HAPPY EASTER FROM THE HEATONS!

This year we got to celebrate Easter a couple of times, first down in St. George with all the family, then again up here in Tremonton at home. The kids ended up doing two different egg hunts, then got to meet the Easter bunny, and got spoiled with their Easter baskets too. On the 1st of April Grandma colored eggs with all the kids while we were down in St.George and then they got to hunt for them out on Grandma and Grandpa's front lawn with all the cousins. It was a lot of fun to watch them all play together, having a good time and getting so big. Then we took the kids down to the city park up here in Tremonton the Sat. before Easter, to do the city's annual big egg hunt. I think the whole entire town showed up and the fields were packed. They had split up the kids into different age groups, but I think our kid's was the largest. It was a mad dash once they blew the start horn and I think Brogen & Capriece were a bit overwhelmed because they had a pretty slow start. Poor Capriece ended up getting knocked over twice by other adults and Brogen only managed to swipe up one lil egg. (but a friend of ours shared an egg with Capriece so she wasn't left out...it was really nice of him!) So they got to turn in their eggs for some treats, but it was so wild and crazy...they had an ambulance there. Probably wont be doing that again until the kids are big enough to fend for themselves. Later that day we took the kids down to Ogden to the Treehouse Kids Museum to have some family fun and meet the Easter bunny. Talk about a really neat place, they had everything there a kid could ever imagine, and it was all hands on. We spent the whole afternoon running from one thing to another trying to see it all. Boy were we worn out after that. So the kids left their Easter baskets out for the Easter Bunny to come by that night, and Sunday was spent going to church, relaxing with the family, and getting sick off of all the candy and goodies the bunny brought. It was a great Easter and we had a blast doing it all! Hope the kids will remember how much fun they had!

 THE GRANDKIDS!

Brogen's Preschool Field Trip

Baby Animal Days

At the beginning of this month Brogen's little preschool class all went on a field trip out to the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville UT. It was Baby Animal Days, where the kids got to see and pet all the new farm babies that were born this spring. There were a ton of people there even though it was raining constantly and pretty cold. All the little animals were so cute and Brogen and Capriece loved petting and seeing them, and then wanted to take them all back home with us too. Capriece was a little afraid of the ones that were bigger then her, can't really blame her there, but she still hurriedly petted them then backed away. Their favorites were the very adorable baby goats and the tiny baby rabbits. They were so small they were pocket size. After seeing all the animals, Brogen and Capriece got to go one the pony ride and they were sooooo excited to ride them ( just about then it started to hail). They loved it and now they both wants ponies for their birthdays. By that time we were starting to get soaked through, so we headed over to the little train for a ride then back to the car to get dried off. It was really neat and fun, but would have definitely been better in warmer weather. Oh well, we'll just have to go again some other time. Here's a few pic's, enjoy!

Mom's Big 50th Birthday Bash!

So this year on April 1st 2011, my most wonderful mom in the world turned 50! (and she doesn't even look a day over 30!) The whole family came together from across 2 states to have a big birthday bash for her on her special day. It was so much fun to see her so happy and having a great time and loving all her gifts. Dad and Don went and got her a brand new dryer and then her kids surprised her with a new laptop of her very own. She also got a few great little nick-knacks from family and friends as well. There was a giant beautiful cake and some really good gourmet BBQ and everyone ate and ate till we were all stuffed. Mom had so much fun playing with all her lil grandbabies too; it was the very best weekend ever (and she so completely deserved it all). We hope you know how very much we all love you and appreciate you Mom. Happy Birthday!


Here are some fun pic's of the birthday girl and the party, Enjoy!!

Much needed inspirtation to lift my weary soul!

Each morning when we open our eyes, we should say to ourselves: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it!!
 -- Groucho Marx

 How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.
-- George Washington Carver


Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it.

"In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually; such as remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind....in fact any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved will do. No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away...and a touch of wonder remains."
-tombstone inscription in Britain

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."
--Guillaume Apollinaire

Mommy & Princess Priece-ie Day!

Today while Brogen was gone at school and daddy was resting at home with a sick lil baby Briley, I decided to take Capriece out for some special one-on-one time with mommy. (we hadn't done that in a while). So I asked her where she wanted to go and of course she said the park, so off we went. It was kind of a cloudy day so we had hats and gloves on to keep us warm and we had the whole park to our selves. We swang on the swings a WHOLE bunch (her favorite thing to do) then we went down every slide a hundred times; we played princess Capriece locked in a tower with prince charming (me) coming to the rescue; we did following the leader and played tic-tac-toe; then we fought off a big green dragon and broke out of a dome shaped jail and made it safely back to our car and off to another park for some more fun where we pretended to be bad bus drivers and crashed into everything, braking our limbs so that Doctor Capriece had to fix them. After we were all worn out and kind of chilled we decided to stop at the gas station for a few lil treats then headed home just in time to pick up Brogen from school. It was a lot of fun and a very special day. Can't wait to do it again with both Brogen and Capriece. I think its very important that each of the kids gets a special day to themselves once in a while.

                                            Capriece's favorite treat from the gas station!

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