Our wedding day

Our wedding day

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Baby Girl's Shower


Jeni says to me one day- "I decided on your nursery colors...and I've planned your nursery."
*PhEw* If you know me well- creativity is not one of my strong points- Jeni comes to the rescue again!
Yay, this little baby will have a cute room thanks to her aunty! Jeni then showed me the adorable decorations she made and bought for her bedroom. Once they're all put together, I'll put up some pictures.
Jeni and my 'surrogate' mom Nancy Hawkes threw me a baby shower last Tuesday.
Baby shower host, Jeni... don't have a pic of Nan...
Here are some of their beautiful food creations...
















My cousins Kitty (in the green) and Amy (not in pic) made these super cute flower sandwiches.
My sister Mindy made the darling cake pops.
Jeni made the cupcakes.


Since I grew up in Tempe- my roots are deep here. Steven and I have been attending the ward I grew up in my whole life. I get to interact with my primary and young women leaders weekly and I love it. They spoiled me already for my wedding shower (just 8 months ago) and then again, they spoiled my unborn baby girl. She has more clothes than probably her Mom and Dad put together :) and more cute too! 60+ people in attendance, we had a great time.

Group gift- Graco stroller and car seat...

One of many darling outfits

Monday, August 15, 2011

Temporary escape from the heat


Sleep over with the nephews and Jacob again!
On Friday night Matthew, Karl, Isaac, Abe and Jacob came over. We bought Cities and Knights and expansions and we had so much fun playing it! They slept over and we went swimming in the morning. Then Rachel and Matt brought Owen (4 months) over while they went to the temple. 6 little boys in an 850 sq. ft. apartment and it's 105 degrees outside and we didn't
go crazy!








Tracy and Doug
Last year when Steven and I were just dating and he was selling in Texas- I went out to visit him. My sweet freshman roommy Tracy and her husband Doug were so kind t
o let me stay with them for a week so I could see my Steven. This year they were out in Arizona with their little Cooper and Britten. We enjoyed dinner, visiting and catching up on the last year of everything that has happened.
My trip to Utah!
I went to Utah to...
1) See my Grandmother one last time before she moves to Atlanta.
2) Go to my cousin's wedding in Bountiful
3) Visit my doctor for a baby check-up
4) See the sweetest most fun in-laws in the world!
Poor Steven couldn't come because he had to work. Rachel and I piled the 6 boys (above mentioned) in her 8 passenger mini van and drove up to Utah. I enjoyed the first day with my sweet mother-in-law and Chelsea, Mary, Katie and Jake visiting and going on a hike to Lagrado. The bright greenery, cool fresh breeze and trickling water made me feel like I was in a rain forest after living in the dead dry desert the last few months. I felt like I was in paradise and if it weren't for having a near-perfect husband that I can't stand to be away from for a few days, I think I might have just stayed there. :) The rest of the day I enjoyed meeting my new nephew Jonathan Meldrum and hanging out with more of my fun sister-in-laws Jessica, Autumn, and Krystal.
Us at Lagrado Sweet little Melody asleep in the car Mary and Melody








The next day we went up to Bountiful for Marie and Steven Lewelyn's wedding. It was a beautiful day and Marie looked gorgeous! After the wedding and pictures, Rachel went and got the boys and we went to the luncheon together.
I debated for awhile adding what happened after the luncheon in my blog, because I generally like to keep the blog as more of a happy history and my journal more of a hard lessons learned, but I'd like to share what happened with you.

It was 3:00 and my appointment was at 3:40 at American Fork. Rachel handed the kids off to me and I went to go load them in the car. As I was loading them I thought Owen (4 months) was buckled in his carseat carrier. As I lifted the seat I felt the carrier get light- confused I turn around as Karl screams. There, was little Owen laying flat on his face and belly on the cement. He had fallen out!! I screamed and told Karl to go get Rachel. I scooped him up and ran towards Rachel scared and shaking not knowing what to do. She took him and asked anyone for a ride to the hospital. Uncle Paul took her. Grandmother was with me. I didn’t know what else to do but still go to my Doctor’s appointment. After I loaded the 5 other boys in the car my nephew Matthew said, let's say a prayer. He said it. Children have life in such a good perspective. I took the boys back to Stacy’s still crying and shaking I started the drive down to the doctor’s office. I called Steven and told him what happened. He calmed me down and told me everything was going to be okay. By the time I got down to American Fork, I was 40 minutes late and the office was closed. As I drove back to Bountiful I prayed and prayed for little Owen and I felt this overwhelming peace and words come to me that said these peaceful words, “Cherise, everything is going to be all right. Owen is fine”. I felt peace and believed what I heard. Later Rachel told me that Owen was really fussy even after they left the hospital many hours later. She was still concerned. One of her Bountiful neighbors offered to give Owen a blessing. In that blessing he assured him that he would heal quickly and everything would be fine. Within an hour after the blessing, the swelling on Owen's face had all gone down, he calmed down and even started laughing just like his old self. I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood and God's hand in our lives.

I called Rachel ad she said everything was okay and Owen would be okay. I asked if I could come and help and she said there was nothing I could do and I should just enjoy my time with Grandmother since that is the reason why I came to Utah. She suggested going to

temple square- so that’s what we did. We looked at the displays and went through a little video presentation of the family proclamation. Afterwards we went out in the cool breeze and found a bench. We took in all the beauty from the flowers and green grass and the serenity of the sister missionaries happily going about doing their work as we visited.

That night I slept at Autumn's and Jessica came and slept over too. We stayed up way too late chatting and catching up, but I loved it. I've missed my Cooper sisters so much and
being around them I felt so fulfilled and loved.
The next day we drove home.
Canyon Lake
A few Saturdays ago we went to Canyon lake. My Dad had just gotten a new motor put in his boat and we were excited to try it out. This trip is my Dad's third attempt at going to the lake in hopes that his old boat would run. Unfortunately, this trip was not any different than the others and it still wouldn't start. We didn't mind though! The nice cool lake compared to the luke-warm bath-water pools near our homes was a refreshing change for us. We played some games and had a BBQ.

Rachel and little Owen....
Steven and I and my parents