Easter 2013

Easter 2013 was a little different for us this year.  It was Cooper's first Easter, and Hunter got to go camping with his Grandma & Grandpa Black (Zane's Mom & other Dad),  and his uncle Travis, aunt Shaunna, & cousins Bridger & Kanyon.  It was definitely different not having my Hunter with us, but I know he was having the time of his life camping in the desert.

We started off our Easter by going to the Easter Egg Hunt here in Gunnison, bright and early Saturday morning (3/30/2013).  Paizlei had a ball!  This year she wasn't afraid to get out there and get those eggs, candy and treats that were strewn all over the grass at the park.  Past years, we have FROZE going to the egg hunt, this year wasn't too bad.

Saturday afternoon, after Coop woke up from his nap, we colored and decorated our Easter eggs.  Paizlei was in Heaven!  Anything crafty or creative, she is all for it, on top of it, ENJOYING it!  Even our Little Man got into it...he decided he wanted to take a taste of an egg!  Silly boy!  As we were coloring them, I kept thinking how strange it was without Hunter home.  It was different.

On Sunday, Paizlei woke up and came into our room and woke Zane and I up and told us there was something out on the couch and that we needed to get up so we could go see it.  She was so cute.  So confused.  So excited.  We didn't go all out this year.  Hunter & Paizlei pretty much got the same stuff in their baskets.  Coop got a couple books, 2 outfits, and some bath toys.

 

The True Meaning of Christmas

As many of my readers know, this last year has been a very challenging year for my little family.  With the birth of our sweet "Little" Cooper, unbeknownst to us, he had a genetic abnormality, which later we found out was Achondroplasia (the most common form of Dwarfism) and a micro-deletion in chromosome 15.  To find out what the genetic abnormalities were, Cooper had to undergo some genetics testing, which were very expensive.  We fought our insurance company, which we have great insurance.  But, because of the cost of the 2 genetics tests, they wouldn't cover the full cost of the tests, leaving Zane and I with the balance.  We decided to do some fundraisers and call it Cooper's Crusade.

We were able to raise about half of what we needed.  However, we were completely out of the "know" on what all Achondroplasia/Dwarfism was all about, all the different specialists Cooper would have to see along the way, all the other tests, studies, surgeries, MRIs, therapy, the list goes on and on.  Through all of this, we have remained positive, and have a positive outlook for our sweet Cooper, and to try to keep a positive atmosphere in our home for Hunter and Paizlei.

On Sunday, December 16, 2012, our doorbell rang.  I looked at the clock and couldn't figure out why someone was coming to my house at 9:15pm.  Hesitantly, I got up and went to the door.  When I opened the door, there was no one there, however, there was this gift bag in front of me.  I yelled, "Thank you!", knowing they couldn't be too far, because it didn't take me all that long to get to the door.  I brought it back in my bedroom and sat it down, and went back to folding laundry. A few minutes passed, and I kept having the nagging feeling that I needed to look in the gift bag.  When I brought it in, I couldn't believe how heavy it was, and figured it was just food, which is why I ignored it.  I finally stopped folding the laundry and looked in the bag, and was brought to tears.  Inside the gift bag was a quart-sized mason jar FILLED with nothing but quarters.  There was 7 rolls of quarters in the jar, the rest was loose quarters.  I pulled some more tissue paper out, and at the bottom of the bag was another 3 rolls of quarters tied together and the book, The Christmas Jars. I looked again, and there was no card, nothing.  I looked inside the book thinking maybe who ever gave us the gift left a card in it.  No card.  Just a message, "Merry Christmas 2012".  Zane was working that night, so I called up to the Sheriff's office to talk to him and tell him.  Like me, he was completely shocked.

We have tried and tried to figure out who would be so kind as to give us THAT much money, we have come up empty.  I know that the whole idea, is for us NOT to know, but we can't help but wonder.

We were surprised again the following Sunday, December 23, 2012.  Again, I was in my bedroom folding laundry when I hear this funny knock on my front door.  Because of the funny sound of it, I thought it was Zane, because he was outside at the time.  But, I decided I better go check just to make sure someone wasn't there.  I was completely surprised when I opened my door and found another gift bag and a brown box sitting there.  Again, I yelled, "Thank you!" (before I yelled it, I heard pounding on the pavement, like someone was running, so I looked up and towards the west and saw the guy running to his wife's car!).  I brought it in to my bedroom and waited for Zane to come in.  Once he was inside, we both opened the bag and couldn't believe it.  One the box, there was a sweet little note from the people.  As I was reading the note, I remembered a childhood friend sent me a PM on Facebook and told me she was driving home from Target in Orem the Friday night after Thanksgiving, and was looking at her surroundings while she was waiting for the light to change to green, and noticed there was Mater from Disney's Cars 2, with a BIG poster and a picture of Cooper with it.  I thought and thought about it.  I couldn't let this one rest, because my baby's picture was there.  I sent a text to a friend up in Orem and asked if she wouldn't mind going to this location and taking some pictures for me.  Sure enough, it was Mater, and there was a BIG poster and picture of my Cooper.  She said the Mater truck had some paint on it, and you could see some of it said "Gunnison" on it.  The Mater that was up there, belongs to my neighbors through the block north of us.

 The box from the Mater fundraiser in Orem.

 The card from the Mater fundraiser in Orem.

 This is what was in the gift bag.

 Cuter little Mater, huh?

The poster is word for word what is on Cooper's Crusade Facebook page.

To say we were shocked by both of these random acts of kindness, is an understatement.  Then, on Christmas Eve, a sweet lady and her husband came to our house with a ham and a gift from her, her husband, her kids and grandkids, as well as a gift put together by the Gunnison Valley Daughter's of Utah Pioneer's or DUP.  After she and her husband left, Zane and I just sat there and stared at each other.  At the same time, we both said, "Ya know, we truly live in an AMAZING community!", and we do.  We are truly blessed to live where we live and to have SO MANY people care about our family.

This is the first year I have felt the spirit so strongly at Christmas time.  I hope to NEVER forget what that feels like.  So many kind, loving, generous, thoughtful people helped out my little family, and brought the true meaning of Christmas into our home.  To you, THANK YOU!!

Deck The Halls

Growing up, it was always a tradition to put the Christmas tree up

the day after Thanksgiving.  My Mom would always make it fun.

When we got real trees, my parents and 7 siblings would pile in the family station wagon, and drive the 5 minutes across town to Thursby's.

We would then walk around looking for the prefect tree.

Looking back, it was never really "perfect".

What we thought was "perfect",

was usually a really sad looking Charlie Brown tree.

Full here.

Bare there.

One branch sticking out here

Another branch barely growing there.

Once we picked the "perfect" tree, we went home.

All 7 of us went down the basement and lugged the BAZILLION boxes

FULL of Christmas ornaments and decorations up to the family room.

And the decorating would begin.

It was such a fun tradition.

Something I wanted to carry on when I had a family of my own.

Fast forward several years.

I believe every year since Zane and I have been married, 

we have always decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving,

except for one.

In 2008, our sweet little Paizlei was making me SO SICK.

I had pre-eclampsia really bad.

I had HELLP Syndrome as well.

I had been in the hospital for almost a full week because I was so sick.

Finally, my doctor couldn't do anything more for me down here in the sticks,

so he made some phone calls,

and I said goodbye to my sweet Hunter and Zane,

and was loaded in an ambulance for a ride north.

That night I had my baby girl.

2 months premature.

That year, I didn't really get to enjoy the Christmas season.

My mind was always with my 4 pound baby,

who was 85 miles away.

I left her so I could spend Christmas with my Hunter.

In 2009,

While Zane was at work,

Hunter and I dragged ALL the Christmas decorations up from the basement,

and surprised Daddy when he got home from work.

2 weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving!

Fast forward to the present.

This year has been SO MUCH FUN!

Both Hunter and Paizlei are SO into Christmas.

The week of Thanksgiving,

I kept telling them "we get to decorate the Christmas tree on Friday".

All week,

they asked when it would be Friday.

Once Friday rolled around,

they were both so excited.

When it was finally time to decorate the tree,

Zane, Hunter and Paizlei drug all the decorations up from the basement.

Once the tree was put together,

I separated the ornaments on the floor.

Hunter got to put all of his ornaments on the tree.

Paizlei got to put all of her ornaments on the tree.

Even Cooper got involved,

and LOVED the twinkle of the lights.

Then we all had fun decorating with the rest of the ornaments.

Once we were all done decorating,

I made some hot chocolate,

popped some popcorn,

and we sat down and watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Hunter and Paizlei LOVED it!

Every part of it.

They are still talking about it.

I am determined to enjoy every Christmas season.

This year is going to be a difficult one.

Our sweet "Little" Cooper has to have decompression surgery

a couple weeks before Christmas. 

Neither Zane or I know what to expect.

We don't know how long Cooper will be up at PCMC.

We don't know what the recovery time is.

It is VERY scary.

This year,

I made a promise to myself,

that even though it will be a trying and difficult time,

I will NOT forget the true meaning of Christmas.

I will focus on my family.

I will focus on Christ.

We hope you all have a very merry holiday season! 

I LOVE this photo of my sweet little "Owls"!  This was taken at the Gunnison City Lights Parade on Saturday, November 24, 2012.

Power Tumbling

We have spent so much time doing things for Cooper; fundraiser yard sales, bake sales, donations, many, MANY doctor's appointments and trips to Salt Lake, Zane and I decided it would be fun to do something fun for Hunter & Paizlei and enroll them in power tumbling.  When we told them about it, they were both ecstatic!  Every day, "Mommy, is today nastics?" or "Mommy, when do we get to go to nastics?".  When their first day arrived, they were beyond thrilled!

Here are photos from their first day (October 8, 2012) of "nastics".  The image quality is poor...I didn't have my wide angle lens on, so the images are really noisy.

 We took them to WalMart the Saturday before their first day and let them pick out their compression top and leotard.  Hunter insisted on getting the bright green compression top...it just so happens to be the same color as the walls at Benderz Power Tumbling.

 Had to get a photo of them before they went inside the gym.

 See what I told you about the walls and Hunter's shirt?  Kind of funny!

Hunter was SO outgoing, it amazed me.  Because of his Autism, he usually struggles with this kind of stuff.  It made me smile that he was so willing to participate and was the first to always raise his hand when asked who wanted to go first.

 Paizlei didn't quite get the gist of what they were supposed to do here, but she still had a lot of fun!

 Hunter LOVED the trampoline!  He got on it, stood right on the "X" and did exactly as he was instructed.  Seriously amazing!  I'm pretty sure this will be such an awesome sport for Hunter.

 Paizlei, on the other had, was VERY SCARED of the trampoline.  She could see that there was a hole underneath it and she was afraid she was going to fall in the hole.

 See?  He was AMAZING!  Participating in EVERYTHING!  Doing a head stand was his FAVORITE part of "nastics" on the first day!  He LOVED it!  Sarah, the coach that is holding Hunter, told Hunter she was going to let go of him and told him to try to keep his balance.  When she let go, he held it for a good 5 seconds.  It was so awesome to see how PROUD of himself he was!

Paizlei at the end of class.  Instead of waling around the equipment, she decided she needed to run down the spring floor to me.

I'm SO excited that Gunnison FINALLY has a power tumbling/gymnastics gym! I was seriously contemplating taking them up to Ephraim once a week so they could do gymnastics, and then I saw the signage for Benderz!  I was so excited!  And to see how good it is for Hunter, I'm even more excited and happy with our decision.  However, I think I'm going to pull Paizlei in November and see if I can enroll her in dance instead.  I think she will do better in dance.  I thought power tumbling would be good for her, but she isn't one to wait her turn and went ahead of other students and got in trouble.

Cooper's Blessing

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, we were able to bless Cooper.  It was such a beautiful day.  I'm so grateful to have an amazing husband, who is a worthy priesthood holder and was able to give our sweet Cooper a name and a blessing.  We chose to bless Cooper in a private, family and friends only, setting.  We blessed him Sunday at 12:15pm at the Gunnison Stake Center.

The amazing men who stood in the circle were:
  ~Zane
  ~Dad Young (my Dad)
  ~Javier (my sister's husband)
  ~Kyle (my brother)
  ~Burke (Zane's other Dad ("other" because step sounds aweful))
  ~Kent (Zane's uncle)
  ~Chad Powell (Zane's buddy from work)
  ~Bishop Judy
  ~Brother Tucker
  ~Brother Ellett

Zane gave Cooper such a beautiful blessing.  I was in tears when he was done.  After the blessing, Zane told me he wasn't at all nervous like he was when he blessed Hunter and Paizlei.  He said, "I felt completely calm and completely peaceful.  I felt the spirit speaking right through me.".

Those in attendance at the blessing:
  ~Mom and Dad Young (my Mom and Dad)
  ~Mom and Dad Black (Zane's Mom and other Dad)
  ~Grandma and Grandpa Despain (Zane's Grandparents)
  ~Kent and Mary (Zane's uncle and aunt)
  ~Melanie, Javier & Jacob (my sister and her family)
  ~Ginger, Preston, Wyatt & Kyler (my sister and her kids)
  ~Kyle, Corinne, Caylee and Coral (my brother and his family)
  ~Erin, Jerusha, Syrus, Ezme, Arwyn, Sariah, Tavish Miner (friends from our      neighborhood)
  ~Chad, Bri, Olivia, Brayden, Hunter, Gregg and Tyson Powell (friends)

After the blessing, we had a nice luncheon at the Gunnison park.  We had a great visit with lots of friends and family.

Thank you to everyone who came to support us on Cooper's special day.  Thank you to the men who participated in the blessing.  Thank you to everyone who brought food.  And HUGE THANK YOU to Bri for being my photographer.  You did an AMAZING job!

Our handsome little man...R Cooper Kash V.

  My adorable nephew Kyler playing with Cooper.

 My sister Melanie, her little boy Jacob and Cooper.

 Melanie's husband Javier.

 Zane's Grandma Despain and Cooper...LOVE this BEAUTIFUL moment!

 My sweet, freckle-faced Hunter...LOVE him!

 My BEAUTIFUL princess Paizlei...LOVE her!

 Zane's Grandpa, Grandma, Cooper, Zane's Mom, Dad and Zane

 My nephews Kyler and Jacob...they are both so iinto Cooper.  They love him so much.

 Zanes's Grandpa, Grandma, me, Cooper, Zane's Mom and Dad.

 Me and Cooper with 3 of the most important ladies in my life...Zane's Grandma, Zane's Mom and my Mom...I LOVE these 3 ladies and admire and look up to them so much.

 Me and my little man.

 My Mom, me & Cooper and Zane's Mom.

 I LOVE my Mom!  Next to Zane, she is my best friend.  LOVE HER!

 My Dad, my Mom, me & Cooper and Zane

 Can't even put into words how much I LOVE these two boys!

 Our sweet little family...cannot put into words how much I LOVE them and what they mean to me!

 Awe, Cooper was so tired of being passed around.  All he wanted was to go home and go in his swing.

 Some of my family...top left: Wyatt (nephew), my Dad, Ginger (my sister) middle: Corinne (SIL), Coral (niece), Kyle (Brother), Preston   front: Javier (BIL)

The Powell kids: Olivia, Brayden, Gregg and Hunter

 Seriously...I'm SO proud of my watermelon bowl for my fruit salad!  I HAD to have a picture of it.  :)