Station 95 Open

Saturday was the Station open house for the station that I volunteer at. We do open houses every year so the public can meet us and see how their money is being spent. Here are some photo's from the events.

One of the Medstar helicopters landing in the field across from the station.

Cooper

Mason

Some of the volunteer fighter fighters I work with.

Smoky the Bear needed a hug.

Ladder 91 extended. Look how close it can get to the ground. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

I got to go up in the bucket and watch Medstar take off. Here is the view of the Prairie from the top.

The station

Friend Party

Friday night Cooper had a birthday party with his friends.

Meet the party guests.

The birthday boy

Caleb

Zachary

BenjaminBrennen (I'm too cool for a Mater hat)

Mason (I'm also too cool for a Mater hat)

Carter and Allen

First we sang "Happy Birthday" to Cooper and had cake and ice cream.

Then we opened presents.

Then it was outside to whack the pinata. Priceless. Blackmail. Cooper Carter
Benjamin
Caleb
EthanZachary
Mason
Allen Brennen


Then when everyone had a turn whacking the pinata, Jeff took it to the grass and dumped out the goods.


Then they played and ate candy.

End of party.

Happy Birthday

Today is Cooper's 4th Birthday! This little man keeps us going. Back to the fridge that is. The other day he said to me, "Mom I love to eat because I love food". He speakes the truth there. He sure can pack away the food and out eats me all the time.

Cooper is such a loveable guy and has one of the best laughs I have ever heard. He has taken on his role as big brother #2 really well. He is very protective of Shiloh and is very willing to help us out with her (most of the time).

We are so blessed to have Cooper in our family!

Birth
One year oldTwo years old
Three years old
Four years old

On two wheels

Mason can FINALLY ride his bike without training wheels! I have wondered all summer if this day would come. Last night I was over at our neighbor, Jodie's house telling her how frustrated I was that Mason wouldn't get on his bike after falling off one day, scrapping his elbows. And to top that off, he wouldn't listen to me or any new ideas I wanted him to try. Jodie told me that they got their son, Evan, to ride last summer by coasting down their driveway with his feet a few inches off the ground and if he felt like he was going to fall, then he would put his feet down. I asked her if she would tell Mason how her son learned. I figured maybe he needed someone else to encourage and help him. After Jodie showed him how to coast down the driveway, Mason got on Evan's bike because it is a little smaller than Mason's and coasted down their driveway a few times. Mason said he felt safer on Evan's bike, so he asked if he could trade Evan bikes for a week or so.

This morning Mason was eager to get out and try again. He continued coasting down the driveway. Once he was able to coast down without putting his feet on the ground, I told him to try putting his feet on the pedals, and start pedaling. Once he did that he was able to ride with no problems.

Way to go Mason! We love you and are so proud of your accomplishment!

Standing tall

On Saturday I went in to get Shiloh up from her nap and this is what I found. She had a worried look on her face that said, "help I got up, but I don't know how to get myself back down".

She is so proud of herself and so are we.

Clap and crawl

Shiloh clapped and crawled all at the same time. No. Not really. That would be some mad skills now wouldn't it? BUT she did clap and crawl all on the same video. Now that is some impressive stuff right there.

So she clapped for the first time on Thursday. I was at my sister's house and she noticed it first. I thought it was unintentional because of how wild Shiloh flapped her hands around while clapping, but she has been clapping ever since.

Water Bums

After sliding down the slide into their pool, playing on their slip and slide, playing in the sprinkler, and being chased with the hose by mom, for 3 hours. This is all they wanted to do. Can you see them curled up in their towels on the floor?

On the move

Well IT has happened. Miss Shiloh has been crawling for about a week now. This is a love/hate stage for me. I love that she can get around by herself and discover more of the world around her. I hate that she can get around by herself and get into everything.

Hummmm I wonder how I can get up these?

What's in here? (Then after taking the picture, she tried to stand up and the box fell over on top of her.)

goodbye yellow, HELLO RED

Jeff received this letter in the mail today:

It is a letter of promotion to Lieutenant at the fire station he volunteers at.
Along with the promotion, he gets to wear a red helmet instead of a yellow one. So, he went to administration today and traded in his helmets. He brought them home for the kids to see.

And of course they had to try them on.

Congratulations Jeff on the promotion! I am so proud of you and your desire to serve your community!

Family Pictures

We really needed to take new family pictures.

One day my sister-in-law, Michelle, posted a picture of her Dad's antique firetruck on her blog. When I saw that, I figured it would be the perfect prop for pictures, with Jeff being a volunteer firefighter and all. So thanks Michelle for having a Dad with an antique firetruck and for arranging everything for us to use it!

And I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I saw the pictures and saw that both boys smiled. That has never happened.

Here is the link to some of our pictures:
http://calijenaephotography.com/blog/?p=876