Coleson's Baptism

We had a wonderful wonderful day yesterday. Coleson got baptized a memeber of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! How time flies. We were fortunate to have family and friends come (thank you). He was excited and nervous. His primary class sang I am a Child of God. Earlier in the day we attended his friend's baptism and while he was changing they had everyone there write a journal page with their testimony, a note, or a picture. We did the same thing and it turned out so special. We all felt the spirit and it was just a perfect day! I didn't do a good job of taking pictures, but this is right before we left for the church and you can see how happy he is.

Coleson turns 8!

Coleson has been counting down, I think since mid July for his birthday. He always feels that he has to wait the longest for his birthday since it is towards the end of the year. This year he chose to go to Carl's Junior and play with Legos for his party-really what more could you want? We let him invite a few friends and I came up with a few games to go along with the Lego theme.
We had a scavenger hunt,
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timed building creation/race,



Of course Brynn wanted to be part of the action, she can build very "tall towers"

and name the Lego person attatched to your forehead.


I wasn't sure the boys would really care for the games (they are 8 now) but I thought you need to do a little more that just play with Legos. They loved the games and had a great time. It's always the things that are easy and not stressed about that usually turn out the best.

Brian took the boys through the drive through to order anything. They came back with these huge hamburgers, it would have been a great commercial. I don't think anyone finished theirs, but I am sure in a year or two, they will be asking for 2.


Doesn't he look sharp!


Did I mention Coleson is a cub scout now? That is one of the things that he was most excited for. He got to go to the fire station with his den a few days before his birthday and he just couldn't contain himself. He was ready to go 30min before it was time to leave. The next week when I dropped him off at the church building for his first official time, he jumped out of the car and ran in before his friend that we were car pooling with even got out. He makes me smile.

Happy Hallowepn!

(Check our last post for the spelling)

JAWA


Emporer from Mulan


Halloween Princess Fairy--that's what Brynn has been singing

Ammon turns 5!

Can you believe our little Ammon is 5! The most exciting part about him is that he is not so little anymore. He is weighing in at 31 1/2lbs now! Our goal was to have him hit 30lbs by his birthday and he did it! The feeding tube has been a life saver. He has been a little more stable with his seizures. He still has them everyday, but they don't wipe him out as much and he hasn't had a convulsing one for about a month. He seems a lot happier and trying to do more things again. My newest nickname for him-which he laughs or smiles at- is Mr. Rolly Polly Pants. He does not want to lay still on his back. Usually within a few seconds of laying him down he rolls over. This is good, however he still has a lot of reflux, so we have to deal with that when he is on his stomach. But I am so glad he is trying to move around more.



He is going to pre-school Mon-Thurs in the afternoon. I was hoping he would be more active in the afternoon and limit having to take him out early in the cold for the bus. He has two very active girls that sit next too him which just love to give him hugs and kisses. The teachers usually have to make sure they don't smother him. There are two other boys in Ammon's class who don't just take it like Ammon does. I think it's good for him to have more interaction. He can always tell when someone is talking to him and paying attention to him. Brynn and I brought bubbles for everyone on his birthday. All the kids liked it and Brynn was so cute walking around blowing them. Ammon was doing a lot of shout outs. I could imagine him saying, "Hey everyone, my mom is here for my birthday!" Out of everything, he loves to walk around. Today at Primary I was kneeling behind him so he could stand up and stretch (after sitting in his wheelchair for over an hour) and he just wanted to take off. He was smiling and the other kids in his class noticed him smiling so much and were whispering to each other -look how happy Ammon is-. It made my day! Most of the time we go anywhere he is so quiet, or tired and I just wish more people could see him when he is at home, when it is quiet, he yells and laughs and rolls around.



Ammon laughing so hard he fell over.

So after school we threw a giant neighborhood play date/party for Ammon and a girl in our ward who has the same birthday. She was born without a leg, but that does not stop her at all from being a typical now 5 year old. She is so cute and just amazingly strong with her arms.


The weather has been very nice, so everyone just rode around and played in their cul-de-sac. Ammon walked around in his walker and enjoyed watching all the wonderful chaos. It was like a BBQ block party, but for kids. We invited about 10 5 year olds and their siblings. We had 5 dozen cupcakes, 50 cups, and tons of popcorn. We ran out. It was fun!



On Friday we had Ammon's Halloween family party. Actually it was a Happy Hallowepn party (if you can read the sign). I had planned to make a cute scrapbook paper banner, but then came across this cute one and thought it would save me a lot of time. Well that's what happens when you buy cheap stuff at walmart-no, it was not even from the dollar store. We played some traditional games like eating donuts off a string and bobbing for apples.



We then went to our city's pumpkin walk where Coleson and I entered pumpkins. However, after waiting an hour in line Ammon and Brynn fell asleep, so I came home. The rest of the guests endured the wait and saw the spectacular pumpkins after another hour.


Coleson's Tie-Fighter

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Coleson's Gift...

Today is Ammon’s birthday and he turned 5-years old. There will be a whole separate blog post on this wonderful milestone, but we wanted to share with you one special gift that Ammon received today. It’s probably best to give you a little preface on why this gift is so unique and special. Coleson is a great older brother that will be turning 8 years old in the next month. Coleson is like most other ‘almost 8-year olds’ in that he loves to play soccer and runs crazy fast doing it, he loves to read and read, he loves to run around outside with friends playing all kinds of made-up games, he loves to play video games or semi-quietly watch a movie, he loves to play tag or ride his bike, and he loves to wrestle and do bucking bronco. Coleson’s even currently involved in the choir at school and goes to school early a couple days a week to practice “Do you hear what I hear” and other songs for the Christmas concert.

Ammon loves doing several of the things that Coleson does, but just in different ways. Ammon loves to play tag, but he’s only as fast as Mom or Dad can help him along. Ammon loves to be read to and turn the pages, but generally not the same books that Coleson is currently reading. Ammon loves to play ball, but it frequently requires a lot of patience and encouragement. Ammon loves to be sung to, but you might not get a traditional reaction in the form of a smile or hands clapping along. I guess in general, from the perspective of an 8-year old boy, Ammon isn’t the fastest partner when playing cops and robbers, he might not show any interest in your most favorite game, or he might accidentally ‘puke’ all over your latest Lego creation while simultaneously breaking it apart. But the truth of the matter is that Ammon loves and adores his older brother, and almost every time Coleson takes notice of him and plays with him there is an instant reaction and happy change in Ammon’s demeanor.

In the reality of everyday life, some days it’s a very real possibility that a wonderful 7-year old boy might consider playing with Ammon as ‘chore time,’ a time when you’re not able to do all the crazy fast things you normally do, a time when you're simply counting down the minutes and seconds before you’re able to go do something else. For an ever more active almost 8-year old boy, play time with his younger not as active brother has gradually become less frequent over the years, and some days it’s not even there. Sometimes as a parent you’re left to wonder if the promises of love and care two brothers made to each other a long time ago will really grow stronger and last throughout a lifetime.

Then come the gentle and unexpected reminders from an almost 8-year old boy that though there are so many things going on in his constantly changing and active life, he hasn’t forgotten these promises, he hasn’t forgotten his little brother.

Last night Summer and Coleson were carving pumpkins together. Ammon and Brynn were already in bed, and Daddy was out with the young men. Coleson was carving an awesome Star Wars ‘Tie-Fighter’ and Summer was carving a series of haunted houses on a hill. While carving they had been talking about various things. During a lull in the conversation and carving Coleson made an unexpected request, “Mom, since we're saving my money, how about you bring Ammon to choir practice and I will sing for him on his birthday. That’s my gift to him.” A surprised and emotional Mom instantly responded that Ammon would be there, and this morning he was. Ammon got up early this morning, got food in his belly and dressed for the day. Then with his Mom and little sister, he went to his big brother’s school, took a seat on his Mom’s lap, and listened to dozens of kids sing to him on his birthday. Among all the singing kids was Coleson with a big smile, singing out his unique present to his special little brother.

Happy Birthday Ammon! Coleson loves you!