Happy Birthday to our Avery, December 21

My thoughts on Avery Lynn Copeland....it seems that this week in December over the last two years has been consumed with thoughts of you. My heart aches to remember the details leading up to your birth and consequently your death. This will always be the moment that I will remember as the day our family changed. Good things came of your death as well as the pain of your death. I have never relied more on your dad and we have never been closer in all of our marriage. We felt the presence of heaven around us, including the love from Heavenly Father who was very aware of our pain. I remember being consumed with love, first for you, second for my Father in Heaven, and third for my good husband.
It seems all those weeks on bed rest we came to know one another. I truly fell in love with you as my daughter. I often wonder two years later what you would have been like. What would have been your favorite color? Would you have been a girly girl or would you have been more logical like your older sister? Would you have loved the things I imagine you would love? I see you with dark hair and dark eyes. Eyes that are pure and full of goodness. I always think you would have been the one to pull me along. My little miracle reminder of what is good in this world. However, it seems you are that in my life. You are the one that pulls me along. You are the reminder of where I want to end up. I cannot wait to see you again and have you run into my arms and hold you like I have craved to hold you. I feel like I will know you, as you are always in my thoughts.

I don't know if I will ever be able to feel the love that Heavenly Father had for me that day again. I often wish I could feel it on demand. It was more of a physical feeling that I have ever felt before. One where you can feel arms around you, where fear is replaced with peace. Where trust comes easily. You just know you will be alright. I remember the long night before you were born, when we knew you would pass away right as you came into this world the next morning. The intense saddness knowing that the kicks I felt would be the last life I felt from you. That in a few short hours you would be still. My heart hurts so badly remembering this because it is such a real moment in my life. I remember emotionally handing you over that night, back to our Father in Heaven so that when I really did have to see your spirit leave you it would be easier. I felt peace knowing you would be taken care of. I remember the comfort in allowing the Father's will to be done, and no longer fighting the outcome. No matter how bad it hurts.

I have been lucky in love. I don't even know how to understand this blessing that was given to me. My husband is my blessing. I feel God gave me Cameron to prepare me for this moment in my life. I know that I could not have gone through this with anyone but my pure good husband. The events that happend and the strength we had to draw from each other is too sacred to me to post for everyone to read, but I truly know he loves me and we will be more bonded together because of you Avery.


So here's to you Avery....I promise to live a better life each year so we can be together as a family in the Celestial Kingdom. I won't let your life be in vain. We will learn the lessons your life was meant to teach us all.

Only a moment you stayed but what an imprint your footsteps have left upon our hearts.

I love you baby girl...Happy Birthday.

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

We have discovered that our little man Mason is our best eater ever! The little guy is only 6 months old and is already chowing down on graduate food. He loves all orange veggies. He loves bitter biscuits, and cereal puffs. He eats usually 2 full food jars and a biscuit 2-3 times a day. It is so nice to have one that eats well. Not that you couldn't guess he was a great eaters. The cheeks tend to give it away. Here is a picture of a little post mealtime smile.

Halloween 2008

I will be on time with at least one post this year!!! Tonight we had a great night doing the regular ol trick or treating. I can remember that Halloween was such a big holiday for the sugar craving girl I was, (who am I kidding) the sugar craving girl I am! My kids seem to be a lot more laid back than I was. They had no maps of the neighbor hood drawn out nor did they ask to start while it was still light. My friend Tina and I were dedicated trick or treater's. They also don't care much about the loot once we get home. I asked for a piece and they said sure take whatever. That would not have happened with me. I would have bartered a piece off or I would have asked for something in exchange. They just don't see the passion of the holiday yet! I should be thankful. They certainly have less of an addiction than I do.

Carving Pumpkins with Grandma Debbie. She is visiting while I recover from getting my tonsils out.

Jaxon ,football player (yep same as last year) Sydney a Witch and Mason a bumblebee!

This is the darn cutest bumblebee I have ever seen! Check out the cheeks!

A new tradition

Growing up in Utah at the base of the Wasatch Mountains I spent a lot of my nights as a teenager in the mountains. A typical weekend consisted of building a campfire and listening to friends play guitar. It is one of my favorite things to do. I never thought such a thing would be possible in Texas but we discovered we could still enjoy the outdoors with a campfire even if we were not in the mountains. A group of us went to Erwin park in Mckinney and found the perfect camping spot. It had lots of maintained grassy area around us so we could play sports while it was light, then it had a great fire pit for the evening. We got up to the spot about 4 in the afternoon and did not leave until closing at 10. One of the funniest highlights of the trip was when Len Tanner, Cameron and Lens daughter Lindsey decided that we needed to move the camp trash can away from our table because there were tons of bees bothering us. The men put on sweatshirts and gloves and planned on running with the trash can while Lindsey stood near by with newspaper on fire to calm the bees. I have to say it was one of the funniest things to witness...you can see a little of it in the pictures we took. After that we cooked tinfoil dinners over coals and they turned out perfect! We ate our dinners and then roasted marshmallows and sang songs by the campfire while Cameron and Steve played. The highlight is when Cameron played guitar and Len and Steve sang an improv song about the night. We were crying they were both so clever. The kids told scary stories and made forts in the trees. It just felt like it should, you know the way it was when you were all kids. Free fun loving innocent fun. It was all around a great family night out.

Steve Frederick and Abbey Frederick.
Bret Crane and his 6 month old Gavin and Cameron and 6 month old Mason. They are one week apart.
We tried to take a good picture, but it ended up with the boys popping in the back and Cameron looking half asleep while Mason's attention was somewhere else.
Ryan represented the Barker clan. Kellie was home sick with Grayden, but Alex and Ryan made it. This is Ryans "man pose?"
Jenny Frederick, Anne Copeland, Emily Crane, Julie Sivley, Shelly Tanner. Such great friends.

Shelley held Mason while the boys took care of the bees. I have to say it is such a cute one of both!
Emily and Shelley. Even darling while they camp.

Jenny and Anne.....how long have we been friends now? 5 plus years I think.
Len Tanner (trying not to blink from the flash) Lindsey Tanner, Sydney Copeland and Abby Crane.
Bill and Barrett Sivley. Some daddy love.

Len and Cameron preparing to remove the bee problem.
Lindsey Tanners job was to be the "bee calmer" they lit the newspaper on fire.
Here are Len and Cam running with the bee filled trash can. You can see the fire holder behind Len.

They ditched the trash can and are running back to safety!

Triathlon 2008

In the last two years I have spent a total of 5 months on bed rest (2 months of that in a hospital) 10 months of throwing up, two delivered babies, and quite a few months recovery. Needless to say my body needed some serious physical activity. So I finally agreed to my husbands long long long time request to do a triathlon with him. If you know me, I am not a natural born athlete. However, I was finally postpartum fat enough to do something intense. So for the last few months I have been training my butt off....,I wish literally! We have been running, and biking, and taking swim lessons to get ready for this. This was also Cameron's first triathlon. The date was set for September 13, as many of you know Hurricane Ike put a small or rather large damper on our plans. It went right though the route of the race! So the race was postponed a week to the 20th. We drove the 2+ hours down to the race site on Friday night (19th) and stayed in a hotel so we could be well rested for our 6 am call time. I was so darn nervous I could barely sleep. I just keep feeling like I might drown in the lake! Needless to say swimming is not my strong suit. Well without going into too many details we had a blast. It was one of the darn hardest physical thing I have done but we finished and that was the goal. It sort of got me addicted to the adrenaline and we plan on doing many more in the future!

Here are some pictures from the race... not my prettiest moments to say the least!

Before the race...I was so nervous I was physically shaking.
Cameron and I before the race!
I had just crossed the finish line here!
We are done! Such a rush!
The staging area for bikes, you can see the lake we swam in behind the bikes. The water was a perfect temperature. Thanks heavens because we did not want to have to wear wetsuits. They are kind of like cheating in my book.

October makes me nervous

This is the first October in three years that I have not been sicker than a dog pregnant! However, I think my body is trained to get sick or at least nervous this time of year. I am finding it hard to enjoy this fall (which is usually my favorite season). It really is amazing what your body remembers. I smell pumpkin candle or cinnamon or anything spiced for that matter and I immediately feel nauseous. I see Halloween decorations and remember the last two where I sat on my porch trying to choke down food meanwhile, trying not to scare the kids with my ashen face. I need to get out of this "Fall Funk". This year I will be down on Halloween as well because I am getting my tonsils out so I guess 09 will be my year to get out there. However since the above seems so full of complaints I actually am so thankful that I was able to get though the pregnancy's because the rewards have been so great! Here is a look at four of my blessings....

My darling Kiddos! Sydney, Jaxon and Mason
Mason Ian Copeland 6 months old
Jaxon Cameron Copeland 5 years old
Sydney Anne Copeland 7 years old
Avery Lynn Copeland (would be 22 months old)

The last night out with the Barlows

So after five years of living side by side with our only Texas family, they have left us for Florida. We will truly miss them. I made a big dinner the other night and had a sad moment when I realized I could not just call them last minute and have them come share it with us. We have come to love and adore this family.



I will truly miss Amy. She has become a seasoned mother, friend and sister-in-law. Amy has a very contagious laugh and unique for that matter. Everyone paid attention when she got laughing. She is the kind of person who does not judge at all. When you need to vent and say a few cuss words you know she does not think any less of you, if fact she will probably join you. Amy is Loyal. She will take on anyone or anything that threatens one of her close friends. I always joked with Amy about her OCD for organizing, but truly it is a quality I crave. I will miss the lined up lotion bottles with the spouts all facing the same way in her closet. Amy is not afraid to admit her faults, she will tell you there are better cooks out there. She is what she is and I love her.



Here are some pictures from our LAST NIGHT OUT WITH THE BARLOW'S

A few of Amy's friends... Jenny Frederick, Anne Copeland, Kellie Barker, Heather McAleavy
All the girls...husbands and dates opted not to be in the picture, actually I am not sure they had a choice.
Amy and Jeff.
The Good Luck Cake....Man the food was good that night.
Okay not really sure why but the boys cuddled up to Cameron. Who can resist the baby face? Obviously not me!

New dedication to Blogging

I really am not much of a writer however, I really want to keep a better journal of my life... So please excuse the gramatical errors and the run on sentences and I will have a bit more confidence to write. I think.... or I would like to think.... that this is what has been holding me back. So here is to a new beginning of blogging.



I figure I should write down some of the funny things that my kids say because like all other moms you quickly forget, or on some comments wish you could forget. So here is a little story of what happened yesterday in the car.... for those of you who may be offended don't read on... I over heard Jaxon trying to convince his friend Scott that indeed he does have nuckles in this pants. Well Scott was not convinced he had them in his pants and said "No I have nuckles on my hands". I listed on as a few more exchanges happened just like before. Finally I turned around and said "Jaxon they are nuts not nuckles that are in your pants, lets stop this talk". A minute later Jaxon says "Are the nuts going to fall out?" I just said "I hope not".

Temple Square, Fishing, Camping, Doing the Utah Thing!

Some of the other activities that we did while we were in UT.... We went to Temple square hung out and took family pictures. We also showed the kids the huge statue of Christ in the visitors center and they liked that a lot. I had Camden (my sister Katie's oldest child age 2) with me and he looked up at the statue and said "He a good guy?" "He gunna get me?" I just smiled and told him Jesus was a good guy. Here are the pictures from that adventure.



This is me trying to get all three kids smiling and looking at the camera at once, obviously it was not a total success.
This picture is hilarious..... you may ask why? It's not obvious why but if you look closely Jaxon is holding up the peace sign under his chin. The reason that is funny is I continually told Jax don't hold up the peace sign while we are taking pictures, he was so sneaky he got this one in on me. Typical Jax.
I title this picture REALITY because this is what it was really like while trying to get some cute pictures. This is what it looked like with out threats and offers for treats if they smiled.
Jaxon really likes to match outfits together for him and Mason (and Dad if he allows it). It is cute the first time and down right annoying the rest of the time. They only have two of the same shirts so it gets tricky the other 5 days of the week. Many tantrums have come over this idea of matching. He certainly loves his brother Mason.
My cute Mom and Dad.





We went fishing and camping as well while in Utah. We fished at a stocked fish pond in Payson. It was perfect for the kids because there is not too much waiting time before you get one on your line. Each kid caught a fish or two.





Here is Camden holding his prize. Seems simple enough right, no... it took him about 20 minutes and 50 tries before this fish did not slip out of his hand. He was persistant and it cracked me up when he finally got it.

Here is Sydney getting ready to cast.
Here is the cast.
Here is the fish. I could not believe she would touch it while it was still alive. Again she surprises me in her bravery.
Jax with his proud catch!
This pictures is priceless, Jaxon at one point thought we were taking the fish home as pets. So when they went to clean the fish, and they were basically still alive the shock shows on Jaxon's face. Poor kid!

The matching clothes trend continues. Here Jaxon had Camden in his clothes so they can match while camping. Needless to say Camden did not take the oversized outfit off once during the trip. Jax was ecstatic.
Sydney and Jaxon climbed any tree they could! They loved it in the canyon.

All in all the trip was so much fun and a great success. We are glad to be able to have such great family on both sides. Thanks again to all who showed us great hospitality.