Phoenix Suns

Even though the Phoenix Suns are number 8 in the running for the Western Confrence Finals, they are my FAVORITE NBA team (and who knows, the spread is only two games, so they could jump up the ranks!) So out of all the tickets handed out, these are the ones I wanted. We were lucky enough to get extras so my sibs could go as well!!!

Featured in the top picture are two of my favs Steve Nash & Amar'e Stoudemire! YE-AH!

Half-time entertainment just made me smile! These little girls were so darn cute doing their little dance routine! I loved it!!!

Double Trouble

A friend from high school, Tonya, is due to have twin girls in the next little bit. So Mandi & Amber were kind enough to have a small baby shower for her. She got some really cute clothes & lots of best wishes! Having twins will definitely be a huge challenge, but I'm sure she'll be great at it! Good luck Tonya!

Me, Mandi, Tonya & her darling little girl, Crystal.

Bowling FHE Style

We've had several fun young couples move into our area & thought it might be a good time to all get together for some good old fashion bowling. We had several come & several that we hope can make it next time!

Top Left: Joshy Larsen. Top Right: Marley, Ray King, Shane & Debbie Mattingly. Bottom Left: Mack Larsen. Bottom Right: Mack Larsen, Shane Mattingly, & Marley.

BABY NUMBER TWO

Kevin & I both agreed that we should be having baby number two as Marley turned two. So we started trying May 2009. Month, after month, we had no luck. I kept thinking we'll just give it more time, but as the months passed, we started to think that maybe it just wasn't going to happen. It was hard to accept because Marley came so easily...we one day decided let's have a baby, and a month or so later, we were pregnant with Marley. So when December 2009 rolled up, I decided I was going to a fertility doctor. Several people I had worked with had done fertility treatments & were able to give me good advice & recommendations on who I should see. So I made the appointment for January 2010. Apparently, for me, making the appointment was enough because I took a pregnancy test January 9, 2010, low & behold it was positive! Whahoo! I definitely feel that all those months we were stressing unnecessarily & worrying too much about getting pregnant. When I made the fertility appointment is when we just relaxed & figured we'd wait until we saw the specialist & I think that's what did it! We are so excited to have another precious little baby in our home!! And even though they will be 2 1/2 years apart, I feel like it will work out better this way!

Birthday with Obasan

For my grandmother's birthday 83rd birthday, we all met for dinner. We were going to treat ourselves to some Brick Oven Pizza, but had a bit of a snafu with the seating arrangements. So we went to the next best place (according to the 65 & over crowd) the GC Buffet. Sometimes the Golden Corral isn't so golden, but we made an exception for her birthday.

All Bundled Up

This lovely woman at work, Mary, (who knit a very cute sweater for Marley last year) had given Marley this coat/hat/mitten set for my baby shower when I pregnant with Marley. I got it out the other day thinking that Marley can now wear it. She immediately put on the hat & tried to put on the mittens (both of which Mary knitted, by the way). So I wanted to get pictures of her in the whole thing & she completely cooperated with me (for once!)

Fake Lashes

My cute hair dresser, Niki, had these wonderful eyelashes on when I went to visit her last. She said that her secret was eyelash extensions. I LOVED how they looked & totally wanted to try them. I knew that I wouldn't be the only who would, so Alece, Tina, & Tina's sister, Jana, had them done as well. The girl that does them just came over to my parents house & we had them done in the same night. I tried to take some before & after photos, which didn't turn out too well, but I think you can see the difference!

Alece's eyelashes turned out so adorable!


Even though I look like Frankenstien here, you can see how awesome the lashes look!


If you look close enough, you can see what a difference the lashes made for our eyes!

Basketball & Bowling

Last week we got to watch Kevin's cousin, David Foster, play some U of U basketball. I know he doesn't like to hear how tall he is because, of course, he gets it FROM EVERYONE, but I have to share his unbelievable height...7'3"! FOR REAL! I mean, you can't really believe it even when you see it. It's weird because Kevin is so darn tall & David's nearly a foot taller!!! He's engaged to this really cute girl, Britta, who is about 6'1" so their children are going to be ginormous!!!! Anyway, keep any eye for him...he just might make the NBA Draft!! (I just got my Olympus camera fixed & I've realized that it's a good camera, but not as good as the Nikon, so some of these pictures lack a bit)


David is #51

Look at David compared to the ref!!

OK, so the U's mascot had to be doing meth or something...he kept up his wild, spastic "dancing" up through out the entire game!

It's Marley's first basketball game & I thought she did pretty well.

Her Papa Jerry bought her the CUTEST U of U cheer leading out fit! We love it!

Marley looks kind of dopey here, but she was experiencing her first taste of cotton candy. For some weird reason she thought she had to lick it to eat it.



FatCats is the site where the Annual Cooke Family Bowling Tournament is held. Each year, there is an adult & children's trophy to be won. As I'm sure anyone who's played a game with him (Mandi & Justin...), knows Kevin is ultra-competitive. As Kevin won the bowling trophy last year, he was determined to keep it. As part of one of our 12 Days of Christmas gifts from Ruth & Jerry, we got white t-shirts to tie-dye. Well I didn't get around to doing that & thought we'd go as the Plain White Ts, but I didn't even manage that!!

Jerry & his classic 'snug-fit' tie-dye.

This was Marley's first time bowling & I think she liked it quite a bit!

Woot! Kevin brings home the trophy once again (to Guy Fowlks' dismay) with a accumulative score of 257! Boo-yah! Ethan just wanted to hold the trophy, so I had to get a picture of that (Ethan actually won the grand kids trophy)!

All the grand kids got a consolation medal.

This is the best picture of all the kids together (so you can imagine how the other ones turned out). As you can see, Marley's cooperating really well (as usual)!

Red Lobster...my treat!

For New Year's Day this year, we had our annual out-to-eat outing. This year we went to Red Lobster for the seafood lover in all of us. My grandmother invited two of her cute little Japanese lady friends, but we missed Seth because he's recovering from a TERRIBLE episode of the flu turned bronchitis & who knows what else! (Get well Seth!) It was good to all get together again!

My Aunt Linda’s Obituary by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

LINDA WEBBER

Linda Webber of Reno passed away on Christmas morning 2009 after her courageous battle with cancer. She was born June 19, 1954 in Billings, MT to Alban and Oriya Sipe. She was married to her loving husband Larry for 36 years.

Linda recently retired after 30 years with the Washoe County Registrar of Voters Office. She was a Senior Deputy Registrar and built many close friendships with her co-workers. Linda enjoyed travelling with her husband and her favorite destination was San Francisco. She cherished her time spent with Blade the family golden retriever. She loved fine dining, a good cabernet sauvignon, BMWs, dragonflies, and anything purple.

Linda is survived by her husband Larry, her two sons Jason (Risa) of Bartlett, IL and Matthew of Boise, ID; her mother Oriya Webb of Orem, UT; sister Orimi Ackroyd (Doug) of Provo, UT; brother Richard Sipe of Billings, MT; brother David Sipe of Pleasant Grove, UT; sister Susan Hunter (Scott) of Uniontown, OH; as well as nine nieces and nephews.

Linda will be deeply missed by all who knew her. Upon her request there will be no services.


Published in Reno Gazette-Journal on December 31, 2009"

***Even though I thought I was getting closer to getting over my aunt's passing, reading this made my heart hurt!!! There are a lot of little reminders everywhere!

Let's Play Catch Up

My longtime friend, Necia, was in town to visit her family for Christmas & she was kind enough to invite Mandi & I to lunch at Kneaders. I really enjoyed catching up & seeing her again!

I love Sadie's eyes in the picture; their blue color is so intense!

Let's Play Dress Up

I had started to get Marley dressed on day & managed to get her shirt on. Then I left for a few minutes to get something & this is what I found her in...nice! She seemed to think that PJ bottoms & a swim suit matched her shirt! She's such a goofy kid & I love it!

Christmas Day

This was such a wonderful Christmas. This is the first year that Marley actually started to understand presents. Kevin & I were up until 1:30 am Christmas Eve while Kevin put together her adorable kitchen. (Kevin had put the fire truck together earlier & we put it in the back room & forgot to shut the door. Later, I heard a 'ding, ding, ding' coming from that room & I found Marley in there ringing the fire truck bell! Dang it!) She didn't wake up until 9:45, but the look on her face when she rounded the corner was priceless & worth the wait! She loves, loves, LOVES the kitchen! In fact, we couldn't get her to open any of her other gifts because she wanted to play with her kitchen the whole time. I started opening some of her gifts, hoping she would see what I was doing & that she would help me out...but nothing could tear her away!

She also really liked the fire truck & her little play house.

Papa Jerry, Grandma Ruth, & Great-Grandma Violet came by later that morning to see what Marley got from Santa.

Christmas Eve

Dear sweet Ruth & Jerry provided a fantastic Christmas Eve party for us & Kevin's siblings & their families. She made a delicious meal & we played LRC & just hung out! It was really laid back & relaxing.


Upper left: Emorie & Kevin, how cute!

Wow! Jerry that's quite the smile!

We played LRC (left, right, center) using chocolate coins instead of dollars. Marley really liked the chocolate coins & kept trying to pass out extras to everyone (you start out with 3).

Marley got a cute little knit hat that her cousin Isabelle made for her (I tried to get a picture of her wearing it but Marley wasn't having any of that!) & books (surprise, surprise) from Alyssa. Marley immediately went to Aunt Trina to have her read her new book!

Emorie & Trina were SO excited to open the gifts Kevin & I gave them...

Emorie & Ethan showcasing the fleecy delight that only a Snuggie can provide!

Kevin got the best present ever from his nephew, Seth. Ton Katsu Sauce & Panko crumbs! That sauce is SO hard to find!

This had to be the best present of the night! Years ago Jerry got Trina's name & gave her a shirt with his face & 'favorite father-in-law' printed on it. Shortly after I married Kevin, Trina got my name for Christmas & re-gifted that delightful shirt to me (as I'm the only other daughter-in-law). The next year, I got her name, so I re-gifted it back to her. This year Trina got Jerry's name...& she got really creative this year! Such a brown-noser!

This year we decided to get the best possible Christmas present for Ruth & Jerry. I just had to take pictures of her face as she opened it! It was pictures of all the grand kids as a group & individually. See the pictures below:

A few months back, we managed to get all the grandchildren together & Kevin took some great pictures of them (even if we did take a couple hundred pictures to get a few good ones, it was totally worth it!)

Kevin couldn't resist the Snuggie's appeal.

Aren't they so adorable!