We have boys...

We hear much giggling, hooting and laughter in the back yard. The boys are out for their daily winter wonderland adventure. Gary checks on them and comes to get me shaking his head, saying "You have to see this. We have boys...." Oh my, they were sliding very fast down our deck stairs which are very steep, going at least 100mph.... Hooting it up!!!

We think they were practicing for the Luge in the Olympics.

Heaven help us --- we do have boys!

Christmas Advent ....

OK, this Christmas will probably be like none other with the almost 2 feet of snow at our place. A couple weeks ago my friend, Leah, told me about how she was celebrating advent by placing small gifts in a special drawer. Her kids would find fun things to keep them occupied until Christmas. I think she does it for the full 25 days, but we started about day 10. We purchased several small gifts and each night we would eat dinner, read a story and the boys would find the gift under the tree. It seemed to work great until.... the SNOW hit this week. We have been stuck in the house for over a week and started running out of the gifts with nothing left to give them tonight...... Watch out....
We broke out the Christmas gifts!!! OK, how many of you have wanted to this week???? They have their new nerf target guns, so if you stop by our place -- Watch out and wear your protective glasses. (They are getting extra bullets in a few days)

Ian Robert Cooper - Our Two 5 year olds...

Most of you have heard this story and many of you lived through this story with us in 2003. I am going to repeat it again, because the season reminds me of it every year. I guarantee I will be repeating it in my rocking chair in future years. It was a wild year for the Coopers. Gary and I had been married since 1996 and decided to adopt a child. Our planned adoption happened in January of 2003. Our son, Grant, was born and we were thrilled. Adoption is a story in itself and can be complicated. I think the most amazing thing to us, was we were not pregnant for 9 months, instead we get a phone call that we were chosen to be his parents. The emotions that come in an instant, whew!!! -- Just imagine... The year went by with this little one changing our entire lives. We loved being parents. We were living in a large home in Portland and decided to move out to Yamhill in a small house to save money and be closer to family. In November, we decided to just stop with one child for various reasons. December came along and we started to deck the halls with our new son for his first Christmas with our families. We were so excited to share the holidays withGrant and were just enjoying the season. Then Gary got the phone call on December 17, it was from our caseworker and she asked him if he was sitting down. He was thinking we were getting the finalization paperwork on Grant and another bump came up. No. She was calling to tell him that Grant's birthmother was seen at the hospital ready to deliver another baby and would we want to take the baby? (You see, they didn't know she was expecting with no prenatal care) Of course, she needed a decision right away. Gary called me at work. Oh my, YES! was the answer we gave in an instant we knew in our hearts it was the right thing. Two days later on December 19th our second son, Ian, was born.

What an amazing year it was with 2 sons by Christmas.

God gave us two beautiful brothers. We are so thankful and God is so faithful.

Happy 5th Birthday Ian!!!

We love you,

Mom & Dad

Puppy LOVE -- Our Sadie Girl

About a month ago, Gary saw a picture of this labradoodle dog on his nephew's blog and it was "puppy love" at first sight. Sadie is a 11 month old rescue doodle dog that Randy and Kelli were fostering until she found a home. Well, she found our home and our hearts. She was a little skittish at first because of her abuse, but now she loves her new digs.
Randy and Kelli have a white doodle dog, so when the boys gave her the first bath they kept putting on more soap and scrubbing and asked daddy when she would turn white and get all that dirt off. :)
She sleeps in Grant's room and his crate was a bit close to his bed. She managed to chew a couple holes in his sheet. When he got home from school we told him she was in a little trouble and he told us, he "hated" those old sheets anyway and she got big hugs from him! He now wants her crate on top on his bed, so she can be closer at night.
She has been a JOY to have and really helped Spencer in his last days as he went blind. Sadie would guide him to his water and down the stairs. Sadie is sad that Spencer is gone, but now she will rule the house. She is a princess, I guess mommy is still the Queen.

Rest in Peace Spencer

Here is our dear dog, Spencer. He was born March 19, 2000. He was our first born in a sense before we had our boys. He was such a HUGE part of our lives and taught us how to take care of a pet. He loved to travel to the beach with us and go on rides. He was very good with Grant and Ian when they were babies and used to clean up their faces and spills on the floor. They loved to play with him and wind him up. He was a big part of our family and will be missed. He died December 9, 2008. We love you Spencer and you will forever be in our hearts.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Daddy and the boys went out to breakfast with Santa on Saturday. Ian went right up to him with big brother, Grant, to follow. The conversation on the way home~
G: That wasn't the real Santa. He is too busy at the North Pole making toys. Besides I didn't see his sleigh anywhere.... but I still believe.
I: It was too the real Santa! I checked his beard and it was real!

New to US

This is the first blog of Debbie and Gary Cooper. We hope to be able to communicate and keep up with our family and friends a little more often. We will see how it goes....