Saturday

Today Sarah held a fancy schmancy spa party at the house. I was banished with the kid to the parent's-in-laws place. We had a lot more fun than those ladies, what with all their funky goop and smelly lotions!



Alex got to watch our friend Mo put in a new screen door. Fascinating!

Dedication of the Babe

Last Sunday we dedicated ourselves to raising Alex for Christ in a ceremony at church. He liked Andy's shoes.

Stuck

My coworker Joe and I went over to a site near Port Huron for work on Friday. It took the expected three hours to get there, but the return trip to took over four and half hours due to an accident in Detroit on 696 and construction on 96, west of Lansing.

Here we're approaching the accident. The smoke was, I assume, from a burning vehicle.



We were stopped for about 15 minutes.



The police eventually had us all turn around one by one and head back the way we had come so we could get off the highway at the closest off ramp.



This is what 96 West looked like west of Lansing. We did left the highway and did some exploring, and I think we beat the people who stayed in the jam by at least 20 minutes.

Family Time

Ah summer. Time to get together.

My brother Tom is home from Kuwait/Iraq for a couple weeks right now, and my uncle and aunt came to visit from Colorado. I love the rush of giddy conversation and exciting stories combined with pleasantly awkward silences that always result from such reunions. I'm looking forward to the big one.





Thomas has cultivated the growth of his mustache carefully for the past several months. It shows.



Run John, run.



Steve has carefully been cultivating his musical taste for the past couple years. It shows.



Suz, beautiful as per the usual. We like the stripes. Bold move.



My brother-in-law Aaron came from Chicago to grace us with his presence for a week. It was good to see him.



Alex sees fit to grace us with his presence pretty much every waking moment of his life. It's quite a privalege, I must say. Here he models his fancy seatbelt pads, custom manufactured by his grandmother using towels and duct tape to ease the discomfort on His Excellency's shoulders.

Flickr Picnic

Last Saturday we met up for the first time with the group of folks from Grand Rapids who use Flickr. We grilled up some burgers and hot dogs at Riverside Park and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Even though I try to remain neutral in the Nikon/Canon feud, I was impressed with the number of Nikons present.



I've never attended a meeting of amateur photographers that didn't degenerate into photographers taking pictures of photographers taking pictures of photographers. Here is the requisite shot.



The grill, after grilling.

Father's Day

Being a father is incredible. It's all been said before, but it's truly amazing to me. It's mind blowing to think that billions of men before me have walked this path. It's hard, but now I know why they did it. God's made a beautiful way for things.

We were able to go visit Sarah's grandfather last Sunday. It was good to see him.





A lot of thoughts and feelings flood me when I see this boy. Love, joy, a hefty sense of my boundless responsibility for him, gratitude, hope. Nothing I have ever experienced is like the love of my son for me and my love for him.

The Cottage in Jennings

Over Memorial Day weekend we were able to make it up to my mother's parent's cottage in Jennings, Michigan for an afternoon. Lots of memories up there.

We made some new memories with the little man,


enjoyed the company of my grandmother


and my grandfather,


saw some woods,


saw some tracks,


and some other tracks,


and some more woods.

He's a Sweet Little Guy

Alex has been wonderful to hug lately. He usually hugs us back, and sometimes pats us and gives us a little kiss. It warms the heart to be sure. It's also pretty incredible to come home from work to a little boy who runs to the door and wants to play.

Sand

Alex had his first real experience with sand the other night.

















He loved it.

The Office Landscaping

Twin Lakes Nursery is almost done landscaping the office. They've done a quality job.

Little Buddy

We love Alex's buddy Lucas.

Leave the Chains Behind

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.



So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Some Goings On

Tom, this blog is for you, since you haven't seen the little man face to face for six months.

At the beginning of this video Alex is "gripping" his peas. He gets a couple in his mitts and then clenches them as hard as he can, complete with a most excellent facial expression.



Doin' a little dancing.



Getting outside loud inside.



He'll make a toy out of anything.

Catch up

Not much has been happening at the Cooper household. We all have been sick for the last 2 weeks and are just starting to feel better. This is one of the longest (and nastiest) colds I've ever had. Much better than the flu except that this is lasting well over a week.

Alex is starting to wake up early and we are doing our best to discourage it!

We are enjoying the previous owner's labors in the garden. Some interesting flowers keep popping up. I am most excited about the rhubarb plants, yumm. I've already eaten my fair share of rhubarb sauce.

I've been pretty lucky since most of Brian's projects actually end up benefiting me the most! We finally moved the fridge over so the kitchen stand he made doesn't jut so far out into the hall. He just put up my clothesline last night. I'll take some pics once the rain stops so you can see how huge the posts are. I've been more & more impressed with his handiwork since he hasn't had much prior experience. He is a perfectionist so I really shouldn't be surprised.

Tomorrow we have about 30 relatives coming over for a barbie and I really hope it doesn't rain so we can enjoy the outdoors. I volunteered to host this event, who knows why ;). They do these birthday celebrations every few months with all the cousins which seems a bit much to me since I saw my cousins maybe twice a year! Guess that's the difference when you have 3 vs. 30 cousins.

Lately I've been using the phrase 'rock up'. It creates some confusion so once I realize what I've said I correct my Aussie lingo. At least somethings have stuck. We are looking at our financial goals and hope to visit in the next 1-2yrs. We figure soon after that everyone will have completely forgotten about us.

Well I'll get those pics up. Until then I think I'll clean...or take a nap.

The Garden

The previous owners of our house were plant lovers. We're doing our best not to undo their labor of love, since we love the results. However, neither Alex, Sarah nor I really know a whole lot about loving plants.