The Mountain

Saturday afternoon we took the kids and met some friends up the mountain. They brought there 4 Wheeler's to share. The girls loved it and were constantly asking for rides from anyone. Daddy said Hunter loves speed. He kept yelling Go Faster, Go Faster.

Brayden was in heaven being held almost the entire afternoon.

"Moose" is a great dog. Not being around little ones like mine he did fantastic. My kids loved putting his leash on and taking Moose where they wanted him to go.

Hunter and Sean were best buds! They gathered and collected all sorts of treasure from there many nature walks.

I was like usual the one behind the camera. I keep telling Kory he needs to take a turn every now and then or years from now we are going to wonder where I was. It was great to get out of town for a few hours and enjoy ourselves. It made for a great start to our weekend.

Photo's by April

Saturday my cuties had an appt. with a dear friend to get their pictures taken. Saturday morning I realized of all days to get their pictures taken this was probably the worst. There was something noticably wrong with each of my children except Brayden. Hunter's lips were dried and cracking. He doesn't just lick his lips but his entire mouth. So not only is his lips red'er then usual but he also had a red scabby circle around his mouth. Luckily April was able to photo shop the circle out. Maddie played outside most of Friday with some friends. When Kory got home from work he asked what had happened to Maddie to cause her black eye. Not knowing what he was talking about I went to find Maddie. She suffers from allergies and being outside really caused some havic to her little eye. She did indeed look like she had a black, swollen, watery eye. Saturday morning the darkness was gone but it was still pretty red, swollen and watery. My one who loves to pose and have her pict taken suffered the most. The lights made her eyes water even more and when she smiled she said her eye hurt worse. We went ahead and tried but didn't get a single good one. She'd doing much better now and when her eye is completely healed we will have April do her picts again. Emily has several bites from mosquitos. She will not leave them alone and is constantly scratching them till they bleed. To stop this we covered the bites with band aids. She has 4 of the down her arm and refused to take them off for the picts. These pictures definetly tell our life story at the moment. I love Emily's grin in the above pict. This is so typical of her. We see this "new" smile of hers quite often.

These sisters are best friends.

I can't believe he's "6". He's not my little boy anymore.

Love the smile and the band-aids!

Look at his blue eyes. Aren't they gorgeous! He is such a cutie. He's 3months now. He likes to snuggle, sit up and he smiles and coo's when spoken too. He's growing fast.

Hunter adores his little brother.

I love, love, love Brayden't smile. Thanks again April you did an amazing job! I love them.

To see more of our cuties go to my side bar to the Schultz Family. From there go to her Photography website. We are the Heaton Kids.

New outfits

Last summer about this time I made several custom outfits that I sold of Ebay. Etsy is a lot cheaper to list but I didn't have much luck with it. So over the past 2 weeks my sewing maching and I have been the best of friends. I have made several more oufits to try to sell. They have been listed on Etsy for almost a week now. I'll give them one more week and then I'll probably switch over to Ebay again. It's time consuming to make things but don't cost a lot. I've been able to pick the shirts up for under $3.00 on Kohl's clearance rack. The pants/skirts I either by at Good Will or use my girls pants. Fabric can be quite expensive but I only need 4-8 inches of a full yard. So even though the fabric may be $7.99 a yard at JoAnn's it usually costs me less then $1.00 per fabric. Madelyn loves the watermelon outfit. She is just now starting to wear 5T. The skirt is a size 6 and is still too big for her. If I don't sale it she'll be able to wear it next year.

I was able to bribe Emily with being able to feed the ducks if she'd cooperate for a few pictures. She did better then I expected.

This watermelon set is a 4T. Maddie could wear it but not for long.

This was Emily's favorite. It's one of mine too. She keeps telling me this is her school clothes. She *THINKS* she's going to school just like the other two kids.

I really like this one too. It's too warm to wear but it will be too cute this fall. The shirt says Miss Glamorous on the front with pictures of nail polish, earings, rings, etc. I was thrilled to discover fabric I already had in the same colors and same types of pictures on it. This is by far my favorite. I won't cry if it doesn't sale. I made a matching bow with the outfit but you can't see them very well in these picts.

As you can see Maddie got her hair cut. She loves it. She wanted her hair above her shoulders and thats what I gave her. I don't care for it as much. I miss her long beautiful hair. I miss the braids, pony tails and creative up do's we could do. On the flip side it is much easier for her to take care of by herself and a lot less tangles. Her hair grows fast like mine. Last summer we cut her hair to her shoulders. Before I cut it just 3/4 weeks ago it was just below the middle of her back. It won't be too long before I can get creative again with her hair. I still have Emily's to play with. She doesn't sit as still and for as long as Maddie did but she will with time.

Tribute to Jeff

This past wed. evening Kory and I received one of those telephone calls you never want to get. Kory's nephew Jeff Ashby Wood had passed away earlier that evening. Jeff was born May 12, 1994. He recently celebrated his 15th birthday, he received his Eagle Award just last month. That wed. afternoon he and his Dad, Jim Wood (principal of Valley Highschool) headed to Orderville. Dad had some meetings to attend and Jeff had his 2nd day of Baseball practice. Before practice began Jeff started complaining that his side ached. During practice he spent some time in the dug out due to this ache. Nearing the end of practice he decided to go out with the team for what little time was left. A ball was thrown to Jeff, he missed and it hit his side. He immediately fell to the ground. The ball was thrown by one of Jeff's coach's who is also a Respitory Therapist. This coach was at Jeff's side within 30 seconds. CPR was started immediately. Jim (besides being the principal is also an EMT) was notified and was able to ride in the ambulence with Jeff to the Kanab hospital. According to the coach, with his medical background he thinks Jeff may have already been gone before the ball hit him and that is why he missed the ball. An autopsy has been done. We do know that the ball did not take Jeff's life. Apparently the results can not be given over the phone but will be mailed to the family. As of now we are still waiting on the report. It's been incredible to see how fast Jeff's story has spread. This story has been heard on the news and in newspapers all over Utah. A client of ours called Kory yesterday and said he heard about Jeff on the news while in Yuma, Arizona. An hour after Jeff's death it was being spread through facebook. Jim was thankful he was able to tell rest of the children before they heard it via facebook of someone else. The above picture was taken almost 2 years ago. This is one of Heather's (Jeff's mom) favorites. She never really noticed that Jeff was a part from his siblings, how Jeff is looking back at his siblings who are all looking at the camera. She say's it's as if Jeff is looking over the other kids. Kory and I left Saturday afternoon. Jeff's viewing was sunday after church and his funeral took place on Monday at noon. Saturday evening and Sunday morning I was collecting different pictures of Jeff from different people and created a DVD in Jeff's memory. I wanted to post it but I used a program on someone else's computer that my computer doesn't have so I won't be able to post it.

I learned a lot about Jeff this past weekend. I wish we could have lived closer, that I could have known Jeff like others did. Jeff was a cowboy at heart. Jeff had a love, love, love for big trucks and heavy equipment (backhoes, etc.), most anything with a motor in it. He loved to farm, he loved the animals, the plowing and of course the heavy equipment he was able to use. He loved to serve. We were told that Jeff helped the ward/town in many of the service projects that were performed. He helped plan a lot of them, he was always the 1st one there and the last to leave. Kids were attracted to Jeff. I had many pictures of Jeff being in the center, surrounded by his younger cousins and other children around town. Jeff was at our house just a few weeks ago. Hunter followed him around like a little puppy dog. They played in the sandbox together, they swung on our swingset together. They played catch in our backyard. Jeff even sat by Hunter in his bedroom and played cars with him. Hunter had a blast with his cousin. Jeff of course also loved baseball. Jeff was loved by all.

I was absolutely amazed with how the town of Alton and surrounding small towns came together during this time of need for our family. Since Jeff's death, meals were been brought in. Not just to Jim and Heather but to others in the family. On Sunday the ward provided dinner at the church for all of us. Sunday evening during the viewing a nursery was held for the children. A nursery was also held Monday during the 2nd viewing and all through the funeral. It was so nice that my children had a place to go during these times. Another luncheon was provided for all of us after the cemetary services. So much service was provided for our family during this time of need. It was very much appreciated.

This past week has been quite emotional for both Kory and I. It's been a week now and there are still moments that this seems so sureal. It's hard to believe that Jeff is no longer with us. I am thankful that my parents raised me in the church. I am thankful for the testimony that I have of the atonement and eternal families. I know that we will see Jeff again. Jeff's parents were married in the temple. They are an eternal family. Jeff may not be with us right now but not for forever. Jim and Heather will be together with there son again. I know Jim and Heather are suffering as any parent would. I also know that they will get through this trying period in their lives. We love you Jim and Heather.

Ouch!

This past week was our last week of swim lessons. On the way out to the car Emily crawled into the pouch underneath the stroller (where you throw towels, a diaper bag, etc.). I use to push Hunter and Maddie around like this all the time. When we got to the van I took Braydens car seat off the stroller and started to strap him in. Being I took all the top weight off when Emily tried crawling out she tipped the stroller and fell face first. She scratched her nose, bit her upperlip and saw blood. My baby girl kinda freaks when she see's blood. Her lip was immediately swollen. It was twice this size by the time I got her home to put some ice on it. Hunter brought me the camera that night as I was putting her to bed and told me I should take her picture to show everyone her booboo.

Carseat Canopy's

While I was in Utah a few weeks ago I saw a young mom with what looked to be like a blanket straped to the baby's car seat. What a genious idea. A carseat canopy is a blanket with 2 straps that velcro onto the handle bars. It keeps baby protected and covered while out and about. What I love about it is that I will no longer be that mom seen running through the parking lot chasing a fly away blanket! It is perfect for newborns, for my new borns I usually throw a blanket over the carseat. How many germs are floating around in the grocery store, Wal Mart, etc . How many times do strangers come up to touch your newborn becuase they are so little and precious? This ones a little girly.

This one I made for an upcoming baby shower gift. When baby gets a little older and wants to see, you simply fold the cover over the handle bars, like the above pict. This is taken from behind the car seat.

The below picture is of Brayden's. I took it with us to church for the 1st time. He fell asleep on the way there so all through sacrament I had him completely covered. During sunday school I unstrapped it, threw it on the floor and let him play on it (it's the size of a blanket). He got hungry and I realized I had left my nursing cover at home so I took it with me and used it to cover up. Needless to say it was well used during church. The other day I took the kids to the library. We got stuck there during one of our monsoons. It was pouring outside and Brayden was asleep. We tried waiting it out but I needed to get home. The kids and I ran to the van. Brayden stayed asleep and not only did Brayden not get wet but the blanket stayed on and kept him completely covered through the gusts of wind. I love it. I just wish I've had it with me over the past 3 months instead of just this past week. They are selling on craigslist in Utah and on Etsy like mad at the moment. I thought I'd try listing mine on craigslist first and then Etsy here I come.

Photo Shoot

My parents have a beautifly apricot tree in there back yard. The kids spent many hours in this tree, climbing, jumping, and swinging. Before leaving for home I tried taking some picts of the kids. "Smokey" follwed Aunt Hanna and the grandkids home earlier that morning which made it very difficult to get them to cooperate for pictures. These were the best. Meet the newest addition to the Christensen Clan, "Smokey".

The pictures of Brayden aren't the best but I love his blue eyes.

I tried taking a group shot at the end but everyone had had enough of saying "cheese". They were done and so was I.

These were my 2 favorites of Hunter. He can be quite the little ham!

Maddie loves to pose. I like the picts that shows how long her hair is.

As I've mentioned before Emily does NOT like having her picture taken. I left her in her polka dot dress (her absolute favorite dress) hoping she'd cooperate a little better. It helped some but I don't "love" any of the pictures of her. Her hair was actually quite cute but in the picture it looks a mess. I had a hard time getting her to look at the camera thanks to "smokey". This was the best of her.

One of these day's I'll get April to take some better ones for us. She always does such a great job!

4th of July

For the 4th of July the kids and I were still in Utah. During the afternoon we were in Alton (where Kory is from) the kids enjoyed free ice cream cones and free train rides. The grandkids loved the train ride. Emily would only go if mom went with her.

Maddie and Carlaya were best buds. These girls rode the train over and over and over.

Before we went to Alton we ate lunch at a park in Fredonia. Emily was looking too cute so I asked her to say cheese. Being Emily she immediately covered her face with her hands and took off running screaming at me not to take her picture. She ran so fast she lost her pants! Wasn't exactly the picture I was after but it's going to make a great memory.

Uncle Travis was with us that morning and I had to take a picture of him holding Brayden. Travis is going to become a daddy this september. He's going to be a great dad!

4th of July morning our family participated in the Fredonia Parade. It was hot hot hot! We sat on the float waiting for the parade to start much longer then the actual parade lasted. Oh well. The kids loved it when the fire truck drove by and squirted us.

My Grandma Christensen was born in Fredonia, AZ. We were having a Brooksby reunion this weekend and the family thought it would be fun to participate in the parade. We were the Brooksby Angels.

We had a great weekend. I was able to see many cousins that I haven't seen in years. Being we live in Arizona I miss out on many of the family get together's that are held in Utah periodicly. It's kind of weird watching our children out running around and playing together. We are no longer those children but the parents sitting and visisting with one another.

A week at Grandma's

Kory has been working around the clock these past few weeks so the kids and I went to Grandma's to spend a week. The kids were able to do quite a bit of horseback riding. I love this picture. My girls are best of friends!

By the end of the week Hunter was able to talk Grandpa out of holding on to the lead rope. He was so excited to tell me how he rode Romeo all by himself. This mom was a little nervous about watching this take place and didn't think to take a picture, to Hunter's disapointment.

When the horses were taking a break from the grandkids Grandpa and Aunt Hanna gave rides up and down the driveway on the quads. Maddie wants one for her next birthday. I do too. If only it were that easy.

Emily and her cousin Noah had fun walking up and down the long driveway and pushing each other on Grandma's bikes.

It was a great week sitting out on the front porch watching the children play. The kids and I had a great time and they are asking when we can go back. I wish we lived a little closer so we could do this more often without such a long drive. One day...

Officially "5"

Maddie celebrated her birthday a few weeks before her actuall birthday so that her best friend Amber could be present before her family moved out of state. We still needed to acknowledge this special day for Maddie. I can't believe my baby is 5. She woke up to pancakes (her favorite breakfast). Kory is working some pretty late hours so we allowed Maddie to open her gifts after breakfast.

One of her gifts was paintbrush paints. I covered the table in paper and let the kids go. Amazingly it all stayed on the table with no accidents.

She was a sweet sister to let her siblings join in on the fun.

Her birthday happened to land on the last day of swim lessons for that session. She thought she was pretty special to have a swim party and popsicles on her birthday. Happy Birthday! We love you!

Father's Day

We were very blessed when after several weeks of searching for work Kory was able to pick up a large project replacing several kitchens and bathrooms. However, it wasn't until after the contracts were signed that he was then told he had 6weeks to do it. My dad and brother-in-law were laid off about 2 months ago. Since they were still unemployed they both came up to help Kory meet the dead line for this job. They just happened to all be here over Father's Day. Being their families were home the kids and I wanted to do something to acknowledge them on this special day. So we created an I love you candy poster board for each of them.

We love all of you and are ever greatful to have you in our lives.