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Looking for Addresses...

Hey everyone! We are in need of your addresses for Christmas cards! Mainly I need our cousins and friends. Please e-mail me your addresses at laurenranae@hotmail.com soon. Thanks!

more backtracking

The day after thanksgiving the Baker side got together for game night! It was really a lot of fun! We played kids games like Duck-Duck-Goose, Hide-and-seek, princess UNO, and a Ballet game. It was funny to see adults play these games and the girls hiding spots. Grandpa Clyde found a good spot once and the girls couldn't find him. He wouldn't tell us where his spot was so next time he has a good spot still.

backtrack

Almost forgot to post about Thanksgiving! I love an excuse to eat until I'm tired, see movies and relax with family. It was the VanOrden side this year and we had a very yummy dinner. We went to Old Dogs before the meal and I couldn't tell you if it was good or not because Cooper and I were in the hall for most of it. But My favorite thing is to be with family and watch them love my kids. Melia really enjoyed her turkey this year and ate a whole piece, who needs a fork, right? We played some games and had a great thanksgiving. I am so thankful for a great family!

Dad's Birthday

My Dad had his 60th Birthday this last week and took us all out. I think it was so fun that he wanted to go to Ifly for his birthday. If you haven't heard of this it was a blast! It's a skydiving simulator. They give you a bit of instruction suit you up and you go into a wind tunnel to fly! A trained professional is in there with you and helps you go up in circles. The video below is a bit long but it's funny to see us all flying! It was so fun! After we went to eat and talked about my great Dad! Thanks so much dad for having such a fun birthday! We love you!

Melia's recital

Melia had her first Dance Recital! I was nervous that she wouldn't do it but she did great! She was even on beat and everything. I am so proud of her.


Her cousin Bell is in the same Dance Company so we got to see both of them. They are cute dancers! It was a lot of fun!

New Blog

I want to keep this blog more just about are family, so I started a new blog for my more political/goofy life stuff. Check it out.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!! Paul's Blog!

Utah vs. Utah St

So I have taken Melia to a football game about a year ago when she was 2. She did ok but was a bit restless. I decided the other night to take her to a Utah basketball game. She was a hoot she was cheering the whole game s loud as she could. As you can tell in this video how serious she was. She was asking a lot of questions about what was going on.

Princesses on ice

On Friday we took Melia to see Princesses on Ice! It was so fun to have the night all about her. Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Mark watched Cooper so we could all go enjoy the night! I loved being able to do that it really gave me chance to just enjoy her. She is so fun! She loved the show! I think she was a perfect age for it, who knows soon it may night be so real. She kept asking me "Is her face the same as in the movie" My answer was always "Of course!" I just never want her to lose the magic! Here she is waiting for the show so excited.
During the show she would stop to show us her own moves. She also asked Daddy if he would teach her how to spin fast on ice skates like the princesses did.
A fun night with just her Mom and Dad!
The princesses all together.

Embracing the cold...

So last time it snowed we hid in our house watching movies...yesterday we decided to go out and embrace the snow. It really took some effort to get out of the house with all the gear on but it felt good. Cooper was pretty happy about going "ousi" but he did have a hard time walking in his new boots so he kept falling over. Plus he didn't want to put on his gloves so his hands were freezing. But he sure is cute all bundled up!Melia's first snow angel of the year!

We had to end the day with some hot chocolate and oreos! Who doesn't end every day like that? I seriously have to confess my love for oreos, I think I could eat a whole pack by myself!
Melia discovered that our tub has jets! The bubbles just kept coming and coming, but I'm sure it felt so good after a cold day in the snow! I guess winter won't be so bad after all!

Little trip

This past weekend we took a little trip to St.George. It's always nice to not have to go very far but still have some warm weather, we love it there! We went with Kemery, McCall and their kids Bowen, Avery and Bennett. The kids had a blast! They were up at the crack of dawn and didn't go to sleep till almost midnight every day. We visited an old "Ghost town" it was used for mining silver. It was neat to see and a little spooky because the graves all said "Unknown". Some even had flowers on them so we wondered who came to visit these unknown graves. We also went to the splash park and the kids loved the fountains. They were soaked! After we went to the eat at Bear Paw Cafe. And let me just tell you it is the BEST breakfast ever!!! Michelle had told me it was good but I didn't realize just how good it would be. I got the french toast stuffed with vanilla creme bu le( not sure how to spell that), eggs, sausage and the home fries. If you are going to St.George you have to eat there. The weekends always go quick but it was a nice little get away!

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween! Melia was a witch... a scary witch she would say and Cooper was a lion. We went to Breakfast with the witches at Gardner Village. It was early but yummy and fun to see all those witches, they were great! After we went home and carved some oranges, and Pumpkins with Grandma Sheila. When Dad got home it was time for some yummy mummy's and Trick-or-treating of course. This was the first year that Melia was really into it. She would run to each house and wanted lots of candy. She told me a couple days ago that she would need 2 buckets to fill up. haha Cooper also really enjoyed people giving him candy, he didn't quite learn how to say"trick-or-treat" but he did say lots of "tank to's". (thank you) We got home and enjoyed the candy and Melia even let me have a big one someone gave her, she was so nice to share. After her tub that turned black from her hair it was off to bed! Happy Halloween hope you all had fun.

on a cold day...

Our favorite thing to do on a cold day... cuddle and watch movies in mom's bed. Yes I laugh because Melia calls this my bed(not dads) and if he is in it sometimes she tells him to get out. But today it is cold and we are hiding from the weather. We gave Cooper his nap and cuddled up to Tinkerbell the Lost Treasure. And you can't forget the popcorn!

Happy Halloween!!

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Obama's recent awards

Booper!

I'm always thinking about how grateful I am that I am able to get what the kids need. I just can't imagine not being able to get them food, or clothing etc. I just got Cooper a super warm coat, hat, gloves the whole shibang and it just feels good when I'm done shopping for the winter season. I am truly feel pain thinking of all those mothers who are struggling to support their families. I wish I could help them somehow. I think it would feel bad enough not being able to provide for yourself but if you had children I can't even imagine that feeling.

Well anyway I'm grateful for what we have. Even though when we got home and tried everything on Cooper was not so happy. He is very much my summer boy already. He was so mad he had all these layers on I hope he gets used to it!

He was so funny tonight he was cracking me up. He found the open pantry and somehow the Oreos were on the bottom shelf(I'm sure his big sister had something to do with that) so he grabbed the whole thing and brought it into the living room. I just had to give him one, but when it fell in half he was so upset! He picked up the other piece and put it back together. He is such a little dancer now his 3 moves are great... the arm swing the head bop and the stomp stomp! His football face is a must see ( I'll have to try to get pics ) and his new accomplishment just tonight.. drum roll please... He can say all the names in his family. Mama, Dada, Lela and Booper! I just died laughing when I heard him say his name for the first time! I tried so hard to get it on video but when he saw the camera he just wanted to grab it and walk around saying "cheese" He is stinkin cute!!

girls day!

Saturday was girls day! Started out with a fun shower for kristi at Gardner Village. It was so weird to see little tiny kristi with a little tiny belly. I couldn't stop rubbing her belly and I got to feel little Leah kick! I love that feeling, it's really so amazing how that all works. Anyway kristi I'm super excited for you! You will love to have a little girl! And since the witches just came out boy was it busy! But it was a blast to see everyone and get to spend the afternoon together!

Just a side note my sisters always made these cute diaper cakes and lately Michelle and I have needed to make a lot of them for various showers! We think they are adorable and if anyone wants us to make them for you let us know!

So while the boys were at Conference the VanOrden girls all got together. We went to Cheesecake Factory(thanks sheila!) it was so yummy! A must try there... the Red Velvet cheesecake. It is to die for! It was funny though because we called on the way there and they said it would only be a 35 min wait we thought no big deal right? So we went in and waited probably twice that much time. By the time we got seated my kids were so funny! Cooper ate like crazy and showed us all his football face a lot and Melia well... she decided to make friends with a table that was outside and a little boy that was eating he was probably around 10 months old. She kept playing peek-a-boo with him and then out of no where mooned him! All the girls tried their best not to laugh while I explained to her why that wasn't ok to do. Hopefully they didn't loose their appetites! For some reason I can't find the pictures from that night so here is a funny pic of my cute sis-in-laws from a different time!

Great lesson

A $50 Lesson

I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? '

She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'

Her parents beamed with pride.

'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. '

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, ' Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50? '

I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

Just a thought...

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Adrian Rogers, 1931

Cooper's favorite

Cooper loves to play in the car!

Way to go!

Last Saturday Michelle and Mark did a triathlon! We went to see them at the finish line! Just watching makes me want to do something like this(maybe just a race though) They swam, biked then ran! I'm not sure the exact miles of each but I know I would have been so tired not sure I could have done it! So congrats you two I think your awsome!

St.George

We had a fun trip to St. George! Paul and Brad were going to the furniture show in Las Vegas so Angie and I decided to drive down with them and stay in St.George while they went to the show. We did a lot of swimming and it felt so nice to be in the warm weather while we heard in really rained at home. We met up with Carrie, her sis and cousin for some shopping at the outlets (I'm sad we didn't get a pic!) We stopped by the splash park(I'm not sure what it's really called?) and let the kids play in the water and yes we weren't prepared for it Melia got soaked in her clothes! We also went to the temple and a few parks one of which we tried to quickly leave it's hard to guess what parks are good and clean when you don't live around but at least it made us laugh. We mainly just hung out at Brad's Dad's house, thanks so much to him and to Angie for letting us come! We had fun but we were ready for our husbands to get back. Next time we are planning a nice relaxing vacation with all the girls( and no kids ;)

Unofficial Last Day of Summer

Things we will miss...
Dipping your feet in cool water after hiking
Going up to the mountains in a tank top on a sunday afternoon
Golf
Cute babies in sun hats!

Fireworks, warm nights and glow sticks!
Hiking up to Secret Lake with cousins Melia Holly Lily and Bella
Melia's first Alpine slide ride!

The park
Lagoon Melia, Avery, and Bowen
Day break beach


Well it has been a fun fun summer and I think I almost cried today when we left my parents pool for the last time. I really love love love summer so much. It just feels so good to feel the warmth, but today we could feel the cool air coming as we got out of the pool. We have done all the fun summer things though; Lagoon, fishing, hiking, and of course lots of swimming! We had a blast the other day at daybreak beach with Angie, Kenley and of course Riley! Melia and Cooper loved the sand, Melia compared it to Mexico but for me there was still a little something missing. ;) These were just a few pics to remind me in the winter that summer will come again soon!!

Just another day...

Here's how it went...
French toast for 4
2 Kids taking Baths
1 Kid screaming to get dressed
1 Nap for cooper
5 laundry loads
1 Ride in the car
1 aunt visit
1 Disney princess movie
3 tiny fits over sharing
4 otter pops on the porch
1 ride on the bike and car
1 more nap
1 mud castle
Lots of silly moments
1 run in the sprinklers
1 soaked girl laughing
3 I love you's
2 visits from granparents
1 yummy peach
1 new word "football"
2 kids sleeping
All adds up to me thinking that even though each day may seem like nothing it is everything.

Funny Melia!

So the other day Lauren was getting rid of Coopers bottles(putting them in storage) Melia askes "why don't you just throw them away" Lauren says "well in case someday down the road we have another baby" Melia's response "or maybe we could save them for when I get older & marry Bowen (my good friend Kemery's son) & we have kids"

Melia Always giving us a laugh.

Cooper's Birthday videos

ONE

Happy 1st Birthday to my little Cooper! I am so glad to have this little guy in my life. I never knew that I could love a little boy this much! He is such a fun cute little guy. He gives great "loves" and "kisses" to all those he knows. I love his huge smile, he has 6 teeth now. He screams when he gets really excited, and he still has those big blue eyes. He is walking all over the place now and I think it's stinkin cute! He knows a few animal sounds like the lion, duck, snake, cat, and dog. Oh and he loves dogs! Every morning he wakes up and finds his way to our back door and points saying "dog." If he ever is not happy all we have to do is take him "ousi"(outside). He loves cars, balls, animals...in fact animal planet is his favorite! He is a true boy! I think that I believe that boys will be boys because we had so many princess pink toys and he always seems to find the few cars or balls we have. He loves the "waater" and splashes in the pool and tries to blow bubbles too. I love his little laugh and his fake one too! We are so blessed to have this joy in our lives. Happy Birthday my booboo!!!

WOW!

Let me get this straight. Obama's health care plan will be written by a
committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that
hasn't read it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by a treasury chief who
did not pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed
by a country that is nearly broke. What could possibly go wrong?

Seriously funniest video ever!

Ronald Reagan on socialized medicine

A good old find, very insightful, a good watch.

We are the Champions!

The Champions of the softball league... (back row first left to right)

JonJon, Nick, Matt, John, John,

Matt, Kemery, Paul, Alex, Jeremy

(missing: James and Jeff)

It was a great season and Paul put together a fun team. They lost a couple early on games and fought back to win 9 in a row to force a play off game against Bubba'a Boys. They won this team once and lost them once. With a great defensive effort they beat Bubba's Boys 11-2! Way to go guys we had fun watching you!

Bowen (Kemery's little boy) and Melia celebrating together. These two are the cutest. We went swimming the other day and they decided they were going to get married, we approve.
Both our kids love big trophies !
Way to go Dad!