Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! Here are some pictures from today. We had a good day. I hope you did, too. I'm so grateful for my Savior and that we get to celebrate His birth at this time of year. I'm grateful that He was willing to come to earth for each of us. I'm grateful for His example. I'm grateful for His love.
Share His joy!!! Merry Christmas!

9 Months

Claire is 9 months old today!!! It's been so fun to celebrate Christmas with her today, too!


Claire is constantly on the move these days. She has been getting into everything she can! She crawls like a pro, and she loves to pull up and "cruise" along the furniture. While standing, she will sometimes reach for my hand when I offer it, and she picks up her feet and takes a few steps while she's holding my hand.

Claire is ALL smiles these days, too! Her smiles make me smile, so we just have a lot of fun! :-) She likes to play with toys and with anything she can get her hands on. She also loves to make noises. She still says mama and dada, among other nonsense syllables, and she seems to enjoy yelling loudly, too. Sometimes she makes loud noises while she inhales, which is pretty amusing!

She is about 21 pounds, and she is almost 28 3/4 inches long. She had her first taste of being sick, but I'm happy to report that she's feeling soooooo much better now!


She rarely sleeps through the night anymore. (I was spoiled for those months at the beginning when she DID sleep through the night! I long for those sleepful nights now, but I guess I should just be grateful they happened at all!) She usually only gets up once, and she usually just needs to eat and will then go back to sleep nicely. That's not always the case, but that is the norm, thankfully.

Claire has turned into a Mama's girl, lately. She always seems to want me if I'm around. She loves interaction with Mom, Dad, and just about anyone else, too. She played a game with us this week. It went like this. I was holding her, and Grandmom said and motioned for Claire to go to her. Claire, who had been looking at Grandmom, then smiled and laughed and turned her head and buried it in my shoulder. She did that numerous times with Grandmom. Then she did the same thing with Aunt Laura and even with Dad, too! It was really funny because she was laughing about it! Her little personality is coming through! She's becoming more and more fun!

Family Photo Time!

We had the entire Cooper family together for McKinley's blessing this past Sunday. The blessing was very nice. After church we took some family photos. This is the best one of the whole family.


Stephen, Ryan, Mel, and Kyle

Jon, McKinley, and Liz

Rebecca and Chris

Three generations
Lou and Steve
Lou, McKinley, and Steve
Lou, Ryan, and Steve

Steve and Lou were so happy to have all four of their grandchildren together!!!


And here we are! Claire, Jordan, and Julia
Merry Christmas!

Party Time!

While in Florida, Jordan and I were able to tag along with our older brother in college.(Thanks, Stephen!) He and Mel had tickets to a graduation party, and they were nice enough to let us come, too! We took pictures before we left. (It felt a bit like prom - to some!)


We had a good time at the party!

Airboat Ride

While we were in Florida, Jordan and I went on an airboat ride at Buffalo Tiger's. Stephen and Kyle were ready to go!


But before we even got in the boat, we saw this little gator!

She was waiting for some bread. Our guide, Ernie Redwing, fed her some bread, and then Kyle wanted a turn. He threw her some bread, and she snapped it right up! Kyle was sooooo excited!!

Stephen and Jordan had a great time on the boat!

This is the only other gator we saw. (It was a cold morning!) She was bigger than the one at the dock.

Ernie fed her some bread, too.

And then he let us drive the boat!!!! We all got a turn! It was really fun!




We had a great time! I'm glad I was able to enjoy this part of (Sunny) South Florida! (And thanks to Mel for staying at home with the babies!)

The Beach!

Today we went to the beach!!! I think it's pretty exciting to be able to go to the beach in December. I guess that's what you get to do in Florida! We are visiting Stephen, Mel, Kyle, and Ryan. - Stephen graduates from CRNA school next week! (That's HUGE motivation to Jordan!) We had a good time. And Grandma and Grandpa are here, too!














Also, Happy Birthday, Dad! (my dad) I hope you've had a great day! We love you very much!