Twins

Dear Cole and Corah,
Describing the joy you have both brought into our lives would be
impossible. We are so blessed to have you in our family. We were told at times that you were not going to make it. What an amazing journey. Ten years ago today you came into this world. Happy 10th Birthday. When I was pregnant with you(about 17 weeks) they told us that my appendix had ruptured. The doctor said "The twins probably will not make it because your appendix is so close to your uterus. We have to get you into to surgery now!" The doctor was amazed, my uterus moved down away from my appendix. The surgery went great and my 2 little angels kept on growing.


Then a few months later(33 weeks) it was time for the real
excitement. You came into this world ready to fight. You were
a whopping 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 lbs. You were wheeled into
the NICU before we could hold you. It was a long 3 weeks. I was a
young mother with so many questions. I had never been in the NICU before, but something was strange to me. Why was Cole so far across the room from his sister? I begged and pleaded to get you close to each other. Corah, you really needed your brother because the day that they put you in the same bed, you THRIVED. You really needed him. You grew stronger by the minute. At this time, you were under 3 lbs. You fought so hard. The nurses made it a game to put you away from Cole and see how long it would take for you to scoot back to cuddling him. Who says a 3 pound infant can't scoot? Sometimes within 5 minutes you were right back to spooning his little body like this. You had many visitors that came to see you that prayed very hard for you. It wasn't long and you were both strong and ready to come home (because of
course Cole wanted to wait for Corah).


Cole,
Happy Birthday Cole! You are 7 minutes older so you are first. Cole, you are my fireball of love! You are electricity wherever you go. Your smile lifts me up everyday and your cute face never fails to spread happiness. You are such a giving person Cole. You are the peacemaker of our home. Thank you for trying so hard to please us. I don't remember ever asking you to do something when you didn't do it. Thank you for helping me so much. I know deep down you absolutely love being a twin. Thank you for loving your sister so much. I am so proud of you for getting straight A's. You are so intelligent. I know one day you will be a scientologist learning how to make a new species of lizards. When you were 2 you could catch lizards and frogs and spiders and katydids and crickets and more lizards and bring them into the house to show me. Yes, you caught spiders. I would scream every time, but I knew you were talented. You are so great at making friends too. Thank
you for the love and laughter you spread so willingly. I love you so much Cole Robert.

Corah,
My sweet angel! Happy Birthday. You know you are my sunshine. I truly believe you were sent to this earth to help me. You remind me of all of the magic this world has to offer. You are so full of goodness. Thank you for being strong. You have so much determination. I see it in your eyes whether you are playing basketball, wrestling, talking to a friend or even just doing your homework. You live your life with full force and I am proud of you. Thanks for being a great big sister. Thank you for trying to excel in all that you do. You have many leadership qualities. Happy Birthday little Corah Ashley!

Cole really liked kissing Corah, now she wants to kiss him.

I know you love each other very much! Thanks for being such great friends.
Happy, Happy 10th my twins!!
Corah hun, I know you don't like this picture,
but if you would just let me take another one.....I would change it.
Love,
Mom

Brag.... if I must

I was upstairs this afternoon cleaning and I heard magic downstairs. Bryson and Addy were singing and playing instruments together. They have many things to do in their pastime today, for it is Saturday. Not a tv or computer or radio was on(or an x-box or wii). What a beautiful sound for a mother to hear. Bryson even let me take a short clip of him, that is I must say, a rare occasion.

(This is so funny. Carson is hiding over there behind the chair eating a whole pack of gum. You see his back? When he can't see us, we can't see him.)
Addy wont miss a minute to shine so here she is too. I cut off the end of her song, the 2nd time, but she just wouldn't stop singing:) No, really is was an accident.

I love ya kids!!

Halloween Time

I have been out of sight for a while. Lots has happened here in the great Salt Lake City. First of all, winter is here and I am not too happy about the freezing, constant snow that will now be here for 6 months. Yes, the first real snow storm has come. We got out the snow clothes. Sure is sad for the people here who LOVE the beautiful, warm Florida weather. Oh well, time to get ready for the wonderful white Christmas that rarely misses Utah. Yeah.

Carson thought he was ready for the bitter cold.

Luke, Janet, Kevin and AddyYes, Randy really did dress up. I'm so proud. It lasted a whole 20 minutes. Thanks Janet for the costumes. It was fun. You see a slice of Corah's body? She was a wrestler for trick or treating. Bryson, Cole and Corah did whatever it took to not get a picture of them in their costumes. I don't know, maybe it's the pre-teen thing. Thank goodness one of them likes to smile for pictures. Addy smiles and poses anytime I need her to.
For Halloween Addy was Queen Elizabeth for school and for part of the day Carson was a frog until he begged to be a lion.

Uncle Kevin helped us carve pumpkins.

And Dad stood there and looked cute.