Christmas time

I do love Christmas time, this year for some reason has been hard for me to get into the spirit. I did put up a tree and the kids had so much fun helping grandma put up her decorations. I am starting to feel the spirit of Christmas which is wonderful. Tomorrow Free will have his interview at Midwestern in Glendale! Keep him in your prayers! It is so stressful worrying about getting into Pharmacy school!
The kids were so excited about the gifts my mom brought. She wrapped 24 Christmas books to countdown until Christmas and everyday the kids get to unwrap one book and we read it together. Last night the book was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Brayden told me it was his favorite book, and now they are begging to open another one, they will just have to wait until tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is in a few days I just though I would write a list of things that I am thankful for.

1. My husband who works so hard in school and work
2. My kids who keep me on my toes, and can be so cute!
3. Family and Friends
4. 26 years I had with my Brother
5. I was able to sell my house!
6. A nice van that is newer and all payed off!
7. my running stroller! It helps keep me sane!
8. All the love and support my family was given after Jeff died.
9. That I get to make pies with my mom!
10. That I get to run the Turkey trot with my dad!
11. To have Kori to call!
12. Family parties, always fun and relaxing!
13. That Free has gotten some interviews!
14. That I live so close to my parents.
15. Music and my Ipod, makes running so much better!

I could go on and on! These are just a few of the many things I have to be thankful for! This really is a good time to look upon all the wonderful things to be grateful for!

Halloween Pictures

Halloween Pictures

Halloween Pictures

WooHoo

I just have to give a shout out to my Dad! He has worked so hard training for the many marathons that he has run and yesterday he qualified for The Boston Marathon!!!! It is not easy to qualify you have to get a specific time! My Dad worked so hard! We are all so proud and excited!

Happy Birthday Brayden

Happy Birthday Brayden. Today my boy is 4 years old! He is a very imaginative boy, he loves to play with anything. He finally got a woody and buzz for his birthday from my parents and he is so excited. For weeks he has been playing with other toys and saying they were Buzz or Woody. Freeman made Brayden a really cool cake! We had a little party for him last night, thanks to all who came! I think Brayden is having a wonderful birthday!

FREE

After 8 long weeks of taking chem 152 Free is done! Hooray! He was so stressed about this class and worried he would not get an A but he did it. Now we will have more studying for the PCAT. But great job FREE for getting an A!

1 more week

I just have to say that I have 1 more week until Free is done with Summer school! Yes I cannot wait for him to have less stress, and be able to spend more time with the Fam. But the downside is his time will now be spent studying for the PCAT in August! Sighhhhh this will all be worth it I know.

Finally

I know that it has been well over a month since I have posted! There has been a lot going on. We sold our house and moved to a little apartment. Free has been going to school and working, he will take his PCAT in August. We are starting to apply to Pharmacy schools for next summer.
We were able to go to a family reunion over the 4th of July in Showlow. We had so much fun! The kids got to go to a parade and see Fireworks. The weather was so great! We had family olympics which were so much fun (Thanks Kent and Susan you did an awesome job!) I won the Cherry eating competition and the arm wrestling competition! We had a special memorial service for my Brother and other family members that have died, it was so neat we all sat around the fire and told stories. We had so much fun just spending time together as a family. Also we had a craft day where we made vinal (Sp?) boards to hang up. I did one for Eliza that says "Be your own kind of Beautiful" it is black and pink, so cute. And I made one for the family that says "Family, we may not have it all together but together we have it all"
After the reuion my sister came and stayed with my parents. We had a very busy week with the kids. We went to Jeepers, the kids loved to ride the rides. We went to the zoo and Ikea ( we love Ikea they will watch your kids while you shop!) We went to a play "Beauty and teh Beast" we loved it all the kids loved it too. We went and saw the movie "Up" cute movie but a bit boring for the younger kids. I went shopping with my mom and sis Kori for her birthday and then we had a big birthday Bash since Kori turned 30! It was a busy but very fun week.
That is what has been going on latley for the Cooleys!

Wonderful Quote

My mom does a quote blog and I took this quote. I thought this was such a wonderful quote, something I needed to read since this totally describes me at the moment, I just had to share this with everyone.

Life is not easy

Elder M. Russell Ballard compared our life’s journey to that of the pioneers.

Life isn’t always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed Iowa—up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds our vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement jut out of the terrain to slow our passage. Always, there is a Devil’s Gate, which will swing wide open to lure us in. Those who are wise and faithful will steer a course as far from such temptation as possible, while others—sometimes those who are nearest and dearest to us—succumb to the attraction of ease, comfort, convenience, and rest. Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and endurance, we, as did our forebears, inch ever forward toward that day when our voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing: “All is well! All is well!” (Hymns, no. 30). M. Russell Ballard, “You Have Nothing to Fear from the Journey,” Ensign,May 1997, 59

The Race

Here are some pictures from the Ogden Half Marathon and Full Marathon. Me and my cousin Jamie ran the Half Marathon while my dad ran the full Marathon! What a great day!

Utah

The past week I was in Utah staying with my sister! Kori was so great to put up with my crazy messy kids! My cousin Jamie ran the Ogden Half Marathon and she was able to get me in so I ran it with her. She did such a good job, and her little boy is only 9 months old! I had fun running, it was a gorgeous run! It was great until the last 3 miles where I had extreme knee pain, but I worked through it and finish it in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The rest of the time I did stuff with my sister. We went to the bean museum at BYU the kids loved it, it is full of real animals that have been stuffed! We went shopping and we went to the Salt Lake zoo! Which is a really nice little zoo. I have a few pictures but more will come when I get them from my sister and mom.
All in all we had a great time in Utah, my kids just loved playing with their cousins everyday!

New Favorite things

So I decided to post a few of my new favorite things
1. Brooks running shoes, they are so great I have had no problems and they are so airy and light, great shoes!!!

2. Running skirt! I have always wanted to try one and I found a great one on clearance and I wore it today, wonderful. I totally want to buy more, they are so super comfortable and airy. It will be so great to have when the weather is hotter, love them!






3. Gelato. After the relay for life my mom took me and Kori out and we got some Gelato, it was so good. They had a dark gelato and these fruit gelatos, yummy, I now want more!!!!


4. Better Off Ted, this is a new show on ABC and I love it! I think it is funny and the characters are quirky. It is about Ted who works for a research company, about science and the relationships at work. I recommend this show!!!

Miss California

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

She stands up for what she believes in, even though it cost her the crown, I think this is so awesome!

Going on

I realize that I have not written much about what has been going on in our lives. So here is our update. Free was working for Shea Homes but unfortunately was laid off. As hard as that has been we still feel good about our situation. Free has been going to school for the past while working to get into Pharmacy School. It has been hard to be a school widow but I know it will be all worth it. He is currently taking 14 credits and in the fall he will be taking 17. He also does not get breaks because he has to take Summer school. He will take the PCAT exam in August and we will start to apply to schools in June. We were very blessed for Free to get a new job working as a Pharmacy Technician. Thanks to Networking and my Dad's great idea Free was able to get hired on with a company that will train him to be a technician, they pay is not fantastic but he needs the experience in order to get into Pharmacy school. Our house is up for sale and we are hoping and praying to sell it. The joy for me is that we decided to give up his truck, so I am now a women of the fifties only having one vehicle. I know that all of this will be worth it when he is done with school. Brayden and Eliza are doing great. Eliza is a total chatterbox and seems to never stop talking, she also loves to imitate people. Brayden is so full of imagination and is constatly playing. That in a nutshell is what is going on in our lives!

Quotes

The theme of today is Happiness. Times are tough right now for most everyone, the economy is hard and there are many job losses and family losses. It is easy to be sad and stressed and feel despair in these times. I just wanted to have some quotes to lift spirits up!

"Happiness is a condition of the soul. This joyous state comes as a result of righteous living."
Benjamín De Hoyos, “True Happiness: A Conscious Decision,” Liahona, Nov 2005, 31–32


"Yes, we find happiness in the midst of the trial of our faith. The Lord manifests Himself to us through His tender mercies, which we find along the road of happiness. We see with increased clarity His hand in our lives."

Benjamín De Hoyos, “True Happiness: A Conscious Decision,” Liahona, Nov 2005, 31–32



"Happiness does not come by pressing a button, as does the electric light; happiness is a state of mind and comes from within. Some think of happiness as a glamorous life of ease, luxury, and constant thrills; but true marriage is based on a happiness which is more than that, one which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness."
Spencer W. Kimball



"Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last."
James E. Faust


"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."
Anne Frank

Selling

Well we are selling our house, I have dedicated a blog to it, there are a few pictures and more pictures will be added soon. www.gilbertazhouseforsale.blogspot.com

Relay for LIfe

This year I am participating in the Relay for Life in Gilbert, AZ. This event is put on by the American Cancer Society to raise money for cancer research. As you know I lost my brother on Nov 1, 2008 to cancer. This devastating illness has taken him from us. There needs to be further research so that others do not have to suffer.

The Relay For Life is where people who have lost family members to cancer or have survivors of cancer get together and walk/run all night to raise money to find a cure for cancer. Its all night because Cancer never sleeps! They do a wonderful program to honor those who have lost the fight to cancer.



Cancer touches all of us. I don't know anyone who hasn't been affected in some form or another.


If you are able, please donate to my team and help me help the fight against cancer.


http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GW?px=10070399&pg=personal&fr_id=14855

Quotes, a little late

So this week Free and I have to do sharing time, the Primary theme this year is all about families so in light of that I thought I would have my quotes be about families.


My sense of gratitude stems also from blessings to my family. It is the sealing power and our knowledge of it which changes and transforms our family life here and our expectations for the joy of family life in the world to come. The thought and the hope that I can have eternal relationships carries me through the trials of separation and the loneliness which are part of mortal existence. The promise to the faithful in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that we may have associations and an expansion of families in the eternities. That assurance changes forever and for the better all of our associations in families.
Henry B. Eyring


The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck


You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu


Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard


The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you. ~Kendall Hailey, The Day I Became an Autodidact




He knows that only in eternal life can those sacred, joyful associations of families endure. The ultimate purpose of what they taught and of what we teach is to unite families: husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, ancestors, and finally all of the family of Adam and Eve who will choose the way of unity.
Henry B. Eyring

Pictures

A little while ago I went to the zoo with my kids, my, mom and dad and my nephew Carter and niece Kennedy. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures.

Quotes

Since my cousin Tyler is getting married tomorrow I thought I would do some love and wedding quotes today!

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the wedding cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.
- Ogden Nash


We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.
- Sam Keen


Now join hands, and with your hands your hearts.
- William Shakespeare


Love doesn't make the world go 'round.
Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
-- Franklin P. Jones


How sweet is the assurance, how comforting is the peace that come from the knowledge that if we marry right and live right, our relationship will continue, notwithstanding the certainty of death and the passage of time.
-- Gordon B. Hinckley


A Friend's Love says: "If you ever need anything, I'll be there."
True Love says: "You'll never need anything; I'll be there."
-- Jimi Hollemans


Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score;
Then to that twenty, add a hundred more;
A Thousand to that hundred; so kiss on,
To make that thousand up a million,
Treble that million, and when that is one,
Let's kiss a fresh, as when we first begun.
-- Robert Herrick


The greatest happiness of life it the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
-- Victor Hugo


The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes.
~Amy Grant


In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic, a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts, an enabler rather than a reformer.
~H. Norman Wright and Gary J. Oliver


Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
~Benjamin Franklin


Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.
~Katherine Hepburn


A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
Germaine Greer



Yes I got a little carried away but it was fun.
PS Happy Anniversary Tiff and Jake!

Quote Day is back

I have totally been slacking and not writing my quotes. Todays quote comes from the First Presidency message in the Ensign, I really liked it.


"We live in troubled times. Doctors’ offices are filled with individuals who are beset with emotional problems as well as physical distress. Divorce courts are overflowing because people have unsolved problems. Human resource administrators in government and industry work long hours in an effort to assist people with their problems.

One human resource officer assigned to handle petty grievances concluded an unusually hectic day by placing facetiously a little sign on his desk for those with unsolved problems. It read, “Have you tried prayer?” What he may not have realized was that this simple counsel would solve more problems, alleviate more suffering, prevent more transgression, and bring about greater peace and contentment in the human soul than could be obtained in any other way.

A prominent American judge was asked what we as citizens of the countries of the world could do to reduce crime and disobedience to law and to bring peace and contentment into our lives and into our nations. He carefully replied, “I would suggest a return to the old-fashioned practice of family prayer.”

5 years

Well today is Free and I's 5th anniversary! I cannot believe that we have been married for 5 years, it has just flown by! It has been great and I would totally do it again! I am not one for words so I am just going to say, Happy Anniversary Free!

Oh Brayden

So this morning we were eating Breakfast and Free handed Brayden a hard boiled egg. Brayden took and then said "This is not a bird, just an egg!" Silly boy where does he learn these things?

Bumbleride giveaway!

You could win this wonderful Stroller just click here

Shout Out

Thanks to everyone for those nice comments. Susan that was a really good idea about substituting. The Transcription thing will be great once I move closer to it. I have to say I am adjusting to the idea more. Now I am in work mode!
I have to say a big Thank you to my Dad. I had ordered some things before all of this happened and I went online to see whne it would come, only to see that it was sent to my old house! There are renters in it and I do not know them or have anyway of getting a hold of them. So my dad drove down there and was able to get the package! Such a nice dad to do that for me! He was worried the neighbors would think that he stole the package since it was sitting out there and he tried to ring the doorbell but no one came, but it was my package with my name on it! So glad he was able to get it!!!

Life Changes fast!

Well yesterday morning around 630 Free's phone went off, the sound of a text message. I was thinking who would text him so early in the morning. Well it was his construction manager telling him to be at the office at 930! Yes Free was layed off, we were informed by a TEXT MESSAGE! We knew that lay-offs were coming and that Free could be apart of it.So this was not a huge surprise. They gave him two weeks, so starting in Feb. we will be jobless yay! We are going away from construction and looking elsewhere for a job! We are putting our house for sale, so if anyone knows of someone who wants a house send them our way! Also I would like to look for a good work from home job that I could do, so if anyone knows of one please please let me know. I am going to need to help out anyway I can! Layoffs are hard I know we have been down this road before, but we feel that we will be okay, if everyone could just keep us in your prayers that we will be able to sale our house that would be wonderful!

Pictures Pictures Pictures

I have really slacked in posting. Here are pictures from Christmas and Christmas eve. Also some from having fun with Kori in town. We took the kids to the Train Park in Scottsdale. They loved it! They were so excited to ride a train. They also rode on a Carousel, which Kori has the pictures from that. Then they played in the playground!