A few more quick photos

A trip to Cheyenne.

Jeff, Tim, Lucy and Boys go to the Zoo

Updates

So my mom has been really sick. Today she got to leave the hopital after a very sucessful but very hard-core round of chemo. I am finally in a place to update this and really happy to not spend every free moment in the hospital, but I am sure not near as glad as she is. She is tired and fragile, but damn, that woman is strong. I am so proud of her.

Keep praying for her comfort and peace and healing. It really does matter.

As you can imagine it has eclipsed most everything, so I am feeling really glad to make some normal updates on the blog.

In Cook news, the boys are about as wonderful as I can ever remember. Jeff’s book #2 is done. We are struggling with finances, but I bet we are in the moderate range as far as most Americans go, and we have a house to sell so we are going to sell it. We are very lucky. We started a second service at Atlas and with the help of the basically amazing Longs we have (finally) a thriving children’s ministry.

Jeff is doing a little stay-at-home dad time and has little lesson plans and everything… really adorable. I am sure he would want me to say really insightful and tough or something, but I think they are so cute. My favorite text from him in this venture (current lessons revolve around zoo animals)  is “never look up chimpanzee videos on youtube.”

There is a sushi restaurant where I do a lot of comfort eating and I have been really budgeting and skimping everywhere else with the added bonus of painting a lot.

Basically even when life isn’t great, life is good. I am thankful.

Baby Neevie and Jeff enjoying a little sudoku

Title: “My mom survived Lukemia”

Fish mask

yep… Jellyfish holding… um… hands?

Lucy and the dinosaur

Becket and Cars in Jammies

Winter clothes

I found…

an old memory card from a  broken camera.  I am really happy about these pictures. Nana, Papa and the architecture plans for Atlas.

Christmas time with the Cooks & Lowes & Langleys

Christmas was amazing this year. The boys really got it. They were so excited, and even a little patient (we didn’t rip everything open at once). Boys- I am most proud of what nice receivers you were. You were very gracious.

On Christmas with the Lowes we had a full house. The boys slept on our floor on the big yellow pillow. Everyone was asleep but me. I heard Jeff, Augie and Becket’s breath. Hee, Hee, Whooo, Hee, Hee, Whooo. Kris said to me that when Jazzy and Mark are snoring that all is right with the world. That is how I felt. Here are my boys, all sleeping. Hee, Hee, Whooo. Strong and calm breath and all was right with my world. Bad things will happen to us, we will fight, we will suffer, we will doubt, but for that time… Hee, Hee, Whooo… everything was how it should be.

Christmas Tree

Holiday

… so I don’t have time to take enough pictures… but here are a few.

Having too much fun

to take all the pictures I would have liked to.

With that said Thanksgiving was great. Great food, great family time. The boys were spoiled and got to spend the night “camping” with Papa and Nana, Jeff and I had our 2nd full night alone EVER since the squirts came along. ahhhhh.

Sledding with Daddy

These were taken by a newspaper reporter who just happened by. I guess he saw in these boys what I am lucky enough to see everyday.

Augie (2005), Becket (2006), Kathryn (2007), Calvin (2008), Lucy (2009), Niamh (2009)