Aubrey's Gymnastic Debut

One of Aubrey's favorite teenagers in the ward is Anne Stephenson. I took Aubrey to see Anne compete in a Miss Teen Spokane pageant. The,talent Anne performed was gymnastics. Aubrey thought that was the coolest thing ever, Gymnastics in a show! From then on she has asked to do gymnastics. She has done them before and had lost interest, but seeing Anne renewed her enthusiasm. So this summer I signed each of the kids up for a "camp". Garrett was golf, Aubrey Gymnastics and Dalyn, swimming lessons. At the end of Aubrey's week long Gymnastics camp she was able to be participate in a show. What joy and excitement, a show!!!! However, with all that excitement came nerves. Aubrey was so nervous she hardly slept the 2 nights before. She is so interesting that way, she loves people and doesn't have a shy bone in her body until it comes to performing! So she fretted about this show for days and when the day finally arrived she was nervous but excited. True to form, she did wonderfully and performed each of the choreographed moves with care. We were so proud of her! She is a light and a joy to everyone around her. People love Aubrey because Aubrey loves people. She has so much love to give!

Posted

I just posted a ton of pictures on my blog and it took forever so...check my blog to see them if you want. http://the-pope-fam.blogspot.com

Cheese Hog

Dexter's Dinosaur has a name now, and he protects the room, though he sometimes gets hungry...

If you're wondering how I got the window to over-expose while keeping the room properly exposed, it's a secret I'll reveal at the next family reunion. :)

Broc, we hope you're not offended, we lowered the mountains a little to brighten the room. It had a nice effect of making Cheese Hog look bigger!

Yellowstone Cabin

I know....1001 pictures. But if you blow-it up, it's not that bad. July was the month of the reunions. First, my family went to a cabin in Sundance right after the 4th and had a fabulous time (no post yet, sorry). Then, two weeks later, we were up at the Dahmer/Lund Cabin in Yellowstone. Here are just some of the pictures from our fun trip. The mosquitoes were bearable (thanks to a great new product), the birthday party was loads of fun, the baptism was very special, the water was cold-yet enjoyable, and spending time with family was priceless. Thanks for some fun memories!

It's a GIRL!

Laura Kathleen Gundersen was born Friday night, August 1st. 8 pounds 9 ounces, 20 inches long.
The kids couldn't be happier about the whole thing...
...at least all but Graham, who went from losing interest to...
...well...let's just say he likes being the baby of the family.
And here's the obligatory going-home-outfit-picture.
Laura is absolutely wonderful! She's very mellow, is eating and sleeping well, and rarely cries. We love her.

Registry

I know all of you are dieing to buy little Beckham's some presents so here is how you can. We were registered at Wal-mart but they didn't have very much that we liked. So we are now registered at Target and not at Wal-mart. Thank you all so much we love you and all that great stuff.

Baby Stuff

Julie and I love using all of you wonderfully knowledgeable people for your....knowledge. Anyway, Julie and I want to know what things you guys found wonderfully useful as a new parent. We are making a registry at Wal-MArt and would love your input.

Vaccines

I have a question for the whole family. Julie and I have been exposed to a lot of anti vaccination propaganda, and I want to know if any of you had any reservations about vaccinating your children? Were any of you worried about it and if so, what calmed your worries? It seems the only people who are really passionate about the subject are against them and I really would like a balanced perspective before we make our decision. Thanks everyone.

Blessing Outfit

Since everyone is showing off there amazing crafts, I thought it was my turn. My mother came to town over the weekend and she helped me make Beckham's blessing outfit out of my wedding dress. I have to admit I did cry with the first cut I made into my beautiful dress, but the outcome was well worth it!

Garrett's Great Triathalon

From Garrett: When the day started I was feeling very nervous. I was nervous all over. I was nervous that I wouldn't do good. I had a shake and a banana for breakfast so I wouldn't get a side ache. I asked everybody to pray for me so that I could do good on the triathlon. When we first got there we checked in and I got a lot of fun stuff in my bag. On the back of my legs they wrote an "8" and an "R" because I was eight years old and in the red group. After that I went to set up my transition from my swim to my bike. Before the triathlon I practiced my transition. I didn't want to wear a shirt because it would take longer to get on my bike if I wore a shirt. My fastest practice transition time without a shirt was 30 seconds. After we set up my transition, I went down to see the older group start the race in the water. It looked like there would be a lot of bumping around and splashing. We stayed down there until my race started, and while we were waiting I saw my friend from my soccer team. I felt weird that I would have to race against my friend in the triathlon. When I swam I bumped into him a lot because he was right next to me the whole swim time. Two groups went before I swam because we only went seven at a time. I got out of the water second almost third because my friend almost passed me a lot. Then I got out of the water, went up the stairs and went to my transition. My feet hurt because I had to walk on rocks. It took me pretty long to get my shoes and socks on, but not too long. Then I walked my bike a little then I got on my bike and tried to ride off. But because of all the rocks on the road my tires were spinning and didn't go very far. I pushed myself and I finally went. It took a long time for me to finish the bike. I had to go around in circles three times. The first time I went around was the funnest. But the two other rounds it wasn't that fun. I went to the pathway to get off my bike and start my run. I ran around 2 times and then I started to notice that my side hurt but I didn't stop. I ran my last lap and went to the finish line. The finish line was the fun part. I ran through the finish line paper but I didn't rip it, they just let go of it when I hit it. Then I went to get my free lunch. I felt pretty good when I finished. I was tuckered out. Right after I got through the finish line I told my Dad that I want to do the triathlon next year.

From Mom: I was so proud of Garrett! He did great. I almost cried watching him run because I knew how hard the run was for him and he ran the best I had ever seen him run. Dad and I raced between the transition spots so that there was always someone to cheer him on. Dalyn and Aubrey were great cheerleaders and were such good sports. Aubrey said she wanted to take her training wheels off so that she could do the triathalon next year. We would love to watch her in the race! It was a fun family memory and we all enjoyed the morning!

Finally Posting

Alright fam, if you care to look at my blog and see our latest happenings feel free.

http://the-pope-fam.blogspot.com/

Dalyn's Pirate 4th Birthday

This was the first year Dalyn has asked for a Birthday Party. He started asking about 6 months ago when his friend Jacob had his Pirate Birthday. Up until this point he never realized he needed one (nice for mom). So this year we decided to give him a big pirate shin-dig complete with costumes, treasure hunt (set up by Garrett), a pirate ship cake, walking the plank and loads of pirate treasure (gifts from friends). What made it more fun was having Grandma and Grandpa there to share in the festivities. Grandpa was the official photographer and took some great shots. Scott did a great job running all the games and had the kids running about and completely entertained the whole time. My job was the cake, a seemingly small taks until I started frosting! Ugh! I was cursing in pirate tongue by the end of it. We were joking that my boat looked as if it were on it's last excursion and had taken one too many blows with warring cannon balls. But alas, it tasted good and Dalyn exclaimed, "Mommy, this is the best cake I ever saw!!" Who needs more payment than that? Two of my favorite memories were Garrett leading all the kids through the yard on the treasure hunt he made and protecting Dalyn's right to get to the next clue first, as is the birthday boys right and Aubrey helping all the "little" kids across the plank so that they didn't fall to the aligators! It was a great afternoon

Aubrey is absolutely enchanted by anything that moves, crawls, or breathes. She is constantly looking for bugs and can look for hours at animals in the pet store or in books. Every time we are out driving about she asks, "Can we go to the Pet Store and look at the animals?" The one time I said yes she got so excited she exclaimed, "you are the best mommy in the whole world". With that kind of praise you'd think I'd go more often. Unfortunately for Aubrey her Mommy is about the least animal loving person around. I wish I could understand her enthusiasm (and her Dad's animal enthusiasm for that matter) but I just don't get it. So I try to get really excited when she finds a new bug or shows me her latest stuffed animal that she has locked up in a cage or tied up in some way, but when she asks on a daily basis for the new pet of the day I just have to shake my head, no. So here is a typical day.
Aubrey: "Mom, when can we get a barn with a horse"
Mom: "Probably never"
Aubrey: "Mom, when can we get a dog"
Mom: "When you are a teenager and can take care of it all by yourself"
Aubrey: "Mom, can we have a lizard?"
Mom: "Probably not"
Aubrey: "Mom can we have a guinnea pig?"
Mom: "Aubrey you have a cat, she'll eat the guinnea pig"
Aubrey: "Mom, can we sell Sunny (the cat) and get a chinchilla?"
Mom (exasperated at this point): "Aubrey, let's be thankful for what we have!"
And so it continues. This note was taped to the door of our room the other day. It is so classic Aubrey I had to take a picture. The other afternoon, a very tired Aubrey had a major meltdown before going to the park because we couldn't take Sunny (the cat) on a leash. Then yesterday, walking through the kitchen I stepped on grashopper (that was supposed to be in the bug catcher OUTSIDE) that had been loved to death. It was missing a leg and an antenea. She is often heard speaking terms of endearment to her latest beetle or cricket. My favorite story is of Aubrey at about age 3, never very interested in dolls, but she found a caterpiller and named it Shoe. I walked in her room one day and found her rocking the caterpiller in the tiny cradle of her doll house. She still talks about Shoe, the caterpiller she found in our home in Charlotte, NC. She can't name any friends or remember the house at all, but Shoe the caterpiller is always in her heart.

The DAT

I just wanted to thank everyone for you prays and thoughts on my behalf. I really feel that they helped me a ton. I did well on the DAT...not outstanding but well. I love you all very much and I am very thankful for your love and support. I did really well in everything but the math portion. Funny coming from a previous math tutor. I hope that you will continue to pray for me in my attempts to get into Dental school. Thank you again.

Ruth & Frankie, a Great Pair!

It was our 3rd anniversary this week so we celebrated by going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. If you have never been, I highlyrecommend it! The food is unbelievable, the service fantastic and the atmosphere calming (even with a 1 year old). It's definitely not your everday place to dine, but it's a real treat once a year.

To continue with the festivities, we went to Frankie's Funpark (this time without Cooper) and enjoyed miniature golf, go-karts (fun enough to go twice), batting cages, and video games. It was super fun and I so enjoyed spending some alone time with my handsome hubby! He is so much fun and he works so dang hard during the summers!

Happy Anniversary to us!

The Reading of Elmo

Isn't he cute?

Dexter's Dinosaur

Broc and Julie came to watch Mindy's kids. Since we had an artist in town, we took advantage of the cheap labor and put him to work in Dexter's room. Oooh. Scary!

Broc just threw this on the wall in pencil. My contribution was to erase a few pencil lines with a baby wipe. Talent runs through this family!

Oh, to be 1 again

To be this excited,


you might think we did something funny,



or maybe amazing,



or maybe spectacular,

but all we did was roll a ball down the slide.
Oh, to be so easily amused!

Swimming, a whole 'nother adventure

Yes, he does jump in and go underwater.


He'd prefer if we didnt' hold him while he swims but we all know what would come of that.

The step is his place to do his own thing.

He couldn't be happier to be at the pool.

Happy Granpda Day!

Here's a little song that the girls put together for Father's day. We love you Grandpa!

Water Bottle

Coop loves water bottles...who needs toys ;-)

Thank you Grandma!

Just a couple shots of Coop in his new outfits from Grandma. Thanks Grandma!

If you don't recognize this shirt Mom, it's because he already had 4 pairs of blue shorts so we returned the ones you got him and got this shirt (and the red flip-flops above) so really, you got him this shirt too ;-) You have great taste! Thanks again!