7

The fact that you are 7 is absolutely blowing my mind. How did that happen?! I feel like it was just yesterday we were bringing you home to our little basement apartment in Orem or just us spending the day together while Quinn and Kynzlie were at school. 

It has been an absolute pleasure watching you learn and grow this year. You have one of most tender and kind hearts. You are always the first to check on your siblings if they are sad or hurt. Even though I might not see it, you are always paying attention and taking in the world around you. I have loved watching you lean into your role of big brother and truly start being a friend to Cole.

You are so silly, fun and full of life! I don't think a day goes by that I don't smile at something you do or say. Your dancing, victory dances especially are unmatched!

I love watching your mind at work. You love science, engineering, building, creating. I love to see the towers, robots, figures and creations you come up with. 

I hope you never lose that! I hope throughout your life you let that curiosity and creativity fuel your decision. Don't let the world turn it off. You are so talented, smart, kind, generous and original. Don't ever forgot that you are special and wonderful just because you are you. You have something to offer this messy world, don't ever, ever let fear be your driving force. Its ok to be afraid, it's ok to feel hopeless, worried, nervous, those are all normal emotions but Satan will try and use those emotions to keep you stuck. He will try to use those to debilitate you from progressing. He will try to use those to get you to forget who you are and whose you are. You are a son of God. You are great already you just have to remember and trust that your Father in heaven will help you remember who you are and all you are capable of becoming. Trials in life are messy and frustrating and sometimes down right heart breaking. But if you can remember, even when you can't see it, that those trials are shaping, molding and refining you to be the very best version of yourself.

I once heard a story about a man who ran a company and his son had the potential to take his place as the head of the company but the father knew he couldn't just give him the position, that wouldn't set him up for success. He wouldn't be prepared for the job if he wasn't trained, coached and learned in a way that he had true understanding of how to do the job and how he needed to be to succeed. 

That is just like this life. God wants to give us all that he had and be as he is. There is no way he could just give us knowledge and feelings he now holds. I'm order to truly learn anything, you have to experience it. So to become as He is, we have to experience and overcome this life. But we don't have to do it alone. He planned and prepared for you. He prepared a way for you to be strengthened, comforted, magnified, guided, forgiven, refined, everything, every support you could ever need was made possible by our Savior. Turn to Him, lean on Him, allow him to be your best friend and walk with you through this life. You cannot fail with him by your side. 

I love you so much Scotty boy! Happy birthday 🎂 🎈 

6

This has already been such a big year for you! Within just a few weeks of you turning 6, you have gotten glasses, signed up for machine pitch baseball and moved to the top bunk. We're just hitting the ground running this year ❤️ 

I can't believe how much you have grown in the last year. It is jauch a blessing to be your mom and get a front row seat to amazing things you are doing. I am so proud of who you are and all that you are growing into. You are truly a noble and great one. But I am also so grateful you are still my little cooper. I love that you still love to cuddle and talk about the world. I am in aw of how your mind works. 

Please never for get who you are and how special you are. Make sure you take time to slow down. Look for opportunities to serve and help all around you. Dont be so busy that you can't take time for compassionate detours throughout your day. Put God first and keep a constant communication with him so he can continue to support, strengthen and guide you. Hold tight to him as Satan is continually leading this world into darkness, confusion and despair. He will make it seem appealing and desirable to follow him but don't be deceived. Those paths may seem easy and desirable but I promise they will never bring lasting peace and joy. If you find yourself on one of those, that's ok. You've never gone too far. You are loved more than you could ever imagine. Your worth is not predicted on your choices. You will always matter and be deeply loved, no matter what you do. You always have a place with me, dad and most importantly, your Heavenly Father. You are a son of God. With infinite potential. There will be times in your life where it might not feel like it. Times of heartache, sadness, confusion, pain, etc. But hang on. Pray on. Lean into your Savior. Lean into your covenants. Lean into us. We are here to support you and will always be here for you. 

We love you my darling. Happy birthday! I hope this year is full of fun, adventures, growth and love 😘

big old 5

Oh my Cooper man, you give me all the feels. You keep growing up and I can't seem to stop it lol I love seeing you hit all these knew milestones and having new experiences but man there are times I wish I could keep you my little boy forever. Before I know it there will be hair on your cute little face and your darling voice I love so much, will deepen. 

Sometimes I look at the world as it is now and am worried for how your teenage years are going to go. The world is a messy, dark and confused place and I wish I could stuff you to the brim with my testimony of truth but that's not really how it works. I will do my best to teach you truth and where you can look for real and eternal answers. I will teach you that you have worth and are so very loved. I will teach you who you are and who you can become. I will do my best, but I am far from perfect. 

I am so Greatful for or Heavenly Father and our Savior. Who loves you perfectly and can lead and guide you through the world perfectly. He knows exactly who you are and who you can become. He knows every strength, weakness, every hair on your head. He will lead and guide you. He will walk you through the refining trials in your life. He will be your greatest strength and ally. He will cheer and celebrate the good and mourn with and comfort you in the heavy and heartbreaking. He will take the trials and consecrate them for your gain, to set you on a path home to Him. I pray you let him prevail in your life. 

We love you so very much and will be here every step of the way. I can't wait to watch you grow this next year. For all the joy, laughter and love you bring ❤️

4

Oh my sweet Buggy. How in the world are you 4? I'm 99% sure I probably say that every year, but seriously. Time is just flying by. I need to find a way to slow down time so I can just absorb every second with you. It just not enough. 

You just have my heart in a way I can even try to express. I love the way you say "I love ya" or "you're my best friend. I love how good you are at problem solving. I love that you love to sit and cuddle and read. I love that you are getting so good at playing pretend. I love that you love trucks, paw patrol, octonauts, plants, marble runs, robots.. so many things. The things you like, you are passionate about. Its so sweet. You love singing and dancing. You love to help with everything. If I am ever cleaning anything or doing anything in the house, you are right there helping in an way I will let you :) 

I have been in awe of you this year. It was a year and a week or so ago that we started this covid stuff. Shut downs, quarentenes. You should have been transitioning out of suu early ed. and starting at the preschool but instead it just all stopped. Everyone was home, all the time. You were amazing. You handled all the change and craziness like a champ. You were so kind and patience while I worked with the girls for school. You loved participating. It really did go so well. 

Soon after that, you became a big brother :) Man did that make my mama heart melt. You are the cutest big brother. You are so sweet, caring, gentle and protective of Colton. You spend the summer playing and just loving on your little guy. 

Heading back to preschool was rough. After only being around us for months on end, it was really hard on you to be away from us. You had some serious separation anxiety. I'm sure all the masks didn't help the matters. We started making you puzzles of a toy you could earn. Each day you went to school you earned a piece. We did this for about....3 months, till you finally started feeling comfortable. You still had days where you were shy or nervous. You would tuck your head as they checked your temperature at the door and shuffle your feet. 

You were in speech therapy at school for about, 8 months. It has been incredible just watch you really come into your own this year. You have learned and grown so much. That's not even touching how much your personality has really started showing itself. You make me laugh and smile, every day <3 There is always something you do, say, come up with that is just so funny or so sweet.  It truly has been an honor watching you grow this year. You are such a brave, sweet, talented, darling boy. I am so excited to see how much you grow this year. If its anything like this past year, we are all in for a hilarious, adorable, awe inspiring adventure. I love you my Cooper boy. 

 

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday my cute buggy!
I cannot believe you are three! this has definitely has been a strange month! We are currently going through the corona virus quarantine. so we have been home a lot. We were suppose to having you transitioning from SUU early intervention into the district preschool, but with everything going on, everything is closed down, schools, sports, tv shows, concerts, church. We aren't leaving the house unless really needed, and when we do, we are supposed to stay 6 feet away from other people. its surreal to be quite honest.
So before the order to stay home as much as possible we had picked up cake, frosting, and a few presents from the store. we got you a little people car set. so it had a train, dump truck and an airplane. you are in love. its been so cute to watch. you did great blowing out your candles, and have been singing happy birthday all day, which is my favorite. we played with sand, which is your other favorite activity. you liked eating a cupcake, as long as it didn't have frosting on it.
the day was pretty relaxed, since we had to be home. you played and watched shows while I helped the girls with their homeschooling. we took breaks and you would exercise, dance, play sand, etc with us. it was great. We just did McDonalds for dinner, so you could have chicken nuggets, (you love those)
It was definitely a fun activity, celebrating a birthday when we are trying really hard to follow the guidelines that have been put forth. Over all, its been a pretty good experience. I have felt so much peace and comfort. I have so clearly been able to see the hand of our Heavenly Father in our lives as we go through this. Its fun to be able to reset and focus on what is truly important. To see all the evidences that God has been preparing us for this, from food storage, to home centered church, and so many things in between. It has also been amazing watching "the helpers" people helping one another during this hard time. people being a little kinder, a little more thoughtful, a bit more Christ-like. there are a lot of people focusing on the bad, hard and scary. and there will always be times in our life when it seems so much easier to see those things, and there will always be bad in the world. But if you focus on the Savior you will be able to see the blessings, the helpers, the good that is going on in the world.
I am so blessed that you came to our family. You have such a special place in my heart. you are so smart, silly, such a problem solver. You make me smile every single day. You have been learning and growing so much the past few months, and it has been such a blessing to be a part of it. I love you so much. I hope you never stop being your sweet, big hearted, goofy adorable self! I love you cute boy!
happy birthday!

pizza

So daddy has a video game that has a door bell sound every once in a while, and every time you think it's our door, and automatically you say "pizza is here!" Very excitedly, and run to the door ❤️

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas cute boy! I wont lie. this Christmas has been super weird. The week before, Kynzlie had a viral infection. We headed up north, to spend the holiday with family on Thursday. She had started to feel better, and she wasn't contagious, so we figured it would be fine. She did alright. was still pretty warn out, but it really hit again the next night. Saturday she seemed to be doing better again, but then Quinn was sick. throwing up, fever...no fun at all. Then Saturday night you started getting a runny nose...needless to say. you've all been sick, and it was been super sad and stressful.

Christmas morning with you was cute. you didn't really know what to do with presents. so we would help you unwrap them, but then you would just get mad. like "why in the world would you hand me a toy in a package. What am I suppose to do with that." It was really sweet. with all of you feeling so poorly, we decided it was best to just get you home. you weren't thrilled on the drive, and screamed most of the way. you were just so tired. and when you're tired, you like to nestle. lol and obviously sitting in a car seat isn't idea for that.

at the rest stop, we let you sit in the drivers seat, which made you happy. (which was so nice to see a smile. they were hard to come by with you sick. you finally completely zonked out about 20 minutes before we got home. and we got you right up in your bed and you slept for most of the night.

Not what you picture when you think of Christmas is it :) but sometimes life is like that. it doesn't change just because there is a special even, or a picture in your head of the way you want it to go.
real life is always moving forward. and of course I hope next Christmas is a lot more fun, this Christmas was still wonderful. Filled with little, sweet, peaceful, fun moments, that helped balance out all of the chaos of having 3 sick children, at someone else's house no less. were were surrounded by people who love us, were patient and helpful to the situation. We have an incredible family.

I hope if nothing else, you take away from this, that life doesn't go according to plan most of the time. and there are times where you want it to go one way, and it doesn't turn out like that at all. You have to find the joy/fun/peace/calm in all the little moments. they add up to be the big ones. look for the positive. and know, you have a family that love you so much!