Fun with Friends

Two weeks ago mom had a doctor’s appointment and it was determined from an ultrasound that my baby brother was breech (head up instead of down how it should be). Since mom was only 32 weeks along, the doctor was not worried about him turning, but mommy was! Most breech babies are delivered via c-section and mom does NOT want a c-section. Luckily at her 34 week appointment, another quick ultrasound showed that the baby had flipped and mom was relived. The doctor was doubtful that he will flip again…phew! Going into the doctor, mom had suspected the baby had flipped because she felt more kicking movement up by her ribs and a huge mound (head) did not stick out the top of her belly anymore.

I love going to the doctor with mom and always remember that I get to hear my baby brother’s heart beat.

For a while after we got back from Christmas holidays I was on a really late schedule and mom and dad had mixed feelings about it. The awesome part was I was sleeping in until about 8 or 8:30 every morning. That meant I wouldn’t get tired for a nap until about 2 or 2:30. The worst part was, I wasn’t going to sleep until about 9:30 or 10pm every night. It wasn’t that I was being a brat or anything, I just wasn’t tired until then. Even though mom liked sleeping in, the later nights were hard on her because she didn’t have anytime to herself or with daddy since she was going to bed very soon after me. Luckily, one Sunday I just refused to nap so mom and dad put me down early for bed and I have been on a better schedule every since, going to bed at around 8:30 or 9. That still may seem late, but all efforts on mom and dad’s part to put me down earlier simply do not work.

A couple of weeks ago, some friends invited us to go bowling. This was my first time, and I had tons of fun. Mom and dad both enjoy bowling as well, so we might have to start going more often.




Yesterday, we also had a fun Saturday with the same friends (Kate and Kent and their children Afton and Stone). We invited them over for a dinner of appetizers and we had quite the feast. Mom and dad started their preparations in the morning and really enjoyed spending some quality time together all day in the kitchen. While they were busy, I played with a buddy of mine named Rusty. He is just younger than me and we play so good together. Plus we made a royal mess of my toys. Afterwards, Kate and the kids stayed to play and Dad and Kent went to a very intense BYU basketball game. Overall it was an amazing Saturday!

This sort of feast was unusual for daddy as of late because he has started dieting to loose some weight. It has now been well over 2 weeks and he has lost well over 10 pounds! Mom and I are very proud of his new healthy habits.

Finally I wanted to share my latest obsession. Some children are attached to blankets or stuffed animals that they insist on sleeping with. I, however, am attached and must sleep each night with a hard plastic fireman’s hat. Mom and Dad are not quite sure where this came from but they find it quite amusing. The best part is in the morning when I come into mom and dad’s room, hardly able to walk or keep my eyes open, but I never fail to have my fire man’s hat on. It is sure a sight for sore eyes and mom wouldn’t want to wake up any other way. Yet, she just makes me take it off before I come snuggle with her. Also they find it pretty hard to get mad at me during bed time when I sheepishly come out of my room, head lowered, puppy dog eyes looking up and that darn hat on.


P.S. my new favorite movie is LION KING (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Cooper who gave it to me for Christmas)!! I make mom sing Akuna Matata almost every night before bedtime.

New Years at Ashley Lake

The day we travelled from Alameda, CA to Ashley Lake, MT was a long one but everything went surprisingly well. Our flight was at 6am so mom was up at about 4am getting everything ready. Granddad drove us to the airport at 5 and Grandma Cari was nice enough to help mommy and me all the way to security. Mommy only has so many hands so she really appreciated it. Even though we were both tired, we stayed in good spirits for both flights (first to Salt Lake and then to Missoula). Papa Schlenker was nice enough to pick us up in Missoula and drive us back to the Lake (over a 2 hour drive). I had my standard 45 minute nap in the car (I never sleep longer than that in a car seat) and didn’t go potty in my pants at all. Mom was so proud of me.
When we got to the lake, We were able to spend a day with the Smiths and 2 days with Grandma and Grandpa Campbell before it was just members of the Schlenker Family at the cabin. I get along great with my Schlenker Cousins (Ashton, Nick and Beckham) and they always included me when they played. I even got to sit on the big bar stools with Ashton and Nick for each meal. In particular, I think Nick and I are going to be good buds as we grow.
The night we got there we opened gifts and I got spoiled once again: camo sweat suit (matching my cousins), aqua doodle pad, hockey sticks/net, 2 trucks that drive themselves, zoo zoo pet, blocks, and a special book that has grandma and papa’s voice recorded to read to me.
The only downer at the lake this year was that there was not a lot of snow. This made our tobogganing efforts limited but other than that, we found lots of fun things to do. I loved going to the neighbors park and going “up, down” on the see saw.


Mom’s favorite part, as always, was skating on the lake. Thanks to my cousin’s skate trainer, I did pretty well too.
Grandma and Grandpa Campbell

Grandma pulling my on the sled.

Uncle Derek



Daddy arrived from a long day of travel on New Years Eve and we were so excited to see him. After working all week and waking up that 4am that morning he was exhausted. He helped how he could with the rock work (see pictures below) but when my bedtime arrived, he took me to bed and never came back up. Who can blame him!

The rock workers ended up working over 16 hours on the fire place and finished just after midnight and the announcement of the New Year.

“Happy New Year!”



Auntie Laurel and mom also stayed up for supportive purposes and celebrated New Year with ice cream and hot chocolate. They were very impressed by our men’s hard work and good attitudes throughout the day.



One day, Grandma Schlenker and Uncle Derek went skiing and on their way home they picked up fire works. We set them all off on the frozen lake with our neighbors on New Years Day.


It is never a complete Ashley Lake experience without a “Royal Rumble”. They are getting so big, they had to move from the media room to the down stairs living room (luckily it isn't furnished yet). It is always the little guys vs the big guys. Here is a little sample:

The rule is we wrestle until at least 2 boys are crying.
Ashton getting slammed.

Me getting smooshed.

Nick getting thrown.

Beckham loving life.


Another favorite activity is obviously quadding at the lake. I was able to go with daddy, papa and even ride myself a bit on Ashton and Nick’s little quad.



Our last morning, the men went ice fishing so Auntie Laurel, mom and all the little boys decided to venture out to the middle of the ice to visit them.




It was a beautiful day and it ended with another wonderful skate on the ice as the sun set. The next day, Grandma and Papa took us to the airport to pick up our rental car. The drive went pretty smooth even though it was long and I was such a good boy the whole way. I even had 2 45-minute naps!

Christmas in California

After a couple days of packing and cleaning, it was time to start our Christmas vacation! On December 22 we drove to Draper to spend the night at Smiths. They were so nice to let us crash in their basement and then drive us to the airport very early the next morning. We arrived in Oakland about 8:30am totally exhausted but super happy to be with Daddy’s side of the family for Christmas. That evening, after everyone had arrived we went to a special part of Alameda called Thompson Street. Each year this particular street has each house beautifully and creatively decorated in Christmas lights and decorations. The whole evening was awesome with beautiful weather and yummy pizza to follow.


The next morning was Christmas Eve and Daddy, Uncle Tim and Uncle Adam were invited to go play touch football with some old friends. Near their completion, we went to the park where they were playing to visit and saw daddy killing it as usual. They had lots of fun but there was also a lot of moaning and groaning afterwards.

That night, traditions began at Grandma and Grandpa Coopers with potato soup, sandwiches and lots of goodies. We also opened gifts and enjoyed singing some classic Christmas songs. Mom got my favorite on tape:

Even still I like this song sung to me a couple times before nap or bed time.

Luckily we didn’t stay out too late because the next morning was going to be an early one. I had sort of a rough night with a nasty cough so mom and dad felt bad waking me up at 7am to open gifts but it was worth it because I got spoiled!

Santa brought me a tool bench with lots of tools. From mom and dad I got a cow ball that I can bounce around on. From other relatives I got trucks, puzzles, a train set, clothes, a stuffed Sully (from Monsters Inc), books, Lion King DVD, art supplies, and a cool a wooden car ramp. As you can probably guess, I am a big fan of opening presents.

After 2 hours of gift opening, the extended family came over for a yummy breakfast consisting of breakfast burritos and pastries. Since it was Sunday, it was a little crazy trying to eat, visit and get ready for church, but we amazingly made it there on time to listen to some beautiful Christmas music and hear an excellent talk. Soon after naps, we made our way to Vastolas for games and a yummy (as always) dinner. I was pretty tired after my overwhelming day but I was still a good boy.

Daddy took me home early partly to put me to bed and partly because he had an early flight to Dallas, TX the next morning. BYU’s football team was scheduled to play in a bowl game the following Friday so dad had to meet up with them to start work again. Mom and I were super sad to see him go but were happy to hang out with family while he was gone.
The next day was jam packed especially for mommy. While she went on a hike through the Oakland hills with some of the family, I stayed back with Granddad, Ryan, Kit Kat and Uncle Tim. I love hanging out with granddad! We watched cars together and then he put me down for a nap. Then I played with my cousins until mommy came home and Granddad took us both to a very cool place. Granddad has a membership to the famous USS Hornet from WWII which is docked in Alameda. Because of my love of boats and airplanes, Granddad thought it would be a good place for me to visit and was he ever right!









This is a picture of me snuggling with Grandpa Cooper on our last day in California. We were sad to say goodbye but excited to go to Montana to see Mommy’s side of the family.