Merry Christmas from the Popes

It doesn't happen very often...

...so I have to document this sweet moment.

(And yes, I did chop my hair off :-)

Let it Snow!

I love snow. I also married a man who loves snow. And we made some babies that inherently love snow as well. It makes for a very happy family when we finally get some! Here are some of our recent snow activities.

Activity #1

Coop loves to help shovel the snow. Hopefully that lasts to when he's a little older and can actually do some good!

Activity #2

Ok, so its not snow technically but its the same concept. We had a fun time introducing ice skating to Coop at Caleb's Northstar Christmas party. His skates were about 8 sizes too big but he had a good time anyway.

Ignore the super red/chapped lips. He has a bad habit of licking his lips although we keep reminding him not to.

Activity #3

Coop will take any opportunity to go play in the snow with Daddy. Lucky for me, Daddy is always willing.

Activity #4

Coop LOVES to sled. He could care less that its 17 degrees out or that his fingers are like ice cubes or that his nose resembles Rudolph, he just wants to keep sledding. And after a couple runs with Daddy, he was ready to venture off on his own.

And even Carter was getting in on the action too!

Maybe he saw his big brother and thought he should follow but shortly after Coop's solo run, Carter tried his own solo run by scooting down the hill. Not sure if that was his intent or not:-)

Needless to say we are enjoying the snow and would love to receive more so...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Tis the season to be busy

Hence the late post about Thanksgiving/Pope Family Reunion. There won't be much writing, but the amount of pictures should make up for that!

Introducing the grandkids:

The Magnificent 7

The Fabulous 5...recently changed to The Furious 5 after this reunion

(five 4 year old boys=craziness!)

The Unforgettable 4

The Alphabet Soup Group

(Ali, Bella, Carter, Deeter, Ella)

Makes a grand total of 21 grandkids...

any more announcements?

Chloe's Baptism

*Baptized by Uncle Caleb, *Confirmed by Grandpa Randal, *Passed the towel to Malia

*On a lesser note, cake made by me :-)

Thanksgiving Day

*Alabama biscuits (yum, yum), *Grandpa carving the turkey, *Family time, *Stuffed

Good Times in Park City

*Kid Dance parties, *Grandkid Talent Show, *Grandkid Olympics, *Adult Balloon task, *Service turkey, *Grandma AJ grandkid shirts, *Two amazing houses,

*The ever entertaining Furious 5 (need I say more?!)

*The Next American Idol (he's 11)

*Time with Grandma AJ

And of course, a big family picture followed by lots of mini ones.

It was too cold to get creative with poses but these are some good looking families.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Decorating the Tree

Carter just wanted to eat the lights.

Cooper wanted to hang every ornament.

And in the end, both boys just wanted to wrestle.

Riverwoods, Lighting of the Streets

Free carriage rides (complete with 1 hour wait)

Santa

Hangin' with the cousins

Enjoying the lights

Christmas is coming!

Team Edward

Yes I went...

...and yes I loved it!

*Favorites of the night*

The anticipation in the atmosphere

My homemade t-shirt that said "Why am I covered in feathers?" (How many of you actually get that?)

My sister's t-shirt that said "I'd rather be in Forks"

Putting Elmer's glue on my eyelids to get the red glitter to stick (worked great!)

Jacob's hot body...wow! Although still an Edward fan, he should take a few tips from Jacob!

The Stephanie Meyers book costume that won

Staying up till 3am

Sitting in a camping chair in the handicapped section just so I could see it

What a night! Loved everything about it!

(except the nasty chest hair on Edward, I mean really, a little wax would do the trick!)

9 Months!

This big boy is 9 months old already! Most people tell me he is Cooper's twin and I agree that he has some similarities but he is becoming his own little man. A little info on Carter: He's a bit temperamental but mostly happy. He just started crawling but still has no hair. He has many nicknames in the house (i.e. Tarter, Tartsky, Mr. Lumpy, etc) and we just love him to death.

We had a little photoshoot today to capture his 9 month cuteness. It took over 100 shots to get a good one with the hat on but we finally pulled it off.

Then I figured I'd kill 2 birds with one stone and get Coop in there too.

(Really, I couldn't wait to get them both all dressed up in their Christmas outfits :-)

And I saved the best for last. This one is my favorite!

(It really accentuates Carter's lumpiness.)

Who's who?

So my Dad said he found this picture of Carter but he was all dressed up in a dress...amazingly enough, I totally thought it looked like Carter too. So I just couldn't resist doing a little photoshop to get the real affect. What do you think?

These are a few of his Favorite things

This house may be old but it does provide a great bowling alley!

Rockin' out on the piano.

(You'd never guess he was singing I am a child of God :-)

Oh, and don't forget Mr. Lumpy here. This is his new favorite spot.

Right next to the toy chest so he can pull out toy, after toy, after toy. :-)