Giving Back to Ronald McDonald House

We just got back from a quick weekend trip to Portland. On September 23 Ronald McDonald House Charities in Portland hosted their annual fundraising auction. They invited Joe to be a guest speaker at the event, as the special houseguest presenter. Joe, Nanette and I all attended the event. Joe shared with the group Nanette's journey, our wonderful RMH experience, and her happy ending. He did a great job speaking and we were really happy to be able to give back to the RMH in this small way. One day we hope to be writing the big donation checks with the rest of the people attending the banquet. Nanette was so good during the entire dinner and auction, sitting or sleeping on my lap the whole time. She charmed the entire crowd. They raised around $200,000. Katie and Carter came to Portland with us, but stayed with their cousins in Banks (outside of Portland). We didn't see much of them over the weekend, but they were so busy playing they didn't even notice.

I caught Nanette in some beautiful light at breakfast this morning. We figured it out - she smiles when you blow in her face.
On our way out of town today we stopped in and visited my sister and brother-in-law, Amy and Clay, and their cutie-pie baby Max. Max was born June 22, 2006, so he's just a little more than two months younger than Nanette. But he's heavier! These two cousins are going to have a lot of fun growing up together.

Overkill, but I can't help it

I know it might seem like a bit much to post an entire photo session, but how could I possibly leave out any of these pics??? The weather has turned chilly here and we have to bundle up to walk Katie to and from school. She doesn't look the same without all that hair showing, however...

Morning Cuddles

Every morning our family migrates to the living room for morning cuddles - first thing before we start the day. Sometimes it's early, sometimes late. Joe and I sip our coffee and together with the kids we snuggle under everyone's favorite worn-out fleece blanket. Adding Nanette to the mix has made our morning ritual even more special. We all take turns holding her, and she's especially good natured first thing in the morning.

Kung Fu Fighting

Joe can now add directing to his list of credits. Today he and Katie and Carter created a mini movie. If you are in need of a smile, check it out by pressing Play below. I haven't laughed that hard since I don't know when. Tears were streaming down my face. Enjoy!

The Fair

Our family LOVES the fair. The Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days always fall over Labor Day Weekend, and we see it all - animals, commercial exhibits, carnival, corn dogs - you name it. We're big into entering exhibits too. I grew up doing 4-H and got into the habit of taking things into the fair a long time ago. The kids have been entering stuff since they were old enough (age three, I think).


Here is Carter's "Creature Feature". It's an annual contest where the kids create creatures out of fresh produce or fruit. This is a cheetah.


And here is Katie's Creature Feature. We raided Grandma Josie's garden for the building materials.


Here the kids are showing their entries for the "Junior Riddle Contest". Each year a riddle is published in the fair handbook and kids use the riddle's answer in a flower arrangement. As you may have guessed, the riddle answer was an egg. I've thrown away the booklet or else I'd write the riddle for you here. It was a tough one this year - Joe had to look up the answer on the Internet! Both Katie and Carter got blue ribbons for their entries. I also baked with the kids. Katie made a carrot cake (blue ribbon!) all by herself. This took ALL DAY, but she really did it herself. Carter made cut-out butter cookies, with a little help from me. They're both on their way to being great cooks. And I'm hoping they learn to clean too. Soon.



Now comes the fun stuff. Joe and Carter climbed the rock wall. It was Carter's first climb. Joe does this every year.


This photo will send waves of panic through Grandma Cooke. Carter loves it, though. It's actually the second year he's ridden the mechanical bull. We will NOT be encouraging rodeo as a career path, however.

Katie got new cowboy boots for school from Grandma Josie. She looked like a rodeo princess (like her cousin Emily - 2006 Umatilla County Fair Court Princess) strutting around the fair wearing them.


The kids are being taught proper fair eating habits while they are still young. Elephant ear, anyone?

New Cooke Family Blog

Well, I've decided to take this whole blog thing one step further and create a family blog where I can post news and photos of what's going on with the Cooke family in Walla Walla, WA. It's JoAnn writing it, please remember, so don't expect professional prose. I will update the blog when I have new photos and when I can muster up the strength to stay up late at night to post them.

My first entry will mention our little princess, Nanette. She is almost five months old now. The thing about photographing Nanette is that in order to snap a picture with her smiling, I have to perform wild antics, and then quickly get behind the camera to snap the shot. This results in a lot of blurry photos, such as this one! We'll get some better ones posted soon.

Bottom line about Nanette is that she's healthy and happy. She's a cheerful little kid, although she's moving into the "Mommy only" stage. But she has special places in her heart for Dad, all her Grandmas and Grandpas and her Aunt Angie too. We were at the pediatrician for a four month checkup a few weeks ago. Nanette weighed and measured in at the 50th percentile. We were all happy with that and she continues to grow and thrive. It's a drop from being off the charts for weight at birth, but no one's worried.

Joe has been busy being creative again and has written and performed a new song about Nanette and her beautiful story called "State of Grace". You'll want to give it a look and a listen by clicking the play button

Thanks for checking in.