kevin & sarah

2011-12-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

PiCtUrEs!!!

2010-12-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-12-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-28T01:47:00.003-07:00

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?

2010-07-02T07:51:00.001-06:00

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...

2010-06-30T04:04:00.001-06:00

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!

Loser!

2010-06-30T02:17:00.000-06:00

Alright... I know that I'm a loser because I haven't posted since like... October... Seriously, I realize how pathetic that is... So, I'm going to make an attempt to catch up on some things because now I have a little more time on my hands... Yay! For starters, I now have a new job. I am no longer at the Dollar Tree. Let's just pause for a WOO HOO!!! I'm now working for Anesthesia Associates... That's right, a doctor's office so I have doctor hours. Off by 4:00pm Mon-Thur and off by 3:00 on Friday's for an early start to my weekend. No more nights, no more weekends. Isn't that fantastic? I'm truly been blessed because now I actually get to have dinner with my dear husband. Don't misunderstand, he never made me feel like a bad wife, but there is something to be said for making a warm meal for your husband and pack lunch for the next day... That's what good women do for their hubbies! Anywho... enough babbling for now. I'll post more later.... promise!

Oops...

2009-10-27T00:41:00.008-06:00

On Saturday, October 17th, we and our friends Matt and Melonie decided to go dirt biking for the last run of the season. We had such a great time and the leaves were beautiful! We could not have asked for better weather. We got to the top of Black Rock Canyon and then decided to head back to the bottom. I'm the wimp of the bunch so naturally I was at the back of the group and often they would all slow down to wait for me and once they saw me, they would take off again. I thought it was a little strange when I came around the corner and Kevin was standing on the side of the trail and Matt was on his bike... So I killed my engine and asked what was going on and Kevin said... "I fell..." I asked, "Are you ok?" and his response was, "Probably not..." Hummm.... It turns out, he was going a little too fast and when he came around the corner he realized it was too sharp and he was going to head off road and in the instant he decided that he didn't want to do that, he turned the bike hard and pulled the front break instead of the back one... So, the bike fell right over onto his leg and it died. It was such a beast to start and Matt was trying his best to restart it while Kevin regained his composure. The bugs came out in full force and there were wasps everywhere. There was a wasp on Melonie's helmet that she swatted and it got angry and bit her... Then, it went down the back of her shirt and continued to bite. Poor girl! She couldn't get her helmet off and once we finally got the wasp out I think we counted 5 bites in addition to the first. Those suckers hurt! So, after Matt push started the bike, we finally got going again and got to the bottom and loaded the bikes. What and end to the summer! Here are some photos of Kevin's foot:

This is right after he first took his shoes off. Can you see the bump
forming on the side of his left foot?

This is the first night when we went to bed. You can see the
swelling increasing and the bruising is beginning...

This is the second day. You can't really tell by the picture but
now you can't really see the bump from the bone in the ankle.
It is just swollen.

Pretty purple! This picture is kinda fuzzy but you can kinda see
that his whole foot has a slight blue tint to it...
I don't think that's normal.

This is Kevin with his bandage and my nice fuzzy sock. He said it
was toogirly to wear to my parents house for dinner so naturally
I thought I better put it on the blog... hehe

Kevin is doing much better now. His battle wounds are healing nicely. He'll be good as new in no time. :)

Mike

2009-10-08T00:56:00.011-06:00

Can you believe it? Little Michael-Tyckle is a senior. We went out about a week ago and took his senior pictures. He's a pretty good lookin' kid don't you think? He is so much fun and has such a unique outlook on life. He also LOVE'S his guitar. Good luck this year Mike!

PS, I don't know what I did to make them grainy but Kira told me that I had to get them up here tonight!!! Since it is almost 130am and I have such a crazy day tomorrow...I mean today, I am going to bed now and I'll fix them later... but you get the idea right?

Guenevere

2009-08-05T10:23:00.001-06:00

Well, about a month ago Archie left us... I was very sad about the circumstances but these things happen... Arthur missed his friend very much. He would walk around the house meowing and meowing... then he would go outside and meow and meow. Then he would go into our neighbor's yard and meow and meow... Truthfully, it was driving us crazy. After about a week of that, we decided that we may need to go and find another cat... At Sunday dinner, we mentioned that to my parents who said, "Well our neighbor's can just had kittens lets go look at them." We were a little hesitant because we knew that meant we would be getting a cat sooner than we had expected. Sure enough, we found a little kitten. She is so sweet. We decided to name her Guenevere. Now King Arthur has his Guenevere. That is really a mouthful when you are talking about a cat so we call her Gigi for short. And, as always, there are lots of nick names, Lil G, G-Bot and Miss G. At first, she wasn't to sure about Arthur but now they run around and play all day long. We are very sad that Archie had to go, but we sure do love Gigi and we wouldn't have her with us otherwise.

Fisnished...

2009-08-04T10:07:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I have really been a slacker! We did, for the most part, finish our remodel at the beginning of June but between girls camp and weddings, I have had no time to update the blog... We are so very happy with the results. At first, Kevin and I would just sit in the front room and say, "it feels so fancy!" We couldn't have done it without such great family members willing to help us. Thanks Brandon, Danielle and especially Darren! We couldn't have done it without you!

Yellowstone

2009-05-31T11:57:00.004-06:00

On Friday, we took a little break from all the house work and went to Yellowstone with my parents and grandparents. We could not have asked for a nicer day. The weather was beautiful and although it was warm, it was not hot so we were able to walk around all day without melting. We saw about 300 head of bison, several elk, one bald eagle, and of course, geese and swans. We did make it to Old Faithful and saw many more of the wonders that the park has to offer. Here are some of the photos we took. Kevin had the camera most of the time. He is a natural!

Update...

2009-05-30T10:04:00.002-06:00

We have been truckin' along to try to get our house done before we have to go back to work. Here are some photos...

We are so close... I'll upload the finished photos soon!

Remodeling...

2009-05-25T18:08:00.004-06:00

Kevin and I both took this week off from work because we wanted to stay home and work... Lucky us! We are remodeling the living room, kitchen and hallway. When the previous owners painted, they chose not to texture anything and they used flat paint. Now, I agree that flat paint is nice when it is first done, but now it is not so nice. So, we have decided to texture all the walls and ceilings. We will also be getting rid of the burgundy wall and horrid light fixtures. Here are some before photos, I'll update throughout the process...

PS- Things got so crazy that I didn't get any before photos of the kitchen so these are from when we were looking at the house... the decorations belong to the previous owners...

Spring is blooming...

2009-05-22T18:02:00.000-06:00

As a house warming present, my grandparents bought us a lilac bush. As all of you know, I'm kind of a slacker so it was kind of a crispy critter when I finally got around to planting it... We watered and watered it last year but I thought for sure it was a goner. However, I was pleasantly surprised when it finally turned a little green and now is blooming. It smells wonderfully and the buds are amazing. If you look closely, they are really purple with almost a blue tint. Very beautiful... :)

Photo tag...

2009-04-14T23:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, So it has been almost a month since I was tagged by Kira but here goes anyway... I was supposed to go into my sixth photo folder and get the sixth photo but it is already on the blog. So, I went to the seventh folder and the seventh picture and this is what I have...

This is my little brother Michael. I think this picture was taken about 2000ish... That would make him 8 years old. My grandparents have an old buffalo skull on their wall and it was great fun to take the classic photo with horns. Isn't he cute?

Archie

2009-03-17T19:06:00.003-06:00

Well, we have done it again. Taken in a stray... hehe Arthur has been bringing home a friend for the past couple of weeks. They sit outside and play and roll around and chase each other around the yard until we would open the door he would run away. Well, Kevin started it by naming it Archie. Once he had a name then I became attached. I finally decided to put some food outside for it and he acted like he hadn't eaten for days. I was finally able to coax him into the house and I picked him up and the poor thing was skin and bones... So, he is now ours. Tippy terrorizes him but I think it may be because Arthur is mean to her... Archie is now the new kid... He is still pretty skiddish but each day he grows a little more brave.

Grandma Bauer

2009-02-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Grandma Bauer's 97th birthday. Oh my the things she has seen! She amazes me because she still lives alone and is sharp as a whistle! Grandma Cooley had all the grandkids gather around to take pictures with Grandma and they were very excited to help her blow out the candles... so excited in fact that we had to relight them 3 times so that Grandma could do it herself...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Twins

2009-01-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

Around October, my grandpa decided that he would try to grow a beard to see if he could look like Kevin. He liked it and he liked the attention that he got because all the "ladies" always wanted to touch and feel it. Pretty soon he had a very shaggy face. He kept trying to decide weather or not to shave it off and when he was at the barber getting his haircut last week, he decided it was time for a change. Now he and Kevin are twins. :)

Funny Mammals

2009-01-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all of those who get sick of only seeing posts about people's pets.... but when you don't have kids, pets is what you get... haha

We have funny mammals. Our dog is my shadow. She is two feet away from me at all times when I'm home. If I'm at the computer, she will worm her way in so she is right at my feet. She wants to be pet and loved on all time time.

The man, however, is different. He will not cuddle, he does not want to be pet, and he does his best to stay just out of reach. Unless.... you have a cuddly blanket. Then he will make himself right at home as long as you don't pet him him while he decides to grace you with his presence.

PS- Sorry the pictures are crappy, they were taken on Kevin's phone.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I just celebrated our 4th anniversary. We had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and they counted down the new year with Kevin's brother Darren and his wife Danielle. It was a nice quiet evening.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I were good kids this year! We had a visit from

Manta Claws

Tippy the Wet Nosed Raindeer.

Ok, so we know that it is kinda mean... but we have so much fun dressing up our mammals. That is what they are here for right? Our entertainment... :)

Us

2008-12-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is us. Kevin and I are high school sweethearts. At the end of this month we will have been married for 4 years. Man how time flies. Kevin is a diesel mechanic and I am an assistant manager at the Dollar Tree. We bought our first house at the end of March and we have had lots of fun painting and fixing and making it our own.

Walking Our Mammals

2008-12-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Every day we take Tippy for a walk. Once Arthur decided that he wasn't afraid of the dog, he began to follow us when we would walk around the block to the park. Now every time we go, Arthur follows about 10 feet behind us in the gutter. When people see us, they always laugh because we take both of our mammals for a walk.

Arthur

2008-12-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

This is Arthur. aka: The Man, Manny, Manfred, Purring Mantis, King Arthur and Stink Face. Arthur joined our family in the middle of April. He was an outdoor cat and now lives in the lap of luxury. He is likes to show us that he is the king and the poor dog gets the brunt of most of it. Tippy is about five times his size but he is very mean to her and likes to torture her. All in all, we do love him. Hi kind of looks like he is smiling in this picture doesn't he?

Tippy

2008-12-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

This is Tippy. Now she has much longer hair but we shaved her because it was so hot! She joined our family in late July of this year. She is my shadow. When I am home she follows me from room to room and is right at my heals. Tippy is a very spoiled pup! Kevin is wrapped around her paw. When we got her, we decided that she would be an outside dog but Kevin felt sorry for her and let her in the house when it was going to rain. Now, she even gets to sleep on the foot of our bed. Pitiful!

2008-12-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all. This is our blog. I'm new at this so it may take me awhile to find all the neato things we can do it it but I'm sure I'll manage with time. Enjoy!

~Sarah