Baby Names

If it is a girl we are thinking Isilee. We like Claire, Constance and Sarah for a middle name. I mean, I know we don't even know if it is a girl yet, or what it even looks like. But I love the name Isilee Sarah, I'm not sure why, I think because it sounds like a little princess, but a good, sweet, little princess.

If it is a boy...I don't know. Tyson and I are really big 'Boy Meets World' fans, so maybe Cory Matthew, what do you think? Hehe, just kidding, well, kind of. I am really bad with boy names, I can't ever think of any. My brother Yance made me promise not to use Thor, Bron, Gideon and Gidgiddonah (I don't think that is a problem for me) and Kenni and Chris have dibs on Darwin, so just so you know, those are crossed out on our list. :) Any ideas? Don't worry, you have seven months. Haha.

In Search for Easter Puffs

Okay, so last year at about this time, I was in Washington for Kenni and Chris's wedding. I stayed with the in-laws for a few days and in their freezer, what did they have? Easter puffs. I tried one and since then I have been hooked. Only problem is, they only have them during Easter time. So I have been dying for them to come out on the shelves of stores. I am not even a huge Little Debbie fan, but these, wow, are amazing if frozen. So Tyson drove me all around town yesterday and we searched every store and alas, although they are in Washington already, they are not here. I think I shall put on mourning. Haha, just kidding, but seriously, I want some...and soon. :)

P.S.- Mom Cooper, we did buy Josh Yogos, never fear.

My Valentine

So Valentine's Day was kind of crazy, but really fun. Tyson and I went up to the temple while Chris and Kenni were so nice to watch our little munchkin. Since the drive is 3 hours up to the temple and 3 hours back, Tyson and I always get a lot of conversation in and I love getting to know him better. I think it is so funny that there is so much I still don't know about him. We usually end up talking about memories with our families, or our past significant others, or talking about our future together. We always dream we will live in this huge gorgeous mansion on a big farm out in the country somewhere. Tyson pictures the mansion a lot bigger than I picture it, I'm pretty sure. Especially since the first thing I think of is cleaning it. :) But Tyson is always so sure that we will be filthy rich someday. I still have mixed feelings about whether I want to be or not, but I know that if Tyson wants it, he does whatever he needs to do to get it. Like me for example. Let's talk about that story, it is my favorite.

We met on January 6, 2006. My friend, Ryan, told me and a few of my friends that he had just gotten a new roommate and we could come over and meet him if we wanted to. We went over to check him out, not for ourselves, but we wanted to see if he would go well with one of our other friends. So I met Tyson and turns out he already had two girlfriends, one in Utah and one here. But he was nice and funny and I found out he was from the same place that KJ, my brother, served his mission. But I didn't think much about him. I had a missionary, and my mission papers were all filled out, I was just waiting for April 2 so I could submit them. Well, at the end of the month, my friends and I wanted to go do baptisms at the temple, but we needed more Priesthood holders to come with us. So we invited Tyson and his girlfriend. Well, she couldn't come, but Tyson did. We drove a few hours Friday night and stopped at our friend, Luke's parents house for the night. The whole time Tyson and I pretended we were married (I'm not sure why, I often liked to play that game with guys, I would just call them husband, so really it wasn't a big deal, I don't know why I was that way). So we had a great time at the temple the next day and Tyson and I held hands for a few seconds because everyone told us to for this picture they were taking. It was really funny and just a joke, but I found myself always looking to see where Tyson was and what he was doing and who he was talking to. I just couldn't help myself. The whole drive home we sat in the back seat and just talked the whole way. He told me about the "dear John" he got on his mission and I told him about my missionary and how I felt about him and how I was going to go on a mission. He asked me why I wanted to go and I didn't know. I really wanted to serve the Lord, but I think the real reason I was going was because I wanted to prove I could, and because I thought that is what my missionary wanted me to do.
That following Monday, Tyson dumped his girlfriends and asked me out that Thursday for the next day. So we went on a date every night after that. Until Valentine's Day when Tyson went way out of his way. He decorated my room in hearts, wrote me poems that he put in my books for each class that day, and then that night took me on a walk/picnic. It was perfect. And we were wrapped up in a blanket (it was freezing!) sitting on the bleachers and he asked me if he could kiss me, but instead of responding I just kissed him. The rest of the night I swung from being totally giddy happy and feeling guilty that I had betrayed my missionary, again. But Tyson told me that he would steal me away from all my other plans, and I didn't believe him.
A week later he told me he loved me and I knew that I loved him too. It was so weird that it happened so fast. He made me feel happier, prettier, better than I had ever felt in my whole life. He still does. A few weeks later, on March 15, I realized I not only could, but I wanted to marry Tyson. So I called him and told him that, then I hung up the phone. Later that night, Tyson proposed to me, and I said yes and that I wanted a secret engagement. Which lasted for like 5 minutes since I can't keep secrets worth beans.
Every Valentine's after that had been really special for us, mostly because of our memories and that our first Valentine's was the day I really made a choice that I didn't want to just date this guy, and he really went way out of his way to show me he liked me and that I was worth all the trouble. So this Saturday, he snuck away while I was babysitting and got me flowers (mostly because he didn't want me to be sad, but they are really pretty) and he wrote me a poem which is my favorite.

"To My Valentine. :)

My heart, my life, my friend, my wife.
My woman, my love, my gift from above.

To you, for you, I write these short lines.
From our first February I have written poetry in your Valentine's.

My words are awkward, my love is great.
With you I would love to ice skate.

Your forever I will always be,
with cookies, flowers, and frisbees.

I love you!!

Tyson :) "


Isn't that just hilarious and precious? I don't know why I am writing all of this, I highly doubt anyone will really read it. But it just makes me so happy that I have someone that is still so in love with me. The Lord has blessed me so much! And now not only do I have him, but a little minature Tyson and maybe a minature me in lets see...7 months and 2 weeks. :)

Politics

Best family quote:
Mom was talking about democrats
Carmel (who was pretty young at the time, maybe 5): Mom you shouldn't say swear words.
Mom: Carmel, I wasn't swearing.
Carmel: Yes, you did. You said (whispering) "democrat."

So I realized I never say anything about politics, mostly because I am never quite sure how I feel about it. But I did watch the Inaguration and I was very impressed by Obama's speaking ability. Like Shannon Hale might say, "he has the gift of people speaking." But I'm not quite sure what to think of him as the man to lead my country. I hope and pray he will do his best, trying to listen to what the Lord would have him do. I hope he cuts government spending on all the stupid stuff it does and that he helps people not be so dependent on the government for supporting everything they do. But I don't know, I hope he doesn't make it mandatory for 3-5 year olds to go to school. I hope he lives up to the hope he has given America. I didn't stand on a street corner holding "vote for Obama" signs, but I did do that for Bush. :) I still can't believe I did that. But I'm glad I did. My extremely Republican family was proud.

News from the Homefront

So Tyson said that I need to post more. He won't read my journals, so I guess he likes to read these because they are like a journal, but public so he doesn't feel bad reading them. So a lot, well, kind of, has happened since I last wrote. I feel so much more at ease and calm about everything, about losing my job, about lots of different things. When really, I think I should be crazy scared.
Grandma and Grandpa Cooper came to visit a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. We stayed up until 2 every night with Grandma so she could take her pills and we had a lot of good talks and of course they loved being with little Josh. The only bad part about it was it made me miss my own mom a lot. I was tempted to tell Tyson that we needed to move back to the west coast because I just can't handle being far away from her anymore. But I love it here, it has become my home. I have spent the past almost 6 years of my life here, grown more independent than I thought was possible. I have fallen in love here, had my first baby here, I have so many memories here in this beautiful valley. The sunrise this morning was amazing, it wasn't gold or yellow or pink, it was perfectly blue. Bluer than I have ever seen the sky. And I know I would miss it terribly if we ever left this place.
So I have been babysitting a lot for people on the side, keeping busy with writing, laundry and trying to help the people around me. I decided that the Lord must have a reason for me losing my job and I decided that reason was to take care of His children more. So I have been trying to find ways I can help others. I haven't been very good at it, but I feel a lot better at least doing little somethings.
Plus, I have been able to spend a lot of time with little Joshua. He loves to draw on whatever I am writing, read when I am reading, play hide-and-seek and visit our neighbors with me. Tyson and I spend most of our time watching Psych and Lost. I totally love both shows! I just wish Lost played 2 times a week because the suspense is killing me. :) And we have been reading a book called 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' and it is really good. I have learned a lot from it already.
Then there is the big news that has changed me completely, and will continue to change me. On Wednesday evening, Josh and I went over to Kenni and Chris's house to hang out while Tyson was teaching the Dave Ramsey class. Kenni had an EPT that she isn't going to use any time soon, so she let me use it and yup, we are expecting another little one! I am really excited and really nervous too, mostly because I don't want another c-section and because it is still really early. I used to think that I shouldn't tell anyone if I got pregnant for awhile because the baby might not stick, but I think every child should be celebrated, even if they are here for only a little while. But we are hoping this one, despite all the craziness that goes on in our home, will want to stay. We want a little girl and to name her Isilee, yes like the character in 'Goose Girl.' But Tyson and I fell in love with the name, so I guess we will see what the munchkin looks like. I am just excited for life, and excited (kind of) to get round again. Anyways, that is the news from the mini-Cooper's. Being a mom for me now will be as K.J. and Tyson put it "a lifestyle now, not just a hobby." :)

Okay...so stuff did happen

Okay, so I didn't realize so much did happen over the past couple of weeks. I just downloaded the pics from our camera and I kept saying "Oh, oh, yeah, I forgot about that." Hehe So this is a sweet puzzle that Tyson got for me for Christmas and it took us two weeks to build. Our table was completely covered that whole time so everytime we wanted to eat, we had to eat atop our puzzle. It was really fun though, intense, but fun. It is a scene from Italy, so it was like we were there for two weeks. :)

We also went out of town for a few days. Tyson had this computer Access training for a couple of days and Josh and I got to go with him. It was really fun because we got to see a few friends we haven't seen in awhile and it was just a blast getting away together for a few days.

This one is hilarious. Our friend's Emilie and Logan and their little boy Tommy came over. Well, it turns out Josh and Tommy have the same p.j.'s Hilarious huh? They are both so cute!

Josh making one of his fabulous faces.

Can you see his slippers? They are elephants and soooo cute!

Josh's first hair cut. I gave it to him. He doesn't have much hair except in the back and it was all curly, but it was getting a little unruley, so I had to chop it off. He didn't like it one bit, but I think it looks better now.

Money and Happiness don't always go hand in hand

Some photos that make me happy.

Let's see...it has been a little while since I last posted, but really not much has happened. It has been cold, really cold and windy. But it is still beautiful in its own way. I don't go outside a lot so I don't have much to complain about. Since I don't have a job anymore, I am kind of afraid to find out what it feels like to be home, all day, with nothing to do, ever but mom stuff. But I do love being a mom, so maybe it won't be that bad. The Lord has blessed us so much because I do kind of have a job. One of Tyson's friends that he used to work with needs someone to watch his little son once a week for a few hours. So I get to do that which I am so thankful for because at least now I will be contributing again. And there have been lots of people that need babysitting jobs on random days and they are so merciful to pay so much, so that is wonderful.

It is actually really neat and a wonderful testimony building experience for me because last month when I found out the people I babysat for didn't need me anymore, I was crushed and really worried. "How are we going to pay for food?" I kept asking myself. Of course, I know Tyson is wonderful and he will make sure we have enough money for everything and he works so hard everyday. But that is the thing, he works so hard and still the world keeps getting more expensive. It really hurts to see that look on his face when he is worried about money or wishing we had enough to splurge and get pizza. And I really want to help and I feel like such a loser sometimes because all I do is stay at home and have babies that cost even more money. I just have to keep reminding myself that the Lord wants us to have kids and He is thankful that I spend so much time with Josh, loving him and making sure he gets everything he needs. But I was really struggling, so then on fast Sunday this month Tyson asked me what we should fast for and I said "that everything will be okay and we will have enough money for everything." So Tyson in his wonderfully sweet and patient voice says "I know we will be okay Cami. How about we fast for faith that we will know the Lord will help us." I am so thankful for Tyson, he so kindly brings me back to my senses everyday and helps me realize where I should be standing and the faith I should be having. So that is what we fasted for, and ever since then, slowly but surely my fear is being replaced by faith. And we are getting all these little odds and ends to do to help people, which in turn helps us. No money has fallen in our laps, but oppurtunities to earn it has and thus, I see more than ever just how much the Lord loves us, how much He loves me.

So really, although not much has really happened in the past couple of weeks, a lot has happened inside of me. I feel happier and closer to my wonderful little family and to the Lord. Today, I was listening to different music on people's blogs and I pulled Josh onto my back and we spun in circles and he just laughed and laughed. And even though I have the first cold sore of my life and I look in the mirror and think I should feel ugly, I don't because this morning when Tyson was praying he said "thank you Father for all the beautiful things that you have given us, especially for the one I married." Money can't buy that. Like those mastercard commercials, a lot of things cost money, but moments like those are "priceless." So the moral of this story is 'don't worry so much about money, it can't buy happiness.' :)