7 Month Old Cooper (a little late)

Cooper was officially 7 months old on March 27th (I was a bit behind in getting the pictures off the cameras and onto the blog). It is amazing how much he is growing and learning. He is so much fun to watch as he explores things. He can now sit up all by himself for long periods of time. Cooper will sit on his own and play with toys. He will intensely study his toys at times- I would just love to know what he is thinking. Sometimes he will be sitting playing with his toys and all of a sudden he will start giggling. It sure is cute. Cooper is quite ticklish and has a great giggle. He has rolled over a few times. The first time he rolled over I missed it. I was doing my hair in the bathroom and he was playing on the floor near me on his tummy. When I looked to see how he was doing he was on his back. I couldn't believe that I had missed it. He still loves tummy time and will even scoot a bit when he wants to reach something. I know that all too soon he will be mobile. Cooper has been eating solid foods and has some favorites and some not so favorites. He wasn't too sure about avocado. He liked peas, sweet potatoes, carrots and applesauce. Green beans were not a big hit (I had to mix in applesauce, which sounds weird, so that he would actually eat them). He is still a very smiley and laid back little boy. He is turning into quite the ham in front of the camera. Below are his 7 month pictures and some of his other adventures.

Emily Knapp (Knapp Photography) took the next several pictures in their studio.

I just think this one is so cute! :)

I love his smile in this one.

I took these next few in the studio.

Cooper and Mr. Bear

We went hiking at Multnomah Falls on March 20th. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. Cooper got to ride in the baby backpack.

Here we go!

Daddy and Cooper at the start of our hike.

Family shot. A very nice tourist offered to take our photo after we had taken his.

One more. :)

Enjoying the ride.

So much to see!

Silly face. 

We made it.

At the top of the falls.

Back at the car. Love the baby backpack!

Tired Cooper (riding in the backpack is hard work).

There's a smile!

Just because- love the hat.

Asleep in the jumperoo.

Now what?

Avocado mess. :)

Trying to get the hang of a sippy cup. His expression is just priceless. :)
(Jeff says this is Cooper's reaction to the new healthcare bill being passed.)

Summit 2010

My Mountain Adventure


A few weeks ago a buddy of mine from Church asked if I'd like to try and climb Mt. Hood with him and another one of our friends. "Sure, why not" I said thinking three weeks would be sufficient to train to climb our little mountain. Follow as hilarity ensues...

Here are Troy and I before taking off. Notice I'm not gasping for air yet.

Here is Phil and I. Phil's the guy to blame thank for this gruesome awesome trip. We began in the Timberline Lodge parking lot (5900' elevation) at 4:00am.

This picture doesn't do justice to the steepness, which I knew would be getting worse, I just didn't realize how much worse. 

  Here is repair #1, putting duct tape on my heals to help prevent blisters. Believe it or not duct tape is highly effective and recommended by MANY outdoor enthusiasts.

Sunrise over the Palmer Glacier

Looking like some medieval fort, this is the top of the palmer chairlift at around 7800'.

A random rock outcropping just above 8300'.

The view to the top just above the Palmer. Funny how close it looks.

A frozen ridge-line and an idea of how much steeper things had gotten.

The view of the summit from below the Hogs Back (about 9000').

Looking down to White River Canyon (you can see the bridge for Hwy 35 cut across almost where the river disappears from view).

Looking towards the summit from the Hogs Back (about 10,400').

Looking to the last 800 feet. At this point I was taking between 5 and 15 steps before taking a minute to catch my breath. Having trained at around 1000' the three weeks previously the air up here was unbelievably thin. Taking too many steps caused me to get pretty light headed. Not good when trying not to slide down the side of a mountain into a boiling sulfur steam vent.

Just about to the top. Only about 150' to go.

An idea of how steep it was near the top.

The last push. From here it was up a small chute to the top.

Finally on the summit ridge. This is looking west towards Portland.

Looking down, mostly in disbelief that I made it.

ON THE SUMMIT!!! 

11,239 feet above sea level.

8 hours 15 minutes from parking lot to summit.

This one's for Robb.

St. Helens, Rainier, Adams in Washington

Looking west once more to the other end of the ridge-line.

Descent. Now this I could get used to. The only good thing about packing so much up, is letting it pull you back down (carefully of course).

This is one of those sulfur vents I was talking about earlier. From top to bottom this hole/hill is about 400 feet. The smell is other-worldly; sort of a rotten egg magnified to the level of an atomic bomb. Even when you don't breath through your nose you can still smell it. Try breathing this in when you're exhausted and trying to hold down food and water because you're exerting yourself so hard. 

From just below the Hogs Back. You can see the parking lot on the far left of the picture just above the tree line.

Happy to be back and still not sure I just climbed a mountain. 12 hours on the mountain.

A look back on our trip. Wow!