The Utah Cooks

Okay, it has been forever since I blogged last, so I'm gonna have to tell a few stories and let everyone know what's going on with us first, and then I'm just going to post tons of pictures from the past two months!

The other night we were sitting at the table having dinner. I've gotten into this thing lately where if I prove Jordan wrong or am teasing him or something like that, I'll say, "Oh, snap!" Jordan says it to me, every now and then (when he thinks he's right), too, but he'll add on a "owned!" So we're sitting there, eating, and I'm teasing Jordan about something and I say, "Oh, snap!" Alexis suddenly yells out, "Oh, snap! Owned!" It was SO cute!!!

Alexis has shown signs of her blondness already! It's SO cute because she realizes she's being "blonde" and silly and makes the most adorable, bashful face! Her first blonde moment: For Christmas, we gave Alexis a (tea) "juice" set. Alexis had the handle to the tea-cup on her finger and was holding the spoon with that same hand. She must've forgotten she was holding the cup and kept asking me and Grandma Cook "Where's my cup?" over and over again. We started laughing and I pointed to the cup on her finger. This is when she looked down at the cup and made that adorable little bashful face, realizing she had forgotten about it and how silly that was! It was SO cute!!!

Alexis has shown signs of having such a huge imagination already! She loves playing on her own and entertaining herself. She got a doll-house for Christmas and is always playing with the little family on her own, having them talk to each other, make meals and eat together, play hide-and-seek, etc. It's so fun to hear her playing and talking by herself! :o)

Alexis also loves reading! She will sit down with her pile of books and just "read". Every now and then, she'll tell me to read the page. Then she'll hold out her hand and say, "Stop!" She'll turn back to the book and try to repeat what I had just read. It's so adorable!

alexis is talking up a storm as well! I remember being around other kids her age just a year ago or so and thinking, "Why are they talking so much more than Alexis?!" She mummbled a lot and I was starting to worry ... until one day around eight months ago or so, she started saying more and more words. She was even repeating words in Spanish that she heard on Dora the Explorer! She'd be counting to ten over and over again when I'd realize she was counting in Spanish! :o) There were words that I didn't understand and then we'd have our friends come over that can speak Spanish and they'd tell us that she was saying colors and other random words in Spanish! About three months ago, Alexis really started talking a lot - she was saying full sentences, no problem. She now not only says sentences, but run-on-sentences! :o) Now she doesn't STOP talking! It's so fun! I love this stage that she is in!

Alexis is so sweet and positive, too. She loves telling us that we're doing a good job, and she tells us how good she's doing, too! :o) We'll be eating dinner and Alexis will say when she's all done, "Mommy, I'm eating SO good!" :o)

We were teaching the four, turning five, year olds in Primary last year and were expecting to come home from our Christmas vacation to a brand new class; we were pleasantly surprised to find out we have lots of the same kids and a few new ones, too. (I guess the primary classes were officially changed up and we are now teaching the five, turning six, year olds!) Last year we had an all girl class, while all the boys were in the other class. We now have mixed; We have Kennedy, Kya and Emma all from last year, and now we have Spencer, Lincoln and Gage from the other class. It's so fun. The kids are so good and we are so excited for this next year of teaching them! I just have to tell you a story about our first week back: We were teaching about the pre-existence. I showed a picture of a baby and said, "Where did the baby live before he came to earth?" It was cute to hear a couple kids say, "In their momma's tummy?" I thought that was cute enough, but I said, "Where did he live before he was in his momma's tummy?" One of the kids, Lincoln, SO cute, said, "JESUS ... Land!" It was SO funny! He is just too cute! :o)

So we flew out to New York for Christmas again this year; we were there from December tenth until January twelfth, so we were there for New Year's as well. It was very fun! We had a blast hanging out with Jordan's entire family, now that his older brother and his family moved to New York for his job and Jordan's little brother got back from his mission a few months ago. Alexis had SO much fun with her cousin, Emma. We love being there and loved being with family and friends! We are so thankful to the Cook's for all the love and support they show us constantly! I love my in-law's so much, I couldn't ask for better!

Here are the pictures from the past couple months: