Faster and Faster

Cooper had another cross country meet today. He continues to do well. He ran an 18:54 and placed 15th overall, 6th from his school. We arrived just a few minutes before the race ended, but we were there to see him cross the finish line!

To Go Inside Someday

Cooper and Sophie both gave talks about the temple on Sunday. Cooper jotted a few notes, but didn't write the whole thing down. He did a great job, I just don't have the talk to post here. Sophie also did a great job and she wrote down what she was going to say. And now you get to enjoy it, too.

“I love to see the temple I’m going there someday. To feel the holy spirit, to listen and to pray.” A few weeks ago I had the privilege to go to the temple. I love going to the temple, every time I go I feel so peaceful and calm. I love that I get to go with Phoebe and Cooper. When I was too young to go to the temple I was always sad when my older siblings got to go in but I didn’t. I remember waiting in the foyer of the Manhattan meeting house-which is in the same building as the Manhattan temple-waiting for them to be done, it felt like forever. I wanted to be inside, I wanted to see what they were doing and I wanted to help as well. The words of I Love to See the Temple described the way I felt, I wanted to go inside someday and be there with my siblings. Now that I am old enough to go inside, serving in the temple goes by so fast, I wish it lasted longer. Whenever I hear that there is an upcoming temple trip I am overjoyed to go. I can’t wait until Topher is old enough to go inside. I bear my testimony that going to the temple is important and it is a very positive experience. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Up and Up and Up

Cooper had another race today, this time at Sophie's school, and we went to support him. Cross country runs are 5Ks, so we had some time to wait for him to finish. Thank goodness Sophie's school has a playground.

Also, Cooper shaved 30 seconds off his time and crossed the finish line at 18:42!

Run, Run Cooper

Cooper had his first Cross Country meet of the season today. It was a huge invitational, thirty schools were invited. Because he took a week off from running due to a foot injury, he was assigned to run in the JV race. He guessed that there were 200 guys that ran that 5K with him. Only the top 15 runners placed.

And looked who placed 15th with a run time of 19:12!

Great work, Cooper! He's had two very good days in a row.

On the Road

We have another driver in the house! Cooper passed his driver's test this morning!

He celebrated by driving to the store and buying himself an Eagles keychain.

Congratulations, Cooper!

Overheard

Cooper: (to Phoebe) Hey, don't shoot the messenger.

Phoebe: I'm not going to shoot the messenger. I'm going to correct the messenger and then educate the messenger.

Be the One They Look Up To

Cooper spent Wednesday through Saturday of last week camping with the Young Men from our Stake.

They were divided into three groups based on activities: rock climbing, biking, and hiking/fishing. Cooper wanted to join the rock climbing group (that was comprised of older boys), but there was a younger boy in our congregation that was concerned about being on his own. Cooper and three of the other older YM signed up for the hiking/fishing group so he wouldn't be alone.

Those older boys were all given mentor roles. This included having Cooper and his friends teach the younger boys how to fish.

Did Cooper know how to before last week?

Not really.

He'd only been once, but that didn't stop him from demonstrating how to cast his line.

This same group of boys helped give a devotional the first night of camp. They'd been given the assignment a few weeks in advance and decided to write a song and perform it for all the YM. Over the last few weeks these four boys have gotten together several times to work on their song. I don't know many teenage boys that use their free time to write songs about Jesus with their friends, but that's exactly what they did. I've only heard a snippet of the song, but one of the dads who went on the camping trip told us that he overheard several of the younger boys sing the song over the next few days of camp.

Part of Cooper's camp experience included visiting Gettysburg. The leaders shared this picture with the parents. We had to really zoom in to find Cooper. He's in the red shirt in the middle in the picture below.

Cooper had a wonderful time and came home with only a little sunburn from the white water rafting they did on the last day, an improvement over last year's all-over sunburn.

Brotherly Love

Fortified

I came home from an errand this morning and found both boys hanging out in this blanket fort.

Topher is easy to find, can you locate Cooper's feet?

You Would Not Believe Your Eyes*

You're never too old to catch fireflies.

*Finish the lyric.

You Oughta Be In Pictures

The summer reading program at the library started this week. Their theme for this summer is art. On Tuesday night we signed the kids up and the boys took advantage of this awesome photo op.

All the Choir Music

Cooper and Phoebe both auditioned for select choirs at the high school for next year.

And they both got in!

Cooper is in a combined SSAATTBB choir  as a Bass 1 and Phoebe is in an SSAA choir as an Alto 2. She's one of three incoming freshman that made it in. They're both excited to have additional musical learning opportunities next year. I'm thrilled that they both had the courage to tryout.

It's Time to Be the Hero

Have you heard of Maycember? It's a phenomenon that exists in our household. May, much like December, is full of end of the year (school year) activities, including concerts.

For the final concert of the year, the middle school chorus joins with the high school chorus. This was nice for us because it combined two concerts into one: Cooper sang with the high school concert choir and Phoebe sang with the middle school chorus.

Phoebe served as the chorus vice-president this year. That means she got to help announce the songs her choir performed. They also presented their director with a bouquet of flowers.

They sounded great. I especially loved when they sang "Homeward Bound."

The concert choir had an awesome entrance through the audience. Cooper is the eighth person in this line walking up to the stage.

This is a large choir and they sounded wonderful!

Towards the end of the evening, the directors handed out awards. Phoebe was one of two middle schoolers to be given an award. She earned it for her leadership and service to the choir. When her name was called she was surprised and kind of flustered. She looked at me and asked if she should go up to the stage. I said yes and she went up and received her award.

And then she prepared to sing her solo! The middle school and high school choirs joined forces and sang "Hero" by a composer who goes by the handle Pinkzebra. One soloist from each school was picked to open the song and Phoebe was floored when she got the solo! She sounded lovely!

At this point after the concert, Cooper and Sophie were both off with friends, otherwise they would have been in this picture too.

It was a long (at least two hours) but wonderful concert. I am so thankful that we live in a school district that values musical education so highly. And I love that my kids get to contribute to that music!

Bus Stop Dance Party

In addition to dancing, they rocked out with air guitar and pantomimed drums while we waited to get Phoebe from the bus stop.

Hush, Little Baby

Topher was adamant that he do a solo at our Spring Season kids choir concert. Cooper kindly joined him on guitar. Topher got an on-the-spot lesson that everyone makes mistakes and that it's okay to start over. I think they did a great job.

Photobombed

 

Keep on Runnin'

Tangled

Church prom was this weekend! 

He went with the white shoes, in case you're curious.

The theme was Tangled. I think Phoebe's dress definitely had Rapunzel vibes.

She took advantage of the nearly two hour drive to get there and did her hair and makeup in the car.

Here's the whole group that Bryan drove down. They had a fun time!

Every Little Bit Helps

Cooper had another track meet yesterday. I wasn't sure if we would make it in time to see him run. The high school and the middle school share a track and this was a home meet. It worked out that I was picking Phoebe up from her rehearsal just a few minutes before his race. He crossed the street in front of our van and told us he had just been called. We found a parking place and Phoebe, Topher, and I made a beeline for the bleachers.

This was the coldest meet they've had. Winter can't quite let go and the high yesterday was 42 degrees. It was difficult sitting and watching the races, I can't imagine how it felt to run in that cold.

He ran the 1600M again and his goal was to shave five seconds off of his last run time. He started out in the back of the pack,  but by the end he had pulled ahead of four of the other runners. His previous time was 5:57. Yesterday his time was 5:40! He was kind of in shock that he'd trimmed seventeen seconds off! He didn't place, but that wasn't the goal. He was really pleased with his progress.

In the picture, Cooper is the one in the short sleeved white under shirt. The first picture is at the end of the first lap, the second picture is at the end of the fourth lap. And the fellow standing by the track in the second picture is from our ward. He happened to be there to watch his son run for the other team. I called out a hello and we chatted a bit. Every time Cooper ran by, our friend cheered for him.

On the Run

Phoebe, Topher, and I got to see Cooper run the 1600M for the first time yesterday. And by first time, I really mean first time. He's been training with the distance runners, but hadn't run this particular distance at practice. He's hoping to figure out the pacing for his next race. Bryan finished work and got there just in time to see Cooper run the last lap.

We were glad we could be there this time!