Cooper Playing With Papa

Cooper has learned to smile now and so I tried to get a video of him playing with Papa so you all could see how cute he is. Beware though, the camera work is not that good!

More Pictures of Cooper Smiling

Cooper's Blessing

These are a few of the pictures we took at Cooper's blessing on Sunday, November 16th. As I've said before, there is nothing quite like a newborn baby....especially when they are your own grandchildren. I just love the picture of Janae, Kiera and Cooper sitting together on the couch.

Birthday Celebration!

This year for my birthday, my family surprised me with many fun activities and events. Steve had made arrangements to pick me up from work early on Thursday and to have the day off on Friday. When he picked me up he took me to the Portland Oregon Temple and then out to dinner. When we got to the Temple we ran into one of my cousins, Teresa Fisher and her husband Gordon. It was a nice surprise. We were able to sit by each other during the session and then to have a good visit afterward. After dinner, Steve took me to Andrea and Chris' house to see Cooper. We spent the night and in the morning Steve and Chris went golfing and we met Heather and Janae and Kiera at the mall for a fun shopping trip. Later that afternoon/evening the rest of the family joined us and they surprised me by taking me to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Portland, the Rhinelander. The food is great and as you can see in the picture behind me they have an accordion player that wanders around the restaurant serenading the guests. We like to sing along and we always make a request for them to play "The Chicken Dance". All of our kids and their families were there along with Tami, Dan, Evan and Siena. It was a lot of fun to be with them all. After dinner we went to Heather and Jeff's house to open presents and spend the night. On Saturday all of the girls went to a holiday craft fair in Vancouver. Sunday morning Cooper was blessed by his father, Chris, and Steve, Kevin, Dan, Chris' father Ernie and his grandfather all stood in the circle. Jeff was not feeling well and Chris B was in Washington attending a class so they were not able to be there. It was so wonderful to share this special time with family and hear the blessing. After church we went to Chris and Andrea's house for brunch and spent some time together with Chris' family. It was a great birthday weekend and I very much appreciate all my family did for me. I love them all!

Congratulations Kim and Chris!

With so much going on in our lives right now I have been slow getting some important and wonderful news posted.

On October 6th, Kim and Chris surprised us with the news that they are expecting their first baby on May 19, 2009! We are so excited for them and are looking forward to our 4th grandchild.

The Pumpkin Patch

One of the things we did on the farm was visit the pumpkin patch. Janae and Papa spent lots of time looking for just the right pumpkin to take home. Kiera liked riding on the hay wagon.

Fun on the farm

On Saturday we went with the Swanson's to a farm that has all kinds of activities for families. These pictures represent just a few of the things we did. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed watching Janae and Kiera having fun.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Sharp

Andrea's grandparents came to meet Cooper on Saturday morning. Cooper is their 5th great grandchild.

Home From The Hospital

Andrea was finally able to leave the hospital on Wednesday. The first picture is of Cooper all ready to go in his new car seat. The second picture is of an exhausted Andrea and Cooper after we got them settled in at home. The third picture is of Cooper enjoying his own personal swing.

Welcome to our grandson,
Cooper Christian Hanson.
He was born on Sunday, October 19th at 12:37 am in Portland Oregon. He weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. and is 21 inches long.

Pillow Fight!

This weekend we went to Vancouver to spend some time with Janae and Kiera, and of course, Heather, Jeff, Andrea and Chris. While we were there I caught this moment on camera. Kiera is 10 months old and has figured out how to bother her sister Janae who will be 4 years old later this month. This brought back so many similar memories of when Heather and Andrea were that age.

Cute Kids

On Friday night, while in Vancouver, we went out to dinner with Heather, Jeff, Janae, Kiera, Andrea, Chris, Tami, Dan, Evan and Siena. Afterward, we went back to Heather and Jeff's house. When Kiera went to bed we put in a movie to help the older kids stay quiet. I thought they all looked so cute I couldn't help but take a picture.

On Saturday, we went to the Clark County Fair. Janae and I went on the Tea Cup ride and had lots of fun.

Janae and Heather went on the Roller Coaster. Janae loved it. She even got brave enough to put her hands in the air!

Kiera - Learning to Walk

Kiera is right on the verge of walking. She has great balance but needs to build up her confidence a little more. She does really well pushing the stroller around. I'm sure she'll be walking on her own very soon.

North Carolina

Two weeks ago we went to North Carolina. Steve served his mission there a few years back (ha ha!) and has wanted to go visit for a long time. We had a great time and met a lot of nice people. North Carolina looks like Oregon, green with lots of trees but unlike Oregon it is hot and muggy.

Steve showed me most of the areas he served in and he even found a few of the apartments and houses he lived in while there. He has a great memory when it comes to people and places which I already knew but I was impressed that he could find these places after so many years away.

While we were traveling around we managed to visit South Carolina and Tennessee also. You will notice that we even drove through Bat Cave, North Carolina.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

We spent some time on the Outer Banks. This was our first time on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful day. It was windy but very hot. The water was about 82 degrees. We enjoyed the fact that you could wade in the surf and not have numb feet and legs when you were done.

Grandfather Mountain and the Swinging Bridge

We took an exciting walk up to the Mile High Swinging Bridge on Grandfather Mountain. The bridge is the highest swinging footbridge in America. The bridge really does swing when you walk on it but, thank goodness, it's made of steel and not wood. The bridge is suspended more than a mile above sea level. When you get to the other side you realize you are standing on the edge of a cliff. I was surprised that there were not any railings or fences. I'm not afraid of heights but I found myself watching everybody's kids to make sure they didn't get too close to the edge (just like an over protective grandma). It was really beautiful and you could see for miles and miles. Steve spent part of his time taking pictures of other families with their cameras. He wanted them to have pictures of their whole family together. Everyone was very appreciative.

The Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina

We spent several hours touring the Biltmore House and Gardens. This place is amazing. It took over 4 years to build the house, they finished in 1895 making it the largest home in America to date. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but it was very impressive. Some of my favorite interesting facts are: the house sits on 8,000 acres of land; the library contains more than 23,000 books; there are 43 bathrooms - most houses in 1895 didn't have even one; electric lights throughout the house; one of the bedrooms displays two Renoir paintings, Child with an Orange and The Young Algerian Girl; there is a bowling alley, swimming pool and gymnasium in the basement; they have an early form of walk-in refrigerators, a laundry room with a belt-driven barrel washer and an inside drying room; etc. Mr. Vanderbilt and his architect were very forward thinking.

There are several gardens and they are all beautiful. The conservatory is open to the public and you can buy hundreds of varieties of plants. I could have spent all day there looking at each and every type of flower and plant.

We learned a lot and really enjoyed our time there.

Sparklers with Janae and Evan!

We spent the 4th of July with Heather, Jeff, Janae, Kiera, Andrea, Chris, Evan and Siena in Washington. We had lots of fun together. This video is of Janae and Evan with their sparklers. Siena didn't want to do sparklers so she's not in this video.

Evan and Siena are our nephew and niece. Their parents, Tami and Dan, were on vacation in Italy and Andrea and Chris were taking care of them. We were are their house doing fireworks.

I couldn't believe how many people were doing fireworks. The neighborhood was filled with smoke and it sounded like a war zone but it was a lot of fun.

6th Wedding Anniversary!

Heather and Jeff celebrated their 6th Wedding Anniversary on June 28th. I can hardly believe that it's been 6 years!

Happy Belated Anniversary

Heather and Jeff.

We love you!

Steve's Birthday!

We celebrated Steve's 51st birthday on June 28th.

Andrea and Chris were here along with Evan and Siena, our nephew and niece. Kim and Chris were here and so was Kevin.

These are pictures of Steve opening his gifts, Mario Kart and accessories for the Wii. We all had a lot of fun playing each other.

Steve is a great husband and father and we love him very much!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Grandpa Sharp's Birthday!

We celebrated my Dad's 73rd birthday this weekend along with Steve's. We spent the evening at my parents house. We had a barbeque and ate lots of good food. Kim made the birthday cake in a cake decorating class that she is taking in Corvallis.

Dad is a wonderful father and grandfather. We all love him very much.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Portland Zoo!

Last weekend we went to the Portland Zoo with Heather, Jeff, Janae and Kiera. We had lots of fun looking at the animals and watching the girls reactions to them. Kiera was somewhat oblivious but she seemed to be enjoying the ride in her stroller. One of the highlights of the day was feeding the birds. If you haven't had the chance to experience this it is worth the time and $1 it costs for the bird food. Heather was brave and let a bird land on her finger and eat. Janae was right there and not a bit afraid as you can see in the pictures below. We also took a ride on the Zoo Train. When the train stopped by the Rose Gardens for people to get off, the train conductor came and talked to Janae. The weather was perfect all day, no rain. Janae had so much fun that she is already making plans for our next trip to the Zoo!