6 years old!

Cooper-I cannot believe you are already 6!! You are such a strength in our family, and we love you so much. Here are some things about you at 6 years old:

-You LOVE animals. You will rotate between favorites, and when an animal is your favorite you learn everything about them and are obsessed for a month or two until you pick a new one. Your current favorite animal is the eagle, you started loving it after watching the Rescuers Down Under.

-Your favorite color is still orange.

-You love basketball, and you are really good at it! You are one of the only kids on your team that can run down the court while dribbling, and can do it with either hand.  You are still learning how to be aggressive.

-Your favorite shows are Wild Kratts and Rescue-Bots

-Your are very picky about what you wear. Your favorite outfit is a Captain America shirt with blue warm up pants.

-Your favorite foods are pizza, chicken nuggets, meatballs, and chicken tikki marsala. (An indian dish) You are very picky about what you eat, but if you like it you will eat a lot of it!

-You beg for lunchables for school lunch every day.

Some things that we love about you:

-You are so GOOD. You have your moments, but you generally are trying to do the right thing, even if you aren't being asked.

-You make friends easily.

-You are talented, it seems like you excel at almost anything you try.

-You are confident. Even in new or uncomfortable situations, you do what you need to do and do it bravely.

-You are observant.

-You have a strong testimony and knowledge of the gospel already.

-You are organized, and you love to plan things. (Like family night)

-You are a self-starter.

-You have a great sense of humor.

-You know what you want.

I will probably be adding to this list for the next couple of days as I think of more things. We love you SO much and our family wouldn't be the same without you! You are such a special, special boy, and we are so grateful that you are ours.

What does the fox say??

Your current obsession is with foxes. I'm not sure how it started, but when you got a Ranger Rick Jr with a full size poster of a fox that sealed the deal. Out of true love, I downloaded the "what does the fox say?" song for you and we have been listening to it a lot!

You know everything about foxes, and want a real fox for Christmas. While we were in St.George, we went to a wildlife museum and there were a couple foxes there that you loved looking at.

I love the obsessions you get with things, and can't believe how much you are able to learn about them! You are one fun+smart boy!

Primary Program

Cooper-

The day we left for St.George, you had your primary program. You did awesome, of course! You spoke big and loud, right into the microphone and had your part memorized. Your part was "Because God created our bodies to be like His, I can take care of mine by eating healthy foods and playing outside." (You came up with the last part).  You also knew most of the songs, and did a great job singing. You were well behaved most of the time, but turned around to whisper to your buddy Will a couple of times. You make us so proud, Cooper. You are a great boy and we love you!

General Conference

Cooper-

Today was the first day of General Conference. You blew me away. Let me tell you about why...
We have been having more contention than we should have in our home lately. Everybody has been in a bit of a rut I think. But you have picked up on this. On Monday, we had a lesson on General Conference, and I told you boys that when you listen to General Conference, Heavenly Father tells the speakers what to talk about. So I told you boys to think of a question that you would ask Heavenly Father if you could talk to him. Your question was, "how can our family be nicer?" Then I told you boys that if you listened to the talks, you would get an answer to your question.

We haven't talked a lot about our questions since then. Today we watched conference. As I was putting you to bed, I wanted to share my answers with you, but first I asked if either of you had received an answer to your questions. I was surprised when you said, "Yes!" When I asked you what your answer was you told me "during one of the talks, someone said that if you want to have a better family than you need to read scriptures, so we need to read scriptures". I was speechless! The crazy thing is that this was one of the things that I was prompted to improve upon while listening to conference today too.

You are such a blessing to our family. Thank you for sharing your goodness with us! We love you so much!

xoxo Mom

Basketball

You played basketball for the first time this summer! You loved it! You say it is your favorite sport. You are pretty good, especially since we didn't practice much before you started the season. You are a great dribbler, and scored a basket during one of your games.

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

I was so nervous for your first day of school! I barely could sleep the night before thinking about how much I will miss you!

We woke up early, and you didn't complain at all. We got ready so fast, and had about 30 minutes before you had to be at school. We took pictures before you left for school.

Cole was still asleep when it was time for you to leave, but you didn't want to leave without saying bye to Cole. I told you to go and give Cole a little kiss while he was sleeping, but of course he woke up. He came out to say good-bye to you in the backyard. As you were walking out the back fence to go to school you asked if you could give Cole one last hug before leaving. You ran back to him to give him another hug. Such a sweet moment. You boys love each other.

You seemed a little bit nervous, but were so brave and excited about starting school.

When we picked you up, you were so excited because you were on "orange" for good behavior. You are often one of the very best behaved kids in class.

When I asked if you had a good day, you said yes! When I asked if you were excited to go back the next day, you said "there's school tomorrow too?!" I guess you thought it was a one day event!

Your favorite part of the day is "block classes" where you get to go to different areas of the school like the library or the computer lab, and pe, recess, and lunch!

We told you that we would give you a quarter for everybody that you met at school if you could come home and tell us their name and something about them. You came home one day and said that you had met a friend. I asked you his name.  You said, "I don't know, we aren't allowed to talk" I asked what you did with him and how you became friends. You said, I don't know, but I can tell you his favorite thing to do. I said what? You said "Be quiet" and you were dead serious. hahaha, I am still laughing about this. You are such a good boy and always follow the rules. 

Getting Ready for School

Cooper,

You start school tomorrow! You are mostly excited, I think. We met your teacher and saw your classroom last week. Your teacher's name is Mrs.Fernandez. She seemed very nice.  I was choked up just walking into the school last week. It is hard for me to send you to school! Cole and I will miss you like crazy here at home, but I'm sure you will love it.

Dad gave you a blessing tonight, and we ate cinnamon rolls afterwards. In the blessing, he blessed you to always know that Heavenly Father is near you, and that you will be able to understand what the teacher is teaching, and that you will be able to learn what you should, specifically that your reading will improve, and that you will learn through teaching your family at home.

You are going to love school! I hope I do too!

xo
mom