Isla's first haircut

I think it was time to get rid of this awesome baby mullet:)

Before

After:)

Much better!!!

Murray Family reunion in Zion

 Last weekend we had a Murray family reunion at the "Zion house". It was seriously so fun to see everybody. We had not even met our nephew Preston or our niece Lauren until then and they had never met Isla! Almost everybody was able to make it except for Jeff, Becky and CJ Spaulding because they had just barely moved. And also Steve's brother Scott, wife Rachel and their family because they have been having such a tough time with their little new baby Ellie who just turned two months old and has had a very rough two months of life. We (of coarse) were thinking of them the entire time and praying that they could get answers as to what was causing all of these problems. We are thinking of little Ellie today as she get her tracheotomy surgery and hope all goes well with that. She truly is such a fighter. We have not yet had the chance to meet her but just look at how beautiful and tiny she is below in a picture I stole from their blog:) We can't wait to meet her soon!

Some of the highlights from the reunion weekend was going to this sand dune!  I cannot believe how much the kids loved rolling around in the soft sand, some of the softest sand I have ever felt!

This was my best attempt at a picture of all the kids together. It was just so hard to get them all to be looking and smiling at the camera at the same time! Turned out cute though I think:)

Me and my baby:) Soon to be two babies!!

Baby Lauren who we got to meet for the first time! I can't get enough of that hair! It reminds me so much of how Isla's hair was so I was a little obsessed with it:)

 Wish I had taken a picture of baby Preston, he was also so so cute! He had the cutest dimples I think I have ever seen!

Isla liked the four wheeler the first time she tried it, but, when we tried to get her to go on it again she would not. She called it the "weeeeeeeeeeeee". (Imagine that in a high pitched squeal sound), so cute.

Pool time!

 Isla was so lucky to have her cousin Aubrey and Aunt Tay Tay giving  her lots of attention and love! They both took turns pampering her by doing her hair and nails. She looks pretty cute after!!

She also had a blast going to the Rodeo one evening were she may or may not have eaten some kind of rabbit poop that made her very sick the next day:( Why does she still like to put things in her mouth?!!

I personally feel so very blessed to have married into such a wonderful and amazing family. I am constantly in awe of Steve's mom Linda and dad Mike who raised six strong members of the church (who I truly look up to)! On top of that they have nine adopted children that are also amazing! I don't know how they do it but I am impressed and have enjoyed being around them immensely! I think I have always been a little nervous about being around them because they all seem so perfect to me and I feel so imperfect! I know that's not the case, but, thank you all for excepting me into your family and truly making me feel a part of it!

We miss all of you and can't wait to hopefully see you again soon!

Elder Brad Cook

My adorable brother Bradley Cook has officially left on his mission! He left on July 7th, 2013 and was called to the Farmington, New Mexico Mission. From my understanding this is a new mission that encompasses the four corners area, so a lot of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and of coarse New Mexico. A lot of his mission will be on Indian reservations and working with less active members. This is very much a re-activation mission because this area has A LOT of in-active members.

Bradley was only in the MTC for twelve days before heading to the field! That seems so fast to me! I guess since it an English speaking mission he did't need more time than that. It still seems short to me though!

He is officially in Farmington now with his companion Elder Young who we don't know much about except that they get along! He lives a few minutes away from his mission presidents house right now and rides a bike everywhere. He has said that already after only one (not even) full week of being in the field that he has committed a man to be baptized on August 31st! We are so excited for him and know he is going to be the most amazing missionary. He has always been such a great example to me even being ten years younger! Farmington is lucky to have him...

We miss and love you Elder Cook!

Hood River Oregon

A few weeks ago we went on our first Cook family vacation in years! We often go home to Utah a lot and see them but this was different and special because we wanted to get away as a family for the last time before my little brother (not so little anymore) left on his mission. Obviously by the title we went to Oregon. We stayed in a beautiful vacation home overlooking the Columbia river in the Columbia river gorge. We had so many adventures while we were there I will try to document them without boring you to death:)

The first full day we got there we went on a really fun hike to a falls that I can't remember the name of, I think it was Wachoma falls or something. It was by far my favorite hike from the trip! It was just so green with moss covered trees everywhere! Isla loved the hiking and would say "hike, hike, hike" over and over again as we trekked up the path. Here are some pictures from that hike.

The next day we went to a riverside park and flew kites. Isla did not quiet get the concept but had fun chasing the many dogs we saw around the park yelling "ruff ruff" as she ran.

The following day after that was a rainy day but it was also the day we had planned to do multiple hikes and we did them anyway! We did three hikes that day the first was just an easy one right of the road, the famous Multnomah falls. The girls and the babies did half the hike and the boys continues on to the top.

Multnomah falls

The Cook siblings

The next hike was called bridal vale falls and then the hike after that was called ponytail falls. Did I mention I did all of this eight months pregnant! So much fun though. Isla was always so fascinated by the amazing waterfalls and so dang fun to hike with.

Ponytail falls. This one was unique because you could go behind it.

The next day we went into Portland and enjoyed some nice meals at restaurants and went to the Portland Zoo and Rose gardens. What a tiring yet fun day! The babies did well without their naps surprisingly!

Isla loves to smell flowers!

 One thing that Isla loved at the Zoo was the bear! It's kind of hard to see but I think the reason she liked it so much was because of how close she was able to get to it! She sat at that window with it for a good twenty minutes and it just kept pacing back and forth right in front of her.

The next day we went to Mount Hood, an inactive volcano and ski resort that you can ski at year round because of how high it is! We went to one of the lower resorts that offered a bunch of rides and activities and spent a few hours there.

After Mount Hood we headed down to a trout farm to catch us some dinner! This was definitely a highlight of the trip for the whole family. We are not such a fishing family so for a lot of us this was our first time. I wondered how Isla would do with a live fish but she was fascinated with the one she caught (with dad's help of coarse). As you can see from the picture below she really wanted to touch it and was not afraid at all! Such a brave girl.

After we all caught some fish we headed over to some grills that they have there and cooked 'em' up! They were delicious! This trout farm we went to was so cool. They provide the fishing equipment for you then once you have caught the fish they gut them for you as well. It was such a beautiful place and such a fun experience especially for the kiddo's.

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The next day the boys went river rafting and did a water hike while the girls stayed back and played at the house. Nice relaxing day for us!

The last night we BBQ'd with our amazing view and flew some kites again in the back yard. Such a perfect week!

This was our amazing view of the river from the house and our adorable little family.

Isla lately

It's been a while since I have done a post because we have been so so busy preparing for new baby girl to arrive shortly! (8 weeks to go!) Also, I have been so sick this pregnancy its not even funny. I think I have gotten everything imaginable from the flu to viruses and the worst was food poisoning! Oh man, hopefully all that stuff has passed and I can just enjoy the nice discomfort of being in the third trimester:)

Isla continues to be off the charts as far as height is concerned and then average for weight. I think this picture below shows some of how Isla is right now. She is such a girly girl! She LOVES necklaces, shoes, bows in her hair, bracelets, skirts, dresses, pretty much anything girly she loves and I'm not going to lie, I love dressing her up everyday and am so glad she still lets me. I know there will be a time soon when she doesn't want to wear what I want her to wear anymore so I'm trying to live it up!

For the last 3 months or so she has suffered from really bad eczema. It flares up on her face and bum. It looks like a rash and I literally have a pile of creams and lotions that I would apply to the affected area's multiple times a day and nothing was helping! I finally got fed up with it when her bum started getting little blisters on it and she was always trying to itch it. Up until that point it never seemed to bother her it just looked red. I took her to the doctor who prescribed her a special cream to apply twice a day and I am happy to say it has completely disappeared! I know it can flare up again but hopefully this magic cream can keep it in check otherwise we will need to see the dermatologist about it.

Isla amazes me with how fast she has learned and picked up on things. Her doctor was very impressed at her 1 year and 15 month appointments with how many words and animal sounds she knew! She also says a lot of them very clearly! I love to hear her say apple, Isla and Haddy, she says them so perfectly among others. Right now she is just about 17 months old and knows too many words to count. Seems like she picks up on a new one everyday!

She likes to repeat back things that we say to her. It's fun for us to go through the abc's with her and have her repeat back each letter.

Loves Weston still:) I think he wishes she didn't love him so much so he could get a break every once in a while.

One of Isla's biggest pet peeves is having a clean house:( I put one thing away and she immediately takes it back out again! I am trying to learn how to keep on top of this because I have a hard time being relaxed if my house is a disaster. It drives me crazy!

Isla currently loves to watch Elmo singing videos and baby McDonald from baby Einstein, she loves it even more when daddy will watch them with her. We try not to watch a ton of videos, but, sometimes it's just so convenient to pull it out and get a break! She has such high energy!

A few more things about Isla right now:

• She loves to dance and spin, especially if someone is watching!
• Loves outside, even when it's 119 degrees here and her mommy is already so hot and uncomfortable!
• If she were to have a birthday party today it would be Old McDonald themed. She could sing that song and watch the video a million times a day if I let her, she loves animals!
• She's a great sleeper and a great napper! Hoping for that to stay the same when new baby comes:) Maybe I will have a fighting chance at getting some rest every so often.
• Loves to be tickled and LOVES to jump on top of dad over and over again.
• Loves the pool but is extremely independent and doesn't want me to hold her. Luckily they have invented those body arm tube things and she can float around in all by herself with me close by her side:)
• Strange quark: She loves to close her eyes and lift her face up towards the ceiling and walk around like that. It looks so funny but she gets a kick out of it. She often runs into things that way as well.

Help! On a side note she has also picked up on a few bad habits that I don't know how to get rid of!!!
Just the last week and a half or so she has started saying "no" all the time! She also has been hitting a lot (especially the dog) AND throwing these really awesome temper tantrums... Seriously, help! How do I stop this from continuing! I have tried changing her attention to something else during a tantrum and we have tried to stop using the word no at all (so hard) and telling her to be soft over and over again and showing her what soft means. So far... nothing. Any and all advice welcome!