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Tribute to Lukey

We went to the temple the other night (I know, aren't we spiritual?) and I had little Luke constantly on my mind. I had a good chance that day to spend some quality time with just Luke and was really enjoying his sweetness. This chance doesn't happen often since Cooper is certain to make his presence known if we're paying too much attention to Luke. I realized, again, what a sweet, pleasant, FUN baby Luke is and felt an outpouring of love for him. At the temple I was getting so, so excited to be sealed to him. Hopefully we'll be setting that up in the next few months. I got excited and anxious and just wanted to have that special moment in my memory already. I feel so grateful for Luke and the joy he has brought into our lives. He is so precious to us and we are grateful to Melissa, his birth mom, for giving us the opportunity to bring such a special person into our family. We feel as though our lives are truly touched by the hand of God! Let's not forget it is also touched by the hand of chaos--and soon to be even more so!! Anyhow, I love my Lukey so much and felt it was time to give him a bit of the spotlight!

Lions, Tigers, and Llamas-Oh My!

We had a really fun time this Saturday. We took off to this place in Griffin called Noah's Ark Rehab Center for Animals (I know, I didn't know that Griffin could actually offer something good!). This is a place for all of the drug/alcohol abusing animals to go. Haha! Just kidding! It's where injured animals go to recover. Anyhow, it was super cool made even cooler since it was super free!!!! Cooper had the TIME OF HIS LIFE since his new passion is animals. Proud little mama over here when he named nearly every animal and what noises they made. Luke had the time of his life off-roading it in the stroller. Seriously, he was just laughing and giggling with every bump. It was precious! Here is a pictoral show of our event!

Is that illegal? I don't know-but don't tell!

If you look really, really hard you can see a black bear out there.Fattest pigs I have ever, ever seen and probably ever, ever will see.Taken in front of 2 huge wolves in honor of Luke a.k.a. "Wolfie" (pronounced incorrectly as "Woofie")
Look at all them there llamas!

My Life Flashed Before My Eyes!

My adorable boys before the tragedy struck...
Okay, obviously that title is a bit of an exaggeration, but I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes when Jake took a shaver to Cooper's head. When I saw all of those beautiful curls fall to the ground. When I thought, oh my gosh, that looks SOOO bad. I admit that I came a little close too tears, but I tried to be brave for Cooper--who actually loved the feel of the shaver and was laughing. In the end, I really do think the haircut turned out cute, but I don't know if I'll allow that blade next to my baby's head again. What a shame to have curls and not use them!!!! It's like having fingers but choosing to cut them off just to see what it would be like. Don't do it!! By the way, don't we have the cutest little boy in the world? That last one is to show off his fancy haircut and those totally sweet muscles.

This is Cooper gone "Redneck"--check out that sweet man-made gap inbetween his 2 front teeth.

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP--I'M MESSY!

Those scary elf men on the front of Rice Krispy treats visited my home with a vengeance! When my boys (yes, both of them) started attacking my bowl of sticky, ooey, gooey rice crispy treats I had to take many deep breaths and remind myself to simply "live in the moment". This is my self-diagnosed therapy when my kids are making a mess but having a really good time and I just want to shout "STOP! Mommy can't handle the mess. She too OCD!!" It did actually turn out to be fun and very easily cleaned, so I was glad I let them revel in the ooey gooey!

Just a whole different kind of mess--but a very cute one!

Rub-a Dub-Dub, My Boys Love Each Other in the Tub!

I finally felt comfortable letting Luke sit up in the tubbies and the boys have LOVED tubby time ever since. I love seeing them play together and laugh together. Luke just splashes and splashes and Cooper will pour an entire cup of water on his head and he'll just keep laughing. He's such a trooper!

All Clean!

Rain and Fires

It's not often that you get to light a fire in the middle of August in the South...unless you're vacationing in the Great Smoky Mountains and it's done nothing but rain for days! I took the boys with my parents and Beau and Jacob up to North Carolina to stay for a couple of days in an all-expense-paid cottage! It was really fun, if not really wet! It was probably Cooper's dream come true since we went out and played in the rain for a while..."his one true wish". He is ALWAYS begging to go and play in the "rain" (a.k.a. the sprinklers).

We had such a nice, nice time in the very quiet NC mountains. We went swimming, hiking, fishing, playing, gaming, golf carting, and all of the other relaxing -ing's you can think of. The bad news is that I pulled a muscle in my lower abdomen (I believe from carrying chunky Luke in his carseat) and it's not capable of healing since I can't sit around all day and my tummy is rapidly growing with it's weight directly on that muscle. I've been pretty miserable and letting people know it! What a grump!

Anyhow: here are some adorable pics...just imagine if I had a good camera and actually knew how to use it!

After I failed at lighting the fire twice, mom took over and told me I had to get pine wood and I had to get more kindling. I had no idea my mom was so outdoorsy!!

Look at the blazing fire!Yeah, I know it's crazy that we're going to have another baby in January! I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it! People are beginning to look at me like, Dang, that girl needs to get on some birth control! If they only knew!!!

Look at that "cheese" grin! I love it!
Grandma loves, no is heavily obsessed, with our little Lukey. He LOVES the attention! How can you not love this face?The infamous wooky loft. This was definitely the most enthusiastic face we could get out of Cooper--he was terrified!They had the MOST beautiful golf course set in the highest peak of the mountains. Loved it!

Anonymous Blog

I was commenting that I didn't have anything ever to blog about anymore because nothing in my life is that interesting. Well, then I decided I could put up some anonymous blogging fun!

You guys will never know who said these things or who owns these things! Don't ask...I won't tell!

Anonymous Blog #1:

(Setting) Discussing the recent hoax of the "sighted" Bigfoot.

Female: I hear you're really hairy too, we should call you Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Male: I'm only hairy on my legs and arms.

Female:I hear your butt is hairy too.

Male: That's connected to my legs!

Anonymous Blog #2:

Can anyone guess what this is? Hint: it's called a "Little John" and it can be quite a hilarious topic of conversation and I admit that I have purchased one as a gift.

Anonymous Blog #3:

Just a fun conversation!

Jake: That lady is the neatest woman I know.

Emily: No she's not, I'm the neatest woman you know.

Jake: Oh yeah, you're right!

Dish Network Update

For those of you who are curious, here is my update! So I called in the morning and they told me they would be here at 4 pm. When I hadn't hear from them by 5 I called and they said a technician was on the way. When no one had shown up by 8 I called again and was told that they would email dispatch and I would get a call with the hour. When I called back at 9 after having recieved to no such promised call, I was told I had actually never had an appointment. I was seeing stars in all of my anger. I immediately began hording chocolate (yes, I lost a point!) to make me feel better. After a long set of anger filled calls and well over an hour on the phone I was told that they would "email dispatch" and request I get an earlier date than my newly scheduled August 23rd appointment. I really think I'm getting a hernia. May I highly recommend that no one ever, ever, ever, ever purchases Dish Network. I don't think it's healthy for me to re-live this experience so I'm going to close now. See ya!

Phillipinos & Dish Network

Phillipino's and Dish Network: a bad combination! A lot like oil and water. Now, I have no beef against most Phillipino's. My sister served a mission there and loved them and I've never personally had a problem with them. It's when they started messing with Dish Network that I got a bad taste in my mouth. We had the roof re-done so the Dish Network satellite was removed and then replaced and consequently no longer gets a signal. We've been desperately waiting for 2 weeks to get a technician out here so that we can watch the Olympics (we are HUGE fans!). Yesterday was the golden day that we had all been eagerly anticipating for 2 weeks. Our appointment was an 8-12 pm window. No show! I called at 12:15 and they said they would have someone there by 1:30 (when I had to leave). No show! I get a babysitter to come sit at the house and watch my kids so we don't miss the technician. Arrive home at 5:00. No show! Irate and furious!!!! I call again and I'm told they're in my area and will be there soon. So, Mom cancels our dinner appointment so she doesn't miss them. No show!! I call again at 7:30 and am assured that a technician is on his way. I tell them they're liars. Let's just say I forgot for a little while to be Christ-like. No show!! I finally call when it's pitch black and 9:00 and tell them I simply want them to admit they're lying and re-schedule me for the morning. They tell me they're next available appointment isn't until Sept 2! No way! I talk to the manager and he tells me that a technician reported that they came and we weren't home. What?? I just sat at home, or had someone here, for 14 hours waiting for that technician and I promised them we were home. They described our house and we realized that they went to our neighbors across the street who haven't lived in their home for 3 years. We have a stinking spotlight on our address--how can they miss it?? Then Dad gets on the phone and the flood of anger opens. He assures the man that nobody in the Phillipines can help us get a technician here in Brooks, GA. He demands an American # which they won't actually give him but they eventually connect him to. Poor Leo Avalos-our American equivalent of worthless help. We had about an hour long shouting match which he used to try desperately to prove that I wasn't Jennefer Tasker (which, I know, I'm not but he didn't know that)! Then he heard another mouthful from my Dad who assured him that he would forever be in my Dad's consulting presentations as the world's worst customer service rep ever! I actually started to feel bad for the villianious Dish Network because they were really getting it! Long, long and very frustrating story made short--we've been assured that there is a technician coming today at 4...do I believe them? Not for a second...but I'll let you know!!