White Christmas!!!!

We got a beautiful WHITE Christmas. It was so nice having some snow. Carter and I went out in it and had a blast. He wasn't too sure at first but soon warmed right up and even stuck his face in the snow eating it. He loved it!!!



We actually made a snow man. No pictures of the snow man though. I haven't done that for years. It felt so good to get out and just play. The kid in me came right back out.
We all had a great Christmas visit with my parents and brothers and their families. We missed everyone else but had a nice relaxing time. Carter got spoiled and his uncles really spoiled him by introducing him to PEPSI. Yeah I just about lost it because Carter really likes it, and now recognizes the pepsi can. Not FUNNY at all. I guess it's pay back time.
Well for Brent this year I decided that Santa has so much fun doing surprises for gifts. So I decided to have a couple presents be surprises. I got Les Mis tickets for him and to throw him way off I put it in this HUGE box stuffed it with some little dorky gifts like dry pack food meals, tons of REAL mandarines like the ones from Canada, some pop and then in a little tiny box were the tickets. He thought I was quite stupid at first but when he finally opened the final package he was so excited. Couldn't believe it. We have been wanting to go to Les Mis for quite some time. Carter got lots of presents, a little overwhelming for him, so we are going to wait to take all of them out of their packages and slowly give him one when he gets bored with some of his toys. It's just a little hard having his birthday in December getting lots of toys, then more at Christmas. So we'll space it out a little.
I reallly enjoyed Christmas this year. I was having a little bit of a hard time getting completely in the spirit but once we pulled out our Forgotton Carols CD it totally hit me and helped me to feel the true spirit of CHRISTmas. I am so thankful for Christ and his sacrifice. Anyone who hasn't been to or read or listened to the Forgotton Carols, well you need to it's so good and I can't wait for next year until we get to go to the play. I also had the pleasure of making Christmas bread with my mom. Something that I couldn't stand growing up but now LOVE!!!! It is an ALL DAY process. It has 5 pounds of flour a pound of butter and candied fruit and slivered almonds, golden raisins and it is so yummy. We started at 7 in the morning and started baking it around 9:30 that night. Ya like I said all day. Because it's so heavy it takes quite a while to rise and then you punch it down and let it rise again. Then you braid it and let it rise again. Even though it takes a while it is worth the wait. Carter even helped knead the dough and roll it out to braid his own little piece. He is such a funny little guy. So social and wanting to be right in the middle of doing what we are doing.
Well we hope you all had a great Christmas and wish you all a happy new year!!!!

WELCOME JURNEE

JURNEE LOUISE WYNDER


Born Dec. 21st. We are so excited to have another beautiful little girl in the family. She's got the most gorgeous dark hair. She is so adorable!!! We can't wait to get to Las Vegas and get to see Jurnee. Congratulations to the Wynder family, Jurnee will be so happy to have come to such a great family. We are so happy for you all. We miss you and love you. It is so so so hard to see pictures and see her on ichat and not be able to hold her or smell her. So give her lots of loves for us. We love you.

Surviving this week

Carter thinks he's so big....wanting the phone all the TIME!!!


Seeing the tree really made it feel like Christmas!

My mom's beautiful tree!!!

First of all we had some birthdays this last week. Happy birthday to Ryan (Brent's brother), Ashlyn (my niece), Brylie (Brent's 2nd cousin?) Dalin and Bowen (Carter's little friends)....we love you all and hope that you all had great birthdays. We were able to go to Dalin and Bowen's birthday party and get to see them dig into the cake and make a wonderful mess just like Carter. Took them a little longer but they sure did enjoy it!!!
Well I am in Twin for the week taking care of my mother's daycare while they are in HAWAII!!! Yes I said HAWAII! I talked to her tonight and they are enjoying 85 degree weather and nice walks on the beach. I hope they have a nice relaxing time, they deserve a nice break! I just hope I can hold down the fort here. I got here this evening and walked into a wonderful smell of pine and my mom's christmas tree and decorations are all out and look so beautiful. Her tree is amazing....like a department store tree! I took pictures and they turned out beautiful but of course I can't post them yet since I forgot the cord to transfer my pictures to the computer. Carter amazingly left the tree alone! Only one time did he go over and try to touch it realizing that the branches are prickly so he walked away....so many more EXCITING things to see than the tree. I thought I might get a little weirded out by being here all by myself but it actually feels like home so warm and christmasy I think I'll be okay. (I think....)Thanks mom for making sure the tree was up!!! On Tuesday hopefully I'll get Andrea and Tiana to come stay with me while my brother Terry and his wife Ana take Michaela to get surgery on her leg. Good luck Micky I know it'll be tough being in a wheelchair for christmas just make sure to get a bell to make your lovely two sisters wait on you hand and foot. ( HA HA).
I better go and get some rest my day starts at 7:15 and ends at 6. We'll see just how many little ones I have, maybe this will be the perfect birth control along with being in the nursery to help me realize that one child is okay for now. But it's those little babies that I see and hear and waiting another year or two just seems crazy. Only time will tell. I love you all and I'll post pictures later when I can. So sorry that you just have to read and have no pictures to tell the story. Love to all.
Amber

Birthday Weekend!!!

We threw a birthday party for Carter on Saturday. In Eden's words "its was a great success". Also Happy Birthday to Eden. Her birthday was on Saturday and she was such a trooper for coming over and celebrating Carter's with us. Thanks to everyone for coming you all added LIFE to the party. We are so thankful for your friendships. My dad and I put together a giraffe cake and it turned out much better than I thought it was going to turn out. My first year at doing this and I loved it....now the cakes will just get better from here on out (as long as my dad is there). Carter loved having everyone at our house. He is such a social bug. He absolutely enjoyed digging in his cake. He is such a texture baby that he loved squeezing it in his fingers and playing with it, then of course stuffing his mouth full. What I didn't realize is that the frosting colors (brown and yellow) mixed together make quite the combo. It really looked like Carter had had a major blow out of the diaper. He got some great toys and loves them so much. Again thanks to everyone!!! Now for at least some time who knows how long he is actually entertained with his toys and plays with them staying out of things.
On Sunday it was Brent's birthday and we had a nice dinner and for most of the day relaxed enjoyed my parents company and Brent finished his paper. Poor guy doing homework every night getting ready for finals this week. So we didn't do much for his birthday. Happy Birthday to Bryce too. We hope you had a great one!!! We are thinking about you. Distance is so tough sometimes.
Tonight we are going to treat ourselves to dinner for Brent's birthday and mine, and enjoy some time together as now Brent only has one more final to prepare for. We did of course stick a candle in a cupcake for Brent and me to blow out yesterday and sang to eachother again....I think Carter may think every night at dinner we need to blow out candles. oh well.
Carter is doing really well with napping now and I love it. Today he took a two hour nap this morning and then went back down this afternoon he went down at 3:30 and it's 4:40 still asleep.....what a treat. He's just growing into such a little boy. Well while I have some time I better get started on my Christmas cards. Love to all. I've been thinking and missing everyone who is away.

Our First SNOW!!!

Well yesterday and last night it snowed. It's been freezing cold here making it hard for me to get out and do some running around. Carter was so excited when he saw it snowing outside or maybe he was just excited thinking his dad was coming home. So I bundled him up really tight and took him outside to go check our mail (which is down the street). He loved it. He sat down in it and played with it in his hands. The only thing he wasn't sure about was eating it. Carter has been doing pretty well this week with sleeping. We had to move his mattress out of the crib and onto the floor in our room. He then goes to sleep around 8:30 and wakes up like clockwork at 5 am. He usually goes back to sleep....but not this morning!!! Of course when I have lots to get done we start the morning off way to early and I'm way to grumpy at that hour. He wanted to play and run and got so upset when I shut that down. So I fed him a little cereal bar gave him some milk, he showered with Brent and then told his daddy good bye and then he had no option but to sleep. He only slept for an hour and is ready to go. With my luck he'll fall asleep while I'm trying to run around. We are celebrating Carter's birthday tomorrow. I'm planning on making a big cake but we'll see how it goes. I've got to get some items for it and for our little party so I better get on the run....I still have to get myself ready. I hope you all are doing well. And I'll let you all know how the party goes. I still can't believe he's going to be ONE!!! Some of these pictures are of our venture outside last night and the others are of Carter eating his first candy cane.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

My dad is such a great chef!!! Doesn't the turkey look beautiful!

Yes the turkey is BLACK.....but so moist and yummy inside!

Too tired to even eat!!!

Two pretty girls who love lipstick!!!


April and Chris brought their dog Daisy and Carter loved her!!!

Waiting for dinner. So cute




Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We had a yummy yummy meal!!! We actually had to have 2 turkeys. We had one deep-fried by the infamous Chris Durham, and then Chef Dad cooked his turkey in the oven. They were both so delicious!!! So moist and the perfect amount of spices. It's a toss up between the two different ways to cook the turkey. The fruit salad, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing.....yah everything was sooooo good. And of course I had to have apple pie, and a piece of pumpkin too. So now the 10 pounds that I needed to loose is now up to 15 pounds. Oh well, you have to enjoy life. Carter enjoyed the food too. He has loved being with all his cousins. They all are a little older and so they watch him and really entertain him giving me a nice break.
I actually really did it this year. Ana and I woke up at 4:30 to make the mad rush for black Friday. It was crazy. Target had a huge line and police to monitor the lines and parking lot. Once we got in the store we couldn't even move. But I did get mostly all of my Christmas shopping done. So that is nice. I think I might pass on the early morning wake up next year.
Well we've done it......we have weaned Carter. Cold Turkey!!! He has done AMAZING!!! We are staying at my brother Terry's house and Carter has his own little toddler bed and LOVES it. He goes to sleep by himself smiling so big when I lay him down tosses a few times smiling and then closes his eyes and goes to bed. He doesn't even ask to nurse. The first night we were at our own house and he was up every hour with Brent, but the 2nd night when we were at Terry's no crying. He woke up twice and it seems like every night it gets a little easier and better. My baby is no longer a baby. We are definately going to have to invest in getting a bed. He hates his crib thinking he's in jail. I've been feeling so good about this but yesterday I actually got a little teary because he's getting so big and I miss that closeness. I can't believe that he'll be 1 on Dec. 4th, the time has just flown by! He is learning so many things and is so much fun! He is walking and running like crazy!!! He loves giving us hugs and kisses.
Tonight we had authentic mexican green enchiladas. Ana made them and they were so good. I haven't had them in a while and I forgot just how good they are. I might even try to make them sometime.
Tomorrow will be a nice break from the nursery. Michaela is giving a talk in Sacrement meeting on giving thanks and we are all looking forward to hearing it. I still can't believe she is almost 13 years old. That makes me just want to cry. She's grown up so fast. I remember when she was just so little and playing with her like she and her sisters play with Carter. Life is just so crazy. Well I'm ready to hit my pillow here's some pictures.

Recovering From the FLU

Well this week has been a much better week. It started off a little bumpy. I ended up getting the flu from Carter and Brent on Monday. I was so SICK!!!! It's been so long since I've been that sick that I forgot how crabby I get and how much I absolutely HATE being sick. Brent was so good on Tuesday he took half the day off to come take care of Carter and go and get me some much needed meds. I was finally able to sleep it off since the medicine finally kicked in and I wasn't in the bathroom every 15 minutes. I headed to Twin on Wednesday to help my mom out since it was the final day of all the stress of her parents estate!!!! I know court was extremely hard for her, thankfully she didn't have to take the stand and that my dad was there to help her keep somewhat calm through it all. We are just so glad that it is all over and now my mom and dad can fully put their hearts into spending time with everyone. I love ya Mom and Dad and are so thankful for your examples of unconditional love.
On Friday Carter and I headed back home and today, well, I actually went into Walgreens and worked. They were desperate and since Brent was able to be home I went. I was so so nervous to go back thinking that I would forget all the drugs, fast codes, insurance policies, all the SIGS, and mainly the computer program... but it actually went really really smooth. We were totally busy and I didn't even break a sweat. YEAH I still have it together. I missed Carter so much!!! He really didn't even notice me gone but was so happy to see me and laughed at the sight of me. Oh so cute!!! So I will be filling in every now and then when it fits into our schedule. It's so nice to have that option!!!
We are getting so excited for Thanksgiving and looking forward to seeing family and just relaxing, eating some really good food, (I'll be making my favorite fruit salad thanks to my mother-in-law) maybe even watching some football ( oh did I just say that?). I might even be brave enough to wake up at the wee hours in the morning and venture out to Target just for the fun of shopping and maybe get a few items. We'll see.
Well wish us luck for tomorrow in the nursery. We'll need it. Carter is now getting a little cold and I don't think they'll even want him in there, I don't really want him in there since he's still in the oral stage and puts absolutely everything in the mouth (teething) and who knows when those toys were washed. Oh well, we'll deal with it. Wish you all well. I'll post pix tomorrow.

Long week, onto the next!

We are now onto a new week. Hopefully it won't be as crazy as the last. Our car still isn't fixed, we have a loaner (Honda Pilot) not bad. The first night after the incident was a little spooky for me but I am now okay with everything and feel safe. Brent and Carter had a 24 hour flu bug on Friday making this weekend real exciting! They are feeling much better.
Today we had quite the experience at church. We got a new calling... we are in the nursery with 24 kids and are supposed to focus all our attention on this little girl who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. During the pregnancy this little girl (Kali) started having seizures and when she was born had a stroke. She is 2 years old and really has the mentality of a 3 to 4 month old. This calling will definitely make us grow as we were a little overwhelmed today...me trying to hold Kali, trying to help out with the other crazy kids, Brent trying to help but mostly having to hold Carter because the toys are great for only so long, then he's ready to nurse and sleep. Plus, did I mention that some of the kids are from the Spanish branch and so they don't speak any English. Crying kids that don't understand a word we are saying nor do we understand them. I know some words and phrases so I whipped those out and I think I pretty much puzzled this little girl... she just looked at me like what are you trying to say??? You make no sense!!! So I might be pulling out a Spanish dictionary.
With all the chaos, I really truly realized how thankful I am to have such a healthy smart fiery little boy. I couldn't imagine all the stress that Kali's parents have gone through. Kali is a beautiful little girl who I know is thinking, she just can't express herself. I got her to smile a couple of times and it's amazing what a smile can do. So even though we were a little overwhelmed today with everything and really questioning our skills....I know that I will grow from this calling.
This week I've been making Amish Friendship Bread (takes 10 days) Friday I baked it and oh my goodness!!! It was so good. It made 2 loaves and yah can I say we have a slice or 2 left. Thanks Collette for giving me the starter, now I have gained a few pounds in just the weekend. Oh well who's really counting calories????
Well I better get to bed I think Carter may have an ear infection. He is still trying to cut his eye-teeth and is now crying in the middle of the night and screams when I touch his ears! I guess I'll be making a doctor's visit tomorrow.

WELCOME BREE

We want to welcome the newest addition to the Coppieters. Our little niece Bree Katheryn. Cute as a button. We all wish so badly that we could be there. Brent and I were tempted to just hop in the car and drive up there. It's so hard being so far away. Thank goodness for ichat, sometimes it just makes the homesick blues even worse when we see people eating Chinese food and seeing Bree so close but yet we can't even hold her. Bryce and Lyndsi we are so happy for you and can't wait to get up there sometime hopefully soon to hold that little one. Lyndsi I wish you a speedy recovery and if you are really having a hard time getting back on your feet....I could always go up there and help you out....wink wink. And to all you expecting moms....Sonia, Mo, Amber, Jenny, Jana, Kaylee, ?????, I'm so excited for you guys and the time is flying these new little ones will be here before you know it. Just keep them cooking as long as possible, I know that's not a problem for you Mo, but Sonia keep her in there. We love you all and can I just say I'm jealous of your cute prego bellies even though when your packing that around it doesn't feel very cute.

VIOLATED

Well it's 11:30 and we've already had one crazy morning. I couldn't sleep last night and so after tons of tossing and turning and kicking Brent to make him stop snoring I crawled out of bed and went to the front room couch. I tossed there too and finally was out by probably 1:30. Carter woke up around 3:00 and Brent brought him to me. Brent couldn't go back to sleep so he messed around on the computer for a little bit and then we were all back asleep. Brent woke up around 6:30 to go work out at the gym and when he went to unlock the door to his car....It was unlocked. No biggy, gets in tries to start his car.....key won't go in the ignition......looks closer and realizes the ignition has been drilled out.....SOMEONE tried to STEAL our car!!!! So we called the police, made a report and really nothing else can be done. It's the weirdest feeling. Who knows why they didn't finish the job, but maybe that's why none of us couldn't sleep last night and maybe just maybe that's what spooked them, seeing a light come on or hearing a baby cry or movement in the front room. Who knows! We take the good with the bad and yah we are having to have a tow truck come out and it's going to take a few days to get fixed but atleast they didn't break into our home and hurt us. Makes me wonder have they been watching us......just a scary feeling. Here's a few pictures of the ignition and Carter looking out the window watching the tow truck tow our car away, at first he cried a little bit but then he started waving like crazy to the guy. And a picture of Carter crawling under the table being a little rascal! We are hoping this is the end of it. Ever since we moved we've had nothing but chaos, but this has all been a learning experience and try our hardest to look at all the blessings that we do have. I am so thankful for our family and that Brent is in school and working with great people and a great job and I can stay home, I have a wonderful happy healthy little boy and all in all life isn't too bad. So take the bad with the good and live life to it's fullest. Needless to say Brent and I both didn't get our workouts in today, tomorrow will be better.

"Da Boys"

Here's a few pictures of the boys. We had them over for Sunday dinner along with another couple that Brent works with Tasha and Garrett and their beautiful little baby girl, Haylin. Carter loved to see the baby (even though he's one himself) and I loved holding her too. It's so crazy how fast they grow. hmmm... I know I have a baby of my own but at times I so badly would love to have another one. Only time will tell when baby number 2 comes along. Thanks Tasha and Garrett now you've really made me baby hungry.
The boys love playing together and Dallin and Carter seem to pick on eachother giving Bowen a little bit of a break. They are so cute together and all have such fun personalities. Carter is really trying to keep up with Dallin and walking. He watches him do his little trick and tries so hard to follow in his footsteps. He is actually doing pretty well. He is starting to get off his tippy toes and use his whole foot. Carter has been a little clingy these last few days and I've been going a little nuts only to find out after prying his mouth open that he is getting two more teeth up top. So he now is starting to get the runny nose and hopefully he'll steer clear from an ear infection. Once he gets these teeth he'll have 6 total. Amongst all his fussiness at night time he's finally starting to do a lot better, laying him down in his crib and just looking into my eyes until he falls asleep. I may have accomplished this without having to do the cry-it-out method. Cross your fingers. He still ends up in our bed by 4:30/5:00. But hey I can handle that. Besides now that he has an easier time in his crib....I'm the one lying awake in my bed tossing and turning, hence the late night posts.
Tomorrow comes so fast and there's so many things that I need to get done. So my bed is calling and being that it takes me a while to fall asleep, I better go start the process now. I hope you all are doing well.