Genetic?....I think so!

Well May 2nd has come again. It has been 6 years since my Grandmother died in a tragic car accident. She had a great impact on my life. She was a great example of acceptance. She worked hard and raised 6 beautiful daughters (on her own). She had a way of making everyone feel special. I was the 4th of many grandchildren and I know she loved all of us. She is the reason that Zion National Park and Springdale Utah hold such a special place in my heart. Now she has greatgrandchildren, 4 of which are mine and I know that even though they never met her they share some of her loves. My boys could collect rocks all day and I know they would have loved fishing with their great grandma. Although she would have had to teach them not to throw the rocks when you are fishing. For pictures of my grandma and a little more of her story go here.

Now enjoy some pictures of my kids enjoying one of their favorite things. Throwing rocks into the lake.

*The Greatest Place on Earth*

For Easter/My Birthday we went to the most beautiful place on Earth. We went to Zion National Park. I love it there! I have ever since I was a little kid. Jeff suprised me with a weekend getaway. We stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn. It is a gorgeous place to stay. The boys slept on a couch bed. I pulled it out and then went about my business doing something else...when I turned around Dallen had made his own little bed out of the couch cushion. It was so cute! He was very proud of himself.
The view from our private balcony. It would be amazing if I could have a glass of chocolate milk and a doughnut every morning on a balcony with this view and the sound of a river rushing by.

The boys waiting for the shuttle.

There's nothing like playing outside after a long cold winter.

She was such a trooper, but all this moving around tuckered her out.

These pics were taken on my fav hike. "Weeping Rock" The boys are actually looking out toward a beautiful view, but I could not get them to turn there backs to the edge of that cliff. (I guess they have a little grandma Kathleen in them.) They stuck to the inside of the cove :)

~Blessed~

I cannot believe that Brielle is 2 months old today. Time just flies! Yesterday she was blessed by her Daddy. It was a beautiful blessing. She was quiet and awake the whole time. The spirit I felt yesterday was so strong. We had a blast with all the family and friends that were able to come out this weekend. (And we missed all those that couldn't make it)

Here she is in her gorgeous dress. I absolutely loved it. My mom picked it up from a little shop called "you will be blessed". The woman makes amazing dresses.

I had mentioned to Jeff that I wanted to get her a bracelet to go with her dress and he informed me that he already had plans for that.....what good Daddy. Don't you think he did a good job! He is already wrapped around her little finger, just like he should be.

~Busy 6 weeks~

We have had a busy 6 weeks. I was pretty sick when I was pregnant and I got car sick every time I got in the car so we didn't go anywhere from the beginning of November until after Brielle was born. I feel like we have been going ever since :). This was our first trip. Brielle's first Hotel stay at 2 weeks, the day after Valentine's Day. She did so good and the boys loved it. They are pretty used to staying in hotels. Ashton was actually asking if we could go to a Hotel. It was a much needed getaway for all of us.
The next weekend we headed down to Panguitch. The boys got a new toy for our long drives, a DVD Player. I thought Dallen was too cute sleeping with his big headphones :). Brielle did great driving as well. All of our kids have been good travelers, but as you can tell we like to start them young. We had a great time in Panguitch. Ashton and Dallen got a lot of their energy out with grandma and grandpa. And Brielle got to meet some more of her family.

The boys still love Brielle, sometimes a little too much ;) I believe this picture says it all.

We captured her first smiles. This pic was taken on St. Patty's Day morning. She is always super smiley during the morning and then not so much the rest of the day. Not that she cries the rest of the day, she mostly just sleeps.
Here are the cuties on St. Patrick's day. I made sure everyone was wearing green.

And last but not least green eggs. The boys thought it was pretty cool.

Happy Valentine's Day

I love my kiddos so much. They really are the greatest! The boys have put up with so much the last couple of months :) They have been real troopers. They are always helping me out. (Well okay they aren't always so willing, but we take what we can get.) We are all so happy to have our family all here together! And then there is Jeff. I wouldn't be able to function without him. I wish I had a pic of the two of us, but we are sleep deprived and not worthy of pics at the moment :) Now here are some faces that can always put a smile on my face!

I took the picture of Ashton at the hospital when Dallen was born, and the picture of Dallen is at the hospital when Brielle was born. Two handsome proud big brothers :)

I love how you can see the love on their faces. They are too precious. They love their little sister and I think she is always going to have them on her side.

I couldn't resist another picture of Brielle :) I realized she had something on her head in all of the other pictures so I had to show you her crazy hair.

Who can Resist a New Baby!

Here we are going back to the hospital on Monday to get a quick checkup. The silly girl likes to sleep all the time and she lost some weight so we had to fatten her up a little :). The next day we went back and she was fine.

This is our little "Sleeping Beauty". We went to vernal to pick up a few things and she didn't even know she left the house. She was asleep the whole time. Don't worry she ate she just didn't wake up.

And here is the typical Mommy photo shoot that all babies have to endure. All of these pics were picked from at least 10 each of these days. We have been having so much fun with Brielle. The boys just love her. They don't know why she just sleeps all the time, but they are going to love it when she starts to respond to them.

1~29~10....The Story of Brielle

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30AM on Friday January 29, 2010. I realized I didn't have any pictures of my pregnant belly so we took a quick shot.
Our last hug as parents of 2. We were both very excited and only a little nervous. The docter came and broke my water around 8:30 or 9:00 I'm not sure. The contractions started to be fairly regular right away. By the time they started the pitocin I was already in labor. About 10:15 the contractions started to get pretty bad and I was ready for an epidural. The anesthesiologist was in surgery so they told me I would have to wait until he was done. I was starting to get nervous because everything was happening so fast. Direct quote from me, "I think the contractions are too close together." The nurse kinda just laughed that one off. Luckily a half an hour later a different anesthesiologist came in. He was on his way home when he heard about me so he came back to save the day :). The epidural was in and done around 11:00AM. Around 11:20 I started pushing. It was literally 3 contractions and there she was. The best delivery ever. She was born at 11:29AM.

After 4 hours at the hospital there she was with her proud Daddy.

And her happy, tired, relieved, proud Mommy.
She weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 20 inches long. We named her Brielle Coleen Cooper. Her middle name is very special because she is named after both of her awesome Grandma's. Ni"cole" and Kath"leen". In case you are wondering about how to pronounce it "Bree-Elle" and "Coe-Leen".

When Ashton first saw her he said, "She's so Beautiful". He absolutely loves her. He is going to be a great big brother.

Dallen was so excited to hold her. He loves his baby sister so much. He gets so concerned whenever she cries. He is also going to be a great big brother.

This is how the boys entertained themselves later on that night at the hospital. Don't worry we didn't make them stay there all day. This was their second time back. Oh and no one was hurt :).


P.S. I just wanted to give a shout out to my nurses and docter. They were all so great and took such good care of us. Thank You!

Things I'm Excited About :)

~These adorable baby beenies that I recently learned how to make.

(Thanks Merralee)


~These beautiful blankies.
(Afghan made by me, Purple Patch Quilt with silky lining
made by my mommy.)

~Little "pink" clothes and tiny tiny socks.

~Two super excited big brothers.

~And last but not least.....

I am super excited that my little family of 4 is soon to be a

Family of 5.

My (Super) Heroes

I am so lucky to have a house full of super heroes. They run around like this at least once a day.

Daddy was showing them how Super Heros are supposed to pose.

Did I forget Christmas?

Wow, I totally forgot to post Christmas pictures. Must be the pregnant brain :). We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma Nicole and Grandpa Scott's. We had an awesome Chinese dinner. Santa came to our house that night and everyone came over to watch the boys on Christmas morning. After that we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for breakfast. The sick little man cut some of our plans out, but all in all it was a great Christmas. Dallen got really sick on Christmas Eve so he was dragging a little bit, but he was just as excited as Ashton was he just couldn't show it.

Ashton's list to Santa changed just days before Christmas, but luckily Santa got the revisions and was able to bring him one of the new items. They love their Light Sabers.

And please excuse my bad photography, but it was really bad lighting and they were so bouncy :).

Here is the second Christmas. Grandpa Jimmy and Grandma Kathleen weren't able to come out, but Aunt Mandy brought their gifts, so this is for you guys.

The boys loved their gifts. They have slept with their new blankets every night.