He's Here! -or- Joshua.

I am proud to annouce the arrival of Joshua Cooper, newborn son of my friend Jaime and her husband "Hobz."

This precious bundle arrived on Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. measuring 20-1/2 inches and weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces.

I have seen the new family and all are doing well. Joshua - or "Coop" as they will call him - is absolutely perfect!

Congratulations, newly expanded Hooley family! :)

Well-Wishes -or- Due.

One of my closest friends from work is due to have her baby today. I excite to hear the news of Baby Hooley's arrival, and I hope to hear it soon!

Send a prayer for a safe and non-traumatic labor for Jaime, her husband "Hobz", and baby, won't you?

"I ON TABLE!" -or- [more] Outdoors

Today was another out-of-town workday for my brother-in-law, so I got to pick up our niece and nephew again, which meant another fun trip to the park! Elizabeth chose to stay home and nap; apparently the first day of 2nd grade was quite tiring for her! Here is some of the fun we had:






And of course, "Shellie, I ON TABLE!":

Summer Fun -or- Outdoors

My brother-in-law has had to work out of town a few weeks this summer, which has afforded me the opportunity to pick up my niece and nephew from daycare a few times. Here are a couple of pictures from our first trip to Nord-Kalsem Park:

Graduation Day - or- Pride

On July 31st, Jonathan graduated from WalMart Management Training!





I apologize for being very tardy in posting this great news... I've been dragging my heels on uploading pictures from the camera because of my innate impatience with the process.

Congratulations, Jonathan! I am so very proud of you!

I am pining for the ocean. Badly.

Where does the time go??? - or - Summer.

So... uh... Wow! The summer is nearly gone! The kids head back to school in two weeks already!

As I realized my last post was 6 weeks ago, and because we've been up to a lot since that last blog, I thought I'd get back into the game and post pictures of what we've been up to. This slideshow is picture-heavy entry, so forgive any extended loading time the page requires, won't you? ;)

We've been to softball games, begun the process of buying a home, moved into a tiny apartment until we close on the house, gone swimming a few times, and been to Oregon to stay with Jonathan's folks and brother for two full weeks (sans Jonathan who could not get the time off of work). Now the process of getting ready to return to reality and begin the school year. . .