Cope Family Album

July 2009

2009-07-06T11:33:00.002-06:00

Wow, June is gone and we are running into July. I hope everyone had a nice July 4th weekend. We did a lot of fun stuff. Friday night my friend Elaine and I went to Park City to the Canyon's Resort to hear a free concert and to watch fireworks. Well the band wasn't that great and we were told we didn't drink enough to appreciate them. We left the band and went shopping instead; we got to the stores to late as we only had an hour or less to look around and try a few things on. After we went shopping we went back towards the Canyon's Resort to watch the fireworks. Well unfortunately they were just as pitiful as the band. The only nice thing I have to say about our experience is that we had a nice dinner and a great waiter. We got our meal for half price and he was very friendly and courteous to us. Go to the Cabin Restaurant at the Lodge in the Canyons. You'll enjoy your experience.

Saturday was dialysis day with mom and we drove down to Provo at 7am to be at the dialysis center by 8am. On the drive down we could see 15 hot air balloons. It was the Provo Freedom Days and it is a competition for the balloon owners. They take off and have certain spots they have to land and take off again. That was what one of the nurses was telling us at the center. I went to the farmer's market in Provo thinking it was something else. It was a cute vendor spot not so much farmer's market. I wanted to go to the carnival that was going on; but I couldn't find a place to park and I didn't have a lot of time either. I met Elaine for lunch and then got my mom and went home.
That night we went to Midway's Zermatt Hotel to watch the Sound of Music. It was really good and one of the cast members is in my ward and she played the main character Maria. She did an awesome job. We watched the fireworks also from the Zermatt outside during intermission and they were much better than the Park City fireworks.

Sunday, Greg, Elaine and I went to Mirror Lake in Kamas and went fishing and laid out and relaxed. Unfortunately I had a terrible headache all day long and just couldn't get rid of it. We drove all the way around and back through Evanston, Wyoming. We don't live to far from the border. We got home around 630 and we were tired. We all went to bed early.

For my birthday we are thinking about going to Lagoon and the water park on the 19th as that is a day we all have off together. Mom doesn't want to go; I'll try to convince her otherwise. She needs to get out more and I think the sunshine will do her good. We'll see what happens.

Everyone have a great July. I'll to post some photos we took over the last few days.

May what a Whirl

2009-06-01T13:19:00.002-06:00

May came and gone so quickly that here it is the 1st of June. Let me begin with that my mom came home from the care center May 9th. We've been learning her new medications and needles as she has to take shots. We also have her scheduled for Dialysis in Provo instead of SLC as it is just to far and we know more people that go to Provo then to SLC that can help us with rides. Our schedule is Greg (my hubby) on Tuesdays, our ward RS on Thursday and I take her on Saturdays. It has worked out pretty well. Last week was a bit of a mess but we managed to make it to Saturday.

May 25th was Greg & mine 7th wedding anniversary, we went to Logan and spent a night at the Anniversary Inn and went fishing. I got sunburned on my arms and I sat in the car reading a book. Fishing & I don't mesh very well. My good friend Elaine stayed with my mom and took her to dialysis on Tuesday for us (Thanks so much). We had a fabulous time.

May 27th my mom had eye surgery to remove a blood clot in her right eye. She is doing well and looks like a cyborg from Star Trek. Her eye is red (bloody) from surgery but with the eye drops it is getting better. The bad news is the doctor noticed that a cateract is growing in her eye she just had surgery on. It was kind of a disappointment as she was hoping this would clear up her vision enough to be more independent. But it is too early to tell. It will be two weeks before we see the eye doctor for a second checkup. We'll know more by then we hope. If we have to do a second surgery for the cateract we'll schedule it ASAP, she really wants to see again.

May 28th mom went to dialysis but it didn't go well. Long story short her arms wouldn't stop bleeding after they removed the needles. She couldn't be left alone and I'm glad that the Relief Society President was with her. I called the home health care nurse and they stayed with her until I got home at 4pm. By the time I got home the bleeding had stopped and mom was sleeping. She was exhausted from all the fun we've had this week. She slept until 6pm and we gave her a pain pill for bed time as her eye and arms were sore.

May 29th was her follow up after surgery and it wasn't with the doctor that did the surgery which is okay, he said just to make sure to use the eye drops 4x a day and not to do too much over exertion or straining with her eye for a week. I think it has gone pretty well.

May 30th was Saturday we got up and went to dialysis and it went well. My mom slept for a good 2 1/2 hours. She hasn't been sleeping very well; or it is just that she is sleeping too much and bedtime comes and she's not tired enough to sleep. It could also be the pain medication as it can make you feel energized instead of sleepy. We went to lunch and shopping then we went home.

May 31st was Sunday and I put my back out. I took a pain med and it wacked me out all day, I slept on the couch and put my feet up. It was a crazy week. Hopefully this week won't be so crazy.

June will be a little less hectic I hope.

Shopping & Eating

2009-04-07T10:56:00.003-06:00

I had a great weekend visit with my good friend Elaine (Frank) Tiffany. She was in St. George looking for work and we talked about getting together. She drove up on Friday and she got to our house around 6:30pm. We sat in my kitchen and I made chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes for dinner. We then played Rock Band and Mario Party 8 on the Wii. That was a lot of fun. Greg won first place, Elaine second place, the computer was third and I was fourth. I know pretty sad when it is your game.

Saturday we got up pretty early 7am and got ready to leave by 8am. We drove to Park City in the snow; great it was snowing again; but we went to breakfast at one of the hotels in Park City and had a $4.99 breakfast. It was really good and not at all filling; you felt just right. We drove down to the outlet mall and went shopping. We had some great deals and great coupons as well. They had a 20% coupon for almost anywhere in the outlet. We had some great deals. I think I spent close to 150 and Elaine spent maybe $50. She had the best deal. A pair of boots that originally were $98, but they were on the clearance rack with a 75% sticker on it, plus the store had a 15% deal on everything and then she had the 20% coupon she got those boots for $14.00. We then went to lunch at a cafe and had sandwiches which were fabulous and then we drove down to SL to visit my mom for a little while.

After my mom we went to another mall and I found a shirt that was marked down to 19.99 and they were having a 50% sale and got the shirt for $10. We then drove back up to Park City to the outlet and I bought two pairs of jeans from Old Navy for 20/a pair. We then stopped and had pizza and salad. We took the leftovers home to Greg. We were so exhausted that we went to bed at 930pm.

We all slept in for Sunday and didn't get up until 8am. We had french toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast and Elaine wanted to take a drive around our little town. So we drove around and took some photos and decided that she'll have to come back for summer so we can do this all over again. Elaine left around 12 noon and headed back down to St. George. We had a fabulous time. Needless to say I was totally exhausted and took a nap and a hot bath.

One More Time

2009-03-06T07:59:00.003-07:00

Well Mom is scheduled for surgery on the 18th for her permanent fistulas in her arm. She is actually quite glad that it has a date and we can start planning the training and getting her home soon.
I also want to say how much I love my husband for being so patient and loving through this hard time. I don't think I could have done what I've done without his support. He's been so caring and understanding and I'm glad that he is my eternal companion. I know I can depend on him when life gets tough.
To all my friends that have sent me messages of support thank you so much; I'm glad that I have you in my life to make it a little easier. This is a short message; but nothing has been happening around here. It has settled a bit and now we just have to wait. Love to you all and thank you again for your help and support.
Chrisann

Mom's Recovery

2009-02-23T09:04:00.003-07:00

Well mom is now in a rehab center getting some great care. She is started a new step in life of dialysis. Dialysis is for people who's kidneys stop functioning. Well that is what has happened to my mom. In fact in 1 week of dialysis she has lost 100 pounds of fluid which her kidneys were not getting rid of for her. I went and saw her on Saturday and she looks great. She even looks thinner to me; but I see her all the time and have noticed a great difference. Granted she has a ways to go to get all that fluid off of her but it's a great start. Mom says "It's the best diet I have ever been on, although I wouldn't recommend it". She is so funny. I brought her a few of her favorite treats also which we hid in her side table.
Mom requested to be on the waiting list for a private room as now she has a roommate that whines a lot according to mom. But also she has dialysis so early in the morning that she doesn't want to be disruptive to those around her. We stayed through her physical therapy and left to go home for dinner. Fred accompanied me to visit mom and he and mom talked a lot. She was glad he came to visit her. I'm just glad he had the day off and I could stay longer than shorter. It was a nice visit and we talked about her doctor's appointments this week. She has two one with a vascular surgeon and the other with her orthopedist (ankle-yes we are still trying to get healed). I'm not sure who her Nephrologist (kidney doctors) is as they are changing her doctor since she started dialysis. I really liked her kidney doctors they were very kind and always willing to talk to me about my mom and her condition. I probably called them weekly if not daily depending on how mom was feeling. She really didn't feel well when they finally decided it was time to start dialysis.
She stayed at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake for 5 days. She has been a real trooper through this entire ordeal and has been very happy for the most part. But I think just the fact that she is feeling better gives her that boost in attitude to continue on.

Well that is the latest; she is doing well and is feeling good too.

Mom's Next Adventure

2009-02-12T08:24:00.002-07:00

Well let's start with Tuesday night. Greg & I went out to dinner with Greg's brother & his wife in Sandy. When we got home around 9:30pm mom called me into her room and said that her ankle was really sore and felt swollen. She said when she stood up she heard a crunch and popping sound on her ankle that she just had surgery on the week before. I gave her a 1/2 percocet and we went to bed. Around 1am mom was calling for me and was in total agony so I gave her another percocet (full dose) and we then called the ambulance to come and get her to take her to the hospital. They did x-rays on her ankle and everything looked great nothing moved didn't see anything changed. I had them keep her over night for observation.

Next day I called the hospital and they said they were releasing her as the x-ray technician also said no change and that it was all good. I proceeded to get things ready to get her to come home. Her kidney doctor calls me 10 minutes before I'm suppose to have everyone meet to bring her home telling me that they are transferring her to St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake because her labs came back and they weren't good. That her numbers have fluctuated way too much from month to month that I think I need to see her, he said. I rushed to the hospital and we talked and mom said "Did you hear the latest" I said I had. We got her dressed and ready for transport that took place around 1130am they left. I ran home and threw a few things into a bag grabbed her CPAP (breathing machine for sleep apnea) and drove to Salt Lake to St. Mark's hospital.

When I got to her room the doctor was there and was discussing what he thinks needs to happen. Around 3:30p they took her down and the put in a catheter in her neck to start dialysis treatments today. She should be getting her first treatment of 2 hours anytime. Tomorrow will be 2 1/2 hours and Saturday will be 3 hours they progress to 4 hours per treatment. Our next step is figuring how to get her to the U of U for her treatments when she finally comes back home. She seems to be in good spirits through this whole mess but I think it is because she knows she'll feel better once they start this treatment. I'll try my best to make updates; but I haven't been very good about that lately. Just check back often and see if there is anything new.

HERE WE GO!

2009-02-02T10:44:00.005-07:00

Well mom is currently in the hospital to have surgery on her left ankle. She hasn't gone under when I left but should be shortly. Hopefully all will go well. We'll just wait and see. All of her vitals were good and normal. Blood sugar 84, blood pressure 124/69, pulse 79. Oxygen levels I know they were checking them since she has a CPAP machine for sleep apnea; not sure what they were.

Mom looked good she was tired and hungry since she hasn't eaten since 10pm last night. I gave her a PB & J sandwich to help sustain her through this ordeal. We'll see how it goes. They'll put her under general anesthesia and I know I didn't wake up well and was sick for 2 weeks after the surgery with general anesthesia. But mom seemed to be fine with it.

The hospital wanted her to wait until noon to come and not eat anything from midnight on and I called them back and said I don't think so. She is a diabetic with renal failure and you want her to go 12 hours without food or water. You are crazy; I said if we have to we'll reschedule the surgery to put her in the morning; but not at 12 noon. Well they got the schedule moved around and it is earlier but not much better. She already told me what she wants to eat when she gets home. Two scrambled eggs, and a salad. Also a piece of candy with sugar not sugar free stuff either. I'll bring her a couple of jelly dots; one of her favorites.

I'll try to update this today once I hear more.

Chrisann

Next Step

2009-01-20T15:11:00.002-07:00

Well we went and saw mom's orthopedist yesterday and he had good and bad news for us. It seems that two of the three bones are healing (good news) but one is not and it has moved. Looks like she'll be having surgery and two screws in her left ankle. She isn't thrilled and a little worried; but who wouldn't be.

Well Greg & I are taking a little vacation this weekend and going to Boise, Idaho on Friday through Tuesday. We are so excited to get away and have some time together. We are taking our dogs and we have a friend that will be helping with mom. Plus she'll have all the aides and PT guys there throughout the week.

Surgery won't be until the week after next because mom has to be off certain medications for a week before she can have surgery anyways. The doctor was saying that it would be a two inch incision and that she should be just as mobile as she is now after the surgery. I hope he's right. Mom has been doing so well and therapy has been so good for her. She feels like that it has helped her a lot in getting her mobile and bringing strength back. Going up stairs is a bit challenging but going down is pretty easy for her she says. I think it has been very helpful to have therapy coming. They even had nurses come out and do blood work and IV's without mom having to leave the house; which is a blessing as there is snow and ice everywhere.

Well there is an update as to what is going on in our home.

Mom's Home

2008-12-24T09:39:00.002-07:00

We got mom home safe and sound. Mom is a little hesitant about the stairs but we made it down the stairs into her room. We will be having physical therapy and an aide coming in during the week to help keep her mobile. They are coming today. She is glad to be home as the food is so much better she said.
We are having pizza for dinner (her request) no cheese on her pizza but lots of toppings. We order Papa Murphy's Take and Bake pizza, that way it is hot when you take it out of the oven. I gave her an apple to have as a snack and she was like I haven't had an apple in so long. Yummy. I definitely think she is happy to be home.
We are suppose to be getting another snow storm for Christmas. I'll take some photos of our Christmas celebration and post them. I hope you all will have a festive and fun Christmas.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-22T08:37:00.003-07:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We hope you and your families will have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Utah

2008-12-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

Greg & I went down to visit his brother Tracy and his wife Jenel for a little celebration before the holidays. We had a fabulous dinner and dessert and great company. We then took the tram into Salt Lake to Temple Square and walked around and looked at all the lights and the nativity scenes. Here are a couple of photos of our excursion.

Here we are waiting for the train. It was cold with the wind blowing.

Greg & I at the beautiful all light tree at Temple Square.

Jenel and Tracy sharing there joy of Christmas Lights.

The Reason for the Season! This was in the large pool and it is a floating Nativity. There was also floating balls of light in the pool too. It was a really pretty scene.

Thank you Tracy and Jenel for taking the pictures they turned out great.

Good News!

2008-12-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

We got the okay for mom to come home Tuesday. She is very excited as she really hated the rehab center. I don't blame her the food was not all that appetizing. But she has her strength and mobility is getting easier. We are so glad that she is coming home for Christmas. We go back to see the Orthopedist in a month to see how her ankle and leg are healing. She is able to go up and down stairs sideways. We are taking precautions so we don't have a mishap. But she is doing much better and even looks better; she has color in her cheeks. She still has to be careful with her diet and watch her phosphorus, sugar and salt intake.

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-24T16:15:00.003-07:00

This is so true that we have so much to be thankful for. I hope you all will have a very Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Twilight Personality

2008-11-20T11:05:00.001-07:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results! ">

I've Fallen & I Can't Get Up

2008-11-14T16:33:00.002-07:00

Well unfortunately we had a small accident in our house last week. My mom fell and broke three bones in her left leg. Two in her ankle and one in her leg the fibula bone. Let's just say it has been a rough road for all of us and told her it could be worse. We are just glad it isn't worse. So far the doctors don't think surgery is necessary but we will find out more on Monday. She is living upstairs in our living room as her bedroom is down some stairs and she can't walk or hop at all. We rented a hospital bed, commode and wheelchair for her to use. She doesn't like the commode thing as it is hard to use.

Our ward has been wonderful and very helpful and thank goodness we live in Utah. Our bishop lives across the street and my mom's visiting teachers are the bishop's wife and relief society president. Couldn't ask for anything more as far as being covered. My mom's home teachers came to the hospital that night and gave her a blessing and even assisted us getting her home from the hospital and to her doctor appointments. We only have trucks and she can't get into the truck as they are too high.

My boss has been very helpful too and very understanding of this whole thing. She made us dinner and has let me leave to go and take care of my mom for appointments and stuff. Thank you Patti for your support and concern.

I'll have to take a couple of photos once mom is feeling better; maybe after we get the cast on she'll be more willing for a photo op. Not pushing my luck on that one. We've had a few mishaps with spills and stuff but for the most part we are plugging along. Mom is a little stressed out and feels useless since she has to lay in bed all the time with her leg up. But once she has a cast she'll be able to sit in the wheelchair and watch TV with us in the family room.

Greg is doing well; working and chopping wood for the wood stove to keep the family room warm. I'm busy with work and I've been playing volleyball every Thursday night with our ward and stake. Unfortunately that ends tomorrow with the regional volleyball tournament. Not sure if I'll make it or not as Saturdays are my busiest days for getting things done.

We bought mom a couple of books on CD for her to listen to for her birthday and she is officially 60 years old on the 11th. Happy Birthday mom. We had strawberry shortcake and chicken,rice and broccoli. Restricted diets are such a pain but we had dessert.

Brian and Amber and Eli are coming for Thanksgiving and we are so excited to have them here. Only two weeks to go. Love you guys and see you soon.

Well I'll keep you posted on mom's condition and on the family as the weeks go on. Thanks everyone for your help it has been most appreciated.

Greg's Birthday #35!

2008-09-16T11:23:00.007-06:00

Well Greg's birthday is today September 18th and he is turning 35 years old. He doesn't look 35 to me and my boss even thought Greg & I were in our 20's (how nice of her) but nonetheless we still act like newlyweds in my opinion. We have been married 6 wonderful years living in Heber City Utah. We sort of celebrated yesterday & Monday with his brother Tracy & his wife Jenel thanks guys for coming over and having dinner and brownies with homemade ice cream.
Yesterday we had his favorite chocolate banana cream pie and presents since we are planning on going to dinner tonight. My mom got him a new winter jacket and I got him slippers with a rubber sole so he can wear them outside during the winter and framed some pictures of our puppies and will hang them in our office.

I just thought I would attach some photos of my handsome hubby on his birthday.

This photo was taken before we were engaged.

But we were seriously discussing the marriage thing.
This is Greg's favorite photo of us and I really like it too.

This photo was taken before he proposed to me

on the same day as above.

This one is at his mom's house watching the Winter Olympics
We really weren't watching the Olympics you can see the glow of the

TV on my arm it was on but we weren't watching.

This one was a few years ago around Thanksgiving, I believe.

Greg has a strong nature against wrong. He tries his best to make things right and works very hard everyday. I know that he'll be the best he can in any situation. Yes, he has his faults but who doesn't. I love him just the same and for taking on our new situation with my mom living with us full time, he has taken it with stride and has been a willing partcipant in taking her to her doctor appointments on his days off. I love him for being so kind hearted towards my mom and the rest of my family through the years as it has been a rough road. He doesn't think he is very spiritual but not all spiritual people are good people and he is a good person.

I LOVE YOU SWEETIE & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Remembering September 11, 2001

2008-09-11T12:29:00.002-06:00

I felt that it was important to remember September 11, 2001. I thought I would share what I was doing when I first heard about the airplanes hitting the World Trade Center.

I was living in Boise Idaho at the time and I was on my way to work and had the radio on. The breaking news came over the radio and said that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center and said that it looked like a malfunction in the planes navigation. When I got to work everyone was talking about it and someone brought in a small TV that we watched and then the second plane hit the other tower and I knew right then that this was no accident.

More breaking news came in and two more planes were also on a crash course for Washington. One hit the Pentagon and the other in a field in Pennsylvania. All day long we were looking for information on what was going on. I was thinking about my family and was on the phone with my mom to find out if she had talked to my brother Brian as he was serving his mission in the Washington DC mission and was in Virginia at the time (I think). I remember driving home with the radio on listening to everything I could hear. Turned the TV on to watch more and remember seeing that a few members of Congress standing outside on the steps singing a song and I stood there watching and crying.

This day was an emotional day for everyone not just for those that were there in NY, WA, or PA. We all felt this, we all were attacked that day for no reason. Let's remember that we didn't start this fight but we will finish it. You want the war to stop tell Osama to come out from hiding and take his punishment. Don't blame the government about this war, you all agreed it was the right thing to do you wanted them to pay for this tragedy they caused our country and we will finish this fight for our FREEDOM, & RIGHT TO WORSHIP OUR GOD and not think twice about it.

This war is about our security, families and our way of living. We went to war because of what happened to us and if we pull out and leave those evil people out there they will do it again. Let's not forget all those people that died without any reason other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let's remember those families that have lost loved ones from this tragedy. Let's remember all those that came to our rescue when we needed it. Thank you to all the firefighters, police, volunteers and all that put forth there effort to rescue people from the devastation all around them.

THANK YOU SO MUCH & GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Summer is Almost Over

2008-08-29T09:34:00.002-06:00

You know when summer is over because you pull out the chain saws and go up into the mountains and cut down 9 trees for heat. Yes, Greg and I went wood hauling this last weekend. In fact we went Saturday and Monday and will need to go one more time just to make sure we have lots and lots of wood. We have a wood burning stove and we don't want to run out or come up short. It really does get cold in Heber and it smells like your camping all winter long.

Saturday we took our dogs with us and they had a blast running around sniffing everything and jumping in the stream and playing fetch. My chainsaw (yes I said my chainsaw) was having issues and we couldn't get it to behave. We finally called it quits on mine and Greg did all the cutting.

I was the lucky one to play fetch with the dogs for 4 hours. I finally sat down under some trees and to cool the dogs down and keep them out of Greg's way and something fell out of the tree above. I didn't pay any attention to it until it started moving. I freaked out, because it fell in my lap and to my surprise it was a BAT!! Yes a real live bat with the fuzzy body and nylon looking wings I screamed and jumped up and kicked at it before I knew what it was. Ran towards Greg doing the EWWEWW dance. He looked up at me and he said what is your issue. I said a bat fell on my lap. He said is it dead? I don't know but I kicked it and ran, I said. He stopped cutting and said where is it? We started looking for it and found it on the ground a few feet from where I was sitting. Greg tried to help it but it just squawked at him and he said "Fine lie on the ground and die" and we just tried to keep the dogs away from that area. I moved to the other side of the truck as far away as I could get.

Needless to say the tree we were cutting down took all day because it was huge. I'll have to take a few photos of how huge this tree was. It is now in our shed waiting to be split into smaller pieces to fit in our stove. It filled our trailer and part of our truck to get it out of the woods. We cut down two trees that day and then called it a day and went home. We have a large pile of wood on our deck as well that we are going to split and then stack by the back door so we don't have to go out to the shed until we run out. It usually takes a month to use up the wood by the door. We ordered Papa Murphy's for dinner (Pizza) and it was yummy! Called it a night and laid around the rest of the night.

Monday we had a few errands to run before we went wood hauling again. We took the dogs to the vets to get their checkup and Mardigan got an allergy shot because he was chewing on a spot and he had pulled out all the hair in that area. We were afraid it was something else but the vet said oh no it is just allergies. Gave him a shot in the hind end and shaved the area to make sure it wasn't infected and sent us on our way. We also had to go to Home Despot (depot) for chain saw oil and blades so we can cut down more trees and not only have one chainsaw to get the job done. We went up to the mountains and found a great spot that had several trees that were dead that we could cut down. We stopped and Greg got out and started on the first tree. Once he was done I started cutting it into pieces while he was cutting down the second tree. Well what was really nice is that whoever was using that campsite had cut down a tree and left it there. It looked like a full tree. We took that as well. Why not! So that was our three trees and we were full beyond capacity and loaded and tied it all down and went home.

We were starving and went to Wendy's for lunch/dinner since it was already 430pm by the time we got the wood unloaded and the trailer unhooked. We even took showers before we went to eat. We were exhausted and didn't want to do anything else. Unfortunately we both had to work the rest of the week. But the nice thing was that we actually had a showing on our house, don't know anything else. So we now have a clean house.

This weekend is Swiss Days and the Sheep dog Championships in Midway for Labor Day weekend. Mom and I are planning on going to the Swiss Days market and look at all the crafts and have a lot of food. I'll try to remember to take some photos with my camera while I'm out and attach them to my next blog.

Busy Weekend Part 2

2008-08-04T11:43:00.005-06:00

Well day two of our weekend we went around Heber and took pictures of the uniqueness of our small town. Amber will have more on her blog for sure and we were having a great time taking pictures; cooler weather would've been nice but it is August in the desert. Here are a few of my favorite shots that I took yesterday.

I know this one is slightly blurry, but it was a mistake shot. I hit the button by accident and took this shot. I thought it was really cool even though it was slightly out of focus.

This one we took through a train connector and I really think it looks great and makes it look like a frame. It was a really fun weekend and would love to have another one just like it. Thanks Brian and Amber for making the weekend so memorable. I hope you had fun too. Give kisses and hugs to my new buddy Eli. Love you both.

Busy Weekend Part 1

2008-08-04T11:21:00.004-06:00

Well what a weekend. It was a whirlwind for sure. It started out Friday when my mom and I went to SLC Airport to pick up my brother Brian and his wife Amber and their adorable (almost) 1-year old Eli. He is growing in leaps and bounds. He is such a sweet heart. I got to be a nanny for Saturday while they went to a wedding at the SLC Temple. Here are a few photos of our day at the Temple.

He is always on the go and I got a lot of rear view shots as he was always going. We did a lot of walking around Temple Square going into the different visitor centers and looking at displays and listening to church videos. Well with a 1-yr old it wasn't very long lived.

Family Reunion

2008-08-04T11:03:00.004-06:00

The weekend of the 26th of July was a family reunion for Greg's side of the family. It was Greg's father's mother's family. Yeah, I know HUH? Well it was a good time. It was at Logan's Zoo in Utah. What was really funny was the fact that our Stake President was having a family reunion just next to us at the same park. Who knew? Greg actually saw him first and went over and said hello. It was funny; he said wow, I have to go to Logan to see people from Heber anymore. Or something like that...

Greg & I didn't really know anyone besides his mom and his one brother Tracy and his wife. So we went to the zoo and it was a one dollar donation to get in totally on the honor system. It was mostly a bird zoo. There were a few other animals there but what do you want for $1.00. Here are a few pics.

July 4th Weekend

2008-07-10T12:42:00.006-06:00

Greg & I went fishing sort of... well with three dogs running and jumping through the water; fishing is well a laugh. I sat on shore while Greg and our three dogs waded through the stream. We drove up into Kamas, Utah a small community not far from home; we stopped off the highway and climbed down the embankment (which I don't recommend holding a chair, book, fishing gear...) it was really steep. The dogs just jumped right out and went flying down the hill like it was nothing. No fish were caught much to anybody's surprise; but the dogs had a good time following Greg around and getting wet at all costs.

Shasta our youngest dog is shorter than the other two and isn't too keen on deep water. If she can't see her feet or touch the bottom; she would rather stay closer to shore. The other two jump into the water and swim as much as possible. I think it is really fun to see them jump in (belly flop style) to get their toy out in the middle of the lake. But they'll chase just about anything, sticks, rocks, balls a shadow if you can trick them well enough. I took some photos I'll attach here soon.

The pictures below are of the dogs swimming in the reservoir. They love the water. I don't know why, besides it feels good and they get to chase their favorite toy. You wouldn't think baths would be a problem; well they don't like those go figure.

(Below)This was a local BBQ at the park put on by the business owners of our town on Main Street. They brought over the one of the fire trucks and sprayed the field like a giant water sprinkler and the kids ran through it to cool from the heat.

When we got back home Greg & I went to see a movie at our local theatre "Hancock" it was okay movie; not really one I would go see again, but it was fun just being together. We had ice cream sundaes from the movie theatres own little shop it was really good, huge too, Greg had to help me finish mine.

We didn't do fireworks because our dogs hate them and they get panicked with all the louds noises. This was Shasta's first 4th of July celebration and she didn't like them at all. She sat by me (on me) with her head buried in my arms. The other two layed on the floor exhausted and chewed their bones. We did watch some fireworks display on TV that had music. We sang the patriotic songs along with the TV. It was a good night.

Saturday we went into Orem to Lowe's for a few things for the house. It took much longer than we thought it would; well it didn't help we had to go down and come back and go down again. After we got back from doing that we took the dogs out for another swim in the reservoir and wore them out. We went home and watched the Olympic Trials on TV I love the swimming events the most as that is what I like to do.

Sunday was church at 11am and we BBQ chicken for dinner with watermelon and a pasta salad. It was a very relaxing weekend and want to have more of them. But well see if we will have anymore weekends like that together as Greg usually works Friday, Saturday. It was really fun to spend time together.

For Sale

2008-06-26T15:12:00.014-06:00

We are moving to Lehi, Utah to be closer to Greg's work at IMFT. Right now his commute is an hour in each direction and with the cost of gas going up it just makes sense for us to move closer.

We have had many great memories in our home here in Heber City, Utah but it is time for us to move.

If you have any friends or family looking for a nice home in Heber City, Utah give our agent a call. Her name is Leasa (Lisa) Cameron and her number is (435) 671-7277 and is with Prudential Utah Real Estate. We would love to have someone move in before the summer is over.

Let me tell you a few details of this home and I'll add some more photos as well. It is a three bedroom two bath home with a sitting room, and large 400 square foot family room. There is a new water heater, water softener linoleum in kitchen and black kitchen appliances. The master suite is the entire top floor of the home with the laundry in the master bath. The other two bedrooms are large and one could be turned into two bedrooms making it a four bedroom home.

The lot is .24 ac and has a full sprinkler system and with garden section, a shed and a deck. In the garden section we do have a pear tree and an apple tree that we have had some really delicious fruit.

We are close to several amenities in the area; walking distance to the grocery store, schools, rodeo/fair grounds, several restaurants and park. There is also a airport that has special events including hot air balloon rides, glider rides and we even had the opportunity to have the President of the United States personal Helicopter land at our local airport. We have some great neighbors on all sides. For a full tour of our house here is a link http://www.obeo.com/393463 this tour has panoramic views.

Here are some photos of the area where we live...

Mt Timpanogos overlooking Deer Creek Reservoir

This is a bridge in Midway and the Provo River runs through the valley which has great fishing and tubing. There are also two dams that you can fish, boat, ice fish in winter and water/jet ski. In winter we are within 20 minutes to some of the best snow skiing in Utah. Park City where several Olympic games were held has several ski resorts, hotels and shopping.

St George Trip

2008-06-12T09:27:00.024-06:00

We went to St. George in February and I'm finally getting to the photos we took. We had such a good time and it was the first time in about a year that we actually took our camera on our vacation. We kept forgetting it; but without further ado here are some photos we took while we were driving all over.

We took these photos on our way to Four Corners; unfortunately we didn't make it that far. We got to the dam in Arizona and stopped there for lunch and took a tour of the dam. Here are some more from our day.

Here we are enjoying the beauty of Zions National Park. I hope you find our photos as breathtaking as we did. We went through at the end of the day and the photos are sort of darker only because it was sunset but still we really got some great shots.

We had such a fun time that we took so many photos these were but a few and it was a gorgeous day. I hope you enjoyed our photos as much as we did.

Cope Wedding

2008-05-28T16:20:00.006-06:00

We had a wedding over Memorial Weekend for Greg's younger brother Tom in Boise, Idaho. Actually it was in Nampa, Idaho and it was a beautiful day. They had an outside wedding and it was wonderful spot.

While we were there we had a chance to see all of his five brothers; Lanye, Jeff, Chris, Tracy and Tom (he's the baby) and it was fun to do stuff with them as well. We went and played Frisbee golf at Ann Morrison Park with Chris, Talon (his almost 2yr old son), Layne, Penny (his wife) and Dan (Layne's youngest son). I didn't play all that well; but it was fun none-the-less and we had Mongolian stir fry for lunch. It was really good and I left my leftovers in Boise dangit.

At the wedding there were several of us taking photos and I'll share some with you. We have a family website at http://www.daloonybin.com/index.php if you want to check out some other family photos.

After the wedding we went to the movies and watched Narnia The Prince of Caspian we liked it enough to watch it a second time; although we really don't care for the end. You can tell they were pushing it; but let's not go there.

We left Boise Sunday morning after visiting Greg's Dad's burial plot with a couple of his brothers that were there. It was a really nice spot and the plaque has a great mountain range engraved in it and I wish I had taken a photo. His brother Layne placed a cup of hot Joe on his grave because he liked his coffee. Greg's mom placed some flowers from her own garden on the grave as well. We said our goodbyes to everyone and we went back to Greg's mom's house to get packed up.

May 25, 2008 was our 6th Wedding Anniversary- I wasn't expecting anything since we were on the road and Greg surprised me with a card and a box of chocolates. We ate them on the way to Idaho Falls.

We left around 11:30am and followed Chris to Idaho Falls to stay the night and see Stacia, Chris' wife and their new store Hobbytown USA. They are doing well and are keeping busy. We had dinner and chatted until 10:30pm or so and went to bed. We slept until almost 8am and had french toast and bacon for breakfast thanks to Stacia. We went by the store around 12:30pm to see it in action. They had a lot of customers and we wish them luck on their business endeavors.

Welcome Friends & Family!

2008-04-22T16:37:00.003-06:00

We are glad to be a part of the blogger family and will try to make it a habit to visit often and keep everyone up to date on what is happening with the Cope Family. We've had our ups and down this winter; we had several feet of snow that finally melted away. Flowers are starting to pop up and the grass is actually green now.

We took the dogs out to run and they are very excited to see all that white stuff gone. It was hard to play when the toy was buried in 4 feet of snow all winter. We are now able to enjoy the sun and play outside. Although the weather hasn't warmed up all that much, it is better and we don't have to wear heavy coats anymore.

Everyone is healthy and we didn't have too much sickness this winter. Cold here and there but nothing to serious.

We were doing some minor construction on our home and Chrisann step on a nail, it went right through her shoe. She had to have a tetanus shot but all is well. Greg is finally done with the basement bedroom and it looks fabulous. I'll try attaching photos later. But it looks great and so much better. He did so much work on it and finished it in record time.

We put the house back on the market so we can move closer to Greg's work in Lehi Utah. Hopefully we'll have some success this summer with this venture. We'll keep you posted!!