the kid games. He raced other kids his age, did the three legged race, and more. Uncle Nic got ducked in the dunk tank. We watched three hours of a live band and then the amazing fireworks after. It was a long day, but filled with fun.

Fishing

We had a great time taking the boys to Spring Valley in Try, ID. The boys had a great time! They each caught a bluegill. The area was absolutely beautiful. It was a little chilly, but didn't rain on us. Yeager was more excited than the boys. :)

Disneyland

We were blessed to go on a trip to California to visit family and spend a couple of days at Disneyland. We all had a great time. We spent the first day visiting our friends Aggie and Phil and going to Long Beach. The boys had a great time walking on the docks looking at all the huge boats, and running and playing in the sand. We had dinner with our cousins, aunts and uncles to celebrate Cousin Jim's graduation from Grad School. Way to go Jim! The second day we went to California Adventure and then over to Disneyland in the evening. Cooper tells us that his favorite ride was Splash Mountain. He is getting so big to be able to go on those huge rides. He also loved Toy Story because of the target practice throughout. Charlie slept a lot, but also had a good time. He wasn't a fan of the Disney characters up front though, especially Pluto. I have to say his favorite part was every time he saw water. He pointed it out everywhere, walking and on rides. We saw the Aladdin Musical, a parade, a FANTASTIC firework show, and High School Musical Three. It was a great vacation and now we are all recovering from a cold we got on the trip.

Charlie's Birthday

We celebrated Charlie's 2nd Birthday in Boise, Id. We can't believe he is two years old. He is getting to be such a big boy. We celebrated at Ann Morrison Park with family and friends. Charlie's favorite gift was a vacuum from Nanni and Boppi Owen. The boys fight over cleaning my house. It is great! And it actually picks up dirt. The first set of batteries is about out though. :) The boys had fun playing with friends and cousins, playing in the huge water fountain, and on the playground. Charlie is starting to speak sentances, although it is really hard to understand him. His interests are quite different than his brothers, although they enjoy playing outside together and building forts. He just had his two year old check-up. He didn't even cry when he got his shot. He is at a fun age these days and we are loving almost every minute. :)

Cooper's 4th Birthday

Cooper had a wonderful birthday week. We can't believe our little boy is already four. It has gone so fast. He is acting so much older lately. He started off his birthday week by celebrating at preschool. Mom baked cupcakes and he got to take them and celebrate with his classmates. Then On Friday he got to hang out with Nanni and Boppi Owen at the farm with Grandma Verla. After dad got off work we went to Applebees (per Coop's request). It was very yummy. Then onto a show at Beasley. We saw Pippi Longstocking. The kids had a nice time. On Saturday Cooper had a birthday party with his friends. They had fun playing in the sandbox, on the playset, eating cupcakes again, opening presents, and trying out a pinata. It was a pull string one and unfortunately didn't work like it was supposed too. Daddy had to break open the bottom. All the kids scrambled for candy and toys. Cooper has one more week of school and then he is out for summer break. We can't beleive he will finish his first year of preschool. It seems really early for school to get out, but they end one week before the college kids do. We are so excited for summer!

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! Nanni Vicki came to visit. We had a lot of fun going to the annual Genesee Easter egg hunt. The boys received dollar bills, candy, and toys in their eggs. We dyed easter eggs. Charlie thought the dye was a drink and kept trying to taste it with the spoon. His lips were a little purple. Coop had fun dying the eggs one color, then putting the dyed egg into another color to see what color it would turn. We were up at 4:30 am Easter to go to the sunrise service at Coredlia. We woke the boys up at 5am. They had fun going through their Easter baskets before we left. As we were getting into the car to go to church, Cooper said, "Where are we going?" I told him we were going to church, and he said "In the night time." It was so cute. We went to the oldest Lutheran Chuch in Idaho, which is about 20 minutes from our house, here in Genesee. There are rolling hills all around it. It was a wonderful service! It was just like little house on the prairie. They only use the church for Easter sunrise services, weddings, and a few concerts in the summer. There is an outhouse off to the right and a a little Cemetery with about five grave sites behind the church. It holds about 100 people. There is no electricity or heat. Charlie was back down for a nap by 8:30am. Mom cooked us a wonderful Easter dinner. Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!