Charleston, South Carolina

Randall and I recently returned from a short trip to Charleston. Randall had a conference there, and the company sponsoring the conference invited me to go along (pharmaceutical companies have WAY too much money!). Cooper and Carson stayed behind with grandparents, so it was just the two of us, and we had a fabulous time.

The city of Charleston is beautiful and there is a ton of history there. It was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in America before the civil war. Much of historic Charleston has been restored and preserved, so a walk around town reveals homes and building that are well over 200 years old. It's amazing. One of the restaurants we ate at had been some sort of eating establishment since the late
1700's! Someday I hope to go back and see more of this charming city. Here are a few pics from our trip.


Yep- that's water. The 2nd night we were there we experienced a good southern downpoor. It only rained for about 2 hours, but the result was 3-4 FEET of water in the street. The city of Charleston is built on a peninsula, so at high tide, the water has nowhere to go and pools up in the streets. We saw multiple cars stalled out in the middle of intersections with water over top of the bumpers. Crazy!

A plantation we visited for dinner. The plantation sits on the edge of the Cooper River. (Pretty cool, huh!- COOPER River!)

Inside the plantation home- built in the early 1800's.

Overlooking the Cooper River

Fort Sumter

Just drivin' around

Cooper at 14 months

Carson at 14 months

Cooper can be a really sweet big brother when he wants to... here he is giving Carson a push around the yard.

Ha, ha! I just realized that Cooper and Carson are wearing the same shirt in the photos. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs!

Carson's first battle wound

Unfortunately, Carson took a tumble out of the stroller the other day- I really thought he was buckled in. But, alas, he was not, and this was the result. Ouch!




To make matters worse, one of the guys Randall works (Dick Crockett) with is always teasing me for jogging down the road with the boys in the double stroller. He says, "You're gonna have to get some goggles for those boys to keep the bugs out of their eyes and I'm worried you're gonna blow a tire and your boys are gonna get road rash from skidding down the road." He even bought Carson a pair of goggles and brought them over to the house for him to wear. Well, when he heard about this he said now I need to have Cooper and Carson wear helmets and knee and elbow pads. The sad part is we were standing still, not jogging down the road, when Carson dove out.

Cooper's first catch!

Fish catch, that is! He and Randall went fishing a few weeks ago, and I'm finally getting the picture up. Cooper was so proud of it, he insisted on hanging onto it until I took a few pictures to show everyone. He's been fishing a few times before, but this was the first time he actually caught something. He was so disappointed when I told him I already had dinner ready and he couldn't cook it and eat it right away.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cooper!

Cooper turned 3 years old on June 1, 2008. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old already. He says he's getting big and strong just like Daddy. Cooper is growing up so fast, and he's become a very good big brother to Carson. We were able to celebrate his birthday with all of our family, because Randall's sister Sharlie blessed her baby on June 1st, as well.

Many of you know how Cooper loves trucks, trains, tractors and airplanes. We took him to an airshow in Rexburg a few years ago, and ever since then Cooper has been fascinated by airplanes. He frequently spots them in the sky long before Randall or I will. In fact, since moving to Grand View and living only 15 minutes from Mountain Home Air Force Base, we get to see the US Air Force jets fly overhead nearly everyday. Military helicopters frequently fly overhead as well, so Cooper thinks life is grand.

Anyway, it seemed only fitting to let him have an airplane cake. Here are a few pics I managed to get from some family members:

Drinkin' Buddies

I haven't posted in a while, and I was hoping to put pictures up of Cooper's 3rd birthday. However, due to a mishap with the camera I don't have any to post at the moment. Hopefully a family member can get me a copy of theirs. Anyway, Cooper and Carson LOVE drinking their milk, and they frequently snuggle up together or with mom or dad to drink it. One day I caught them like this and thought it was soooo cute! What a pair of boys we have!