RIP Cooper

At the end of June, we experienced a family tragedy. My special baby boy, Cooper-Teddy Stevens passed away. This is a hard tribute to add to my blog, but it would be selfish not to document how special Cooper is/was to our family. Cooper was the most tender-hearted, loveable, angelic, and loyal dog I have ever had. Cooper was my best friend, and almost like a fourth child to me. Loosing him is the hardest trial I have had to endure so far in this life. I am grateful to have spent 3.5 wonderful years with him and will treasure all of those memories for ever. I look forward to the time when I can see him again. I know Cooper is happy and being well cared for in his new home.
This has been a very difficult transition for our family but everyone is moving on and we are trying hard to dwell on the happy memories we have of our sweet cooper. Our family and friends have been so thoughtful and supportive and we appreciate all the love and well wishes. I will miss playing paw-paws, the times Coopie would actually cuddle on my lap, his pink snortelly nose, and his complete devotion the most. My favorite memory of Cooper is probably the day I got him. I had wanted a French Bulldog for ages and didn't think John would ever concede to having a small(ish) dog in our home. He is NOT a small dog guy. I was really convinced that having a Frenchie was never an experience I would enjoy. John surprised me Christmas of 2007 with Cooper and I was completely shocked, thrilled, overwhelmed, etc. Cooper lived up to every expectation I had for a dog and is irreplaceable. I miss you and love you Coopie Doo-doo.
Love Always,
Mom

Mommy Daddy Time

Hurray!! What married couple with chidren DOESN'T love mommy-daddy time? Crazy ones that's who!!! John and I just got back from a wonderful 3 day Royal Carribean cruise to the Bahamas that was a much needed and very relaxing get-away. Incidentally, it was almost the same cruise we sailed on our honeymoon so especially meaningful for the 2 of us. We were lucky enough to travel with 3 of our favorite couple friends from our KC stomping grounds: Corie (Jane)and Mike (Extreme Thrust) Crabtree, Cortney (Small Bills) and Dan (Baby Boy) Exby, Laurie (TripleX) and Todd (PG13) Furstenau. What a great group of amazing people. We are so blessed to have friends of this caliber (and truly shocked that they actually let us hang with them).

Our first night in Miami we loaded up on seafood at Bubba Gumps and Cortney coined her famous phrase, "Save your breath, we don't drink" when addressing our lovely waitress. Awesome!! We spent the evening on the roof of the Marriot hotel playing dominos by the pool, watching an amazing lightening storm. We left for our first port on Friday evening and woke up to beautiful Coco-Cay Saturday morning. On Coco-Cay we enjoyed massages, snorkeling, and some CRAZY wave running. BTW Dan, you are now an 8. The high speed wave running adventure was through 3-4 foot swells which made the trip twice as fun. Corie and Mike totally ate surf during the first run and John and I got to enjoy the view of the wipe-out since we were riding behind them. Great show!!

We spent the next day in Nassau where the Crabtree's and Furstenau's shopped on Bay Street while the Exby's joined us for a sting-ray adventure on a small island called Black Beard's Cay. What a neat experience!! A small group of us tendered over to the island and spent 2 hours swimming with, feeding, and HOLDING!!! 15 sting rays in an inclosed area. Wow! If you ever go to Nassau, don't miss this excursion!!

I am grateful for the fun, the adventure, the comedy, and the memories made on this great trip! Next adventure, here we come!! My mom and dad were kind enough to fly in from CA and watch our kids so it was extra nice not to have to worry about them at all. Thanks mom and dad!!!