My parents went on a river cruise to Europe-who needs them to have a great Easter--we don't!! No offense, but Brett, Melissa, Crystal, Aiden, Cooper, Hank, Chris and I had a fantastic dinner together. Then we had my cousin Stef and her family and Grandma and Grandpa Garner over for an Easter Egg Hunt in my parents backyard. It was nice weather and the kids had a great time. It was fun just being together.

Every year West Point City has an Easter Egg hunt. Well, last year, we were 1 minute late, which means, there were NO eggs left. I still say it was Chris dinking around and he continues to say it was me. Trust me-it was him. Anyhow we were early this year and had fun trying to get eggs.

***Disclaimer--Chris does NOT approve of this post and wanted me to NOT share the story and especially the pictures. I told him he was NOT in the car. He did NOT get puked on multiple times. And lastly he did NOT stay up all night cleaning up puke. So the POST STAYS.***

Excuses are what I am full of.....but this one is true! We had some major flu/bug/monster hit our family. Oh man. I had three boys super sick. Cooper got it the worst. I swear-what is it about puking on mom? Why do children think we like it? Or that it is okay? Yuck. We do NOT like it in the least. In fact I have come to hate pickles, cheese, pepperoni thrown up all over me in massive quantities. But what I really have come to hate is picking those mentioned items above piece by piece out of my washing machine. That was a new low for me. I am pretty sure I gently said, "I need a vacation!" Wait, now that I think about it-I screamed it at the top of my lungs with the laundry room door shut! ahhhhhh. That was just the start of 7 days. The first night Chris laid in our bathroom on the floor-so NO help-thinking he was dying. Cooper threw up EVERY 10 minutes-i mean EVERY 10 minutes the entire night. I never slept. After I would get Cooper back to bed...I would washing my hands, do laundry, and wash my hands. It was the BEST. I did around 25 loads of laundry the first 2 days. SWEET. I got a VERY mild taste of it on Sunday(conference) and it was bad. I thought we were out of the woods. Then Monday night around midnight Hank puked all over himself and his crib. By the time Chris and I bathed him, changed his sheets and got him to sleep it was 1. BTW-way easier to do that routine with help. I just put my head back on my pillow when Chris walks in and says Cooper is puking all over....WHAT? That is NOT possible. Well, it was. We cleaned him up, changed his sheets and got him back to bed around 2. I thought this sickness would never end. So it had been a week we went to my mother's house to hang out. No one was acting sick or had thrown up in days. On the drive home-look at pictures again-it takes 30 minutes to drive home-Cooper starts puking all over himself 10 minutes into the drive. It was awesome. The smell was barley tolerable. Hank kept crying out-he felt how I did. Cooper said, "Mom, I don't think Hank likes the way I smell." I assured him, that was true. I was ready to jump off the ledge...the smell, the amount, the CAR, the car seat. Oh man. Gross. I drove all the way home and got out the trusty towels stripped him down there was so much puke pooled in his shirt. I felt so bad.
So that is why I have NOT posted. I have been the puke maid. Thank goodness everyone is over it. Now, could we all just stop having runny noses?!

I forgot to post these pictures of Uncle Bruce and cousins Jack and Hank. I love how happy everyone is in this shot. Thanks for coming to visit San Francisco Robins.

Henry Hudson Robins just turned ONE on March 14th. I can't believe it. He still only has 4 teeth. He is 30 inches long, 23 and half pounds. Not a small boy...anyhow. I invited about 25 people over for a Mexican dinner and Dick's market cake(cream cheese frosting with double custard in the middle...oh my yum!) It turned out great. All the prep work really paid off. Hank gets overwhelmed with groups of more than...3. So I was worried how he would do with 25. He was great. When Cooper turned one, he did not want anything to do with his cake. I had a feeling Hank would not be shy. He has intense hunger pains. Well, he did not disappoint. He ate his whole piece, the plate and then another piece. He was so drunk of sugar. He also had cake everywhere. Thanks to everyone who came to and celebrated with us!!

I thought this was too cute. This was after Hanky's first birthday. Two buddies sitting on the bench waving goodbye. I love it.

Could Cooper really be any happier with his special pancakes. Chris has a real talent for making the usual things better. He ate most of his name!

Brett, Melissa, Hola Aiden, Cooper, Hank and I went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. I had never been. It is pretty cute. The boys had a GREAT time. Hank enjoyed the food. Big surprise. I think they touched everything. What a fun play day.

Here is Cooper doing the alphabet. He is such a crack up.

Cooper has been able to do this for about 3 months. I finally video taped it!

WHO DO I LOOK LIKE?





















LAVELL EDWARDS!! Just picture Lavell's face and yep-that is him as a baby! I just laugh everytime I see this picture.

Today is all about Hank. He is so close to walking on his own. I finally filmed him pushing the shopping cart. He gets it going so fast he can't keep up. It is so funny. He actually took his first step alone today. I was so glad I saw it. He also was a bottomless pit today. He ate more food today than I did. I was unable to keep enough food in front of him for most of the day. He just kept eating. I am very concerned if this is a precursor to his teenage years.......

This picture of Hank is 100% him. He LOVES to use his finger to touch everything. It is like his magic wand. The bowl, it just an added bonus!

I had to put this video on of Cooper. He loves to take two hangers and "play" his violin. I think it is so funny. Enjoy.

Cooper really wanted to make a cake for dad today. I figured its Valentine's why not? Cooper LOVED it. He even wanted to wear his "special cover" not an "apron" to help. He looks so great. The red velvet cupcakes turned out yummy. When Chris came home Cooper yelled "Happy Valentine's Day Daddy!" Success!

Well, this blog is dedicated to Rich Robins. He is my father-in-law. He apparently LOVES to read blogs. He bought me this laptop for Christmas so I could blog again. So I kind of feel like I owe him one. Thanks so much for the computer. I really do love it!! I figured pictures are really what you want so, enjoy!!!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and probably a Happy New Year is more properly in order.
This is a small note to stir interest for those who had almost given up on our blog altogether. Mariah officially got a laptop from Santa and will be resuming her social duties as soon as we land at home after the holidays.
Look forward to updates soon! Chris

Happy 4th of July! One of my most favorite things about living in West Point-or the WP-is the 4th of July festivities. We went to the morning breakfast put on by the young women in our ward. It was super good. Really, pancakes taste better with a little grease! After the breakfast we watched the parade. I truly believe that this parade was Cooper's ultimate fantasy. It had horses, candy, tractors, firetrucks, dump trucks, Popsicles, did I mention candy? Seriously, it was the perfect parade. After the parade we walked over to all the booths, and games. The weather was amazing-warm and overcast. It was just pleasant. Last year, I entered Cooper in the cutest baby contest. He not only did not win, but refused to even smile. He was so mad I made him do that. I decided not to ever to that again to my boys. They win. But-here comes the but-there was a Toddler Trot race. I HAD to enter Cooper. It cost me 5 bucks. Now this is where my competitive nature comes into play. I had to figure out what would motivate Coop to run extra fast. One word came to mind....CANDY. I had him pick from my hand which candy he would like and I told him I was holding it at the other end of the race. I thought it was pretty smart of me. On your marks, get set, go!! Off went the 8 kids running. Cooper looked both directions to see what was going on and I yelled, "Running Cooper, running!" That kid turned on his jet pack. His short, chunky legs ran like no other. COOPER WON!!! Can I just say I was proud. Okay, I was EXTRA proud. I will post Cooper with all his prizes. Chris wasn't even there to see it. Not that he is in to that kind of stuff, but he would have still be proud. Do I sound like a pageant mom or what?

Chris went to San Francisco to help his brother Radley move in. He starts dental school this week. Rad and Laura had a baby (I say a jellybean) earlier in June. The girls and grand boys hung out with Judy for three days. It was fun to shop in Park City at the outlets, talk and eat well. I wanted to compare my Beefy boy to Jellybean Jackson. Hanks head is three times the size of Jackson,s. Hank's leg is four times the size of Jackson's. Did I mention they are 2 months apart in age? Yep. Either I have obese children-or the thickest whip cream for breast milk. Cross my fingers it is the latter! Thanks for a great few days so I wouldn't have to literally wrestle Coop and Hank alone!

I think little boys with new haircuts are the cutest thing ever. This is NOT Cooper's first haircut, but he did such a great job, I had to take some pictures. Jessica at Dollar Cuts does a GREAT job with him. What a show pony.