PiCtUrEs!!!

Here are some of the latest... My dear sister-in-law, Aubrey, took us out for a few quick shots. She is so talented! Thanks Aub!

Camping!

We went camping with Darren and Danielle in Island Park on her Grandpa's property. Some of her other family was there too so we had a great time eating lots of yummy food and laughing around the camp fire. We brought our bikes and did a little riding in between the rain. So fun!

Cooley Thanksgiving

This year we had such a wonderful Thanksgiving! We went to the Cooley house where we ended up having almost 30 people together. How fun! Annette worked really hard and made us a wonderful feast! She did turkey and dressing (that's Kevin's favorite part) and potatoes and several salads. Julie brought ham and and Linda and Jana brought pies and salads and don't forget the finishing touch: Geraldine's rolls! Man were we stuffed! I asked Annette what I could do to help and she must know all about my cooking abilities because she asked me to bring decorations. Haha! Just kidding... But that's what I brought anyway. I was quite pleased with how they turned out.

Aunt Julie, Grandma & Grandpa Coombs

Pete

Jana & Barclay

Linda & Kyle

Ryan

Annette & Ashley

Aubrey & Easton

Krista & Connor

Justin & Glen

Danielle & Sarah

This is a common sight at every family gathering... Everyone gathered around the TV playing games together... True Cooley tradition. Justin and Ashley playing volleyball on the Move.

This is Connor. He's the newest addition to the Cooley Family. He sure looks like a Cooley! Can't take his eyes off the game.... Haha! He fits right in!

Rizor Thanksgiving

We were lucky enough this year to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with both families. So, after we had the first dinner with Kevin's family, we went and had a second one with my family.

David, Helena & Mike

Grandma & Grandpa Rizor

Me and My Sweet Hubby

Jake and Rachael were supposed to come too but the stupid snow changed their plans...

This is the very first time ever that my dad bought and cooked a turkey. Like all things he does, it's "Go BiG or gO hOmE!" For his first turkey dinner he de-boned the turkey and then made a roll with the boneless turkey and his special homemade stuffing. Oh my! It was so fantastic!

He also make homemade apple pie... YuMmY! It was the best pie he's ever made. 

By the end of dinner, we were so full we needed to roll back to the car. Oh man! It was so wonderful. We had such a wonderful day!

Garth Brooks

In August, my sister in law Danielle won free tickets to a Garth Brooks concert in Sun Valley. I was so lucky because she chose to take me, which of course I couldn't refuse... So off we went to Sun Valley! It was phenomenal! He was accompanied by the Sun Valley Civic Symphony... I know what you are thinking... Thunder Rolls on the huge timpani drums... (ok, so maybe you are only thinking that if you are a band geek like me...) but let me just tell you it was breath taking!

 We stopped in Atomic City and ate at Pickle's Place, Home of the Atomic Burger... 

This is Danielle's Atomic Burger... Mmmm..

Here we are waiting to get into the seating area... It was soooo hot!

 We were sitting in a grassy area outside of the main tent. We were there a couple of hours before the show opened and they played music over the loud speakers and we brought a picnic and tried to read while we waited. This is our view. We were actually really close to the screen which was nice but we couldn't see the actual show. The seats to go inside started at $250.00. Yikes! 

These people were funny... I never would have thought to bring a table, table cloth, a vase with flowers and some candles... I couldn't believe how many people had done the same thing! Oh well, to each their own...

The show was great! Garth Brooks is a fantastic performer! He was telling all sorts of stories about his childhood and his the things that influenced his music the most.

And, as if the day wasn't already good enough, Trisha Yearwood (I totally didn't know that she was his wife) came out and they sang together! FaNtAsTiC!!!

The symphony was the icing on the cake! What a treat! I seriously had chills! I guess I had never thought about it, but they used a huge sheet of metal to make the thunder. Wowee! 

Thank you so much Danielle! I had the most amazing time!

Christmas?

So... growing up... we didn't ever have Christmas lights on the house. Maybe a couple out in the tree and I guess one year we had a row of icicle lights over the garage... but I love Christmas lights. So, I decided now that I have my own house... we will have them. So every year we have put them up but never taken any pictures. I know, right? What's up with that? My favorite year was our first Christmas at Pulling Courts... We made the railing on the porch look like a candy cane. So sad... it only exists in my memories... So this year, I was determined to take some pictures and of course, we had no snow. We had little storms here and there but nothing to cover the grass... So, since this is Idaho... I knew that I had to snow at least one good snow after Christmas so we waited... and waited... and then we were the only house on the block with lights still up but we waited... and FINALLY at the end of February I got my storm... So, I went out at 7am so I could get it before it all melted.... These pictures are harder to take than you would think! After messing with all the settings on the camera for almost a half hour and freezing half to death, (because I got so excited I just ran out in my pj's instead of getting properly dressed) I gave up. So this is what I came up with... hehe... I'm happy because I have one half decent photo of my lights. :) 

Silhouettes...

Last November, all the Cooley's were in town for Thanksgiving. We decided to take the fam out for some pictures... As usual, I had to work that day so I didn't get go to all the places they went, but I did tag along to a tunnel to try out silhouette pictures. We had such a blast but being November, it was so cold! The poor kiddies almost froze to death! I did a few edits and here's what I came up with:

This was all of the Cooley grandkids...

 Alissa, Maycee, Blaine, Landon, Allison, Ashley, Collin, Katelyn, Easton & Dawson

Danielle & Darren

 

Easton, Brandon, Aubrey & Dawson

  

Allison, Katelyn, Shawn, Susan, Blaine & Ashley

 

Joey, Christopher, Katelyn, Ryan & Ashley

Thanks Cooley Fam! I had a blast!