Bonjour!

Bonjour!
I’m a 51 year old mother of five amazing daughters and wife to a caring, sensitive AND sexy husband. I adore my family. I’m dedicated to my faith. I enjoy a good laugh. I'm nostalgic and love to reminisce. "Remember" is my favorite word in the English language. I love life! I’m passionate about music, food and {dreams of} traveling the world. I wanna be a castle and waterfall chaser. I’m fascinated with anything European. {PARIS! Hello!} I love celebrating anything and everything! I love to read, especially a good biography, mystery, Regency Era Romance or Historical fiction novel. I love thoughtful gift giving. To me the gift wrap is almost as important as the gift itself. I have a bit of an obsession with gift boxes and gift bags. As well as old world maps & globes, apothecary bottles and jars! I love being creative…bolts of ribbon, coordinating scrapbook papers, producing a table scape, or planning décor for a themed party puts a smile on my face. I love the details! I’m a freak for anything theme oriented. I enjoy event planning, but oddly enough do not like to host or entertain. I enjoy fashion, but have to really be in the mood to clothes shop. I love purses and funky costume jewelry. Especially big rings! I’d rather wear wedges or heels any day than flats. I enjoy decorating and searching for the perfect decorative pillow or picture. However, you’ll never see me frequent high-end stores. I'm more of a Ross, TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning kind of gal. My favorite decor style is an old world rustic Italian chateau/Spanish Villa look with a hint of bohemian! OR a vintage shabby chic French country cottage/English cobblestone farmhouse. My #1 cookie-Molasses! Autumn is my favorite season. I’d go through childbirth a million times. I enjoy biking with my man, Pilates, and power walking. You’ll never find me in a gym working out. I love movies, whether watching them in the theatre or cuddled up on the couch with my family. I enjoy a good chick flick or real life drama! I'm a sucker for movies on the Hallmark & Great American Family Channel. I have a tender heart for the elderly. I adore Disneyland. I enjoy being in the canyon on a summer or fall evening at dusk. I love my friends. While I have some extroverted characteristics. I’m a self proclaimed introvert. I’m generally quiet, calm, reserved and pretty darn private. Why in the heck do I blog? It’s a creative way to record family history. I enjoy photography. I really don’t like to write, although I write in my journal often. My journals, patriarchal blessing, scriptures, quote book, and beloved Christmas tree filled with ornaments of family memories are among my prized possessions. I love the beach. I enjoy WWII history. I love a clean, orderly house, but ours usually looks lived in. ;) PBS Masterpiece is my friend. I adore Jane Austen films. They transport me to another time and place. If I had to choose another time period in which to live, early 19th Century England would be my pick. "Sense and Sensibility" is my all time favorite movie. My 3 favorite TV series are...BBC's Larkrise to Candleford, the 1950's Spanish Drama "Velvet," and the travel/food show "Somebody Feed Phil." My biggest pet peeve is people who blow their noses in public. So gross! {Take it to the bathroom people.} I’d go on a wine tasting vacation if it wasn’t against my religion. I’ve always wanted to adopt a baby from a foreign country. I’m an avid BYU football fan. I'm a Educational Support Professional. I tutor elementary kids in phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, fluency and comprehension. I love our campfires at Scofield Lake. I have a 'thing' for fairy gardens, Gallic French roosters, fresh flowers in a vase, pretty bowls & plates, and yummy smelling candles & soap. I love summer rainstorms and warm baths. I'm a scripture podcast fanatic. I'm also a fan of several Fox News shows; Hannity and Dave Ramsey Talk Radio. I very much miss Rush Limbaugh! I hate when my kids have homework. I'd rather clean 20 toilets than give a talk or prayer in church. I have quite a collection of Madame Alexander Dolls, children's books, Disney pins, and quotes. My favorite quote is "Don't underestimate me. I know more than I say, think more than I speak & notice more than you realize." True True LOL! I always prefer sitting in a back row versus the front. {I'm sort of a seat snob..yikes} I also have high expectations for my lemonade, salsa, and french fries too. HA! I work well behind the scenes. I love a good Dateline, 20/20 or 48 Hour Mystery. I’m a night owl. I'd rather be cold than hot. I love to budget our finances! I enjoy being a chauffeur to my children. I'm not a huge fan of social media. I don't snap, pin or tweet. All I want for Christmas every year is a ticket to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It's my FAVORITE. I’m an Anglophile…a royal watcher who loves anything English! Especially tea parties! I would like to serve a church mission to England with Jaren someday. I'm queen of paper towel, used kitchen dishrags and sponges kinda make me squirm. You’ll rarely find me out of the house not ready for the day, except when driving the kids to school on the days I don't work. I feel naked without lipstick or lip gloss. Mismatched socks, chipped fingernail polish, chapped lips and brownie crumbs on the floor drive me nuts! I like to organize and BE organized..but not saying I always am. ;) I enjoy hiking to waterfalls, ATV’ing with my family and snowshoeing with the hubs. Although I enjoy collecting recipes and occasionally watch cooking shows... (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, Paula Deen, Jamie Oliver, and the Pioneer Woman are my favorites) I’d rather not cook. Eating out is so much more fun. I'm a foodie. I live to EAT! LOL Trying new foods and restaurants is a favorite past-time, and believe it or not so is intermittent fasting. I'm not good at a lot of things... but gosh, if you need help with a themed celebration or someone to enjoy good food with, I'm your girl. I love the joy of anticipation and the celebration of holidays. Family traditions are important to me. I'm a memory preserver. I'm a pathological picture taker ;) a visual storyteller, and a lover of happy lists!

My Fam!

My Fam!

The Hubs and I

The Hubs and I

My Girls!

My Girls!

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Emma Abigail (26)

Emma Abigail (26)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Mr. Charles "Bingley" Wentworth III (4 yrs.)

Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam "Darcy", Duke of Westridge (3 yrs.)

My Man!

My Man!

Good Times!

Good Times!

Wedding Day 5*17*22

Lillian "Lilly" Belle

Disney Food Fun! 2019

Disneyland Tips

What I Believe!

Our Missionary

We Bleed Blue! {Except for the Poppi}

My list of favorite movies!

Learn more about Dyslexia!

Music To My Ears!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

What's On My Happy List?





Kyleigh in Korea
mission update week 71

Hello Everyone, 
It's been another long, but super great week. Koreans had their Thanksgiving holiday and we had our 5K. It was super fun. We didn't have a chance to meet with a lot of people this week because it was their three day holiday. We did meet a couple of potentials so hopefully we can see them this upcoming week and see what happens. 
We ran into a huge group of foreigners who were from Europe, and other places, on student exchange. They thought that it was so cool that we were missionaries. About the same time we encountered a crazy old lady who insisted on taking us and one of the lost foreigners.... trying to find his way to the Buddhist Temple...out to dinner. We were able to help this lost foreigner, who lives in Shanghai, but is from Spain...get on a bus and out of the dinner date. haha Come to find out this persistent lady is being taught English from some of the sister missionaries in our District. She's the one that gave the sisters a huge box of SUPER short shorts and skirts....thinking we could wear them after we've lost weight. haha She doesn't really understand the gospel or church standards or anything like that. Pretty hilarious trying to put on the skirts.  
We had dinner with a less active. She's kinda crazy too. {I feel like a lot of people we deal with are crazy.} She had this bean soup that was just in a bag in a bowl on the floor of her bedroom with a fan blowing on it. She wanted us to have some so she poured it into bowls for us that were not clean. We took a couple of bites and I almost threw up gagged. I had Sis. Clove go into the kitchen with her to help fix the rest of dinner and I dumped both our bowls of soup back into the main bowl. haha. That's the only time I've done that so I wouldn't have to eat my food. I felt bad. But it was gross. So gross. 
Life is good!  
Love, 
Sister Cooper
xoxoxo  

Modeling our short skirts... ;) 
 *****

 In other family news....

Lots going on this past week with Murray Homecoming festivities..

I got to go tie shopping with 6 of Hannah's friends, including her date's mom.
Pretty entertaining outing I was on. ;)

I got wrangled into doing the drill lockers again... in the 11th hour.
Goodness me. It takes a lot of effort.
We used some purple this time around because it's Murray's 100th/Centennial year
and purple was one of the original colors of the school back in 1916.

The theme song for Homecoming was "I Was Made For Lov'in You"
originally by the band Kiss..
thus the Hershey Kisses. ;)
They lasted about a mili second on the lockers, which is what we expected.




Wednesday night was the Powder Puff Flag Football game between the Sr. and Jr. girls.

Hannah didn't play... she couldn't go to much of the football practice because of drill and they ran out of jerseys anyway. She had helped teach some of her guy friends the "boy's drill number" for the Men of Sparta halftime dance so she was down on the field for that.

The guys stole the show!!

Thursday night was Spartan Spectacular!
Drill team performed again.
It was a rainy night so no burning of the M, but fireworks still went off!  


We had front row seat from our car. ;)
                       



More dancing the next morning at the Centennial Homecoming Assembly.
They honored past principals and oldest living Murray alumni....
who graduated back in the 1940's!
So cool!

The team learned a whole new routine just for Homecoming week... 

The guys rocked their dance again!
Just too funny. 

That night was the Homecoming game. 
Rainy and Cold! 
The hubs was on his annual fly fishing outing with some friends,
but me, Emmsie and Brie braved it to watch Hannah perform at halftime. 

Saw an old buddie from high school.
 Blast from the past!

 Day Date! 
Hannah's date was coming at 8:15 a.m. to pick her up for their Saturday morning activity. 
 Um...guess what time we woke up?...8:05! :0 
Not sure if I've bolted from bed so fast when I realized we still had a sleeping house.  
Hannah had slept through her alarm....which she rarely ever does. 
She's used to getting up at 5 on drill mornings..but apparently the exhaustion had set in from the day before. They had to be at the school at 5:45 for morning practice, then assembly performance, and then a full day of school. After school there was drill practice til 6. No time to come home before the football game/performance. Then out with friends after. 
LONG LONG DAY! 
WE had a frantic 20'ish minutes trying to put her together before her date came...luckily coming 10 minutes later... upon request. ;) 
Craziness! 
There were 7 couples in their group. 
Her buddies! 
They went to breakfast and then to City Creek for a scavenger hunt.

They had all sorts of things they had to find and do and check off as individual teams in a race...
Sounded super fun!





Home at 1:00 and then it was getting ready for dance time...always a bit of a production.  
Hannie's friend Emma came over and Hannah helped her with eyelashes and Emmsie curled her hair...

Hannah went Boho style!  

We had quite the feat finding THE right dress. Nine tries over a two week period...with different jaunts around the valley AND BEYOND before we found the one. 
Layton, Riverton, Sandy, Dillards, back to Riverton, Orem, back up to Layton, SYRACUSE and down to Springville. 
Ya, you read that right.  

Seriously where does everyone get their dresses? 

The little shop in Springville...called The Pink Door Boutique was our lucky place. 
We prefer to rent instead of buy...so if anyone with high school girls that happens across this post and knows of rental dress shops, preferably in our county haha  
PLEASE let me know... 
and yes I know Ypsilon is in Murray but it's way too uppity and pricey for my taste..having to make an appointment to try on a dress and spending hundreds to buy one to wear once is ridiculous to me.     

In the past we've had dress success at these rental shops...

Dreams of Enchantment...in Layton
Bling It On....in Riverton
One Stop Dress Shop...in Sandy
Dress Garden...now in Syracuse....{used to be in Bountiful}

The first two being my favorite, but I would add Dress Collective in Orem and the Pink Door Boutique to my 'definitely visit again' list...the Sandy and Syracuse shop...um...not so much...

Hannie has a very understated, monochromatic, casual style...All her clothes are literally gray, black, blues...navy blue being her favorite {the color of her dress} and she'll occasionally branch out to burgundy and mauve. haha 
She was super happy and relieved when we finally found this dress! It was perfect for her. 

If you are wondering whats in the clutch bag...dance essentials!...all her girlfriends came to her for gum, deo, perfume..by the end of the night they all smelled like Hannah. haha 

Kyleigh would be proud! ;) 

The corsage/boutonnière moment always cracks me up. 
It's so awkward for them...

proof here {when the Mama has to put it on} 
Love this pic of my friend putting the bout on her daughter's date 

Beautiful!
 Hannah's date broke his finger mountain biking a couple of days before the dance...
ouch! 
Couldn't resist giving him a box of
"butter fingers" 

We had a photo shoot!
Hannie's date is the nicest kid! and cute to boot! 









 Dinner at Macaroni Grill!
 Traditional bathroom pics!
 A night to remember and a fun time had by all!!
*****
We sent Hannie off on her way and we had sushi night!


*****
Other going on's this week not Hannah related haha 
She dominated most of the week. ;) 

Got to go on a field trip with Kate to the Nature Center!
 We searched for all sorts of seeds!


What lengths one will go to get a cat tail...

 *****
My dad and I 's weekly Friday morning outing to the Farmer's Market. :)

 *****
Giving a little gift to one of my Primary kids!
I love gift giving...One of my favorite things to do!
*****
Brie got to go rock climbing!

And that's a wrap....enjoying a little less hectic week around here. Phew!

No comments:

Post a Comment