Cooper's Big Day

Jeremy and I took Cooper on a special day while Izzy went to play with her friends at daycare.  He thought it was pretty cool having a day all to himself.

Cooper had his first dentist visit with our favorite hygienist, Patti, in late August.  He talked a big game all the way until we got there... and then he got nervous. 

Patti won him over with a big spread of toothbrushes for him to choose his own from, his OWN toothpaste, and his OWN flossy-floss.  He let her count his 20 teeth, but he was really scared about riding in the chair.  Once Daddy sat down, though, Cooper took a seat on his lap and opened wide. 

Patti was able to clean a grand total of ONE tooth.  Yes, one.  She polished it, and Cooper said, "Okay, mom, I think that's enough now." 

He left smiling, which Patti counts as a success.  Since his visit, he tells everyone, "I LOVE going to the dentist."  And, "Next time, Patti's going to clean ALL twenty of my teeth."

The only picture I could snap AT the dentist

The day continued with lunch at Cooper's favorite place, Pizza Ranch.  He ate to his little belly's content. 

Eating at his favorite restaurant, Pizza Ranch

To finish off the morning, we went to Target, where Cooper got to spend his $8 Fair winnings on an item of his choice.  After much deliberation, he picked a helicopter, and it still is a go-to toy in the car.

What a fun way to spend a day with our big boy :)

Hunting for Baby Animals

These two crack me up...

Little Laura Lynn

I wasn't kidding that I had a lot of catching up to do...

Laura is well over a month old now, and she hasn't made her blog debut yet!  Here she is... the little sweetheart:

Dan, proud Dad

A beautiful mama

We just missed all being together to greet Laura at the hospital

Jeremy and I made a day trip up to Grand Rapids to meet our first niece.  She is such a little honey, and she is so blessed to have Amanda and Dan as her loving parents.  They are going to do a great job.  I especially can't wait to see how much LATER their little family is for everything now that they get to run their life on a newborn's schedule ;)  In all seriousness, though, I am so happy to see Amanda become a mom.  She is only starting to realize the incredible ways her life is fuller, more meaningful, more stressful (but worth it!!), more exciting, and more complete.

The kids got to meet Laura a couple weeks ago when we took a mini-vacation up North to spend a few nights in a hotel.  They loved her the instant they met her!

There were a lot of kisses over the course of three days!

Congrats Amanda and Dan!  We can't wait to watch her grow, and we hope the distance doesn't mean we miss out on watching her become a little girl.  Love you all!

The Boat... Take 2

We tried again in late August... it went SO much better!!

Izzy LOVED it since the fish we biting so much

Even though we only pulled in little ones... it was FUN!

No poles in the water, and no one fell out of the boat: SUCCESS!

Lots of  'holding' the little fish before they threw them back

The Harvest

A smattering of our summer's worth of harvest...  Jeremy took great care of the garden with the help of his two best helpers :)  The kids love helping out there, and it's so fun to give them the experience of growing their own food.  The only thing they don't like to eat out of there are the onions and tomatoes...

Every year, we say we're going to keep track of what comes out of the garden, and every year, we forget in the excitement of the harvest.  Although everything was pretty late this year due to the cold spring and the very wet June, the only thing we did not have good luck with was the lettuce.  Not too bad, if you ask me.  I think Grandpa Henry would be proud!

Yum Yum (Look at those faces of concentration!!)

Broccoli tastes SO different and is so much bigger than in the store!

Peas take a lot of work to eat, but they sure are good!

Not a bad day...

Bringing carrots to the horses down the street

Berry fingers

HEAVY buckets of tomatoes!

Izzy loved pulling onions

Our BIG watermelon (one of five that we pulled!)

Cooper loved walking through the 'dill forest'

He's a wee bit excited about this melon!