Dance Festival

Last Wednesday was the annual dance festival at Freedom Elementary. All of the students were seated in a circle facing the center stage. The parents then sat behind them. It was the neatest thing to watch as each grade took their turn and performed a dance they had practiced for weeks. Mark just so happened to have off that day so we got to enjoy the festival together...
You could tell that the kids thought this was the greatest thing. I would have thought this was great when I was little. Freedom Elementary rocks!!! The Cooper Kids definitely rock!!!

Cole graduates 6th grade!!!

Yeserday Freedom Elementary had a graduation ceremony for all the 6th graders. I can't believe that Cole has graduated from 6th grade and is now on his way to Junior High. After the ceremony we spent some time together, just Cole and I. That afternoon I was quite emotional thinking of all the changes that are happening and how fast it is coming. I am so proud of Cole and how hard he works at school. He is an inspiration to all.

COOPERS CONQUERED MT. TIMPANOGAS!!

Well, we finally did it!!! Last week The Cooper Family went up to American Fork Canyon again and took the long hike up to Timpanogas Cave. The Wilsons decided to come along with us...
On the way up there I lectured to the kids about how steep the trail was and that Mark and I didn't want to to hear any complaining. They all agreed that they wouldn't complain. And you know what? When we got there they pretty much ran up the canyon. Guess who was complaining? ME!!
We had quite the experience hiking and exploring the caves. The kids said it was the best day they have had so far this year...

Mother/Daughter Breakfast

This morning Keri and I went over to the church for the annual Mother/Daughter Breakfast. My calling in our ward right now is "Achievment Day" leader for the 10-11year old girls. Keri is in the younger group but the breakfast was for all the girls. We had muffins and fruit. Then the girls sang a song and did a dance, "Never Tell A Lie." After that we put together little hair clips with bows. It was a fun morning. One of my favorite parts was when Keri showed me this picture she had drawn of me...
On the front of my shirt she put, "Hello. I'm silly." WHAT??? I didn't quite understand if she thought I was silly or she wanted me to be silly because she is...
Either way, I am so grateful that she is my daughter and that we have this amazing opportunity to travel through this life together as mother and daughter.
The gifts I see in her are...
Kindness
Compassion
Laughter
Courage
Strengh
Unconditional Love
Thank you Keri for being a light and an inspiration for all!!!

We Have Grass!!!

Earlier this week we finally had good enough weather that they were able to lay the sod. YEAH!!!!! Now we just need to add lots of water and a fair amount of sunshine. This year the weather has been so funny. We went from the 40's one day to the upper 80's and low 90's the next day. But I have faith that this grass will grow and eventually be plush green...

Pocketful of Sunshine

The kids are outside playing so I have a few minutes to let you know how wonderful my Mother's Day was. The kids and Mark gave me breakfast in bed. Then we hung out for a little while and took our time getting ready for the day. (This rarely happens in our house.)Each of the kids gave me a cute hand made card with a little bit of money tucked inside to go shopping later. (They even used their own hard earned money not Mark's.)
My favorite part of the day was when we went for a drive up American Fork Canyon and went hiking on some of the trails. Carson even spotted a butterfly which I quickly took a picture of...I love the outdoors and am looking forward to seeing what American Fork Canyon has to offer with it being so close. (It's only a 10 min. drive.)
Have you heard of Natasha Beddingfield's song "Pocketful of Sunshine?" Well, that's what today was for me...a pocketful of sunshine. Better days, love, laughter, and nothing but butterflies...In Natasha's video she parachutes out of her window, flying away to better days. In her blog she talks about how the parachute represents different things in her life that help her along the way. My parachutes are my husband, my children, my family, my home, writing, photography, hiking, music, reading, and most importantly, my Savior...
I thank my children and especially my husband for giving me a pocketful of sunshine today and for whisking me away up the canyon for a BETTER DAY, A HOLIDAY!!!!

K.K.: Just Have Faith

Hello! A few weeks ago my teacher gave me a sunflower seed that we planted in class. I was so happy! But we took them home and every day i checked and watered my plant. And it wasn't growing so fast, not even at all(is what i thought.) Every time I talked to one of my friends about their seed they would brag about how theirs was at least 4 inches tall. i got frustrated. My mom just told me to have faith.She said if i watered it and gave it sunshine it would grow.I didn't believe her. But then i thought it was to deep down so i searched for the seed and on the way down...what do you know it was actually there. A little stem waiting to pop through the dirt also looking for fresh air.My advice to you is to HAVE FAITH!!!YOUR SEED WILL EVENTUALLY GROW!!!

Our very own SQUIRE TRELAWNEY

Last night was the final performance of Cole's 6th grade play, Treasure Island. After months and months of practice the last show was a hit. It was a blast to see him come alive as Squire Trelawney and perform on stage. He was introduced in the play at the end of Act I as the "smartest guy around." The one that would help the others decifer the map and find the treasure.(Perfect role for him or what?) He delivered all of his lines very well. Although at the very end he kind of got distracted when a little girl waved to him and he waved back.

I think that even though Cole thought this was a lot of hard work, the payoffs were great! You would have thought he was famous or something with all the autographs some of the kids wanted. Well, he's famous in our family. We're proud of him...

Grammy Cooper was so proud that she brought all of her sisters to see...
During the curtain call at the end of the show all four of them gave Cole a standing ovation...

Cole's Comments

Just yesterday I did my play Treasure Island. The reason I wanted to do this was because I saw the Scrooge play and I was fascinated. So I joined and we got the roles 2 weeks later. I wanted the "Jim Hawkins" part but since this was my first time they gave me the "Squire Trelawney" part. Which was o.k. Finally, on Tuesday this week we did the play for the K-3 grades. They loved it. Two days later we did it for the 4-6 grades and there were some things, but it worked out okay. Last night we did the play for any parents who wanted to attend. A couple of errors from the other actors but it was okay. Tonight we do it again for the last time. I'm kinda tired about it so I going say "Hooray!!" Now I won't have to worry about it anymore. Next week on Tuesday were doing a cast party. It'll be fun, punch and pizza and I'm happy about it.

(Written and posted by Cole)
Song:Welcome To Wherever You Are

Dirt Today! Grass Tomorrow!

Over the past few weeks we've been working on our landscaping. Hopefully, if the weather holds out we'll have our grass within a few days...

You Win Some! You Lose Some!

Tuesday, April 29th was Carson's first Pinewood Derby. We spent countless hours designing and crafting what we thought would be a speedy car. Carson had to weigh and check the car in three days before the race. On Saturday the Cub Master called and told us that Carson's car did not go down the track smoothly. It kept getting stuck. So we had to go pick it up and make some changes. We took the weights off the bottom and placed them in the back...
When we were finally done Carson was so proud of his car and kept telling us how lucky he was to have it.

The race was so much fun. There were about 20 cars all together. Some of the ones included were trucks, sport cars, and even ones shaped in the slice of a pizza.
Carson's #4 car took 4th place. His was also voted "Most Sporty."

We thought for sure it would get 1st place speed. Especially when both of Cole's cars took 1st. But no luck this time. When we picked up the car after the race was over Mark took a look at the wheels and noticed that they were rubbing up against the side of the car. Wow!!! The wheels were rubbing and we still took 4th place. Not a bad place to be...
You win some!!! You lose some!!! Next year the race is on....

(Song:"You had a bad day!")