Mackenzie's First Day of School 2009

 

August 24th, 2009 Mackenzie ready for her first day of First Grade. So cute, so unbelievable that it's already here. She was happy and totally at ease about starting a new school year. Such an easy kid! Love her!!!

 

 

August trip to Tinkerbell Brandma's

In mid-August 2009 the girls and I took off for my mom's in Camden, Arkansas. On the way we stopped at Camille's in Dallas. She is pregnant with twins (8 months, no less) and she barely looked pregnant with 1 baby, let alone 2. We got to visit for a while then stayed in a hotel nearby. Dave was with us for the weekend but had to go back for work. So the girls and I continued on to mom's the next day.

 

 

We went to a catfish buffet an hour away where you could feed the catfish and other animals. The girls loved it. But Mackenzie especially liked feeding the fish. She wasn't sure about the ponies, goats, and donkeys. Both girls enjoyed throwing the food pellets over the railing. We even saw an albino catfish. Very unusual!

 

 

We had such a fun time, we were all sad when it was time to go back to Austin. We miss you Mom/Tinkerbell Grandma and Grandpa Steve!

Utah Weddings in July

 

Wedding Number 1 - July 11th, 2009 Meri Nielsen marries Shawn in Spanish Fork, Utah. Such a fun, beautiful event. We danced into the night and saw tons of old friends. Meri was beautiful and it was so good spending time with her and Karalee and their family. She even got a wedding day rainbow! The rain was short-lived but the rainbow was truly gorgeous.

 

The following Saturday was Molly Judd's wedding in Bountiful. So beautiful. We got to see all the Cooper families and spend time with cousins, etc. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Congratulations Molly!

 

Of course who could resist the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie? Not Suzanne, Adriel, Lexie, Rachel, Josh and me! It was a great rendition of book 6. I ended up seeing it 3 times before it left theaters (and that's saying something since it was almost 3 hours long!)

 

Oh how I miss my book club girls. We met at a cute pizza joint downtown and talked til we closed the place down. Me, Melissa, Noell, Jana, and Lisa Linton were there. We missed Jen Lange, Lindsay Hola, and Shannon Freedman (and Camille, of course, who lived in Texas now, like us). Such a fun night. Love you guys!!!

Royal Caribbean Cruise

 

Mom got a wild idea that we needed to get away for the Fourth of July. So she found a last minute cruise deal from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and Cozumel - and off we went. We really enjoyed the beach at Fort Lauderdale. We flew in the day before the cruise sailed and stayed 2 blocks from the beach. The water was clear and shallow enough for the girls to enjoy. Then we got on the boat and set sail for Key West.

 

Key West was HOT - and humid. Well, it was July after all. We took the trolley tour, saw the aquarium there, and visited the shipwreck museum. The girls were troopers and had fun at the huge sponge statue and with the totem pole at the restaurant we ate at.

 

Beach day at Cozumel. We did not pick the best beach (and of course, we didn't figure this out until we were headed back to the ship). Fortunately, the girls didn't mind the sludgy water or shallow sand strip. I love kids - give them a pile of sand and they're happy.

 

Family picture on the ship. The girls loved the kids club on RC and even sang a group pirate song to all the diners in the restaurant one night. It was so cute, something like: Everwhere we go, people want to know, why we're so short, so we tell them, we are the pirates... Aarrghh!

Mackenzie's Last Day of School

June 5th, 2009 Mackenzie's last day as a kindergartner. I admit I was a little teary. This is such a sweet age. So sad that these years of total innocence are ending. I will try to drag them out as long as I can. :)

More Pictures from May...

At the Metling Pot with Dave, Nat, and Brady Mackenzie's Kindergarten Graduation

May 2009 So Much Stuff to Cover...

So apparently, we did a LOT of stuff in May. Disney World, Blizzard Beach, and Animal Kingdom with our Cooper cousins. Mother's Day up in Arkansas with my mom, Linda French. Mackenzie had her first piano recital. Then she lost her very first tooth on May 21st. May 22nd was my birthday and I got to go out and celebrate with Dave, and Brady and Natalie Anderton at the Melting Pot in downtown Austin. And last but not least, Mackenzie had a graduation ceremony for her kindergarten year with Ms. May. I can't believe she's already done with kindergarten! What a month!!!

Mackenzie's first lost tooth! Mackenzie's first piano recital. She played Ode to Joy. Mother's Day in Camden, Arkansas All the Coopers at Animal Kingdom Fun times at Disney World. The weather in early May was fantastic. Great time to go!