Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun time celebrating the 4th of July together. On the 3rd, Derek's family has an annual "camp out" in his mom and dad's backyard. Most years, we are wimps and just sleep at home and come back in the morning. This year, we decided it would be fun to sleep in a tent with Cooper. (Anyone who knows us very well will tell you this is the ONLY time Cooper will be sleeping in a tent this year. We are NOT campers!) We had a lot of fun with his family and we all decided to call it a night around 1:00 AM. We made it until about 2:00 when one of their neighbors dogs started barking, and barking, and barking.... so we gave in and slept inside. Those that stayed outside all night said the dog never stopped barking. It was a long night to say the least. Unfortunately, I didn't take and pictures of the camp out. Woops!

***

The evening of the 4th we always celebrate with my family by watching the firework "contraption" that my brothers build. (see pictures below!) I really didn't know that MOST people light fireworks one at a time. As long as I've known, we have had these extravagant contraptions to watch and all of the fireworks are connected.

Cute Boys!

Cooper and Grandma Smith


Me and Jordan

Derek and Jordan (He wasn't sure what he thought of the fireworks.)

Cute Cohen hiding out in the house from the wind.

Bailey looks very sleeeepy!

Katie, Luke, Maddy, Paige, and Bailey. What a cute family! :)

The "Contraption" Before

The "Contraption" during the show.

Update...

Things have been a little crazy the past several weeks. Life has finally slowed down so I thought I should catch up on our blog. I'm not one to write much, so I'll let most of the pictures speak for themselves.

Things are going really well for us. We are enjoying our summer and are looking forward to the 4th of July holiday this weekend. So far everything is going well with the baby. I have my 16 week appointment tomorrow and we should find out what we are having the end of July. I have been so busy that it hasn't really hit me yet that we are having another baby. I'm sure as soon as we know if it is a boy or a girl (although I would be you $100 it is a boy) it will seem much more real.

So here is an update of what we have been up to lately. Hopefully I'll be better to post more often!

Enjoy!

Las Vegas

We got home yesterday from spending a few days in Las Vegas. We had so much fun. It was so nice to just be together and not have anything to worry about or any place to be. Cooper came up with a big list of things he wanted to do down there. We were really successful except for going to a baseball game and golfing. We thought the 108 degree temperatures were a little excessive to be outside for very long. They said on the news that when you stood in the sun, it felt like 120 degrees. We believed them. It was VERY hot!

The excitement of getting to watch a movie in the car!

About an hour into the drive...

Cooper loved having his own GIANT bed to sleep on.


We stayed at the Monte Carlo hotel on the strip. We had a perfect view of the Roller Coaster for Cooper. He would watch it go and yell with excitement every time it went down the big hill.

Chillin' at the Rainforest Cafe (notice the big snake above their heads)

Caesar's Palace Mall

Cooper LOVED the M&M World!

I should have taken a picture of the score. Cooper beat me by 5 points. Seriously... I was beat by a 3 year old! They wouldn't let me have bumpers so I knew I was in trouble! Luckily Derek didn't take and pictures of all my gutter balls.

Cooper is NOT camera shy.

We went to the Silverton Casino to see a large aquarium and ended up having just as much fun at the Bass Pro Shop. It was a very cool store.... Even better than Cabela's.

Cooper and his pet shark.

Cooper had a great time on the rides at Circus Circus. He was only big enough to go on 4 rides, but it didn't seem to bother him. He just went on each ride 4 or 5 times. Not so fun for his mom and dad, but he loved it!

Jordan & Cohen

My brother Richie and his wife Cindy adopted 2 little boys from Morocco last summer. We were so lucky to be able to attend the temple last weekend so see their family be sealed together. I really can't imagine our family without Jordan and Cohen. We are thankful for everything Richie and Cindy have done to get these boys here. We have so many wonderful nieces and nephews and are so happy that we now can have Jordan and Cohen with us forever!

(Jordan)

Saturday Afternoon at the Park

Chef Cooper

Cooper and I decided to make cookies together. Just like his mom, he likes making cookies just to eat the cookie dough! Yummmmmy! He called this his "Cookie Dough Popsicle".

(Yeah, yeah... I know you aren't supposed to eat the dough, but seriously, it is SO much better than the cookies!)

Sunday Afternoon

My cute boys were enjoying a Popsicle after church and they looked so handsome so I couldn't help but take their picture.

Cooper sure has some strange smiles!