Briley & Brandon's Special Day!

This past Sunday was such a very special day for our little family. We had the chance to witness two huge milestones that brought us all so much joy. During sacrement meeting Brandon was substained to the calling of an Elder in the church, then his dad (who came all the way up from St. George) ordained him afterwards amongst our family and friends. This was something Brandon has been wanting for a long time now and everyone was so proud of him for his great accomplishment. Then, later that afternoon, we got to watch him bless his baby girl Briley- who is the 1st one of our kids he's blessed, and it was so very sweet and special. He did a great job and she looked so beautiful wearing the blessing dress that her mother and older sister were both blessed in as well. Grandma & Grandpa Woods were there all the way from St. George, and Grandma & Grandpa Heaton too. I made over 2 dozen butter cream cup cakes with pink B's monogramed on them just for Briley's special day, and we took tons of pictures. It really couldn't have been a more perfect day!

Finally found the answer to something I've always wanted to do!!!

It seems that lately I've been pondering the direction of my life a lot more then usual...and one of the many things I have always wanted to do sometime in my life was participate in some kind of humanitarian project or volunteer work in a 3rd world country. I've always had a tender spot in my heart for people living in great poverty and deprevation and have wanted to somehow help/aid them in any way that I could. You know all those sad commercial advertisments on TV about sponsering the starving/homeless children in other countries...they make me cry every time and all I want to do is go over and adopt every last one of them. I have been given so much in my life and have been blessed to live where I do and it only makes sense to me to share what I can with those who are less fortunate. I've considered joining the peace corps, I've looked into church service-orientated programs, college affiliated programs, and then just today I stummbled upon the Cross Cultural Solutions Organization. They offer exactly the type of program I've been deeply interested in finding. They are known as the leading organization in the field of international volunteering and have done so much wonderful work in over 12 different countries and have helped so many people and communities. They are comepletly non-profit, dedicated to the saftey of their volunteers, and have amazing program quality. I guess I feel that

Briley's 1st real smiles!

Babies are so cute, especially when they start to figure things out. Briley has decided that sticking your tounge out and going "bleh" is the funniest thing in the whole world. She's been smiling up a storm and getting all excited; kicking her lil arms and legs like crazy every time we do it. Then she learned how to do it herself and has been copying us ever since. Can't wait to see what she'll figure out next! 

Update on the Heaton life!

Things have been pretty crazy around here lately and we've had a lot on our plate, so I haven't really had a  chance to post a decent entry. All three kids have been really sick, Brandon a touch too, and I have returned back to work FULL time now. Brandon has been working lots of hours too and has been on call once already so we are definitely staying busy. Briley is now 2 months old and had her first round of shots just this past week...she was soooo mad. Poor little baby girl has also contracted RSV pretty badly, and has had to go to the ER a couple of times to get her suctioned out so that she can breathe easier and eat. Its been so hard on her and the rest of us and we are all running very low on fuel and sleep. On a lighter note, Brandon bought himself another truck for a family vehicle and it is up, running, licensed and everything. Its really been great and he likes it A LOT! (Its his dream truck) He is also going to be ordained an Elder here shortly and we'll be getting Briley blessed pretty soon too. We are all so excited and proud. Brogen and Capriece are getting better slowly, and are back to being the twin terrors and Brogen is doing excellent in pre-school. As far as anything exciting we might have planned, the only thing coming up is a quick visit from Gma & Gpa Woods here at the beginning of March. We're hoping the weather gets better so that we can take the kids down to the Hoogle Zoo for some fun and good memories. Besides all that we've just been trying to survive day to day. Hopefully things will start to look better soon (and get more interesting too)! :)

Brandon's new 4 door Chevy...has lots of room for all 3 car seats!

 Briley 2 months...starting to smile a whole lot now! :D

Plans for the future!

So lately, since I've gotten back in gear and have been accepted to USU to begin to finish my nursing degree, I've been really pondering my future plans and what I want to do that will make me happy in life. And although I find great joy in caring for people and am excited about finally finishing my college career, nursing is not my first love. For years and years now I have been in love with the idea of photography (which seems to be a pretty common thing among my friends-great minds must think alike). I love love love taking pictures and looking at amazing photographs, and scrap-booking and really anything that has to do with the whole concept of it all. Really, I guess you could say its my addiction and something I am really passionate about. And I have come to the conclusion that I am going to do both and live a full and happy life. And OH BOY do I have so many ideas. I have been doing lots and lots of research on it lately and have found many exciting things I want to incorporate into one day (hopefully) owning my own professional photography business on the side. I have even found ways to incorporate my health care career & genuine service into this new idea.  I have found providers and unique products I'd like to offer and I think I could actually have a pretty good shot at being successful. Of course I do plan on going to a bunch of classes and getting my professional license and all that jazz....there is still a lot for me to learn...but I couldn't be more stoked. Now keep in mind that this is all going to have to wait till the future before I can begin this other part of my life...we have a few other goals to accomplish first. But this is my dream, and I intend to see it accomplished with all my heart. And even though I'll have to wait till the future before I can go all out, I'll be starting on the small stuff now. Success needs a firm foundation!

First things first...a new camera!
This one's just a stepping stone, but it will be a tremendous upgrade from the broken one I've got now.

Briley 1 Month Old Already!

WOW, I can't believe that almost a month and a half has already gone by since baby Briley was born into our little family! Time sure flys way too fast and she is getting so so big! Not exactly sure how much she has grown but she seems to have doubled in size. She is such a gem and really is a very good baby; happy and content most of the time and only complains when she is hungry or wet. And oh does her siblings adore her...almost to the point its too much sometimes; espically her big brother. He oogles over her all day long and tells her the sweetest little things like how beautiful she is, how adorable she is, how she is the best baby ever, and how she is his favorite human (thats a direct quote). He reads her stories and loves to hold her little hands and help me feed her as often as he can. He even told his other sister that he likes baby Briley better then her....(that was during one of their little spats...so he didn't really mean it). But it absolutly melts my heart to see how very much they love her. Things are going good for the rest of the family and we are all getting back on track with our normal routines. I go back to work a little bit early at the end of this week, and am very glad that I will have nothing to worry about since the new baby will be with dad while I'm gone. So life is just peachy at the moment and we're just looking forward to whats coming up in the spring! 

Our Beautiful 2 1/2 yr old Capriece!

Capriece is getting so big and growing up so fast, I can't believe how much time has just flown by! I look at her baby sister, who looks so much like she did, and it seems like just yesterday we were bringing Capriece home from the hospital. She is so lively and charismatic and almost the complete opposite of me as a child, (not too sure where her girly-ness and princess addiction has come from)..but she is so loving and sweet and fills our home with lots of fun and joy and cuteness. She loves to play dress up, tea parties, babies, make her own jewlery and anything that revolves around water. She is so so smart and she can't wait to start pre-school this coming fall with her older brother. I look at her and can already see the strong, independent, confident, kind, and creative young girl she is going to become.... (even though her terrible two's have been..well...terrible at times)! I cant wait to see her blossom and grow even more this coming year! We love you Capriece! Our little princess!