Good News

Jeremy was able to contact his last part time job and is able to start doing that on Monday.  So at least we have 2 part time jobs until he can find another full-time job.  And his old job set up 2 interviews for him on Monday for full time positions there!  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

News

Joseph started army crawling 2 days ago.  I'm amazed at how good he is considering he's still pretty new at it.

Clara's balloon (whom she named Ballooney) popped about 3 weeks ago.  Instead of throwing it away, she put it in her toy tea pot and set up a shrine.  When we were going through all our toys and things yesterday, I asked her if we could finally throw Ballooney away.  Her response, "No, I love Ballooney.  She deserves to be in a tea pot forever!"

I found another gopher snake in our yard this week and am happy to report I relocated it rather than killing it.

We also found out this week that after working for a month, Jeremy's new company has decided they don't have enough work for him to do.  We have been reduced to part time.  So Jeremy is once again job hunting.  If anyone knows any graphic design positions that are open, please send them our way!

Memorial Day

We visited the graves of our family members this week.  I love that Clara is finally old enough to understand the relationships these people have with us.  I can tell her that this person is Grandpa's mom, and she gets it.

Here is Clara with Clara's headstone.

And here is where Clara wrote "I love you" with some stuff she got from a tree. (It's at the bottom of the head stone.)

Both of my children's middle names came from the same person.  So here are both kids with Beth Cooper's head stone.

Joseph loved this pin wheel.  He loved making it turn and got so excited when it turned by itself.

I also love how much Joseph loves his uncle.  They have a great bond, and I love seeing them together.

One of my nephews were unable to make it to the family festivities because he was in the hospital.  He appendix burst, and the doctors think it had burst 2 days before his surgery.  We missed you Cameron, but are so glad you are home and doing well!

Pretty Kitty

We've been borrowing a cat costume.  When it was time to return it, Clara needed me to take a picture of her in it so we could always remember it.  I think she's the prettiest kitty around!

Clara also surprised us this week by cleaning up the toy room all by herself!  That was an especially nice surprise.  I can't believe how big my little girl is getting.  I also can't wait to give her more responsibilities now that I know she can do them.  :)

Clara's skills as an artist improve each day.  Jeremy was so proud of this sword that Clara drew all by herself.

And the last news worthy even in our house this week was a surprise visit by this guy:

We knew rattlesnakes live in our area since we live right next to open fields that haven't been developed yet.  But I was completely shocked to walk out by back door and find this guy in my yard.  It was probably about 3 feet long, and since I had never heard of gopher snakes, I thought for sure it was a rattle snake.  After a huge commotion from several neighbors, (who all concluded it was a rattle snake) we finally decided it was best to behead this guy.  Turns out that it takes snakes a LONG time to stop moving after they no longer have a head.  It was over 45 min before it stopped wiggling. 
That night I did some research online to help me decide the best plan of action the next time I encounter a rattle snake in my yard.  It was only then that I learned about gopher snakes.  After doing more research and looking at all the photos I had of our beheaded friend, that I realized we had killed a gopher snake, not a rattle snake.  Then I felt completely guilty.  So sorry friendly little guy!

Dentist

Clara got to go to the dentist for the first time!  She was super brave; I was so proud of her.  She was a little scared, but did everything the dental assistant asked her to do.  The teeth cleaning hurt her a little, but she just squeezed my hand and didn't make a sound.  Way to go Clara!

We were also able to go to Thanksgiving Point gardens this week.  Clara is my little scaredy cat, so I was impressed that she was climbing this high by the time we left.

Joseph is moving.... backwards.  I left the room for just a minute and when I came back, I found him like this.  He wasn't happy for very long when he realized he couldn't move anymore.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Clara was so excited to celebrate the day with me.  She made my breakfast for me, and was so proud of herself for doing so.  It was eggs, and she took over once I got all the eggs into the pan, but she kept stirring and stirring until they were all cooked.  We were also able to spend the day with by my mom and Jeremy's mom.  It was a great Sunday.

Missionaries

Jeremy's parents reported to the MTC today.  We will miss them, but are so happy they chose to be such great examples to our children and serve a mission. 

Saturday we attended the temple as an entire family.  All of John and Sharon's children were there along with all the spouses. It was truly a session to remember.

On Sunday, we were able to be in attendance when they got set apart.  Here's a picture of Elder and Sister Beck.

The nice thing about being a senior couple missinary is that you have a little more flexibility than the younger missionaries.  They get to drive their own car to their mission, and spend a little more time with family before they head East.  They are only in the MTC for a week, and will spend more time with the family this coming weekend before they leave for Georgia.

Other happenings this week included my niece's 3rd birthday party.  I love how excited she got over the simple things.

This little girl has one talented mom.  Rachael made the birthday cake!

One day this last week, Jeremy and Joseph wore matching clothes.  Jeremy made sure we got a picture before we got Joe's PJs on!