Ephraim Turns Five

How time flies. This little angel  was born five years ago. He was my Christmas baby! Being a Christmas baby myself, I understand all that it implies, now... He was the best baby ever! He was a happy boy, a great eater, awesome sleeper... oh wait, he is still all those things! Even when I ask him to go take a nap, he just complies and grabs a few toys and snuggles up and falls asleep. I love him so much, and with everything that has happened recently in Connecticut and Sandy Hook, I just want to keep him close and hug him every chance I get. This year it was fun because I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner and he looked at me, thinking for a minute, and said, "A turkey please." When I brought out the frozen turkey he asked me what it was and looked a little sad as he told me he thought that dad was going to go hunting to bring home his turkey. He still enjoyed his mashed potatoes and turkey even if it was from the freezer. I love this age. It is the most impressionable age. It is that age where they want to be just like you, but yet they are starting to become independent and personal. Eph would sit with you for hours and tell you a story. He has to snuggle when he wakes up from a nap. He likes to follow Ben and Will wherever they go. He'll let Joselyn read to him, and even share with Ruby when he feels like it.

I love you Ephraim. Happy 5th Birthday!

Cook Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas

I love this time of year. It brings together family and friends. It reminds us of Christ and how the Savior of the world was brought into this world in humble beginnings. He lived on the earth with love, not searching for power or position, but always seeking to make others better off. His example of giving inspires us to do more for others. Remembering what the symbols of Christmas mean helps to bring the true feeling of Christmas for me. The evergreen tree. What an appropriate name. It is always grean. It does not become dormant in the winter as most other trees do. The color green represents new life and the needles point up towards heaven. It symbolizes our everlasting life with Jesus Christ. We should be as the evergreen tree - always full of life, never becoming dormant in our life with Christ as our arms are lifted Heavenward.

I love Christmas cookies. I see the dough as all of us, being molded into the masterpieces that God wants us to become. We only need to be moldable and willing. I also love to put decorations on the tree. Each of us decorate our trees to fit us personally. I usually have kid friendly ornaments that can fall off and be put back on all day long. Each of those ornaments are like the blessings in our lives. Our lives, like the tree, just wouldn't be complete without the blessings from God. Everthing that we have is due to a loving Heavenly Father. Just as each of our ornaments are different, we are also given different and individual blessings from our Heavenly Father.

This year I was able to make a real wreath after we climbed the mountain and brought home a real tree. We had to cut and trim the tree to fit into our home and I had many boughs to use to make a Christmas wreath. Wreaths have branches bent in a circle so that the ends touch, having no beginning or end, as does the love of our Savior has no beginning or ending. Now think of all the jingle bells you hear, this symbolizes the bell that rings to lead lost sheep back to the fold. All of us are precious to Jesus and He is our shepherd and is calling us to come unto Him. He also leads us with His light, and we light our homes and our trees so that we are not in darkness. Heavenly Father has given us His light to shine forth and we should shine as He to bring others unto His fold.

Now a symbol many do not know, the holly. The leaves of the holly represent the crown of thorns that were placed upon the head of our Savior as he was being crucified. The berries symbolize His blood He so willingly shed for us.  And the candy cane represents many things. If you hold it up it looks like a shepherds crook. Shepherds came to see the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, and also Jesus is the Shepherd of us all and if you turn it upside down it looks like a J. There is white and red on the traditional candy cane, and the white represents the purity of our Savior while the red represents the blood that He shed for each of us. The traditional candy canes also had three stripes running down them to represent the Godhead.   

Another that I love to think about is the star. The star that was a heavenly sign of prophecy fulfilled ages ago, shining hope to all mankind. The star led the wise men to find the baby Jesus. These wise men traveled many mils following a star in the sky. The star was their guiding light to the Savior. Each time when I pull our my star to put on my tree I think about what I am doing (or not doing) to follow that star and  come unto the Savior. I can only imagine what it would be like when I die and look into my Savior's eyes and know that I am home. To feel His arms wrapped around me. Those are the feelings and symbols of Christmas that I want to share all year and all my life. 

I hope that you can find that too. Merry Christmas!
 

Conference Weekend

I am so thankful for conference weekend. It renews my faith and testimony and helps my conversion!! I am also thankful that my children got us all sick so that we could stay home to get all of the Saturday session as well (instead of running around in freezing weather watching soccer)!!  Some things that I was able to write down during different talks.

From Pres. Monson:
 more we act the more we are entrusted
 never postpone promptiongs
 no concern is too small or insignificant, the Lord is in the details of our lives.
 Be tolerant, have LOVING KINDNESS, and pray for the needs of those around us.

From Pres. Eyring:
 submit to our Father's will (and diligently seek it)
 do the things that make Him as familiar to us as we are to Him

From Pres Uchtdorf:
 Life for today enjoying each moment.

From Elder Scott:
  don't deny others and yourself the  blessings of doing temple work!

From Elder Hales:
  Being a Christians means being Christlike
 recognize His voice, return to Him, receive blessings

From Elder Holland:
 Jesus needs someone to preach His gospel and defend the faith. Be LOYAL

From Elder Bednar:
 a testimony is a personal knowledge of spiritual truth obtained by revelation
 converstion is an offering of self, love and loyalty we give to God in gratitude for the gift of    
 testimony
 knowing the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony
 - consistently being true to the gospel of Jesus Christ is the essence of conversion
offer you WHOLE soul to Jesus


I also love conference time because my kids are prompted to write down their testimonies for us.

Testimonies 10.7.12

Benjamin Scott Cook

I'd like to bear my testimony. I know the church is true and that if we follow Heavenly Father and Jesus, we can live with him once again. I know that we can choose right from wrong and that we should follow Heavenly Father's commandments. I know that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are true and I love my family and try not to fight and argue with my brothers and sisters. I will obey my parents and listen to them. I can strengthen my faith by praying and obeying my parents I will be nice to everyone I meet. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Willard Grant Cook

I bear my testimony. I know the church is true and families can be forever and Heavenly Father loves us with all his heart and we all should love him too and we should all follow his commandments. I know we can go live with him again and Heavenly Father will protect us because he loves us and we should always listen to him. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Joselyn Elizabeth Cook

I bear my testimony that the church is true and we can live with the lord again. We know that the scriptures are true and we love the prophet for that they do. I know that Heavenly Father created the earth and Adam and Even and us! They are true to me and I love them. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Cub Scouts 2012 Cardboard BoxCar Derby

We had great fun for our 2012 Cub Scout Cardboard BoxCar Derby! The boys got to design their own box cars and put them together with their families. We had three heats of three to four boys and each boy had a pit crew. Here's how it worked. 

We had 4 pits. Each racer had a number. They all started at the start line and then went into the pit number we had given them. They had family members be part of their crew. The first lap they started and went into their pit and had to get out of their car and take off their shoes and sock, turn their socks inside out, and then replace their socks and shoes, get back into their car and run the lap coming back to the pit the second time. The second pit they had to down a bottle of water (just the smaller ones 8 oz.) through a straw.  Then they ran another lap back to the pit crew where they had their windshields washed (We had them wearing goggles or glasses and we sprayed their face with water and then wiped it off). Then they were off again and instead of stopping at the pit the last time they just had to race around again to the finish line!! It was a lot of fun! We did not time them or have actual winners but we had a lot of fun together!

Very Busy 10 Year Old Birthday

Well it was a very fun exciting day for Ben. He turned ten today!! How time flies! He got up before the roosters were crowing and was all smiles and asking if he could help make breakfast. Dewey had brought home donuts for the birthday boy, so there wasn't much to make. But we pulled out some bacon to go with it. He excitedly told me what he wanted to do today when his friends came home with him after school for a movie party. He'd like popcorn and candy and chill watching BATTLESHIP. So Dewey and I scrambled and got things ready while cleaning up because we were getting the refrigerator and dishwasher replaced today. Dewey also had to go in to work for a few hours, but he rushed home with a school treat for Ben's birthday and we made it just in time to hand in our before the bell range releasing all those kids. Ben shooed me on my way so he could walk home with all his friends. Although he made the mistake of inviting a few extra people over (one of which was an older girl...??????) and thankfully I had a few extra things. The movie was uneventful but fun with all these boys +1girl, although Brandon and Bransen had seen the movie previously so they kept saying things like, "This is my favorite part," or "Watch out, this part is good!" I like to watch my son and his friends to see how they treat each other and what kind of kids they are. Ben is very kind and likes to be around people. He tells a good story too. Anyway, Ben made a wish and blew out his candles and ate cupcakes and then sent his friends on their way thanking them for sharing his day with him. Then we ate pizza outside on the grass because our family tradition is the birthday person gets to choose what we eat for dinner (we ate outside because with the birthday mess and the new fridge mess it was better). Then Dewey and I made a scavenger hunt for Ben to find his presents. It was cute because all the kids were chasing him from clue to clue and begging for us to make a scavenger hunt for their birthday's too. He had to go to each room and finally found his presents in the back of Dewey's truck. He is such a good kid that thankfully he was very happy about his gifts and excitedly brought them into the house to open and examine. He even let his brothers and sister have a turn! Overall I think he had a wonderful time.

Dewey's sister Dejah sent him a poem about turning ten. It made me cry thinking that my baby has to grow up. I want my children to learn to be responsible and make good choices and I still want them to be children and have those childlike attributes. I see them growing so quickly and I feel like I am missing it. I remember clearly Ben's milestones, and it seems with the addition of each child I am more forgetful or maybe not as watchful of the next milestone and the seasons pass and I wonder why I didn't catch that time or slow it down. Here is the poem that spurred these thoughts:

On Turning Ten
by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light –
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.
It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I would shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees, I bleed.

Anyway, I hope you have had a wonderful 10th birthday Ben. We love you!

Back 2 School 2012

Wow, the summer is over and it is back to school. I love the routine that school brings, but I miss having the kids home! I enjoy every minute we spend together. The kids were so excited to get ready for school. We hit Walmart and Shopko while they were having their sales and got all the supplies they could ever need! Gramma took them shopping for some school clothes and they came home and modeled them! They wanted to wear them every day but we convinced them it would be better to save them for school.

Our first day was August 30th. They got to go the night before to meet their teachers. Ben is in the 4th grade and has Alissa O'Berry as his teacher. She seems to be very fun and creative. Poor lady though because she has Ben, Bransen, and Branden in her class... We will see how she does with them! The twins are in 2nd grade and have Mrs. Hong. We have heard wonderful things about her.

Needless to say, they were dressed, fed and ready to go to school by 7 the first morning. Thankfully Dewey was home and remembered about taking pictures!

Ben and Hunter's Safety

Before school started this year, Ben got to go to classes... Hunter's Safety classes. Dewey is so excited because now he can have a buddy to go hunting with, and it extends his season a lot because he can go with Ben and do more hunts. Dewey is the type of hunters who likes to walk ALL over the mountains, and Ben is the perfect person to go with him!

It was funny though because Dewey was more nervous about Ben passing the safety test than Ben was. He called me and asked me if I thought it was silly that he was so nervous. So it is 5 classes, 3 hours each of all this information. Then it was a 60 question test covering all things pertaining to hunting, guns, bows, regulations, safety... There were 35 kids from 8 to 40 in his class, and there were 5 who scored 100% on the test. Ben was one of those 5. He called Dewey as soon as his class was over to tell him. They gave him a trigger lock for getting 100%. Ben is a lot like Dewey in that he can read over something once and commit it to memory. Unlike his mother who has to read it, then read it again out loud, and then make note cards to study from.

 It is official. He has a hunter's card. He can go hunting with Dewey!

Fun in the Sun -Summer 2012

This summer has been so much fun! We got to spend time at Dejah & Brian's house in Layton, Utah. We got to spend time at Grannie and Pop's house, and at the Zoo! We also came down for Grannie's 60th birthday and had a pool party at Ken and Tam's house! Here are pictures of all these adventures!

Fun Davis Family Renion

For the 4th of July I took the kids and headed to Utah for a Davis Family Reunion. We had reserved the Heber Valley Girls Camp. It was amazing. There was a huge pavilion with full kitchen and bunk beds. And then there were groups of cabins that had their own little pavilion and kitchen and storage room. Each cabin had 16 bunk beds. There were restrooms with showers (my kind of camping!!) and volleyball pit. The kids and I invaded Ken and Tam's cabin, and Ken promptly took all of his stuff (and Tam's stuff) and headed to a different cabin. I don't blame him, if I could have hung out with my cousins I would have to. Rebecka stayed with me, even though she probably would have like to go to the other cabin too. Sam and Boston hung out in our cabin too. We brought paints so the kids could paint rocks, and we brought games and squirt guns.

Ben and Sam hung out. Emily invited Joselyn to sleep with her in the girls cabin (which I was ok with until I checked on her and found the older girls partying until wee hours in the morning). It was hard for her the next morning because she is such an early riser that staying up so late made her grumpy.

Will found a friend in my cousin Pete's son, Xander. It was fun to watch them run around together and find things to do. Ephraim and Ruby mostly stayed close to mom, venturing off to the volleyball it where they could play in the sand.

It was fun to see all my cousins and my aunts and uncles. There were some planned activities, like the Davis Clan Roast, the Minute to Win It game night, and the boat rides and the GIANT SWING.

Two Year Old Ruby

Ruby turned 2 today. It seems like it was just a moment ago that she came into our lives. I couldn't imagine our lives without her. She is so much fun to cuddle, snuggle and make giggle! She is a little talker and like to tell all the kids what mom says and she doesn't let anyone push her around. She loves to lie in bed with Joë and read stories. She loves to bring her pillow and blanket downstairs to watch Minnie Mouse. She is still very shy around strangers and I am OK with that. It takes her a long time to warm up to even people she knows, but then once you get her going she doesn't stop. She definitely likes things her way, so watch out, but she loves to follow around the big kids and do whatever they are doing.

This is Ruby keeping her eye on Craig... she was nervous for a while, but always wanted him to push her!