The Cooley Clan: March 2010

March 28, 2010

Richard in the NEWS...

Here are all the winners of the Ogden Air Logistics Center Awards Ceremony printed in the Hill Air Force Base Newspaper ... do you see a familiar face? Captain Richard LeRoy Cooley II is on the 2nd row and is the 2nd picture from the left. Doesn't he look handsome?

Yellow Belt Advancment

GREAT JOB Jacob!

Certificate of advancement

Master Oliver gives him his yellow belt

Saturday, March 27th at 12:00 noon was Jacob's Yellow Belt Advancement in Tiger Crane Martial Arts school! He is doing so well! Of the 5 kids, he is the only one that was able to break 2 thick pieces of wood with his hand, and all but one had many attempts to try to break just one...so, WAY TO GO Jacob! His teacher, Master Oliver is so animated with the kids (his eyebrows are so expressive as you can see in the 1st picture) and seems to be a good teacher. The MA school is only a short 2 minute drive down the street (just off Shepard Lane), so it is very convenient for us and Jacob wants to continue doing martial arts, so you'll see more photos of his advancements as he progresses.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Green Rice Crispy AND Corn Flake Treats...YUMMY!!!

Aleah's Preschool

Aleah in front of Hannah Holbrook Elementary School

Some of Aleah's Classmates and the Aid in the Classroom

Aleah pets the Husky in the hall as we wait for all the kids to be brought from their classroom each day. She loved petting that stuffed husky!

March 15, 2010Aleah started preschool at Hannah Holbrook Elementary- home of the huskies in Bountiful, Utah. She was in the Early Intervention Program because she was behind for her age, and I felt that she needed some help outside of what I was doing already. She participated in that program for about 1 year in which Jean (Speech Pathologist) would come into our home once per month to work with her for 45 minutes- 1 hour. A lady named Lisa would also come twice a month to work with her...Aleah LOVED Lisa so much and I REALLY enjoyed her coming as well. You could tell that Lisa really did LOVE my daughter and she took to her so fast! We miss her now that Aleah has qualified to go to preschool. This state runned program tested her and labled her as Developmentally Delayed because she scored low in fine and gross motor skills as well as speech. Cognitively she is right on track they say, so that's good news. We'll see if she makes improvement with this preschool that she attends Monday-Thursday from 9:00-10:30 a.m. She has already made some friends as you see in the picture...Gary is the boy and I forget the girls name. The lady in black is the classroom aid...Christie is the teacher and will get a photo of her with Aleah later.

March 12, 2010

3rd Grade Program 2010

Rachael and Kennedy sing a duet in, "Cover The World With Love".

Kids sign part of song after their duet

Thursday, March 11th was a special presentation of all the 3rd and 4th graders at Eagle Bay Elementary. This program was called, "It's Cool To Take A Stand". It was all about making right choices (CTR). Rachael sang a duet with a girl named, Kennedy in a song called, "Cover The World With Love" and did a GREAT job. I wish she would've sang a little louder though...it seemed like Kennedy was right in front of the microphone and Rachael stood back too far. Oh well, she did a WONDERFUL job and it was an AWESOME program! My favorite song was called, "Clear the Air" and small group of rappers that did it so well they got a round of applause in the middle of the song! I would LOVE to get the song on video camera and post it to the blog if I can find someone who video-tapped it!

Ladies Lunch

Wednesday, March 10th was our Ladies Lunch with a few neighborhood friends (left to right- Susan Veater, Nan Schmalz, Krista Groll and my daughter Aleah). I told them about this restaurant that Rich and I went to a couple of months ago and so we decided on Kim Long (Vietnamese Cuisine) which wasn't too bad but Nan didn't like it because it wasn't enough food for her and was a little bland. My husband knows the owner from Hill AFB which is the reason we knew about it. I still am partial to Thai food because it seems more flavorful than Vietnamese food, but it was nice to try nonetheless.

March 1, 2012...Susan Veater has now been gone from our Oakridge Farms Ward for about a year or year and a half now and I miss her! She was the BEST Visiting Teacher you could ask for! She REALLY cared about you and it showed. Some of my past V.Ters just come because they are asked to but she genuinely seemed to want to come and spend time with me! I have not had one better! I hope I can be as great a V.Ter as she was...Thanks Susan for being such a Christlike person. I'll always remember you!

Rachaels 9th Birthday Party

DJ, Rachael, Mikhaila Groll

Rachael and Jayden Jeppson

Victoria (Tori) Anderson and Rachael

Kennedy and Rachael

Saturday, March 6th

Rachael turns 9 years old! She had 6 other girls from Eagle Bay Elementary and from our neighborhood come over for a girls late night party. We ate homemade pizza, rootbeer and grapes for dinner around 6:30 pm. when the party started, and for dessert and while they watched a movie called "Princess", I made them homemade kettlecorn and each got a few pieces of red-licorice (twizzlers). They had a good time playing hide-and-seek around the house, watching the movie and playing the game, Apples to Apples (Rachael's favorite game). When the moms came to pick them up (10 p.m.), we gave each one of them a big Butterfinger (Rachael's favorite candybar). I was actually VERY glad when it was over because I was EXHAUSTED after just having had two surgeries in our family that week! I guess my week was more overwhelming than I thought it was and I am STILL trying to recover from my LONG WEEK! I'll NEVER plan two surgeries in one week as well as a birthday party the same week AGAIN!!!

March 6, 2010

IMA of the YEAR!!

Awards, gift and programs

Lt. Col Ted Stokes on right was up for the award as well...

The winners are in a line to be congratulated!

2 Star Major General Andrew E. Busch

ALC Commander awards Richard!

CAPTAIN COOLEY WINS IMA of the YEAR!!!

OO-ALC Awards Banquet

(Ogden Air Logistics Center)

Richard gets his Nomination Award Medal and Certificate with his supervisor, Mike Polzin...

Captain Richard L. Cooley II was nominated and invited to an Awards Banquet for the Outstanding Military and Civilian Recognition Banquet of 2009. Only 2 days after his surgery, March 4, 2010 he attended this special awards ceremony and Richard won as the IMA (Individual Mobilization Augmentee) or Individual Reservist (Officer) of the year!!! We are sooooo proud of all he does as an Electrical Engineer with the Government as well as what he does as a Reservist in the Air Force as well. We LOVE you Dad!

LUKE SITS NOW!

1st week of March, Luke learned to sit...still topples over after a minute or so, but almost there!

March 3, 2010

Aleah's Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy

She even has a smile with her new Davis Surgical Center teddy-bear! SO BRAVE!!!

Wednesday, March 3rd
Aleah had her Tonsils and Adenoids taken out today in hopes to make more room in her throat so she can breathe better...we'll let you know how she fares. So far, she did pretty good, but right after the surgery, she woke up VERY upset...probably because she was out of it and Mom wasn't there! So they had me go back there in recovery to hold her and sing to her to calm her down. After the anestesia wore off, she calmed down and drank three cans of apple juice, some water, and ate two popsicles! This was when I figured it would be a good time to snap some photos! Dr. VanLeeuwen is the one that did Rich's and Aleah's surgeries...he did a GREAT job!

Richard's Surgery

Now it's time to recover...it took Rich a while to completely recover.

Tumor has been removed...YEAH!

Pre-Surgery!

Tuesday, March 2nd

I drove Richard to Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton for his tumor removal at 8:15 a.m. to be there at 8:30 a.m. but they didn't even wheel him into surgery until about 10:30 am. After wheeling him in, I was going to stay, but it was going to be about a 3 hour surgery with an hour recovery at least. So, I left them my phone number at home where I left my kids with a friend and went home to relieve her and stay until pick up time around 2:30 pm. I got there and he had to stay till about 4:00 p.m. because he was feeling pretty dizzy. Right when I came in to the recovery room, he said to me, "surgery SUCKS"...he knows I DETEST that word, so I KNEW he was in a good deal of pain! Poor guy! Well, as soon as his head wasn't so dizzy, we brought him home. He was a trooper! As you can see from the stitches, it was a big incision as they removed 2/3 of his gland (which was 1 1/2 times bigger than normal) under his ear. Dr. VanLeeuwen did tell him that his earlobe will permanently be without feeling because they HAD to cut the nerve there in order to get to the tumor. It's not a big deal though...what do we use our ear lobes for anyway...

When they pulled out the tumor, they did some tests and confirmed what we thought from the start, that it was benign....NO CANCER!!!! We were relieved even though we had faith that everything would be alright, it just gave us greater peace of mind. We are so very grateful for all our blessings, even some of the trials we endure from time to time, for after the trials come the blessings! Thanks to some of our immediate family members and close friends for their thoughts and prayers in our behalf. We are so lucky to have each one of them as FRIENDS! Life just wouldn't be the same without them!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!

These toy pets are certainly going to take less maintanence than real PETS...I LOVE THAT!!!

Time to serve the Cold Stone Creamery, Ice Cream Cake!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear ALEAH, RACHAEL, and MOM, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

Meal included traditional black beans made with bacon/seasonings, rice, skillet steak (seasoned/breaded), and mashed potatoes with onions, tomato sauce and topped with cheese! YUMMY in my TUMMY! (We couldn't find farina to sprinkle on top rice/beans).

Brazillian Meal (lovingly made by DAD)

Sunday, February 28, 2010 was Aleah's 3rd birthday and my 32nd birthday. Rachael's in on March 9th, so we just celebrated them all together. Richard made a REALLY scrumptious Brazillian dinner using the Brazillian recipe book my mother gave him when they got home from their mission to Belo Horizonte, Brazil back in 2004. This was his first time using the book because he has a hard time translating some of the instructions. It turned out sooooo good though, that I told him I would LOVE for him to make it again or something different from the same book. So, THANKS mom for the recipe book (Rich wanted me to put that in so you'd know that he really appreciates it)! After dinner, we had an Ice cream cake made from Cold Stone Creamery in Bountiful. I created it with 2 yellow cake layers, 1 layer of cheesecake ice cream, and one layer of strawberry ice cream with bits of graham crackers scattered inside. The outside was a fudge ganache layer with chocolate candy on top and crushed graham crackers around the edge. The kids like it so much that a few of them had two pieces. We opened presents after this...the girls got their own Zhu Zhu pet hamsters with their own home, a garage door/car attachment and a hamster wheel attachment. I think I'll buy the slide for Rachaels birthday on March 9th to add to the house. The hamsters are smart little things on wheels and talk as well. The boys are both jealous, and so for Easter, I'll probably buy them each one as well! I told Richard that for my birthday present I wanted him to hide the cord of our digital frame (my brother got us for Christmas 2009) so you can't see it. He therefore got a box and had to cut a hole in the wall to mount the box which held the cord...it was a longer process than he anticipated, but looks LOTS better! THANKS a BUNCH HONEY!

Jacob Bakes Cookies!

It has been so nice not to have to make the treats on the weekends... Here is a photo of Jacob that Rachael took of him making the yummy Ginger and Molasses Cookies. I found the recipe in a magazine and really like them. I got to rest and relax and he did them all on his own!!! Pretty good, huh?!

PiggyBack Rides

Aleah, Rachael holds Luke, Qaiden

February 2010...

The kids had some fun giving each other piggyback rides and even baby LUKE got one!

Funny Kid Moments!

December 20, 2011- We were all in the kitchen making gingerbread and I had just taken out the first batch of the gingerbread boy and girl. As I attempted to scrape up the girl on the spatula, she was too soft and started to fall apart as I quickly placed the mangled mess on the brown paper bag! Qaiden pointed to the messed up cookie and said, "Ladies first!" and "Mom killed her!" It was just so funny I changed from being really upset that I had ruined the cookie to laughing so hard at the random funny comment! I keep telling the boys, "Ladies first", and I guess it is sinking in!

November 2011- I like to recycle plastic containers and so I had just washed out one of them and placed the plastic lid on top the toaster (near the sink) to dry. Jacob went to put some bread in the toaster and while in there, the lid melted! Just a little while later as I was getting dinner prepared, Qaiden sat on the stove counter right next to the hot stove top. I told Q to get down off the counter but he was slow to obey. I had turned off the stove, but one of the burners was still hot and so as Q sat there, his coat was lying on the still hot burner and his inner part of the coat melted. I was a bit angry with him for not being obedient and was pretty frustrated. At this point, I turned to the boys and said, "Ok, and the winner for the 'NO-BRAINER' award goes to...drum roll please...QAIDEN!" I changed from being angry to laughing because of how funny my own comment seemed to me! ;) (Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself!)So, whenever we do something stupidly funny, we call it the NO-BRAINER award! It's become quite funny to see some of the silly things we do each day!

May 25, 2010- As the kids got ready for school this morning, I asked Rachael if she remembered to get a leotard for Gymnastics today after school. Qaiden overheard and said "...it's NOT Aleah-tard, it's a Rachael-tard! And I would wear a Qaiden-tard!" Ohhhh the silly things that kids come up with!

Jan 20, 2010- I was in the middle of winding the cord of our kirby vacuum cleaner while singing 'Ring around the rosies a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down'...and Aleah just standing there all the sudden dropped to her bottom without bending her knees (looked a little awkward). It was just one of those moments that made me laugh because it was so unexpected!

Who Is... Richard LeRoy Cooley II

With much pushing and proding from Charise and a little from her Mom, I am attempting to briefly answer the question "Who am I?". To begin, I was born to wonderful parents, Richard LeRoy Cooley and Leah Tryon on October 16, 1970 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I am the 2nd eldest of eight children... Nichale, myself, Rodney, Roger, Oralea, Tawnya, Andelaura and Gayla. I moved to Mesa, Arizona when I was about 3 years old and lived there till I was 9 years old. In the summer of 1980 my family moved to Carthage, Missouri where I spent the most important and influential part of my childhood. It was during my time in Carthage that I finished grade school, Junior High and High School. I graduated from Carthage High School in May 1989 and shortly after entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Utah, January 1990. I served an honorable mission to Brasilia, Brazil. Shortly after my mission, I enlisted in the Air Force and was Active Duty for 9 years. My time on active duty in the Air Force was spent in San Antonio, TX (Lackland AFB) for basic training, then I went to Technical School in Dever, Colorado (Lowry AFB) after which I moved to Hill AFB in Clearfield, Utah. I was afterwards, stationed in South Korea (Osan AFB) and was there for 1 year. Then I cross-trained from Munitions (otherwise known as "Ammo") to Computer Maintenance and went to Buloxi, Mississippi (Keesler AFB). My time as an "Active Duty" enlisted member ended in Anchorage, Alaska (Elmendorf AFB), where I met and married my wonderful wife, Charise Alithea Nebeker. Her father worked as the Chief Auditor at Elmendorf AFB and was just around the corner from the Headquarters bldg. where I worked in what was called the RAOC - pronounced rock - (in the basement of that bldg.). We met in June, 1997 at the LDS Singles Branch at the Maplewood Chapel in Anchorage, AK and dated till she went back to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. Charise came home for Christmas and we got engaged January 1, 1998 and got married that summer, July 18, 1998 in the Salt Lake City Temple! It was a VERY special day for me! We lived there in Anchorage till 2000 and then moved in to Charise's parents home (10411 High Bluff Dr., Eagle River, AK 99577) for 10 months to save money for school. Thanks to Charise's parents we were able to save a substantial amount for school, which eventually was used as a down-payment on our 1st home. We had just had our 1st baby, Jacob LeRoy, August 26th, 1999 and then we were blessed with a baby girl, Rachael Anne on March 9th, 2001. We moved to Logan, Utah, May 2001 so I could go to school at Utah State University to finally finish my degree in Electrical Engineering that I'd been trying to finish for quite some time and which was VERY difficult to do while working in the military and moving around a lot. I also transitioned from Active duty to the Air Force Reserves shortly after arriving in Logan. I got my Bachelor degree December 2003 and got a job working with the government on Hill AFB as an Electronics Engineer six months later in a three year internship. We moved closer to the base in May of 2004 soon after our third child was born; Qaiden John, April 6, 2004. I was fortunately to get commissioned as an Officer in the Reserves about a year after starting work at Hill AFB and just before going back to school to get my Masters of Engineering in Electrical Engineering. It only took me a year and a half. I am currently a Captain in the Reserves and work as an Individual Augmentee (IMA) in the 508th ASW, which is an Active Duty unit. Our 4th child, Aleah Reese was born on my wife's birthday, February 28, 2007, in Layton, Utah and we had our 5th child, Luke William on September 19, 2009 at Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, Utah as well. Life is going well for my family and we are grateful for ALL of our blessings!!!