Happy Birthday Nee-Nee

It is Grandma Cochran's birthday today, (Nee-Nee to my kids). I wish that we could be with her to celebrate. I have to say that I think that it is so cute that her name is Nee-Nee to the great grandkids and to her younger grandchildren. Luke knows exactly who I am talking about-he can't get confused with his other Grandmas. We show him pictures and talk about our families so that he will remember them. We had so much fun when Nee-Nee and Papa came to visit us when Luke was a baby. Jake and I also loved the time we spent visiting them just after we got married. I will never forget sitting on the dock with Grandma, our feet in the water, and her calmly stating that there was a crocadile in the water. I got a little freaked out, but she acted like it was no big deal. From then on I was a little afraid to go in the water.
Grandma, we are so grateful to you for your love and support of us. Thanks for always loving me and accepting me as your granddaughter. Your strong, engaging personality is infectious, you really are a spitfire and I LOVE that about you, (it makes me feel good to have another strong woman to look up to.)I love women who are not afraid to say what they think. We love you and hope that you have a great day. Hope to see you soon.

Lovin' every minute

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary!! I can't believe it! I could go on and on about Jake and how much I love him. He is my best friend and everything I ever wanted rolled up into one person. I am sure that I will get a few comments on how cheesy this sounds, but I just don't know how else to describe it. Jake and I were talking and laughing and having such a great time together tonight-no kids, just us. We never run out of things to talk about with each other, and we just genually enjoy each others company so much. I was reminded at how much history we have together. We took a walk down memory lane tonight. We were remembering our first appartment, several details about our wedding day and so many other memories that just the two of us share. He has been a part of every life changing event in my life. He has made me the woman I am today by his advice, support and love. I have learned so much through our journey together. I can't imagine my life without him. Do you remember in the movie legacy where she asks him, "Do you promise to make me laugh?" He replys "everyday." I have often thought of that line. That is my life, never a dull moment with Jake, he does make me laugh every day-even when I don't want to. He is the BEST dad and he works so hard for our family. Plus he spoils me, (he suprised me this year with a Kitchenaid Mixer!) He is more than I deserve and I am grateful for his love. One of friends here was teaching a lesson to the Young Women on love. She said that she is always leary of those who want to be your best friend immediately without really knowing you. She said that those who truely love you are those who know your strengths AND weakenesses and graciously overlook them, and love you even for them. I think that sums up marriage. Through all of our ups and downs Jake is "steadfast and immovable" I could never question his commitment to me or our family. I love him more today than I did 6 years ago and I will be eternally grateful for the biggest blessing I recieved that day.
Jake said to me last night that anniversary's are the best because you get to celebrate with gifts the day that you recieved your best gift ever. Any of you who know the Marc Wills song, "Lovin' every minute" I heard that today and I think it sums it up. Here's to millions more!
Our first date. Lagoon September 3, 2001.

Snow update

I had to add to my post about the snow that I was wrong about how much snow we got. It was actually only about a foot. They cancelled our garbage pick-up because of it and they closed the mall-seriously. We just thought that was so funny.

Lost-again

So Lost started again last night. Did any of you watch it? Well I am sucked back in again. I think that they love to mess with your mind. I started remembering some of the details of previous seasons, I really hope they answer all the questions they have posed. Jake hates it because some of the twists I call before they happen, I can't help it if I figure it out-I guess I am just too smart. ha ha.

Let it Snow!

Well, we have finally gotten a big winter storm here. Overnight we got about a 18" of snow. Now that is a lot of snow at one time, but people here are so funny about it. I know that snow here is not unusual, but they are still so preoccupied with it when it happens. Those of you in Utah will laugh because I know that you guys keep getting hit with storms like this. But all the schools are closed, Jake's employees wanted the center to be closed. They cancelled the church meetings for last night too. Of course I think that it is good to be safe, but people are so funny, they act like the world stops because of the storm. Jake and I were laughing about it because we both remember only ONE snow day for school all through high school, and then they wanted us to do a make up day. We just thought it was pretty funny the differences.If they closed things down everytime there was a bad storm in Utah they could never get anything done. So I guess Jake will get to use the new shovel we bought, for the second time this winter. I'll bet you Utah residents are feeling a little jeolous about that. So I guess I am grateful that we missed this winter in Utah and I am really grateful that I don't live in Alaska (like Caitie and Ben)she said it was -40 a few days ago. BRRRRRR!

Hard to Say Goodbye

I can't believe that President Hinckley is gone. I appreciate all the phone calls and messages we got to let us know out here. I have been thinking about it all night. It is so strange because I feel so sad and yet so peaceful, I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else. It feels like the world has lost some of its brightness and it will never be the same. I feel so grateful to have lived during his ministry. He gave so much to the world, the church and to me. He is for the most part the only prophet I remember. I was 12 years old when he was sustained as the president of the church. Just two weeks ago our family home evening lesson was on prophets and we taught Luke about President Hinckley and we bore our testimonies about living prophets. I feel sad that Luke will never know him like we did. When I read the statement posted by the church I was awed at the life that he lived and the good that he did and how much it was recognized by the world. We who have lived the last 13 years knowing him as our prophet are truely blessed. I can't help but hear the words to "We thank thee oh, God for a prophet" over and over again in my head. I am so grateful for my testimony of the restored gospel, and I am truely grateful for our prophet, I will miss him.

Lagging Behind

Don't you hate it when your family gets sick? I have noticed now that we have two kids and I have less hours to devote to my daily routine, being sick really throws things out of wack. Today I am finally starting to catch up. My house just drives me crazy when it is so chaotic (ie: piles of laundry, two year old tornado paths through every room, dishes etc.)I know that they are the things in life that don't matter as much, but I notice that I feel much more at peace when I have things more contained and manageable. Believe me, my house isn't always perfect, but it has been a week now with someone being sick and requiring more attention and now I have it on the tale end and am just barely getting my energy back. Oh well, we will get there eventually. Hope this finds you all feeling well.

Hating the Writers Guild Strike

Well, I feel a little silly admitting it, but the WAG strike is really buggin' me. I miss my shows-especially The Office. We only have a few shows that we watch regularly, but those are all effected and we havn't had new episodes in months. Now one might not be coming back at all-I probably shouldn't care, and maybe it is a sad commentary on our society that we love our T.V. shows but I do love the little diversion my favorite shows bring. But tonight, Chuck is back. It is a really funny show, and Jake and I love to watch it together and laugh. And next week Lost is finally back on. Come on Office and we will be doing great!

Loving Life with Luke

Lately it has been so cool to see Luke's imagination growing. He is really starting to grasp the world around him and now loves to imagine new things. Every meal is an adventure with him because at least one of his pieces of food becomes something else, usually something that goes-like a car, airplane, a sailboat or a bird.
Everyone knows that he loves to play with his lightsabers that he got for Christmas. Each time we play he pretends to be a character and assigns a character to us. For example he puts a blanket on his head and says, "Oh, The Emperor". Or he graps both lightsabers and says, "Oh, General Grievous." Then he totally pretends to fall down and play dead. It is pretty funny,(Jake taught him that).
He has also learned to tell stories. He always starts by saying "Once Upon A Time..." and he stands there and holds his hands like they are a book. He is just getting so big and changing every day, learning new words and becomer clearer and clearer in his speech.
His new favorite song to sing is "Follow the Prophet". Only he says it like Follow the ProPet, it is really cute. He LOVES to sing and just randomly starts to sing all day long. Jake always adds that he thinks that Luke has really good pitch, it is true though, he really follows the notes. Maybe he got his Dad's talent. We also find him frequently singing Star Wars to himself. Usually when he is sad or in time-out, or just bored. It is kinda like a security blanket for him-strange I know, but funny!
The other thing he loves to do is draw and play with playdough. He calls it "make". So he comes to me everyday and says, "Make, Mama, make?" He is so much fun...a handful, but so fun.

Small Miracles

Today I am thankful for small miracles. To be brief for some reason over the last three days Ty has been unable to sleep. Whether it was nap time or bedtime he just couldn't sleep more than an hour and then he would wake up screaming. I was having a really hard time with it. Mostly because I couldn't stand to see my normally easy, content and generally happy baby so upset. Then sleep deprivation kicked in and I was feeling very close to the end of my rope. I feel a little silly for admitting that it only took 3 days, but I was out of ideas, patience and sanity. Last night in desperation I had Jake give him a blessing. I figured that we had tried everything else. You should have seen the poor kid. His eyes had bags under them, literally. His eyes were totally red and everything about his demeanor said utter exhaustion. So how did things pan out? 12 hours of sleeping, only breaking twice to eat. I feel so grateful that our prayers were answered. I swear, as a Mom, I don't know how I would make it from day to day without prayer. I feel so blessed to have a worthy priesthood holder in my home and the fact that that is coupled with a loving, concerned and hands on father is beyond a blessing. I don't know what I would do without Jake. I guess this wasn't very brief, but it is because I am truely grateful.