home sweet home... or is it?

On our flight from Calgary to San Francisco, we were lucky in the way that a later flight was quite open so we got a seat very easily however we were not able to get first class. We sat beside a very nice man who was so impressed with how good I was the whole time. It helped that I slept for about an hour but still I was pretty darn good. After Grandma and Grandpa Cooper drove us to Alameda from the airport, we were greeted by Grandma Cari and soon after, Granddad. They were so happy that they could see us one more time! Before our flight to Salt Lake City the next day, we went to Alameda’s street fair. It was so fun to walk around in the sunshine and look at all the things people were selling. For Mother’s day, Grandma Cari bought mom a trendy hat she fell in love with. Dad and I were making fun of her because she kept wearing it around the house when we got home – but it is true that she does look pretty good in it. The flight from Oakland to SLC was so long mostly because we were so anxious to see Daddy! When we finally met up with him, I just smiled and hugged him with my head on his shoulders for a good 10 minutes while we waited for the bags. Daddy was just in heaven with all the love I gave him!

Mommy was nice enough to let me keep my bottle while we traveled. She has felt for a while now that I am ready to give them up and my doctor confirmed that I will be better off the sooner it is taken away. She let me keep it the week after we got home and made a few changes: she didn’t warm it as much, she gave it to me during my meals instead of after and she taught me about throwing things in the garbage. These turned out to be big changes and really helped the process. When the big day came, I watched as she threw my beloved bottle in the garbage. She also told me that I am too big for bottles and I will now drink milk from a sippy cup like I do juice. That is all it took. Ever since I have been drinking milk out of a sippy cup and am totally fine with it. Mom had prepared herself for a rough couple of days but once again, I showed her how awesome of a son I am. Mom and dad are so proud of me and how I am growing up.

While mommy was out one afternoon, Daddy and I had some fun: (If you think the first video is funny, watch the second one - it is me watching the first video).



This June will mark the 1 year anniversary of us living in Springville, Utah. Mommy and Daddy have not lived ANYWHERE for a year since the first apartment they had in Provo after they got married. They have lived in 7 different places in the near 5 years they have been married (5 different places in Utah Valley alone, and then Medicine Hat and Alameda). Knowing we wanted to stay in the same place while Daddy went to grad school, we are sure happy with the choice we made this time. We love living in Springville for the following reasons: we have the small town feeling with big cities around us; for how nice a condo we have, it is very affordable to live; we love our church ward; and best of all we have tons of awesome friends in our neighborhood. In another year or so, if a job for daddy takes us away from here, I’m sure we will all be very sad to say good bye.

Last weekend, Daddy met Papa Schlenker, Uncle Mark and Uncle Derek in Rexburg, Idaho to do some quadding in the St. Anthony’s Sand Dunes. Since they didn’t get to go last year, Daddy was so super excited for this trip. Mommy and me were thinking of crashing the Man’s party because mom loves to quad there too and we could see family again, but since we just got home from a big trip, we decided not to. Every time we talked to dad, he seemed in heaven except for the fact that his body has not been exposed to that much activity for a while. Needless to say he was very sore after each ride. When he came home, every time he moved all we heard groans and screeches of pain.
Mommy and I had a lovely weekend here at home. She got me a trike and some new stuffed toys at a ward “Drop and Swap”.


We also went to a ward BBQ and spent most of Saturday afternoon outside in the beautiful sunshine. Everything was great until Sunday Morning. Mom knew it would be interesting trying to get ready for church with me around because I do not like when she gets ready (most days she doesn’t get ready and the world has to experience her “natural beauty”). I pretty much do not like anything mom does that requires her to take attention away from me for any extended period of time. After she fed and clothed me, thinking I was happy watching Elmo on TV, she went off to curl her hair. She got about half done before I needed to be held again. She thought it might be easier if she curled her hair in the kitchen so she could interact with me so she picked me up and the curling iron up and that is when it happened. Somehow, for a spit second, the iron touched the top of my hand but that is all it took to give me a pretty good burn. A blister slowly developed and mommy did her best to keep it clean. She felt so very horrible but I was pretty tough about it and it didn’t really start to bother me until the blister came off during my nap the next day. Hopefully, like other wounds I get, it will heal quickly and we can put this all behind us. Monday afternoon also brought on a wicked fever, and a really runny nose.


(Don’t worry… that is tomato sauce)
My 2 year old molars might be coming…

Learning About Mommy's Roots

The night before we flew to Canada, Mom called Uncle Adam to see how full flights were. See, mom bought a buddy pass from Adam’s sister who is a flight attendant (she is also mom’s hair dresser). This means we had to fly standby and have no guarantee of getting on the flight. Uncle Adam listed us as First Class passengers so we would have a better chance but even with that, the flights were not looking open. However, mom had a gut feeling we should go to the airport bright and early anyway (we had to be at the airport at 6am) and give it a try. Man, we were happy we did that! The economy section of the flight was full but there were only 3 passengers in first class so mom and I got two first class seats to our selves for the whole trip. Things couldn’t have worked out better!
When we got to Calgary, Auntie Laurel, Nick and little Beckham picked us up. I was so tired I fell asleep in the car so Auntie Laurel figured we could grab a bite to eat on the way home. She is so sweet and knows how much mommy loves “timmy’s” (Tim Horton’s) so that is where they stopped and it definitely hit the spot. Later Cousin Ashton came home from preschool and Uncle Mark came home for work. We had a fun night watching Ashton play soccer and Uncle Mark coach him.
The next day, we squeezed all 7 of us and our stuff in their SUV and started off to Medicine Hat to see the rest of the family. About 20 minutes out of Calgary, one of the tires blew up which was a little scary. Luckily, Uncle Mark is handy and we are all patient so he put a spare on and we continued on our way.
I was sure happy to get out of the car when we got to Medicine Hat! I had a great time exploring Grandma and Papa’s house and mom was relieved to get a break from the strong magnet that seemed to exist between her and I through out the whole trip. Mom was worried about all the stairs in their house but I handled them like a pro and never fell. I particularly liked the back yard with the noisy fence and trampoline.
The whole weekend was crazy with the whole family and 5 little boys running around (well Beckham mostly ate, slept, pooped and smiled-he is one of the smile-iest 6 week old babies). One day, most of us went to the Leisure Center to swim and we spent 2 hours there. I was in Heaven in the warm kiddy pool. Mom took me down the snake slide a couple times and I tolerated it but it wasn’t my favorite. Another day, Uncle Matthew and Uncle Derek thought it would be fun to take Wyatt and me to Rod’s old farm for a bit before our naps. Uncle Mark was already taking Ashton and Nick out to quad so mom thought it was a great idea. Unfortunately I fell asleep in the car and missed all the action but you’ll see lots of pictures in the slideshow of everyone else’s experience. This is one of mom’s favorite places to visit when she goes home.
That night, Grandma planned an un-birthday party for everyone and invited Great grandma and grandpa Campbell over. Before we ate, we all took pictures in our matching Ashley Lake shirts. I was fine for it unless I had to be with anyone but mommy. After we ate, mom’s friend Kristin came over for a visit. She happened to be in town for her birthday and mommy was sooooo happy it worked out to see her.
On Saturday, we all participated in the Rattler Run! Mom and her family often ran in this race as they grew up so it was fun to re visit the experience.

Derek, Matthew, Mark all ran the 5k and finished in that order. Mom and Auntie Crystal also ran the 5k but finished with linked arms and smiles on their faces. Auntie Laurel and Grandma attempted to walk the 3k with all us boys but decided to quit when they couldn’t take the screaming anymore. When mom finished, I was asleep in the stroller - I’m sure you noticed I am rarely having naps in a crib these days. Afterwards, we went to eat and play at McDonalds and then we were off to a wedding shower for Janae Nielson. I was the only baby there so I got tons of attention and candy and loved every moment. Mom had a great time visiting with some old friends she rarely gets to see. What a crazy day, and it wasn’t over yet. That night, we ordered pizza and invited the Halmrasts over for a UFC party (yay for the girls… boo). Auntie Deb (papa’s sister) is so sweet and thinks I am so cute. Brennin and Landon also came (2/3 of Deb’s sons) and they were really funny with their thick Canadian accents. Mom was so happy to see them all because she sure loves the Halmrast family and now I do too!!


I don’t know if I was really sick or just wasted from the previous day but I had a rough night and threw up the next morning. Mom decided that I should probably stay home from church but Grandma volunteered to stay with me so that mom could go see more friends and take a break from me. Grandma was always happy to see mom go because then I became her best friend. Sunday was also the day when all my aunties, uncles and cousins left. Mom and I were sure sad to see them all go but are also grateful they could create such amazing memories in the home and city they grew up in.

They next two days were pretty quiet while mom focused on getting me better and catching up on sleep. Papa found some time to take mom out for lunch and they had a great time at one of her favorite restaurants, Moxie’s. Wednesday and Thursday were fun because mom was able to set up some play dates with friends. Wednesday I got to meet two friends of mom’s from high school and their kids: Carly and her son, TJ and Christal and her daughters, Kaydence and Peyton.


Mom loves getting to know her friends children and experience all their sweetness. She also loves to see what amazing mothers her friends are!
Later that night, mom went to have dinner with 3 other friends: Dayna, Jessica and Kayla. They shared a lot of laughs and memoires and mom found out that Dayna was expecting a baby!!!!! Mom is so excited for Dayna and her husband. She knows Dayna will be an amazing momma!
Thursday we went to a huge park and played first with Papa and then with friends and kids from church.



After my nap, we went to see some friends mom used to work with at Houston Pizza. Jessica and Janine were so sweet and funny. Janine’s apartment was full of stuffed animals so I was in heaven playing with them all. Mommy and I appreciate each and every friend we were able to visit. It is not easy staying friends with someone who lives far away and doesn’t visit often so their efforts make us feel very loved, blessed and grateful!

Here is a slideshow of more pictures from our Canada visit:

Easter in California

Dad is officially done his second semester of graduate school with awesome grades once again! The day after his last exam, we flew to California to visit family for Easter. We were able to get the early flight so that we could hit up the A’s game. I stayed home with Grandma Cooper so I could nap but mom, dad, Grandma Cari and cousins Marin and Troy had a great time at the game.

Silly pictures while waiting for hot dogs



The next day, the rest of the family came and filled up grandma and granddad’s house. Friday night, we went to Auntie Anne and Uncle Dan’s to celebrate some birthdays (Grandma Cari, Auntie Lora and Cousin Becky). In the slide show, you will see me sporting some large boot; these were Becky’s… I’m so silly. The rest of the time we all made amazing memories going out for meals, going “spabbling” (hotubbing with bubbles), and playing/dancing outside. One high light for mom was the play her and the older cousins put on during the family party on Saturday night. It was called Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp (based on the picture book). They had fun preparing and the whole family enjoyed the well done performance.
Cousin Ryan (11 days older than me) and me were fun to watch. He still seems much older than me because he is developmentally way ahead of me, but we still had fun and I learned a lot from him. He really liked to push me around (just playing) but I was never that impressed with this particular game. Mom tried to teach me how to push back, but it wasn’t until later in Canada when I showed that I could push back.





Easter Day was a great day! The whole family got ready by 8:45am and was able to make it to church on time!! I was such a good boy which was nice so that mom and dad could enjoy the wonderful talks and music centered around Christ’s wonderful Resurrection.


After wards, me and my cousins came home to find a note from the Easter Bunny! He had hidden eggs in the front yard and we had to go find them. I caught on to the whole idea of finding eggs pretty easily and mom and dad were so proud. The cute Elmo basket was a gift from Grandma Cari and Granddad. I was in love with it and giving it hugs all the time.



Then I found out what was inside the plastic eggs and look out!

After my nap, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Coopers for a nice meal and lots of treats!

Unfortunately Monday was a sad day because we had to say goodbye to Daddy. He had to go home to Utah for work and to start school again, but mom and I had planned to fly to Canada to visit the Schlenker side of the family (details of that trip will come in the next entry).
Here is a slide show of the rest of the pictures we took in California.