MOM'S CHRISTMAS

SAYING THAT MOM LOVED CHRISTMAS WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. I HAVE NEVER MET ANYONE WHO LOVED IT MORE THEN HER. SO SINCE SHE COULDN'T BE HERE WITH US FOR CHRISTMAS WE KNEW WE HAD TO BRING CHRISTMAS TO HER. WE DIDN'T THINK WE WOULD HAVE HER HEADSTONE HERE IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS SO WE DECORATED THE BASE STONE WITH ALL THE CHRISTMAS STUFF, BUT A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS WE GOT THE CALL SAYING IT WAS IN, AND WE COULDN'T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER CHRISTMAS GIFT.

THE WHOLE FAMILY MINUS BECKY AND THE 2 BABIES. BECKY HAD TO WORK, AND IT WAS TO COLD TO GET THE BABIES OUT OF THE CAR.
DAD, A.J. JAMI, ME, AND TANNER

I'M SO THANKFUL THAT THIS TRIAL THAT WE HAVE HAD TO FACE HAS BROUGHT US SO MUCH CLOSER TOGETHER AS A FAMILY, THEY HAVE BEEN A WONDERFUL SUPPORT TO ME AND I WANT TO THANK THEM FOR THAT, I COULDN'T EVEN IMAGINE GOING THROUGH THIS WITHOUT THEM.

WE FOUND SOME SOLAR LIGHTS TO PUT ON HER GRAVE BUT WE HADN'T SEEN IT IN THE DARK, SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WE WENT UP THERE AT NIGHT AND TOOK SOME CANDLES IN A TIN CUP TO LIGHT, I KNOW SHE WOULD HAVE LOVED IT.

MOM, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAD TO LEAVE US WHEN YOU DID, AND WE ARE ANGRY THAT YOU HAD TO GO, WE THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY, AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH, WE CHECK ON DAD ALL THE TIME AND TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM. M'TALI STILL SPENDS THE WEEKENDS WITH HIM, AND WE TRY TO MAKE IT SO HE DOESN'T SPEND MUCH TIME ALONE. HE MISSES YOU SO MUCH, WE ALL MISS YOU SO MUCH AND OUR HEARTS ACHE LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. YOU'VE MISSED A LOT OF STUFF THAT WE WOULD LOVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT. LOGAN IS ROLLING ALL OVER THE PLACE AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS TO BE ABLE TO CALL YOU AND TELL YOU ABOUT IT. YOU HAVE 10 BEAUTIFUL GRANDCHILDREN THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAD TO GO. WE KNEW YOU WATCH OVER US ALL THE TIME BUT THERE IS AN EMPTY HOLE IN ALL OF OUR HEARTS THAT WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO HEAL. PLEASE KNOW THAT WE AREN'T MAD AT YOU, WE ARE JUST MAD YOU HAD TO LEAVE US WHEN YOU DID. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH. LOVE YOUR FAMILY

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I FORGOT TO ADD THIS PICTURE SO THAT'S WHY IT'S KINDA OUT OF LINE BUT I LOVE THE LOOK ON LOGANS FACE, HE JUST STARTED SUCKING ON HIS BOTTOM LIP A FEW WEEKS AGO AND HE ALSO JUST STARTED SITTING UP. IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE HE'S ALMOST 7 MONTHS

THIS DEFINITELY WAS THE HARDEST CHRISTMAS THAT WE HAVE EVER CELEBRATED. MOM LOVED CHRISTMAS, IT WAS HER FAVORITE DAY OF THE WHOLE YEAR, SHE PLANNED AND PLANNED FOR MONTHS FOR THIS ONE DAY. EVERYTHING HAD TO BE PERFECT FOR HER. SHE WOULD SPEND DAYS GETTING HER CHRISTMAS TREE UP, ALL THE DECORATIONS HAD TO BE IN JUST THE RIGHT SPOT, THE LIGHTS HAD TO BE HUNG JUST THE RIGHT WAY, AND OF COURSE THE PRESENTS HAD TO BE WRAPPED WITH ALL THE EDGES CREASED, THEY HAD TO LOOK PERFECT. I ALWAYS HATED WRAPPING PRESENTS WITH HER, BUT I'D GIVE ANYTHING TO BE ABLE TO WRAP JUST ONE GIFT WITH HER.

M'TALI'S STUFF FROM SANTA
DAKODA'S STUFF FROM SANTA

DALLIN AND LOGAN'S STUFF FROM SANTA

ALL THE PRESENTS UNDER THE TREE FROM MOM AND DAD

EVERY YEAR WE HAVE TO GO WAKE UP THE KIDS ( WHICH I LOVE). THEY ALL SLEEP IN THE SAME BED EVERY CHRISTMAS EVE, I'M NOT SURE THAT THEY SLEEP ALL THAT WELL THOUGH WITH THREE KIDS IN ONE BED...SOON IT WILL BE FOUR. THIS YEAR WE HAD A VERY BUSY DAY SO WE WOKE THEM UP AT 7:30 AND IT WAS NON STOP GO FROM THEN TILL ABOUT 9:00 AT NIGHT

LOGAN WAS THE ONLY ONE WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WAKE UP, HE WAS WIDE AWAKE AND READY TO OPEN PRESENTS

"LOOK MOM THIS ONES FOR DAKODA" LOGAN GOT THIS BUMBO CHAIR FROM SANTA AND HAS ALREADY FIGURED OUT HOW TO CLIMB OUT OF IT.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE, IF YOU LOOK IN THE BACKGROUND LOGAN IS TRYING TO TAKE DAKODA'S PRESENT AWAY FROM HIM. MY TWO CUTE BABIES!! DAKODA IS SUCH A GOOD BIG BROTHER, HE LOVES LOGAN SO MUCH, I ALWAYS LAY HIM ON THE FLOOR TO PLAY AND IF HE EVEN MAKES A FUSS DAKODA WILL PICK HIM UP AND I TELL HIM TO LAY HIM BACK DOWN AND HE SAYS NO HE'S CRYING

M'TALI AND DAKODA TRYING TO HELP LOGAN OPEN HIS PRESENTS

LOGAN LOVED TO OPEN HIS GIFTS IT JUST TOOK HIM A LONG TIME.

TEN MINUTES LATER AND HE FINALLY GOT IT!!!

ALL OF LOGAN'S GIFTS, WE JUST SAT THEM ALL IN FRONT OF HIM AND LET HIM HAVE AT IT FOR AWHILE!!

M'TALI LOVES TO DRAW AND WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT HER DRAWING PAD

DALLIN AND DAKODA GOT NEW CD PLAYERS FOR CHRISTMAS SO THEY COULD LISTEN TO THE BOOK OF MORMON ON CD

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!
AFTER OPENING ALL HIS GIFTS, WE LAID LOGAN DOWN TO LOAD SOME STUFF IN THE CAR AND THIS IS HOW WE FOUND HIM JUST MINUTES LATER, HE WAS SO EXHAUSTED FROM ALL THE EXCITEMENT

AFTER ALL THE PRESENTS WERE OPEN WE HEADED TO AJ'S FOR A WONDERFUL DINNER, WE HAD TONS OF APPETIZERS, HAM, POTATOES, ROLLS, SALADS, AND OF COURSE MOM'S ANNUAL YUMMY CHEESECAKE. THANK YOU AJ AND MISSY FOR HOSTING CHRISTMAS DINNER AT YOUR HOUSE.

CHRISTMAS EVE

ON CHRISTMAS EVE WE WENT UP TO JOSH'S SISTERS HOUSE FOR DINNER, THE FOOD WAS AMAZING, WE HAD PRIME RIB, SPINACH SALAD, GARLIC MASHED POTATOES AND ROLLS. THANKS BROOKE FOR THE FUN EVENING. THIS IS ALL THE KIDS.....ALL 16 OF THEM

Better late then never!!

Tuesday December 8Th was M'Tali 11Th birthday. It's so hard to believe it's been 11 years since she was born. We are so thankful to have her in our lives. She is such an amazing daughter, she is always willing to help out, she has a wonderful spirit, and is such a caring and loving person. She loves to skateboard, play Basketball, Softball and any other sport. She loves the Utah Jazz and always loved to go to grandma and grandpa Heaps' and watch the game with them. Thank you dad for keeping up with that tradition even though mom's not here to enjoy it with you two!! She loves Tony Hawk(professional skateboarder) and wants to be just like him someday!!Who would have thought that this tiny little girl in her cute Christmas dress who grow up to be such a tom boy!!! :0)

M'Tali loves the Utah Jazz and can tell you almost all the players so when I couldn't get a skateboarding cake the next best thing was the Utah Jazz colors with a basketball.

M'Tali-Dad and I are so proud of you, you are such an amazing and beautiful girl. Always remember the special relationship that you and grandma had it can NEVER be replaced. She loved you more then anything and was so proud that you were her first grandchild. You two had a special bond that was unbreakable. You were her right hand "girl". Always remember the love she had for you. We love you with all our hearts and are so honored to have you as our daughter. Thank you for spending the day with me, I enjoyed going to lunch with you, I always love our girl dates!!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Happy Halloween!!

WE HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN, OURS WAS REALLY FUN AND THE KIDS GOT WAY TO MUCH CANDY!!
Logan was a cute mummy, we had planned for him to be a bumble bee, we had a costume from when Dakoda was a baby, but the the day before halloween Josh went to go get it out so I could wash it but he couldn't find it so I had to hurry and sew this together. It was alot more work then I thought but it turned out way cute.
Our cute kids....M'Tali and Dallin were skateboarders, Dakoda was a cowboy, and Logan our little mummy.

"Howdy partner"

Every Year for Halloween we make a stop at Josh's grandpas house for doughnuts and snacks, its such a fun tradition and the kids look forward to it. After we left there we headed down to my dad's for chili and pie, my dad made the most wonderful chili. Thanks dad for dinner!!! This time of year is my favorite time, I really love the holidays and the memories that we get to create for our kids!!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY DAKODA!!

Today was Dakoda's 6Th birthday. Dakoda is such a fun loving boy, he is easy going, quite, easy to get along with, and such a good little boy.
When koda got up this morning I wished him a Happy Birthday and gave him his kisses, then he told me that he's 6 now, but he's still going to be a talker till the day he dies, He is the biggest talker that I have ever seen in my life, that kid will go on and on and on, he asks questions after questions, and if you don't answer he asks till you answer him. Some of the questions he asks just amazes me he has a wonderful memory and imagination. He sometimes gives me a headache with his non stop talking. He loves to organize everything, he is always organizing his room, books, toys, shoes, my kitchen, the bathrooms, my cupboards, he will even sit in the cart when we go shopping and organize the groceries, and then organize them once we put them up on the belt, everything has to be organized for Dakoda.
Both me and Josh had the day off work and the kids were out of school, so for his birthday we went up to my mom's grave to put some decorations on there for Halloween/Fall, then we went to lunch to Brick Oven. My dad had the day off work so he came with us., Thanks dad for making Dakodas day so special.
I am so proud of Dakoda for all that he does, he is such a great help, and an amazing son I don't know what I would without him. We love you so much "Koda Bear" We hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Lightening Storm!!

We love the rain, lightening, and thunder.. I could just sit and watch the rain fall and listen the thunder, but today as Josh was home with the kids it came a little to close, he heard the thunder and said that he thought it hit in our back yard and when he went to look this is what he saw. This is at the condos just behind our house. Luckily it was only a tree that got burned after it was hit by lightening.

Fishing Trip!!

Saturday we took the kids and went fishing with my family, we went up to strawberry reservoir. We headed out at 5:30 in the morning. Strawberry was always mom's favorite place to go fishing so on the drive up there she was on everyone's mind and when we all got there there was a few tears. The day was really enjoyable, we love to spend time with the family whenever we can even though there was one special person that wasn't there with us, and then there were even more tears on the way home just knowing she wasn't able to celebrate our few catches with us.

Dakoda loved to play with the crawdads and even brought one home with him that he said is going to be his pet!!(We'll see how long it lives) M'Tali didn't want to hold the fish so this is the best picture we got of her!!

Dakoda's fish kept hitting him in the tummy so he had to hold it far away from him

Dallin is an expert fishermen and know how to hold his fish...lol that's what he said

The first catch of the day!!! Josh casted his pole out and within just a few minutes he had this fish!! We thought that this was going to be a good sign of the fishing!!

All 8 of the fish that were caught were all caught on Josh's fishing pole, we were all getting mad that he was the only one that was catching fish, but then I thought that the reason why this was happening was because grandma always loved to watch her grandchildren fish and to catch fish. They always took M'Tali fishing with them and it was so important to her to make sure that M'Tali got a fish even though this didn't always happen and so she knew that Josh being the person he is would allow the kids to reel his fish in, and this was the only way that the kids would get a fish....so every fish that was caught was reeled in by the kids, it didn't matter to them that they were caught on Josh's pole, to them it was THEIR fish. All the kids got to reel in a fish except for my niece Kaydee and Josh tried so hard to get her one, he even left his pole out there in the dark while we cleaned up hoping to get one for her but was unable to. I know that she enjoyed every minute of that.

Time Sure Does Fly By!!

It's so hard to believe that Logan is now 3 months old, It has been a very long and hard 3 months, and he has changed so much.



Logan Loves to talk and coo and I love to just sit and listen to him try and make noises.
He is such a happy baby with all that he has been through

He loves to eat his hands and is always trying to get both of them in his mouth, his fingers are so long and skinny that he is always choking himself on them.

Logan has been though alot the past 3 months and they still haven't found out anything, he has been tested for Pyloric Stenosis, Cystic Fibrosis, and all the childhood diseases that they can think of that would prevent him from growing, but so far everything has come back negative, other then the severe acid reflux which I am so thankful for but it's so hard not having answers. He is seen by his own home health nurse 2-3 times a week and sees his pediatrician every week. We were hoping that by the time he was 3 months that he would be up to his birth weight but that didn't happen so I guess our goal is that he will be there by 4 months.

We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been offered on Logan's behave and we hope that he will continue to grow, and get stronger everyday. He is such a happy baby. We love him so much and are so thankful for the few weeks he had to spend with grandma here on earth.

Logan's Stats are:

8lbs 7oz (0.09%tile)

23 inches long (13.78%tile)

14.5 inch head circumference(10.2%tile)

Weekend At The Cabin!!

This last weekend we took a break from everything and headed up to the cabin, it was so fun and relaxing. M'Tali stayed home and spent some time with Grandpa which she does quit often and really enjoys

My 3 cute boys enjoying the great outdoors.

Dallin and Dakoda playing outside!!
Dallin loves to ride the four wheeler and was always begging us to go on ANOTHER ride:)

Daddy and Dakoda coming back from a ride...Dakoda jumped off the four wheeler and said "We saw 10 deer" They love to go look for deer.

1st Day of School

The kids went back to school today and it was so nice that Logan was able to take a nap and not have them bug him, but it was also sad that summer is over and we have to get back to a routine again, and that I have to go back to work soon. We are planning one last camping trip this weekend to finish up the summer at Yuba, I'm kinda excited to take one last camping trip as a family but Yuba is where we were when my mom past away, it's our favorite spot to camp, but it will be hard to go back.

They are so happy to go to school, they even got up early!! They kept asking "Is it time to go yet, now is it time to go??" Can we go now??

M'Tali is in the 5th grade, I can't believe how fast she is turning into such a young lady, she is such a big help to me and loves to be a mini mom.

Her favorite part of today was of course recess...but then she said that's ALL we did!!
Dallin is in the 3rd grade and is so excited to see all of his friends, he gets along so well with everyone...

His favorite part was taking a test....I promise that's what he said!!! LOL

Dakoda is in kindergarten and will be attending all day, It's hard to believe that he will be at school all day long.... I don't know what I will do without him here, he's been home with me in the afternoons for almost 6 years.

His favorite part of today was eating lunch at school, and the magic trick that his teacher did.