It's fair time again!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything.  I've been BUSY!!!  Our annual family reunion on the 4th of July weekend kept me busy with preparations before and cleaning up afterwards.  We had 91 here.  We plan to make a big push for next year and try to get most everyone home and have a family float in the parade.  Fun times!!

 We went to our county fair last night.  We spent the evening going through the commercial building and seeing the animals.  The girls spent most of their time in the horse barns.  My niece, Bridgette, overcame her fear and petted the horses.  

 Ryan rode in his stroller most of the night, but he had to get out and stretch his legs.  He didn't quite know what to think of all the animals he saw.  His face was just a study all evening.

 Nanna was glad to see her friend Peaches.  Just her size!

 The man at the back of the horse is Danny Hooks.  The girls look him up every year.  He is giving them a lesson in horse safety in this picture.  He also taught them the parts of the horse.  He gives them  a ride most years.  4-H rules say that no one can ride the horse before the competition except the person that will be riding the horse in the competition.  Since we were there on Monday night and the competition was Tuesday, he told them to come back Wednesday and he would give them a ride.  You can bet they put that on their schedule!!  They love to ride!

This is not a very good picture since it was getting so dark, but this is how Grandpa & Grandma Cooper saw the fair...in our Polaris Ranger.  Grandpa's health has been declining recently, and he wasn't able to walk the fairgrounds.  I called Saturday and got permission to take the Ranger out to the fairgrounds so he didn't have to miss everything.  This way, he was able to see all the animal barns and quite a few friends.  He enjoyed himself, but we sure wore him out.  When we were ready to go home, we all piled in to go back to the van.  We filled both seats and the bed with me, Gary, Grandpa, Grandma, Meagan, Krissy, Ryan, Erin, Heather, Laura, Kara, Leah, & Nanna.  We must have been quite a site!!  But we had a good time!!!

Happy birthday, Laura!

 Laura's 12th birthday was Saturday, June 29th.

 We had her party at 11:00 for lunch so that everyone could be there.  It's hard to coordinate everybody's schedules anymore!!  Laura didn't mind because she got to open her presents sooner!!

 I'll bet you can't guess what's in that long package in her hands!

 It's a bat!

And Grady loves her new softball!!

Photo Shoot

Erin did a photo shoot with the boys when they were both here on Thursday.  None of the pictures are spectacular by a photographer's standards, but they are all adorable.  They capture their personalities well.  Ryan is 16 months, and Grady is 8 months.

Our Graduate

We had a kindergarten graduation party for Analise (better known as Nanna) on June 22nd.  Woody and Jessie were all dressed for graduation too.

 Erin made some beautiful cupcakes for the party.  Nanna had a good time at her party with all of the family here to help her celebrate.

Kara, the Cook

When Kara (age 9) was about 5, she liked to help me in the kitchen.  One afternoon, I was making banana bread.  I had all the wet ingredients in and was ready to add the flour when the washer or dryer buzzed.  When I came back from caring for that, there was a big pile of flour in my mixing bowl.  After I shrieked, "Kara, what did you do?", I asked her how much she had put in.  Of course, she had no idea.  So I did the only thing I could think of...put in enough flour until it looked 'about right'.  That was the best banana bread I'd ever made!  That became the standing joke, just let Kara make it!  Since she wasn't reading well yet, Autumn made her a picture recipe.  I guess you could call it a rebus recipe.  From that time on, Kara has been in charge of banana bread at our house.