This is our ward youth conference that Aaron and I got to go to. It was at Bear Lake, Utah at the end of April. Aaron was pretty much in charge of organizing, and running the conference. He did an amazing job! The very first thing he had the kids do was: 3 miles away from the lodge we were staying at, he had all the kids get out of the cars and hold onto this rope and walk the rest of the way to the lodge. The idea was that no one could let go. Him and our friend Jordan hid on the hill watching the kids and at the end, ended up cheering them on. That was the beginning of a lot of really amazing experiences.
Here is Aaron Sharing his wise wisdom with the kids. Don't they look excited? No, it was very neat, he related it to the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we all have to be steadfast and immovable.
This lodge was amazing! It was and old storehouse, recently remodeled. Our ward got a killer deal on this 9,000 square foot place for 2 nights. The basement was a big kid playroom pretty much. This was very helpful considering there was still snow on the ground outside.
This was the most amazing activity I have ever seen! It is called the truth platform and trust fall. Each kid had the opportunity to stand on a platform and be asked questions from anyone. The questions got very personal and most of the kids were very emotional. The spirit was so strong, there was hardly a dry eye. There are so many youth today that deal with broken homes! It effects them so deeply. After they answered questions, they had to fall backwards into the arms of their peers and trust that they would be caught. In this picture, Aaron had helped a girl that was very hesitant to fall. It was an amazing experience that we will never forget! Thank you Grandma Annie and Pagah for watching the kiddos so I could see how truly amazing Aaron is with these kids!

These are our two sweet brown eyed babies. Alana is so funny with Marrick. She loves to chase him around and growl at him. Baby MAC thinks it's the best thing ever. He runs and laughs all over the house and then peeks around the corner to see if she will do more! What a good sister!
This is Marrick in the "assume the position" stance. Everytime the front door is opened, this boy is in the dirt. He eats it, digs in it, rubs it in his hair and dumps it wherever he can. This boy LOVES dirt. I'm sure you'll see more dirt pictures this summer! Oh, Marrick!
This is our idea of dress up at the Cothran house. No princess dresses here!
Then they got even more creative. But aren't they cute. Yes, those are puppets on their hands and feet. Gooses!

Softball season is here!

Sick and wrong Aaron David Cothran!

Aaron got hit in the calf by a softball off the bat. How does he always end up with these impressive injuries. The bruise just kept spreading and spreading too. It finally looks better. I guess it's safe to blog now. The doctor said that it was spreading well. Whatever that means!

Snow at the end of March???

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...... this has been the longest winter ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When will the snow ever end? The kids sure had fun with their hopefully last big snowfall.

Baby MAC the MAN

Finally a nice day! Let's play in the dirt and be a grubby bear. I love dirt, I love dirt, I love dirt!

Alana and Marrick are so funny together. She chases him and roars at him. He loves it and stomps his feet really fast and then runs. They look so much alike they could be twins.

Marrick and cousin Emme. Marrick is 6 months older! But not much bigger!

Alana's first loose tooth!

This is Alana's before picture. You can't tell, but she has a very loose tooth!

It was bedtime and daddy didn't want Alana going to bed with such a loose tooth, so he told her he would give her a dollar if he could pull it out with pliers! (I know... I know....)

This is after! She got her dollar! She ended up yanking her own head back and daddy never had to pull! She was so excited, she told mom, I have to call Grama Annie. She told Grama Annie that she HAD TO COME SEE RIGHT NOW! Grama, in jammies and all, came over to see the famous lost tooth. Mom told her that if she put her tooth in a cup of water by the window, the tooth fairy will put coins in there. Dad said that was a silly idea and that the tooth fairy puts a dollar under your pillow. You can guess which one she did! 2 dollars richer!!!

HOPPY EASTER!!!!

Cothran Family, Easter 2008
Alana Eden
Ammon Toa
Baby Marrick Aaron
Daddy with the Boys

I got an Egg Dad!
Happy Ammon
Alana and Ammon with cousins Lexi and Clairie Gomez. They are coloring a Happy Easter sign.
The Savage Egg hunters...
Marrick... not too sure about the savage egg hunters around him....



The Cothran family had a good Easter. We spent Saturday full of egg hunts at home and at the church, then we had a big family-reunion party with cousins at the church. Some of them which I'd never met

Sunday was more low key with our family and the Gomez family at Grama Annie and Pagah's house eating leftovers. Lots of fun! Almost too much fun!


Tuesday, March 25 2008 Aaron and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! We went to the temple and did sealing and then played by going out to eat, hiking, watching part of a movie and shopping for groceries. Hey, anything can be fun on your anniversary without the kids!