A Visit with Grammy Rachel

During my summer vacation my mom was able to come for a visit.


She brought Cooper a Thomas the Train book. His favorite thing was to push the horn. Too bad there is no off switch.


The weather was beautiful so we played outside almost everyday.


Cooper's other favorite toy is his keyboard. He loves to shake the cord and try to eat the end. Cooper is fast, but not as fast as mom and dad.


One day we went hiking at the Ogden Nature Center. It was a little hot that day. I think we were the only people there. Cooper enjoyed riding around on daddy.


He had so much fun that he wore himself out. He decided to take a short nap.


Another one of Cooper's favorite things to do. Rip magazines. Luckily dad said "this one's online".


Aunt Olga and Uncle Craig came down for a weekend to visit. All Cooper wanted to do was walk around. Luckily they were nice enough to oblige.




Pretty risky eating Cooper's toes. He inherited the "Sandstrom" gene, oh no!


Cooper is gagging himself as Gammy Rachel feeds him banana.


Cooper loves taking baths.


Our new family photo. Cooper and daddy always seem to make the same faces.

We had a really fun visit with Grammy Rachel and can't wait to see her again in October for Cooper's birthday.

Uh Oh!!! A New Twist to Napping...

Well, just when we thought Cooper had finally accepted his fate of taking two naps a day, he has decided to protest in a new way. Prior to today, at naptime, we would lay Cooper in the crib and he would either scream in protest (primarily due to poor timing on our part), or go right to sleep. Sometimes, after yelling for a bit, he would go to sleep. However, his new method is a bit more complex than a mere cry. He has discovered how to move from a laying position to sitting. Once sitting up, I fear a nap is out of the question...

Lovell Sisters Concert

Tonight we went to a bluegrass concert at the Ogden Nature Center. We had a blast. Cooper even enjoyed the music. He clapped, and danced, and even cheered. We are so lucky to have such a good baby!! The Lovell Sisters were awesome! Wow! What talented musicians they are. And I can't believe that out of the 3 of them the oldest is only 23! Here are a few pictures and a video taken at the concert.


What a beautiful night it was!


Daddy and Cooper clapping!


The people were fun to watch too.


Now it's time for a baba.

Happy Birthday Paul

Today is Paul's birthday. Since he will be turning 33 I wanted to share 33 things I love about Paul.
Here they are in no particular order.

1. He is a wonderful husband and awesome father!
2. He will drop what he is doing to help me with just about anything.
3. Although not necessary, he asks me if it's ok if he plays his computer game.
4. He gives great back massages.
5. He love me unconditionally.
6. He is a nice guy and will help anyone with what ever they need.
7. I love the way he looks at me.
8. He enjoys cooking and makes great breakfasts and dinners. I love how he experiments with
different recipes. We've had some tasty meals.
9. I love his passion for photography. W have some awesome pictures.
10. He loves to be outside and look at all the plants growing in our gardens.
11. He does a great job selecting plans and trees to make our yard beautiful ( although I still want
a hosta plant).
12. He is very patient with me (most of the time).
13. He puts up with all of my crazy mood swings (eventhough he shouldn't have to).
14.He gives the best head rubs and hair brushes ever!
15. I love his cute freckles.
16. He loves to joke around and be silly with me. He's always entertaining.
17. Every few weeks or so he has a new "phrase" that he uses all the time. This past phrase has
been "no bueno".
18. He can't wait to get home from work to spend time with Cooper.
19. He is just like a little kid when playing with Cooper. It's so cute, and Cooper loves it!
20. I love how knowledgeable he is about computers. And he has never taken a single class.
21. I love his ability to use photoshop and all the picture editing programs. We have awesome
pictures and he has made some pretty cute "scrapbook" pages.
22. I love his passion for food and how he has helped our family eat healthier.
23. He doesn't get mad when I tell him I just went shopping. He just goes shopping too.
24. I love that he's rather be outside than watch TV but will join me for a funny episode of King
of Queens any day.
25. He's a great kisser.
26. I love his green eyes.
27. I love his handyman skills. No job is too big for him. We ended up with a whole new office
complete with four walls and electricity.
28. He will go shopping with me just to spend time with me.
29. He really doesn't seem to worry or stress about many things.
30. He is always truthful.
31. I love his passion for his job. It's not just a job to him it's part of his life.
32. He is environmentally friendly.
33. He wants to live a long health life together and encourages me to exercise with him.

Happy Birthday Paul! Thank you for who you are. I love you!!

Splish Splash!

During the last two weeks in July Cooper and I had a fun experience with mommy and me swimming lessons. We went Monday- Thursday for two weeks. This was Cooper's first time in pool.


His favorite thing to do!


Cooper wasn't sure what to think of the water noodle.


He liked to stand and walk much more than sit in the water.


When floating on his back he would rather hold onto his feet than kick them. I guess he needs more practice.


Still not kicking his feet. He didn't like floating on his back.


Parent and tot swim class. They were all so cute!

Zach and April's Wedding

I had the honor of photographing April and Zach's Wedding! I really enjoyed contributing to the wedding in a unique way by documenting the day with still shots. Below are a few of the photos and links to our the online albums.

Zach and April Part 1

Zach and April Part 2

Roar!!!!!!

Last weekend we took Cooper to Dinosaur Park in Ogden. The day started out cool and cloudy, but by the time we started walking outside it was hot and humid for the Ogden Area. So we only spent a couple of hours at Dinosaur Park before Cooper started acting tired and overheated.




















This was Cooper's first time in the stroller for a significant amount of time. It was fun to watch him react. He did NOT like the shoulder belts so we only left the lap belt on him. This allowed him to remain a bit more mobile in the stroller. In fact, he only leaned back a couple of times. His position remained upright and he held on to the tray to maintain his position when we hit unexpected bumps.




















Inside Dinosaur Park is a museum. There are replicas of several different dinosaurs. In this photo Kelly and Cooper are below a baby Tyrannosaurus rex. Cooper was very interested in T. rex. Maybe he will be a paleontologist when he grows up!














They also had replicas of dinosaurs femurs at different ages to show the scale of growth exhibited by dinosaurs. As a biologist, Paul finds this very interesting because of the large change in bone mass. Cooper was also fascinated, probably from the different textures. We're not sure if touching these bones was allowed, but Cooper really enjoyed it. It's amazing how intensely he focuses on things when he is really interested.




















This is kind of funny. Cooper and Kelly look like they are strolling through the Jurassic Period.




















Outside, Cooper was still sitting forward and holding onto the front tray of his stroller.














Dinosaur Park has full scale replicas of dinosaurs. This is pretty cool. Cooper and Kelly are standing below an Apatosaurus formerly known as Brontosaurus.



Here is the only photo with Daddy and Cooper. It is nice to have a voucher photo of daddy occasionally so that we can verify his existence!




















Kelly and Cooper on the hidden trail. It's a good thing they considered strollers during the Jurassic Period, otherwise we would be in trouble!














It was getting really hot and Cooper was showing signs of fatigue. So we decided to cool him off in the water misters. He absolutely loved it!




















The misters were the hit of the day for Cooper!