Our two Fourth of July Fireworks

My how they grow...

I don't believe very many people check this anymore because of how often we post, but I stumbled upon these pictures today and thought I would share. Most of these were taken in the hospital. They really were so small. I know they won't stay small, but I hope they stay close.

Look at how TINY he was!

And look at how BIG I was!

He can't walk...but he can climb!

Coops and Kenners Laughing

Babies' First Birthday!

Well everyone, we're one! It's taken us a few weeks to recover from the really awesome party we had, but here we are to share some pictures and tell you what we've been up to. This is us with our cousin Damon on our new picnic table. It's pretty cool huh. I (Cooper) LOVE to climb all over and around and through it. My sister finally learned to pull herself up so she can stand next to it:) But we all look pretty cute sitting at it. We were spoiled by all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. We got a lot of super fun toys to play with and some very cute clothes. (Kennedy speaking...) One of my favorite gifts was the Baby Einstein DVD's. We watch Baby Sign. I love to sign "baby." Sometimes I get so excited while doing it that my mom is worried I'm going to twist my top half right off.

I did a pretty good job of eating my cake. The best part was all of the candy on top.

I pride myself in not being as messy as my sister, but as the "birthday boy" I felt like I had to do my duty and dig in.

This is how they all started out. We called them "duck cakes." We picked them because we LOVE bath time! We love lots of other things too. Our top three are probably food, milk, and mommy. Sometimes we want her to hold both of us all the time...she won't. We love dad too. We start flapping our arms when we hear the door open and we know he's home from work. We love puppies and can spot one from a mile away.

Cooper: I am a great big brother! I am super adventurous so I show my sister how to get into things. She finally learned how to crawl so she can follow me wherever I go. One of our favorite things to do is push all of our little balls under the oven, or pull all the silver wear out of the dishwasher... that's fun too. Another favorite activity is climbing the stairs. I laugh the whole way up. I'm not quite walking yet, but I'm close. Mom doesn't know how close because I've been close for a while. I like to really try things out before I move on. For example, I did the army crawl for months and just barely started crawling for reals. I have 8 teeth and have had 5 hair cuts. I say: mama, dada, ball, nana (banana) and all done. I've got a face you can't help but squeeze and sometimes I laugh so hard I think I might turn inside out.

Kennedy: I love to hold my brother's hand. The only time he lets me is when he's held captive like in his highchair or in the stroller so I take advantage of that. I love music. I sing at church and in the car, I play the drums and until I figure out how to play it I will keep singing the recorder too. I finally figured out the army crawl at 11 months and a week later I decided to really crawl so I could keep up with my brother. Mom and dad make me stand next to my toys somethimes and I don't really like it. I wouldn't even do that a month ago. They called me jello legs. I have 2 little teeth. they help me eat and eat and eat. People wonder how I'm so small since I eat so much. I don't really know so I don't tell them anything. There's only so much a girl can communicate with my limited vocabulary: mama, dada, ball, and nana. I also sign "baby," "more," and "all done." I wear my hair in a ponytail, I give kisses, pat my mom and dad on the back when they pick me up form my naps, and wave "good bye." I also have a giggle that melts my daddy's heart.

Pictures=1000 words Videos=1000+ words So no text this time

Playing Catch

The video is tilted until the 30 second mark.

Peek-a-Boo

Family Pictures

My sister is amazing and she took some family pictures for us. This is just one I had her shoot on my camera, but I'm super excited to see the real deal. Don't I have such a cute little family?

Cedar Half-Marathon

My dad and step-sister Shawni let me talk them into running the race. They did a lot better than I did.
I don't look so bad for having just run 13 miles right? (I was posing for the camera.)

I wasn't planning on running because I broke my toe. The Monday before the race I finally went out for a run and it felt great so I decided to go ahead and do it. My next run, however, hurt like crazy. I figure I must have over compensated for my broken toe and hurt my knee. I knew this wouldn't be my best race. Since I couldn't run more that 1.5 miles without hurting like crazy, I decided to walk the first 3 miles of the race. I walked with some really nice ladies who were planning on walking the entire thing! It was quite fun. At mile 3 I started jog. By mile 7 I was feeling great. It was at about mile 9 that I started really hurting. I limped the last 2 miles. I finished with an average time of a little more that 12 minutes per mile. Again...not my best race, but not too bad for walking most of it.

I feel like running is an activity I will be able to do for a long time. I'm not fast and I'm not competitive, but the more I do it the more I like it. I actually think I want to train for and run a marathon someday. I don't think I'll become a marathoner, but it's something I'm willing to put on my bucket list.

Some pictuers of our babies...

The Worst Trip Ever!

My mom planned a family reunion with her brothers and sisters. I was nervous about taking my 2 babies on such a long trip and with good reason. It turned out to be the worst trip ever. This is not to say we were unappreciative of everyone who was willing to help or that we didn't have a good time and have good memories. There was just no getting around the fact that 2 crazy ladies traveling 22 hours (28 for Kelli) worth of road (who knows how long that can take) with 3 babies is bound to be difficult. Let me tell you about it though.

It started with Kelli and Damon coming to our house. Damon and Cooper are starting to seem closer and closer in age. I'm pretty sure they're going to be buddies. Things were ready to go when they got here. Both Kelli and I were impressed with how calm things started out. We are used to things being CRAZY before we go on trips. We are trying to be more organized so we can feel more relaxed as we get on the road. I think we were both so nervous for this trip that we made sure to have everything super ready.



We left at about 6:00 PM with our fingers crossed that all 3 babies would sleep for as much of the trip as possible. We ended up making an unplanned stop in Kanab around 8:30, but it was perfect. I fed the babies on the grass of a hotel there and they were ready for the night. After Damon stopped stealing their binkies and putting his feet in their faces they slept for most of our trip. At around 2:30 we stopped for the night at a lodge my mom was able to get in Pine Top. It was a really nice condo and a beautiful area. It was great to get a few hours of "sleep" in a comfy bed (I don't sleep well when my babies are in the same room as me).

We got up, made pancakes, Kelli went for a run as she was training for the half marathon I was supposed to run and then we were on the road again for the last leg of our trip.
A few hours later we arrived at Los Alamos Ranch. It was a little place made up of a whole bunch of little cabins that were built ages ago and recently renovated. They were sufficient, but the first night had us excited to get back to our own beds and it got worse from there.

We tried to put the babies in the same pac and play as that was all we had room for. Cooper, however likes to roll and kick and...well, I had one baby in bed with me most of the time.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL the whole time we were there. Here's aunt Kelli with Kenna Baby.

My aunt Rachel helped out a lot with the babies. Actually, I don't know that there was an adult there who didn't help out with the babies.

Me and Kenna Baby (we really didn't spend the whole time in those chairs).

We went on a hike they call the cat walk. It was super pretty and one of the highlights of the reunion. We even got to walk over one of those extended bridges like you see in the movies. It was an interesting experience with a broken toe, but well worth it.

Both babies fell asleep.

From left to right that's me with Cooper, my uncle Aaron, aunt Pam, my cousin Trace holding Kennedy, my brother Rory, Kelli with Damon, aunt Noni, and uncle Jim.

This is us in front of our happy little cabin. It was the only cabin in our area that had a working porch light. That meant we were the lucky ones to get all of the bugs. One night we had uncle Grtarantula a baby scorpion for us. The next night we had 2 more scorpions and a HUGE tiranchula followed by a moth so big it was mistaken for a bat by multiple people. The spider actually put Kelli over the edge. If we didn't have 3 sleeping babies inside the cabin I'm sure she would have insisted we pack up and go home early. They say this was Billy the Kid's cabin.

When it comes right down to it, we are very glad we went. We were able to see some family that we haven't seen in a long time. It was the first time me and all of my siblings have been together in year. And I'm pretty sure it meant the world to my mom that we were willing to make the effort. The time away would have been better with our husbands, but experiences like this just help you appreciate what you have.

Grandma and Grandpa Came to Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson came down just to visit these two cute babies. It was so much fun to have them here. We went to the park and met up with some friends who were here from out of town. Curtis and I were also able to go the the adult session of stake conference without thinking for a second about our babies.

Curtis and I talk about how we LOVE having our independance here in Cedar City. We also love it when grandma and grandpa come to visit. It's nice to have company and to have someone to share the babies with every once in a while.

The Haumpson Family Reunion

Every year we go on what we now refer to as the Haumpson Family Reunion. The Haub Family and the Thompson Family go to California and have a whole bunch of fun. This year was a little bit more interesting...since we had these two cute things to worry about. This is how the trip went. First, I packed up a whole bunch of milk and took the babies up to Granny Smith's house. Thanks again mom for watching them. Next, I picked up Darren, Kelli, and their 1 year old Damon and we were on our way.

The following story involves breast milk. If that makes you uncomfortable, please skip. On our way back through Cedar City, I decided to pump since we were waiting for Curtis anyways. I really wasn't used to the idea of throwing away liquid gold yet. 10 oz later we were on the road. We stopped at a super scary burger place in Vegas and then went on to Primm where we stayed at Buffalo Bills for $16. Yay! As we were unpacking our things, I realized that I had left my pump attachments at home. Out of habit, I kept them out to dry. It didn't take me long to wonder if the 10 oz. I got were worth it. I decided it would just have to wait until the morning.

I got up really early because I couldn't sleep, but since Damon wasn't tired...no one else was asleep either. We just got on the road. We went to or called 3 Wal-Marts and 2 Targets. None of them sold the attachments separately from the pump. It was on to Babies-R-Us. By this point, I am really worried that I might explode and Babies-R-Us doesn't open for another hour though, so we decided to buy the full pump and sell it later (anyone need a breast pump?)

I ended up pumping for the next hour and got 26 oz. By the end of the trip I threw out 190 oz. Pretty crazy.

After pump accessories, our first stop was 6 Flags! I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS! For the first half of the day we didn't have to wait in lines at all. We were worried about having Damon with us, but he was a champ. He took his naps in his stroller and was pretty happy all day long.

Day 2 was LA. We did some shopping, walked down to the pier, ate yummy food, and just had fun. Everyone told me I was going to miss my babies way too much to enjoy myself. I feel a little bit guilty, but I didn't. I love my babies and I was so excited to kiss their little faces, but I really did enjoy sleeping at night, being able to eat at meal times instead of feeding, and only having to buckle one seat belt when getting in and out of the car.

Day 3 was Saturday. In my half-marathon training schedule I was supposed to run 9 miles so I took off with my GPS watch and found out that we were only 2.5 miles away from the beach. I got to run 4 miles along the beach. It was wonderful. Running at sea level is awesome too. I felt like I could have gone another 10 miles after I got back to the hotel. After I got back, the plan was to spend the day on the beach. The first thing I did when we got there was take a nap (it was great), then we met up with one of Kelli's friends from high school. It was really cold so we didn't really get in the water, but had the beach experience none the less.

Day 4 we went to church and then went to take family pictures on the beach. We got some REALLY good ones of the Haub family. We sortof wished we had brought our babies for that hour. Oh well, guess we'll have to take some mountain pictures with them. This was really the last thing we wanted to do before leaving town. The car was all packed up and ready to go. On our way back we had a small accident though. I tried to avoid a trench that some kids must have dug in the sand, but the sand gave way. I stepped out to catch my balance and jammed my foot into Kelli's leg. It hurt and when I looked down my toe was no longer pointing forward. My response: "I broke my toe." I really would have just come home, but my toe was pointing the wrong direction. Darren volunteered to put it back where it was supposed to be. He pulled really hard and we both felt a pop, but it was still pointing in the wrong direction. So we went to instacare, they took x-rays, it was broken, the doctor put it back, and we were on our way yet again. We made it back to Primm in pretty good time, ate breakfast for dinner, and then went to bed. It had been a long day. The most upsetting part...now I have a broken toe and don't know if I should run the half in 3 weeks. Grrrr!

From Primm it was back home. I went back to Grandma Jojo's and Grandpa Genie Bugs to get the little ones this time. Thanks for everyone who helped out so that we could go enjoy ourselves, eat too much food, and spend too much money. Thanks Kelli and Darren for planning such a fun trip and letting us come with you.

Quotes:

Andi: "Oh crap! Will you steer"

Curtis: "JACK IN THE BOX!"

Kelli: "We could call you BK for broken foot."

Curtis: "They're just going to have to wait...while...I...do...this."

Curtis: "There's so much crime in LA, they don't care about me. Really, they don't."

Andi: "Look, a plane is taking off and a helicopter is taking down"