Random Bits of Information (and pictures)

This weekend, Marc and I discovered the Overland Park Cinemas. I guess we've been living under a rock. Anyway, last week sometime Chuck and Missy asked if the girls could spend the night at their apartment on Friday. We didn't hesitate with our reply. After dropping them off at Wendy's for dinner, Marc and I took off for a 7:00 showing of Australia. We both enjoyed the movie -just enough action to romance ratio! - and had a fun evening together. For a total of $8.00 we both saw the movie, shared a popcorn, had 2 Cokes and a bag of M&M's. A great budget date!

While we were there, I saw an ad for a great, kid-friendly activity. On Tuesday, February 3rd, they are showing Veggies Tales: Abe and the Amazing Promise. All you need for admission is one canned food item per person to be donated to the Boise Rescue Mission. The shows are at 10:00a.m. and 4:00p.m.. I plan to take the girls to the 10:00 showing. Please let me know if you would like to join us! You can get more information here - on their "Community Events" sidebar.

Right next to the theaters is one of my favorite spots for guilt-free treats: Golden Spoon. When we lived in California I single-handedly kept the local shops in business! (Well, I had plenty of help from Janella. :D) Within the last year or so, a new store opened in Boise. Monday nights are Family Nights with a BOGO Free offer on the small cups of frozen yogurt. I ate a coffee/peanut-butter swirl in honor of you, Janella. Here's Ally's review of the new yogurt chain:

"One golden spoon WAY up!"

In other news...we've still been getting several light dustings of snow down here in southern Idaho. Marc created this lovely masterpiece on Sunday morning. The girls thought it was cool!
We still don't have a name for baby girl #3. "Kate" won the little blog contest, but I'm not sure that it's going to stick. I really like it, but I have two girl cousins named Allison and Kaitlyn (sisters) so it might be a little too similar. What else goes with Sierra and Ally.....?


Sierra LOVES to color and draw these days. Here's what I found on the easel a couple of days ago. I love the detail on the ears!

Miss Savannah Jane has learned to crawl and is more fun than ever! She loves to come play with her cousins and really knows how to tell a story. Here are the three princesses at a recent tea-party. (Aren't we glad that we don't have to introduce a boy to this pink and purple mess?!)

I guess that's all the news for today. See you soon.

A Winner....Finally!

After much deliberation...we have finally selected a winner for the baby name contest. Marc and I had to devise a point system to make it as fair as possible. Who knew that it could get so complicated?!?! The name with the most number of points in the final tally was:

KATE

That means that Kelly was our winner! I will bring your prize to church on Wednesday evening. Congratulations!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Daddy and Serena in Brazil (1977)

Here's a little birthday wish for Dad/Pastor Randy/Papa across the miles. He's leading a tour in Israel right now. (Yes, Israel.) We miss you and can't wait to celebrate your birthday when you get back to Idaho. WE LOVE YOU!

Fishing trip in Montana. (1994)

Father of the Bride. (1998)

In the Sawtooths with 2 out of 4 of his granddaughters. (2007)

Baby Videos

We were able to bring home a dvd with a couple minutes of footage from the ultrasound this afternoon. Modern technology is amazing. (And we don't use that word lightly here!) I'm already addicted to watching it.

Here's a profile shot of our third beautiful daughter:

And here's another view. If you look closely, you will be able to see a big yawn as well as her little heart pumping away.

It's a...

GIRL!

We are THRILLED!!! I'm sorry that is has taken me so long to get to the computer. In fact, I really need to rush over to Mom's house for dinner this evening so this will be short. Kelly, Colleen and Marcia were correct in the gender category, but I still need to consult Marc as to the names. I'll be back tomorrow to post the contest winner as well as some cute pictures of our third daughter. She's a doll! Everything looked perfect in the ultrasound and we had so much fun looking at her. Ally thought that the heartbeat sounded hilarious and really got the giggles during the exam. Sierra could actually tell what all the parts were on the monitor and was amazed to see her new sister. We are BLESSED!

The Widow of Zarephath

Although we hear that it caused some deep ethical and theological debate, Sierra got a glittery, purple "Princess Bible" from Grandma Cook for Christmas. It has been her most prized possession! She "reads" it often throughout the day, wants to look up all of her AWANA verses and studies the parallel gospel charts very carefully.

During Christmas break, she randomly decided that she wanted me to read to her from the book of 1 Kings before naps and at bedtime. One day, we turned to chapter 17 and and I read to her the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. First, I explained what a widow is and I could tell that it really upset her. Being deeply rooted in my elementary education background, when we got to the part about the widow being asked to mix the last of her oil and flour, I had Sierra predict what would happen. She looked hopefully up at me and said, "Elijah is going to make her a new husband." Forget the miracle of supply and provision...this woman needed a husband!

Cook Family Pictures

I've said it before, I'll say it again....it's great to have a photographer in the family! Once again, Chuck did an amazing job of capturing our family on film, or digital pixels, or whatever. Here are our family pictures from this Christmas. They were taken on Thunderbolt Road just a few yards up from the cabin in Garden Valley.

The whole Cook family...even Bear and Basil.

Chuck and Missy

Grandma and Grandpa

The three girl cousins - Sierra (4), Ally (2) and Savannah (7 months).

Benjy, Susie and "Annie" Beck.

Marc, Serena, Sierra and Ally Mouser.
(Baby is there too, you just can't see him/her.)

There's still lots of time to join the "Baby Contest" from our last post. If you can't leave a comment, just drop us an e-mail. I've enjoyed reading the name suggestions! Keep them coming.

Baby Contest

We finally have a date for our BIG ultrasound appointment - Thursday, January 15th!!! I could have gone in for a "peek" today at my regular visit, but I was all alone and how fun is that?! It was SO HARD for me to turn down the offer, though. That means that next week we should be able to find out if we're expecting our third daughter or a man-child, as Josh so eloquently put it. Hence, it is time for a little contest. If you would like to guess the gender of our third baby please leave us a comment by next Wednesday evening. (I'm sure I'll post as soon as we have the news on Thursday.) In order to win this contest, you must not only accurately guess the gender of the baby but also SUGGEST A NAME that both Marc and I like. This will be rather difficult, let me tell you. You may make as many suggestions as you can think of. Whichever name we both like the most will be our winner. (No promises about using the name on the real birth certificate, however.) I plan to tailor the prize toward its recipient, but it will be something baby-related.

Happy Guessing!