A Day at the Zoo

We took Cooper to the Nashville Zoo today for the first time. It was a fairly nice August day, and we had a fun family outing.We had been reading a lot of books about animals, so I thought it was time he got a concept of what they actually looked like. The Nashville Zoo has an interesting selection of animals -- a few traditional ones: elephants, giraffes, lions and zebras, and a few less-traditional ones: a giant anteater, a porcupine, a guenon (whatever that is) and a tapir (huh?). We didn't see everything today, but we got a 1-year membership so we can go back anytime.The most fun part of me was getting to enjoy being a kid again as I got to watch Cooper seeing new things for the very first time.

Ten Months Old

Wow! It's been an eventful month. Cooper, now ten months, is pulling up and starting to say a few words, like "stuck" when he got his arm stuck in a drawer, and "cheese" when begging for macaroni and cheese. He raises his hands when we tell him to praise God.
We took him on his first vacation to our favorite spot, the Smoky Mountains. It was a little different with a baby along, but we had fun. We stayed in the same cabin we stayed in last time and took our dog Nash along too. We spent one day at Gatlinburg and another day hiking on a pet-friendly trail. -

The big news is that my brother and sister-in-law and their family are in the process of moving to Boone, NC. My brother got a job working at Samaritan's Purse. After having them here in Nashville for 13 years, I am REALLY going to miss them. It will help having e-mail, Facebook, and free long distance on our cell phones, but it's going to be hard not seeing them at church every week and not getting to watch my nieces and nephew grow up and being as big a part of their lives. I believe God has a plan in this though; it seems like a great ministry opportunity for them, and my brother will have much better working hours than he has ever had before.
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These pictures are of Cooper with his cousins and Aunt Lissa,

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and with my brother and me.Cooper keeps me so busy that I don't have much time to sit around and be sad, or do much of anything else. He's a joy though, and we're thankful every day that God has blessed us with him.