Thanksgiving/birthdays

Well it has been a while since I last posted and it seems like everything has gotten way to BUSY! So I will back up to Thanksgiving.......

We went to Twin for the great Turkey Day and got to enjoy some great delicious food!!! Thanks to my mom and Dad for making the day so yummy and fun! We enjoyed getting to see all the family that was there and had a nice time with everyone. The day after Thanksgiving my poor sister Meagon woke up with the flu....not fun for her, I'm so sorry Meagon. Then that night Brooklyn got the flu too. I have never seen a little girl that turns into an angel when she is sick. She was caressing my face and talking ever so sweetly right after she would puke. She would give me tons of kisses pulling my face so close to hers. I kept wanting to pull away as I didn't want to get it too...but I couldn't possibly turn down sweet hugs and kissing from such a cute sick girl. She kept throwing up stomach bial and it was so hard on her little body, my heart just ached for her. The only thing she wanted to do was to give kisses to Brent and I and even Carter. Brent and I couldn't believe how sweet she was while she was so sick. By the next day she was feeling lots better just no appetite. With all the craziness we decided to even make it more crazy and on Saturday we celebrated Carter's birthday with all his cousins. We took all the kids to "Hop 2 It" in Twin. It used to be Sage Gym when I lived there. It has now changed into a big place full of big blow up slides and jumping things. It's  a great way to let the kids have fun and to get them worn out.  

After hop-2-it we went home and had birthday cake and presents. Carter enjoyed having all his friends (cousins) with him to celebrate his birthday. Thanks to everyone for the great gifts! They have been keeping him busy! I owe you all lots! 

So that pretty much sums up the Thanksgiving weekend. And I want all of you to know that I am thankful for you all!!! I seem to always get so sappy around this time of year (and it doesn't help that I am pregnant...yes you heard right) as I look at my life and realize how much I have and am so thankful for everything. We went to the Forgotten Carols before Thanksgiving and it always puts things in perspective for the Holiday Season! So I am finally letting you all know that I am pregnant with baby #3 and have been extremely sick for the past 11 weeks. And that is how far along I am. Seems like I have been sick from DAY 1. This is going to be a long pregnancy, but oh so fun! :) So more to come! Love to all! 

I can see clearly now... :)

Hey Everyone- It's Brent.

Ok, so I am taking over the blog... How is everyone?

  

First I need to give a shout out to a few people:

• First to my cousin Jeff Coppieters on his recent engagement to Kim Romeril.  We are excited for you guys!
  
• Second Congrats to the Raymond Comets on their recent Tier 1 Alberta Provincial Championship win.  
  
• Third Congrats to Brett Ralph and the Calgary Stampeders 2008 Canadian Grey Cup Champs.

We are in Twin Falls right now celebrating Thanksgiving. We had a great meal with Amber's family- Thanks!!!

Now for those of you who might be wondering what my subject means... I just had Lasik eye surgery.... It is AWESOME.  I would encourage any of who who have "defective" eyes to check it out. It really is pretty affordable, and it is so easy.  I went to Clearly Lasik in Boise.  No more contacts or glasses for me.

Things have been really exciting for us. Work is going great for me, and we are getting ready to celebrate Mine, Amber and Carter's Birthdays this next week.. Dec 3rd, and 4th.  Holy smokes I am going to be 29, Amber 25, and Carter 3. Yikes. Where has the time gone?  

Thanks for visiting our blog.  We always enjoy reading your comments and hearing from you. Amber really does a fantastic job with this blog.  Thanks babes!! :)  

Some of you may not know, but our Hard Drive died this summer, and we lost hundreds of pictures from the past 3 years.  We were willing to pay whatever it cost to get them back. (one estimate was $3 K)  How do you put a price on 3 years??? 

After testing and trying to replace the missing data, we were out of luck.  The only pictures we have from that time were the ones that Amber had posted on our blog.  Please don't let this happen to you.  We lost Brooklyn's baby pictures etc..

Sorry- this has seemed to be a hodgepodge of ideas and thoughts. Just wanting to get my 2 cents in. :)

Take Care-

brent

Sharp shooter

Ok well I have no pics and I hate posting with no pics but oh well. We all have been sick with colds. Carter and Brook keep passing it back and forth and now Brent and I have it. There is nothing worse then a head cold. I keep debating whether or not to take the kids in or just let them keep fighting it off back and forth. 

Among being sick I have started working on a major task. Although Carter is fully potty trained Brent or I still wipe his bum and push his peter down so it doesn't shoot all over. Well this poses a great problem when we leave him because whoever is watching him has to take over the tasks and it is uncomfortable for Carter so he just won't go. So I thought I better try and let him take over the bathroom duties.....yesterday was day 1.....it didn't go very well. Carter saw just how powerful he can be. I had to completely wash down my walls and even the ceiling upstairs and the bathroom floors. NOT FUN. Now you all may be thinking this is too much info. But I tell you this because I need some tips. Putting targets in the toilet do not work...it really is just so much more fun to pee on the walls and see it shoot far!!! He is not tall enough to stand and reach the top of the toilet and so he needs a stool but then he's way too high. So we have him sit but that only works when I help him! During potty training I thought oh I love boys because if he has to go he can pretty much go anywhere.....but in this case i really wish his shooter was easier to manage. So I know many of you have boys and you all went through it so what was your trick to get the pee in the potty (or for the most part) without you helping them. How nice it would be if he could just go in there by himself and do it on his own....I am so looking forward to that day! 

Weekend FULL OF SURPRISES

OK so I have the best husband....no really I DO! For the last couple of months Brent has been planning a "surprise" for me. I had no idea and when he first told me that he was planning a surprise I laughed telling him that he has yet to keep a surprise from me. He just can't keep it from me. He is always so excited and spills the beans. So I should have kept my mouth shut because he didn't breath a word. He didn't even give a hint. NOTHING...and it drove me CRAZY! I was very nervous because he led me to believe we were leaving the kids with someone and so that really was the hard part. I NEEDED TO KNOW! But he kept telling me to TRUST him....so I had no choice but to do just that. Through talking to my friend Collette I found out that Russell (her hubby) had a surprise for her too..... so together we tried to get clues, only to confuse me more. 

Well, long story short... Friday afternoon a knock came on our door and a nice car was awaiting for me to hop in with Collette in there. I was struck speechless as I didn't quite understand what was going on. All of the sudden I was taken away and Brent wasn't coming as I thought he was (he even packed his bag to throw me off). So at first I thought we were maybe just taking a joy ride but then we opened an envelope with a flight itinerary. 

WE WERE OFF TO VEGAS! I then thought for sure that my sister-in-law Sonia would somewhere fit into our weekend....How could I go to Vegas and not see her!!! But still got no answers, was only told that there would be someone there with a sign to pick us up. Well it was Sonia but not only was it Sonia it was my other two sister-in-laws. I wanted to pee my pants, I was so excited and shocked! So we stayed the night at Sonia's and then Saturday spent the day shopping and was told that we would be going to dinner and we all wanted to dress up! Then it was revealed that we were going to be staying the night in the Belagio....nice! 24th floor with a perfect view of the water show. We all got ready and were running out the door to meet Sonia's friend for dinner, which we just ate and I didn't feel like eating again. So I was kind of slow. Which only made us all have to run, run, run, so we didn't loose our reservations. As we are running around the corner in the casino we hit the MAMMA MIA  entrance and it all clicked. We really were going to MAMMA MIA! For those of you who don't know, I LOVE MAMMA MIA! It was absolutely the greatest. Anyone who hasn't seen the play is missing out! I got a couple of pictures before the security guy came and tackled me.... (just kidding but he really did come and point his finger at me). We then went out to eat at a great yummy place and went back to our room. Stayed up late talking and then passed out. Collette and I pushed our time to the max to get to the airport and were again running like crazy to get to check in. All that running and knocking people out of our way to find out that our plane was delayed we had lots of time. 

When I got home the house was spotless, smelled divine, and there were roses on the table for me. Just when I thought it the weekend was at an end it got better! Brent had Merry maids come in and totally deep clean the house...hello, did I say I love this brilliant man! 

Anyway, it was  a great weekend that will be remembered forever! Thanks to the love of my life for being so sweet! I want to just eat him up right now! I love you babe!

Thanks Collette for being my partner in crime for the weekend...(too bad the guys don't know what we have up our sleeves this time...they forget who they are dealing with!) 

And THANK YOU THANK YOU to my sister-in-laws for making such a perfect weekend. It was so good to see you gals and makes me miss you guys that much more and wish we didn't live so far away. I think this needs to become a tradition that we do each year. A getaway from our kids and hubbies and some much needed girl talk, shopping, and FUN! 

Halloween in Twin

We decided to celebrate Halloween in Twin. It was lots of fun we all got together and went to my brother Terry's trunk or treat, which was perfect for the kids! Especially because it was rainy and cold. Carter and Brook both had fun and enjoyed getting candy. Carter by the end of the long row of cars he told me that it was all over and he was ready to go to grandma's. He then told everyone to go home that it is "OVER!" Carter had a great time with his cousins. He was super excited to them all and wouldn't leave them alone. 

The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing. We were able to help my parents rake up all their leaves....we also jumped in them and threw them. Seeing my kids jump and get burried in the leaves brought me back to my childhood, which went by all to quickly. I never could have imagined how quickly time would fly by. 

Our Halloween weekend was lots of fun and we enjoyed seeing everyone. We missed everyone else of course and hope to see some of you through the holidays. 

Loves to all. 

Pumpkin patch

Well a few weeks ago we got together with some friends and went to the pumpkin patch. We all had lots of fun and the weather was so nice! Of course my mind was a little scrambled before we left so I forgot my camera and made Collette and Russell official photographers of my family. Thanks guys! The pumpkin patch had a great petting zoo with camels and zebras and little ponies that the kids could ride. Carter was so scared at first and I made him get on that pony and enjoy it. I was so proud of him within a couple of seconds he couldn't stop smiling. There are some things that you just have to force your kids to do and later they will thank you for it. 

GOING PRIVATE

Well I have decided to make our blog private! I've thought lots about this and I think it is the best thing. Also, if anyone has our last names on their blog.....please take the last name off. Thanks! I know some of you might think I'm being way overprotective, but I've had some weird experiences the last couple of weeks that has really creeped me out and made me loose some ZZZZ's.  It is way to easy to find out where we live and all of our info, so crazy or not, I'd rather be on the safe side! So, please leave your e-mail so I can add you to our blog!!!

Thanks everyone~

Love to all!

Amber

CHANGES

Well it seems like we always have something going on. Lately we have experienced a lot of changes. All good of course, but for me I don't like change. I always have a bit of a hard time adjusting to change. Our first big change is of course our move into our new house. Which was a little tough on Carter, before we moved, when we were packing he would cry and tell us he didn't want to go to the new house......now today he tells me "mommy, I like this house, it's boo-tiful" so he has come to approve and really like it. I have too, I just hate the packing and re-arranging, and feeling so cluttered. But it is much better now and starting to feel more like our home. We are so happy and thankful that we could move into a bigger house to accommodate our growing family and "stuff"....now I better not be moving for a long time!
The next change is well, CARTER is fully and completely potty-trained. He is even going on a long streak of "keeping his undies dry" through the night. We are super proud of him and amazed at how "BIG" he now seems. I'm so thrilled that he goes in the potty but it also brings on a whole new thinking process for me. When I travel long distances, I have to make sure he's gone before and I try not to give him lots to drink on the road. But this last weekend I went to Twin and on the way back Carter kept telling me "my pee hurts" so I'm in the middle of no where and starting to look to see where the next stop is, I ask him if he wanted to pee in his empty cup or if I could pull over and he could pee outside on the side of the road....to which his reply was "MOM I NEED A TOILET!!!" So I "went fast like a race car" and we made it to the TOILET!
Our next big change is weaning Brooklyn from breast feeding! While I love breast feeding....it can be such a pain too. Carter was super easy to wean and it was right before he turned 1 and it was all done within 1 weekend and he never screamed, begged or whined......total complete opposite of Brook. She is quite obsessed with nursing and loves it. Last night we were up for a couple of hours with her screaming at the top of her lungs.....she has a very LOUD MAD cry! It broke my heart and I always usually give in but Brent and I worked together and got her to sleep without nursing. (thanks Brent for staying up with me even though you really need sleep...I'm still in my pj's because the night was so rough) This is probably the hardest change for me. I don't know why but it just seems like Brook didn't stay a baby long enough! When I'm holding her and I pass by a mirror and see her in my arms, the tears start to well up....she has grown so fast and just a year ago she was an itty bitty baby, I thought my life was crazy, trying to get a handle on a newborn and an almost 2 year old little boy, now it has mellowed from that stress to many others.
So all the changes have left me to think and ponder lots on everything. Change is such a bittersweet thing for me. I love a new house but sad to see the old one go. Love potty trained Carter, but sad that he is actually old enough to be potty trained and understands so much... (that means the years are starting to add up for me), so happy to have my body back and now can lose some extra pounds that keep haunting me, but sad to know that my little baby is now a walking talking little toddler. Love the new but the old is so hard to let go. SO I try to just enjoy the tough days, because I know one day I'll look back and think they weren't that bad and I'll wish I had those days of young young kiddos in my house. I love each new stage in my kids' lives....it's so fun to see them grow into such cute little people, who teach me to enjoy the moment.
I better get going, love to all.

DREAMS

Carter has been dreaming lots and talking in his sleep. He always makes us laugh at the things he says. A few nights ago he woke up crying a real sad cry. Brent went into his room to try to soothe him and then brought him into our room with Carter still crying. I tried to ask him questions and finally I got him to answer telling me that he dropped his treats in the dirt and they are "dwerty". He says, "I really want my treats" and then continues to cry. Then a couple nights ago, Carter starts screaming.....Brent runs in (Brent is so good to get Carter in the night) when Brent gets to him he is still asleep but very upset. He tells Brent "my bed is too LOUD... I need to sleep in your QUIET bed!!!" So of course at 5 in the morning Carter ended up in our bed with lots of snuggles and kisses from Mom and Dad and Brooklyn. This morning, Carter was telling me that he dreams about "another car" I asked him what the car looked like.....His reply, "It is Red and it crashed into me, I had to go to the hospital, I was sick"  Ok so that freaked me out!!!! I asked him if he got better and he said he did. Dreams can be so real and good but yet so scary too. I am so glad that Carter can actually talk and tell us what he is experiencing. I love the communication with him as he gets older. In the mornings he usually is in our bed or will come get in our bed to wake us up. He wraps his little arms around me or Brent and gives us kisses and tells us he loves us. I've been waiting FOREVER to hear those words come out all on his own when he feels that lovey feeling. I've always known he loves us but to hear him recognize that he feels that for us is so AWESOME! Carter is so busy and at times we think oh I think 2 is the worst stage....then Carter says or does something and quickly change our minds to thinking awe, this is the BEST stage. I love you CARTER JAMES and am so thankful that you make my day busy and exciting and keep me laughing! 

A weekend to REMEMBER

This past weekend we were able to go to Twin for the temple dedication. Brent's parents were in Utah and were going to be heading back so we thought we'd all meet in Twin and celebrate Brook's birthday again. It was great to see them and spend some time with them. Thanks Jim and Helen for meeting us in Twin! Brooklyn was so excited to get more presents and loved them all! She really is such a girly girl! She gets so excited when she sees clothes, babies, shoes or anything really cute! She is obsessed with shoes and always wants me to put them on her. She even raids Carter's closet and brings me his shoes to put on her and then gets mad when they come off or when Carter needs to wear them. 

On Sunday morning we went to the dedication and it was so amazing! My dad and brother Terry have been doing the security for the temple open house. My dad had the opportunity to be the driver for President Monson's daughter and husband and Terry got to drive Elder Costa and his wife. They got to be really close with the Presidents Security crew and got to be right close to President Monson all weekend. After the dedication we went to the temple to take my dad some lunch and he told us to make sure to come back at 5:30. We were able to be right up front and watch as the prophet came out of the temple and got into his car. When he came out he immediately went to to opposite side as we were on and my dad was talking to Brother Dibbs (President Monson's son-in-law) and let him know where his family was, he went right up to President Monson and made sure he came right to us. So he did, he immediately came right over to us and gave Steven a high five and shook Tiana and Ana's  hands. He tried to give Carter and Brook both fives, but they decided they were going to be shy and just looked at him. He told me that it was better for them to be shy. He kept talking to everyone and would go to get in and then turn and come back to talk more. It was great! He really is such a great man! Such a funny down to earth man! I felt the spirit so strong and I know that he is a Prophet of God and I am so thankful for him and his family! 

 I'm so grateful for my parents' example and their testimony. They never cease to learn and to teach. Although their teaching is not the same as I was growing up its more of a friendship and through lots of conversations and late night visits I learn so much from my parents. I'm so thankful for the way they raised our family. The way they love each and every one of their children and how they trust in their children to do what is right. I hope so much that as my children grow I can let each one of them know how much they are loved and teach them theprinciples of the gospel so they can make righteous choices.  

Here are some videos and pics of our weekend! 

President Monson's car from Utah!

Elder Eyring

President Monson...my dad standing in the back

Waiting for the prophet to come out. 

My kids were so hungry and tired and HOT!!!

Brooklyn giving Carter her wide open mouth kisses!

Carter giving us his "cheese" smile

My dad next to President Monson's car.

He was in the temple for the first session 

and then watched the cars for the other sessions.

At the cornerstone

Now this is at Brook's party............

Mommy and Brook at the canyon!

Both kids with both grandma's!

She decided to sit and do the splits.

Finally a shot of our Carter James 

(He is so hard to catch and get a picture of)

A love/HATE relationship with her new baby that's going back to the store