The Smitty Gritty: 08/01/2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Any given day Coop could be a number of things. Lately he's tried his hand at being an electrician/ cable guy. Clearly that didn't go so well.

Today he was playing train conductor. He kept yelling, "All aboard!" I was doing dishes at the time and had my back turned from him until he said, "Mom, look at my train! Isn't it beautiful?" And there were the dining room chairs... He was too serious about it to smile for the camera.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Swimming Buddies

All summer long we have been going to the pool/water park 2-3, sometimes 4 times a week. The water park is perfect for little ones. Back in June Coop would wade, but not swim, even with floaties. He gradually became more comfortable in the water, and now he's quite a little fish. He'll jump off the side to someone, and even go under the water when he jumps. He swims well with partially deflated arm floaties, and just last week he spontaneously went all the way under the water from a standing position, completely on his own, eyes open. I am so proud of him, and love seeing him grow and master things and be so pleased with himself too.
The other great thing about a summer at the pool is that we've got some great friends we go with just about every time. Coop is just in between Ethan and his sister, Addison. The boys have similar interests (trucks and tractors!), and are both rough and tumble boys. Thank goodness we have Baby A to balance them out! And their Mom, Stephanie, and I have developed a friendship as well. So fun!
Today was probably our last day at the outdoor pool/water park for the summer, since it's supposed to rain the rest of this week. It was a perfect pool day, and a great way to wind down the summer.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Who Loves You?

On the way to church, Nate asks Cooper, "Coop, who do you love?" expecting him to say Daddy.
Coop says, "Tractors!"
N: But Coop, WHO do you love?
C: I LOVE tractors!
Pause...
N: Coop, who loves you?
C: Mommy!
N: But who else loves you?
C: Um, Calvin!
N: Who else loves you?
C: Aunt Camyll!
N: Who else loves you?
C: Grammie!
N: Who else loves you?
C: Papa!
N: Who else loves you?
C: Cousins!
N: Coop, who else loves you so much?
C: I dunno.
Mommy: Coop, it's someone else in this car.
N: Coop, you're making me feel bad. Who else loves you?
C: Ohhhh, Daddy!

And on that note, here's what he was doing while I was getting ready for church...putting on Daddy's socks and belts. All ready, Mom!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

After a long visit to Utah, Cooper was ready to go home. The day we were leaving Utah, our plane didn't leave until late afternoon, and then was delayed another two hours. That morning, I'd told Cooper we were going home to North Carolina to Cooper's house on an airplane. ALL DAY LONG he kept begging to go on the plane and "doe to Pooper's house." On the plane, he was very good, but wide awake. He didn't fall asleep until we were in the car on the way home from the airport, which was at about two in the morning. He was just so excited to be home. The next morning, he came running into our room, all excited to be home. All day long he kept showing me various toys of his, saying, "Mom, remember this toy?! Remember this?" He was happy to be back on his own turf. But it didn't take long before he was asking for his cousins and Grammie and Papa, aunts and uncles (by name!) to come to his house! Let the record show that any of you are welcome any time. :D

This picture was taken the first day we were home. Coop said he was ready to go to work.

A few days after we got home, we were outside playing. Coop had been riding his ride-on 4-wheeler around, and had pushed it down our side grass hill. I was trying to get him to come in the house for lunch, and had asked him to get the 4-wheeler and put it back in the garage. He was ignoring me, and then told me, "NO!" I told him he'd better mind me and go get it, or he was getting time out for disobeying. In a flustered hurry, he ran down the hill to get it, tripped, and landed, hitting his eye on the back corner of the 4-wheeler. I felt SO bad! The outside corner quickly swelled, and I don't know what was worse for him, the pain of the injury, or the trauma of me putting ice on it. When all was said and done, the swelling receded, but he had a nasty gash on the outside corner of his eye, a scrape along the eyelid diagonally up to above his nose, and a small scrape on the inside corner. His eyeball had a big red splotch in the bottom white (probably a bruise?), which thankfully was gone by the next morning. His vision wasn't impaired at all, thank goodness! But the next day, he had quite the black eye, and we called him "Rocky Balboa" for a couple of days.

Coop doesn't take naps anymore. Well, not NEVER, but very rarely. One day I'd given him an afternoon snack, and was doing some laundry. I turned around a few minutes later to find him like this--totally asleep on the hardwood floor. Guess he'd played hard that day!

Cooper's Song

Cooper often makes up little songs, most often in the car. The songs vary from made up lyrics to actual tunes, or a made up lyric and tune. I love to turn off the radio in the car and listen to him sing while I drive. These little songs, to me, illustrate the epitome of childhood innocence. I think most kids do this, and it's probably some stage of brain development/learning, but of course, I think my child is THE CUTEST, and make no apologies for it. ;)

That said, while visiting at my parents' house in Utah in July, I caught Cooper singing one of his little made-up songs while "playing the piano." He LOVED to sit at Grammie's piano and play. In this little video, I had to hide from him, so at first I'm far away, and then I sneak down the hall, and hide momentarily around the corner on the stairs landing. He's got a little cold, and that's why he sounds stuffy. His little song was something about missionaries, and when he turns and talks to someone, that someone is an imaginary audience of some sort; there was no one in the room with him. At the end, he discovers my phone peeking out from around the corner and stops his little show. Wish I'd caught more of it!

Christensen Family Reunion 2012

Our last hurrah in Utah was a big family reunion with all my Dad's family, from Grandma and Grandpa Christensen all the way down to great-grandchildren. There must have been about 60 of us there at any given time. It was SO fun!

We went to Heber Valley Day Camp, where they had cabins for staying overnight, and lots of other great accommodations. We opted to drive home and sleep in our own beds, but it was so much fun during the day, and a great way to spend time with such a large group. I didn't get many pictures of our extended family because we were too busy having fun, visiting, or I was too busy chasing Cooper around, trying to keep track of him, which is such a shame. Can't believe I didn't even take a picture with my grandparents--sad. But we did have lots of fun!

Cooper got right to work in the dirt.

There were lots of fun games to play, like this one with tennis balls and empty milk gallons cut in half.

David, Lara, and Alex

Carissa, Callen, Tyler

Some of us played NERTS in one of the cabins. It was crazy with a big group, but oh so fun! I love playing games with the family, especially some cousins I hardly ever see any more.

L to R: Stettsen, Chelsey, Anna, Cynthia, Merissa, Cassady, Lara, Janessa

My Uncle Ron and Aunt Elise had three little grandchildren added to their family this May/June. Here's Lara with her little neice, Payton.

Cooper LOVED playing in the dirt with Calvin, Jaisie and his trucks.

Can you tell these two are 2nd cousins? Cooper and Dallin, only two months apart in age.

Our littlest campers and their grandmas: Dallin, Brooke, Elise, Natalie, Terry, Jaisie, Calvin, Cooper

Waiting for our turn on the lake

Did you know Lightening McQueen is in our family? He was waiting for his turn on the boats, along with his Mommy, Camyll.

Peek-a-boo, Calvin!

Jason, Calvin and Camyll paddle-boating on the lake

Coop and Nate on our paddle boat

There goes some family members--Merissa, Janessa and Cassady!

Carsen, Dallin, Natalie and Bethany

Kaycee and Royce (who I think were glad to just have a little break from their new baby) ;)

Nathan, Cooper and Chrystal

Just chillin' while Mom does all the work

Can't believe that's all the photos we took! Maybe I'll be able to snatch some from other family members as they post them to their blogs and such.
Lastly, when we were all gathered together for a meal, Grandpa Kurt Christensen spontaneously stood up and started speaking. One of the first things he said was that all of us there (his family) are his greatest blessings. It was then that I realized what he was going to say, and I snatched my camera as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, the picture turned out blurry because I was so far away that I zoomed in, and the zoom on my video is apparently terrible because my camera is old. Anyway, here is what I got of Grandpa (and Grandma) talking to the family.

We had a great time seeing our extended family!!!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Bridal Veil Falls and Heber, UT

On our way up to another family reunion, we stopped in Provo Canyon to see Bridal Veil Falls. Being a Utah native, I can't believe I've never actually seen the falls from more than the road. This picture shows both the upper and lower falls.

Cooper and Nate got right to soaking their feet in the frigid water. No matter how hot it was, the water was too cold for my liking.

Coop saw the people hiking up the trail to get up close to the falls, so I hiked him a little up the riverbed, and took his picture.

The person in red clothes, standing about 1/3 of the way up, to the left of the falls, just above the shrub line, gives you a good sense of the size and magnitude of these falls. Incredibly beautiful.

Proof that I was there too.

Our next stop was the town of my birthplace, Heber. This tiny little town, not far from the ski-famous Park City, is where I was born. It's quite changed since then, but no stop in Heber would be complete without eating at The Claimjumper steakhouse.

Yep, all westernized and touristy, but fun. And I had some lip-lickin' good Utah trout there too.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Nothing Like Old Friends

After not seeing each other for four years, my Twin and I finally crossed paths in Utah. My "Twin" is my best friend, Melodee. We've been friends since 7th grade, and thanks to blogs, FB, and such, we still keep in touch pretty regularly. The last four years have had us spread across Florida/Texas and Georgia/NC. When we found out we'd both be in Utah, we made a way to meet up, even if it was only for a few frantic hours on a very busy day at Mel's mother's house. Happily, Amber, our other bestie from Jr. High, was also able to join us. What a reunion! By that I mean that there were no fireworks or crazy celebrations, but it was just like friends getting together to hang out for a few hours. It was like we hadn't ever been apart, and we just had a few kids tagging along. Our conversations never lagged, and it felt like it always had--three girls just chatting away about life.

Thank you, Mel and Amber, for a great two hours of girl time! Next time I hope we have more time, and fewer kids with us, but even if we don't, it'll still be great to see you. Thank you for your friendships over the years (21 to be exact!--gulp).

While we were chatting away, our kids were being crazy down in the basement. Thankfully Mel's mom was there to keep the mayhem to a minimum.

Coop talked for days afterward about wanting to play with "Tile" [Kyle], "Quarter" [Carter], and "Tess-a-wee" [Paisley] again.

Let's hope it's not another four years before we can get together again!

Pizza in the Mountains

One night we had some more time to ourselves, so we spontaneously headed up American Fork Canyon for a picnic. Thirty minutes later, we were in the mountains--love it!! Since we hadn't planned this trip ahead of time, we stopped and grabbed a pizza on our way through town. After a pizza picnic :) on the ground (since all the picnic tables were occupied), we enjoyed exploring a section of the American Fork river.

Cooper loved throwing rocks in the water.

We could see trout in the water in a few places. Nate had already been fishing through here the week before, or he'd have had his fishing pole out for sure!

My point and shoot camera just can't capture the beauty of this canyon. This was another of those moments when I didn't know what was more beautiful, the mountain scene on the horizon, the river, my family, or the canyon on the drive out.

This little guy is pretty cute though.

We had fun dangling our feet over the water. Nate went to the truck for something, and Cooper and I sat on the bank and threw rocks of various sizes into the water. He enjoyed seeing which ones would splash the biggest/smallest, what kind of sound each would make, and also floating sticks and leaves down the river and watching until they disappeared out of sight. Nothing like an evening in the mountains to calm your soul after a very fun, but very busy few weeks.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

We belong in a zoo!

Our last week in Utah, we decided to visit the zoo, despite the hot weather. Elephant Encounter was beautiful, and Coop loved seeing the elephant. He was just a little too hot and hungry for a good picture.

Say cheese while a million other people try to do the same thing!

I do have to say that the new Otter/Seal/Bear exhibits were AWESOME. We got to watch the seals and the polar bear swimming in their exhibits. The grizzly bears were also in the water, all three of them splashing each other and playing. I've never seen a polar bear that close up before, and swimming in the water, no less. That was one of the highlights of our visit, for me.

After so much needed lunch and air conditioning, we were feeling refreshed and happier, and started off on the carousel.

Camyll with her two little monkeys: Calvin and Jaisie

Cooper and Mommy

Coop was excited to ride this Boa Constrictor or Python or whatever kind of snake it was. He'd just watched Disney's Jungle Book the day before, and was calling it "Kah, the snake."