Silent Night

What Shall We Give?

What will you and I give for Christmas this year?
Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps...

What Happens At Amelia's...

Keri loves hanging out at Amelia's house after school. This is what they decided to do today...

Our Spooktacular Halloween...

Our Halloween night was almost ruined this year because right before the kids were to go out Trick-or-Treating it started raining. Not just a little. But a lot. The kids debated back and forth whether or not they should dress up or even go out. I was a little worried. But told them to go ahead and get dressed up as if they were going out. Pretty soon the rain stopped and the Trick-or-Treating began.
Keri was Tinkerbell, Carson was a ghoul, and Cole was a mad scientist.
What a Spooktacular night!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERI!

Keri has officially turned 12 years old...




On her birthday Keri's 6th grade class had their Halloween Party so she got to wear her costume to school for the whole day. While she was at school I hung some balloons outside on the front porch. And while she was at her tumbling class some of her Young Women friends decorated her room with ballons and a poster then put a "Happy Birthday" sign out on the front yard. That night we took her to Cafe Rio. (Her favorite place to eat.)And later we celebrated with cake and candles.
She is so excited to be in the Young Women's program and to start working on her Personal Progress. We love you Keri and are so proud of the Young Woman you are becoming...

Carson's Webelos Award

This past Wednesday Carson received his Webelos award in Cub Scouts. We are so proud of him and all that he has done so far in the Scouting program. It takes a lot of hard work and time to be diligent in the Scouting program.
As part of the awards ceremony I painted his face with BSU colors, and he got to move his emblem up the totem pole. It's hard to believe how fast he is growing...

It's Cheer Time

Today was the kickoff to a season full of cheerleading competitions...

For the past two years Keri has cheered for the Lone Peak Knights. But this year she officially became part of the American Fork Cavemen Cheer Squad.




Lots of fun times ahead...

"Celebrate and Donate"

This year for the kids' birthdays we decided that it would be fun to host a food drive. And that instead of the kids' friends bringing them gifts they could bring them food which would then be donated to the Utah Food Bank. Hence, the "Celebrate and Donate." Since the three of them have birthdays around the holidays it makes it really hard to plan and follow through with their yearly parties. So, with Keri's birthday coming up we thought it would be nice to combine the three together.
After all the planning and calling I think their party was a great success...
We played fun party games, had cider and doughnuts, and then had a huge raffle. (For every 5 cans of food that someone brought they got a raffle ticket. You could also win more tickets for the raffle by playing and winning the games...)




For the raffle we had many sponsors donate ALL of the prizes. A BIG THANK YOU to LHM Chevy for donating the Ipod Touch. And many other sponsors, such as; Little Caesars, Kneaders, Marie Calendars, Chic-Fil-A, Roxberry, Corner Bakery, Boondocks, Red Balloon, Fresh Market, Cafe Rio, Discount Tire, Fire House, and much more. It was amazing to see how all of the local companies were so willing to donate once they knew what we were doing. Many of them wanted to do more. Mark and I were a little overwhelmed by their generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you...


After the party there was a lot of LOADING...


and UNLOADING...


We got to the Food Bank 15 minutes before they closed on Saturday. But they were so excited to see us. When I went to fill out the information for our receipt one of the volunteers couldn't believe that we generated this much food from a birthday party. She told the kids that this was the best story she had heard of in a long time and that they should be proud of what they accomplished.
The kids' goal for the party was to donate 1000 lbs. of food to the Food Bank.
When the volunteers loaded the food onto scale it read "974" lbs. Everyone who was there helping to unload said that wasn't right. Before we knew it one of the volunteers lifted up a case of food and put it in the box. The scale then read "1000 lbs." WAY TO GO!!!


We still have more food that the kids' friends who weren't able to be there have donated. Once everything is hauled off to the Food Bank we will be well over our goal of 1000 lbs. Not to mention everything else.
What an amazing experience! We are so grateful to all who "celebrated and donated" with us!
(The kids look a little tired in some of the pictures, but that's because they worked their butts off..)
GOOD JOB GUYS! YOU DID GREAT!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

1st Day of School

The 1st day of school has come and gone but I figured I better post some pictures...
Cole has now started the 9th grade. I asked him the other day what his favorite subject was and he said "seminary." I love it! Keri is now in 6th grade. And Carson is in 5th. It's hard to believe how fast they are growing up...

Boondocks

A few weeks ago Mark and I decided to take the kids to Boondocks. It seems like the summer has just flown by and we're already into fall. The kids favorite part of the park was riding the Go-Carts. This next picture is of Keri. She spinned a couple drivers out and passed almost all the drivers. You could say she was pretty aggressive. But, after two turns on the track they told her she couldn't drive anymore because she wasn't 60" tall. :( She was pretty lit up about the whole thing...So was Carson...He was only able to drive one time....I think it's because they were passing everyone and showing everyone up. JK. LOL...:)




The kids enjoyed the bumper boats, the arcade, XD Theatre, and even Laser Tag. They could have stayed out on the Go Cart track all day, but no such luck. Maybe next time. They sure do take after their Dad. Just a few weeks prior Mark got kicked off the track for spinning one too many people out. He had a few friends that helped him out. Ryan? Riley? You know who you are...

Maxwell Joseph Yeates

This is probably one of the hardest posts I have ever written. And I've debated back and forth several times whether or not I should include it on our blog. But the little spirit that touched our family's life over the past few months is so wonderful and amazing that I couldn't help but share. This is the reason why I haven't blogged for over 2 months...
Maxwell Joseph Yeates was born on July 27th with a diaphramic hernia. From the moment he arrived his life here on earth was a struggle and a challenge. Each day was spent in the NICU at Primary Children's Hospital fighting to keep his lungs and heart going until he was able to have surgery to correct the hernia. I have never prayed for something so hard in my life-that this little baby boy would be able to go home with my sister and her family. We had all hoped and prayed for a miracle, especially after waiting so long for him to arrive. But the miracle that we prayed for was not the same miracle that the Lord had in mind...


On August 14th Max passed away and returned home to his Heavenly Father. And on the 19th we gathered together as a family and celebrated his life...


I believe that losing a loved one is the most severest trials we will ever have to face in this life. And so often we question "why?" Perhaps it is to fill us with a yearning to know; to search for an explanation. (Such a search leads us out of this world and into a higher one.)
The past few months and weeks have been very humbling and once again I have been filled with a desire to understand "Why?" In this searching, my testimony has been strengthened and I have learned so much...
#1 President John Taylor once explained that "the reason why so many children were called away, notwithstanding the great faith and power of the priesthood exercised to keep them here, was that they were bright and noble spirits who held important positions in the kingdom of God in the spirit world, from which they could not long be spared." Knowing this gives me great comfort. That the Lord needed him there more than we needed him here.
#2 I must be ever so kind and tender with the ones I love.
There were many times when I went to visit Max in the hospital and was not able to touch him because the doctors were too busy trying to keep him alive. And during those moments when I was able to place my hand on his arm or foot I was ever so careful. Ever so tender. And so it is with my loved ones. I now have a desire to be more kind and warm hearted with my children and family.
#3 "Thy Will be Done"- Max's journey here to earth had been such a miracle that I had only thought there would be a miracle ending and that he would be able to go home with his family. But that was not the Lord's plan. The Lord had a different miracle in mind. Losing Max made me realize my helplessness, and that there is only One who holds the power of life and death. It is our duty to pray for the sick to be healed, to exercise our faith, but we must do so with this feeling in our hearts, "Thy Will and Not Mine Be Done."
I have thought so much about how this little one has touched my life and the lives of my family members. And I am blessed. Blessed to be his Aunt. Blessed to have spent such beautiful moments with him. And blessed with the knowledge that "Families Are Forever" and we will see each other again soon...

4th of July Bee's Game

I think it's official!! It is now a Cooper tradition to go to the Bee's game on the 4th of July and catch the awesome fireworks show! For the past few years Mark's dealership has hosted the fireworks show and we have been able to round up some free tickets. This year was even better! Cole got to be the official "Bat Boy" of the game...



This is what Carson did instead of watching the game...


JK. He actually named almost all the players on the team. I thought it would be hard for him, not being out on the field himself. But he loved every minute of it...


What an awesome night! A little bit of baseball, a little bit of peanuts, and a lot of spectacular fireworks...