The Great Outdoors!

This past weekend David turned 7 months old and to celebrate his birthday we gave him his very first camping experience. We went camping just outside of Alpine, Wyoming which is just south of Jackson. David wanted to go to show up his relatives from Logan just how fun camping really is as they backed out of their camping trip also planned earlier this week. We have received word however, that due to David's example, they are going to give it another shot in the near future.


The next day to further celebrate his birthday, we went white water rafting down the Snake River. Fortunately, Sue Ann and I did not fall in although we got drenched numerous times from head to toe. David wasn't so lucky but ended up sleeping through most of the ride. As you can see the river is quite low so some rapids weren't so bad but it also made for some others to be really good. Either way we sure had a blast!


And finally, although unrelated to the rest of the post, here is just another picture of David going shirtless to show of his enormous 5 inch biceps.

David's Office Furniture

You may recall a few weeks ago about the new furniture of the CEO of Anya Enterprises (a sister company to David and Associates). Upon seeing the expansion of Anya's office, David wanted in on some of the action. His request was to have a highchair as the elevated position gives him a better view of his dominion and makes it easier to call out orders to his attendants.


However, one seat was not enough for David so he also got a new exersaucer that allows him to be on the ground to mingle with his subjects and the common folk.


But in actuality, it would appear that the primary reason for this second seat is simply to admire himself by constantly checking himself out in the mirror as shown in the short video below. (The video is also a great circumferential shot of his new hair that is beginning to come in; he still looks bald, however, because his hair is now super light)

July 4th with the Cook's

We had a lot of fun spending the entire week of July fourth with all of David's cousins on the Cook side. It was especially great because we were up in the mountains most of the time at the Cook Cabin and so avoided a lot of the heat.


I know it looks small, but even with 42 people it was still quite spacious, and I mean, really, we're all family aren't we?

The day of the fourth was actually spent in Moroni so that we could enjoy all of the festivities including the parade and the evening fireworks which once again nearly burned down Grandpa Cook's house. After the parade we were able to get a four generation photo of David, his Mom, his Grandpa, his Great-Grandpa, and some other guy that doesn't really belong anywhere along this blood line.


Here is just a bunch of pictures taken during the week of some of David's cousins.

First we have Aubrey learning to read while Isaac just stuffs his face with a cookie.
Beside them is Bridger stranded in the middle of the pond.


Next is Savannah being wooed by David's charm (or perhaps the other way around).


Up next is Spencer hard at work on a toy organ, followed by Jessica on the same toy but who decided to just sit there and look cute.


And finally, Mariah getting some shut-eye and a bit of a sun tan . . . . . at least on her lower abdomen.


Finally, and perhaps the most exciting part about the week, was that Betty got her mission call. It is anticipated that she will serve in the Buenos Aires, Argentina South mission for a period of 18 months beginning October 10. The day before we returned many of us were able to go with her as she received her own endowment at the Manti Temple. Here is the group of us that went.

PS

For those of you interested, today, July 18, marks a special day for me as it marks the 8888th day of my life according to the calculations of Dale Shoults. And if you were wondering, David is 203 days old today while Sue Ann is a whopping 9600+ days old and still counting!

Month in Review

This is just a bunch of pictures from the last month to give you a taste of what we have been up to. David has learned that he is mobile and so will contort his body in all sorts of ways to get around. Primarily he uses his neck and so has become quite strong there as is apparent from the picture below (I didn't drop him, I just held up his legs and he did the rest).


Awhile ago David had his cousin McKenna up to visit and among other activities and probably David's favorite was going to the water park. He especially liked just sitting around with his sunglasses on (probably so he could check out the girls without them knowing he was looking at them). McKenna's favorite part was probably the slides.



The most unfortunate thing that has happened, just this past week, was that David wasn't feeling too well. He has hardly been able to keep any food down. In fact, just on Saturday, we all went out to eat at Firehouse Pizza to try and avoid the heat which was a big mistake. While we thought David was feeling better, a little before we were ready to leave, David unleashed his last few meals all over Sue Ann and the restaurant floor. I guess he doesn't like pepperoni all that much. He got himself pretty good as well and we unfortunately didn't have a change of clothes for him. It is amazing how well a burp rag used in conjunction with a 5 point harness can double as a shirt when you are out of other options!

David is actually doing much better today (we think) but before he got too well and was back to his usual active self, I took advantage of his docile nature and was sure to get a few pictures. Poor cute fella!

Easy on the carrots

We spent the 4th of July at Great-Grandpa Cook's cabin with all of the family. David had fun playing with all 17 of his cousins on the Cook side. David especially loved the swings and riding in the boat on the pond. It was hard for anyone to keep up with Grandpa Cook on the swings, even after his double knee replacement two weeks ago!

In honor of Canada Day we made a cake and we are still working on learning the national anthem.After returning home to Logan we decided to try giving David something other than rice cereal or milk. The picture is somewhat deceiving because David didn't like this baby food at all! We tried it again the next day and his overly active gag reflex brought up all of his lunch, and then some. David also had his 6 month checkup and is still a little low in the weight category. We took him back two days later and he'd gained 5 oz. (usually 1/2 oz per day is normal) David is able to sit up on his own but hasn't learned to catch himself when he dives for a toy. But, we still love him and think he's pretty dang cute.