Love

I don't know if everyone has already seen this, but I thought it was awesome.

The Correct Way to Weigh Yourself...

Perfection.

Oreo Cookie

What doesn't belong here? The adult woman pretending to sleep like an infant? Or the one Caucasian person in the middle?

Wait a minute....

Are Those the Javier's Outdoors?

You heard it here first! The Javier's went camping! We had a really great time camping with our ward this last weekend. All the kids slept really well, including little Annie, and the Javier kids very much enjoyed throwing, rolling in, and eating dirt.

Cooper slept like normal, and so did his daddy.

(Try to ignore the really bad scratch that Cooper gave himself in the rest of the pictures...)

Also this weekend, Cooper had cereal!

This is Cooper after he discovered that there was some brown sugar in it.

Today we went on a "Cooper" walk, and for the first time up close, Cooper met Cooper! It was very fun and we can't wait to get back out there!

To Whom It May Concern

Please do not give these to my husband. If I were to light a match our house would explode.

Thank you.

Family Home Evening

We all went out yesterday on the boat for Family Home Evening. James had a meeting, so we missed him, but other then that our night was pretty perfect!

Wrinkly hands!

Striking It Rich

We had an adventure yesterday! Now, when I say this, I'm not using the phrase as you would sarcastically about a really horrible day. We actually had an adventure yesterday! We packed up really early in the morning, dropped off Cooper at Grandpa and Grandma Davis' house, and then we hit the road for a road trip. We drove two hours south to the Emerald Creek Mine just past St. Maries, Idaho. We went to dig for Star Garnets! For anyone who wants to see one, here is what they look like. So, our experience went as follows...

We arrived at the mine after a very beautiful 2 hour drive, and listening to the new Coldplay cd 4 times. Love it. We arrive and park our car, and then hike 1/2 a mile to the mine.

At the mine you pay for a permit, and then you start digging! At this mine you are allowed to take home 5 pounds of Garnets for every permit you pay for. It's very special because these stones are only found in this remote Idaho(?) mine and in India. So, they were very exciting to look for.They give you two buckets, and then tell you to fill one up from the previously mined pile of dirt. See below.

You are then to proceed to the sifting area. As you look at the pictures, keep in mind two things.

1. Steve took these pictures without moving his feet at all, just turning in a circle. The whole experience takes place in a very small area.

2. The Park Ranger told us that yesterday was the busiest day they have EVER had. Yikes.

So, in this picture you are seeing the sifting station. You pour your dirt/rocks from your bucket over a screen and sift all the mud through, saving the rocks in your spare bucket.

You then carry your bucket of rocks and your empty bucket down to the water station. Using a different screen you pour the remnants of what you dug onto the screen and the let the water wash away all the dirt so you can see what you've got!

Here's (from left) Sydni, Aidan, Dan, and Steve, looking at their rocks to see if they came away with any garnets.

The day was so much fun and we all ended up finding some. Thanks so much to Dan and Staci for being troopers and coming with us, it was so fun to do together! Also, thanks to Mom and Dad and Mason for watching Cooper!

It's clearly been a long and exhausting week.

We love living out here on the Prairie. We sometimes have to hunker down during the windstorms, but we love our sunsets, thunderstorms and Javiers.

Summer's Here!

Summer has taken off! Things have been pretty crazy around here, but we are so enjoying it! As usual, my blogs have stockpiled so here is the condensed version.

A few weekends ago we had a ward bbq, as I previously mentioned. We had such a fun time, but I had some secret fun watching Dexter at the bbq. He was my personal hero all day, and the picture just sums it up.

This picture is especially fun because...

1. You can see that they are both on their 2nd sodas
2. You can see the chocolate all over Dexter's face from the cookies

3. And Dexter clearly is looking sick...

It has been super hot here this last week, and we discovered that maybe we did wish that we had AC after all. We are all very wilted by the end of the day, especially Cooper. We had our Daines Family Reunion this week, which was super fun, but very tiring. We did so many fun things, I never managed to take a picture. Here is Cooper after one of our long days at the reunion.

And then, the Fourth! We were so lucky to get to be with both of our families this year. We had so much fun at the parade with the Davis family, and then the rest of the day out at the cabins. My Own Firecracker!

Bizzer and Annie

Typical Cooper ...we got so lucky with this guy!

We were so lucky yesterday to get to attend baby Annie's blessing. I won't give away Candy's upcoming post, but it was a very special blessing. Also, we attended a special Daines family reunion to honor Steven's grandmother who is 90 years old. She has created such a wonderful posterity, and we feel very lucky to be part of our families.