Halloween 2011

We had a fun Halloween this year.  On Sunday the day before Halloween we went to Grandpa and Grandma Heileson's house for dinner and to carve pumpkins.  We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins.  Carter, Collin and Rachael carved pumpkins with us as well.  I decided though that carving pumpkins is a lot of work for me.  I always end up cleaning out everybody's pumpkins.  Kaelen just looked inside his pumpkin and touched it with a spoon but never scooped anything out.  He is still little so that was fine.  Jacob did it a little bit but after cleaning it out for a while got tired and said that it was fine and he was done.  When I looked in to his pumpkin there were seeds inside everywhere still.  I helped Rachel clean out her's at the end and then mine.  I was so glad that we couldn't find Averien's pumpkin at home.   It was fun though.  Enoch carved #11 for the boys. (#11 is Kellen Moore, Boise States Quarterback's number), Rachel did an owl on a tree, Jacob with the help of Grandma Heileson carved a ware-wolf, Kaelen did a fun little face and I did a pumpkin witch.  The pumpkins turned out great.  

 While we carved pumpkins Kaelen played under the table with Averien.  It was so cute.  I love these pictures of them playing together.  In one of the pictures Kaelen is crying because Averien got excited and grabbed Kaelen's face.  She loves to grab and not let go.  

Trick or treating was pretty fun this year.  Kaelen and Averien were little monkeys together.  I bought each of their costumes for $5 at Old Navy a few days before.  I didn't want people calling Averien a little boy so I sewed a pink and brown polka-dot bow on her head.  Jacob wanted to be Batman from his costumes he has.  He had a very hard time making up his mind and finally the day before decided on Batman, Rachel and her friend Lauren went as dead brides.  Rachel's costume was awesome.  We found a white dress at DI and made it look dirty.  She had a wig that she teased and then we put on a purple sash around her waist and then made black flowers.   Her friend Lauren did the same.  Lauren's mom did their makeup.  Nobody recognized Rachel when she went to people's houses.  She went on her own trick or treating with Lauren and her friend Mariell.  People would notice Mariell and ask who her friends were and then they were shocked when they heard it was Rachel.  This was Rachel's last year.  Next year I am going to throw her a party with her friends. 

This year Kaelen really figured out what Halloween was all about.  He loved running up to all the houses and yell trick or treat and get candy.  It was pretty cold outside this year.  It wasn't snowing but it was windy and the wind was so cold.  I figured Kaelen would last for a few houses.  He lasted the longest. 

Carter and Collin went trick or treating with the boys.  Averien stayed at home with Enoch this year.  This was the first year I acutally went out with the kids and trick or treated with them.  Enoch was home sick with a bad cold so he stayed home and did homework and handed out candy.  I really enjoyed trick or treating with the kids.  They loved going to all the houses but man towards the end they were tired and cold.  Rachel went with her friends and stayed out the longest.  She went to tons of houses because she could run everywhere.  The kids came home with lots of candy for me to sample and eat.  I love that now Candy bars are the normal thing.  When I was a kid we would freak out if we got mini candy bars now if you don't get one you are ticked off.  I still do love boxes of raisins and nobody gives those.  Come on! why not

Young Women and Excellence

Rachel had Young Women and Excellence Tuesday October 25th. For the last while she has been working on cleaning and organizing her room. I have never seen a room so messy before. For over 2 months she never made her bed or even put her sheets on it. I even at one point saw her smell her clothes to see if they were clean. Eek. It was so bad. Well she spent a long time cleaning and after getting rid of 1 black garbage bag full of garbage and 3 laundry baskets full of clothes (she gave them to a friends who's Dad doesn't have a job), her room was almost clean. She then organized her room, reorganized her closet and hung her mirrors her room was clean. Rachel also spent hours recovering a chair for her room and making throw pillows for her bed. She made curtains as well but wants to do more to them. Her room looks fantastic now. She even went and retouched up the paint.

Rachel had never sewn before and so I taught her how to do it and she did all of her sewing projects herself. I showed her where to cut and pin and then sew and she did it herself. I was so impressed with how well she did sewing her first time.

We have an amazing ward who does so much to help the girls achieve their Young women recognition award. Every girl had a 10 hour project that they completed. They all presented them last night. The girls sang 2 songs and there was a beautiful program. It was so amazing. After we had cheese cake with the value colors on each piece. The cheesecakes were on the table in order of the values. So they had cheesecake each with a different topping representing a value. That was fantastic.

When Rachel presented her project she told about how messy it was and what she did to make her room beautiful. She then said that it made her feel closer to Heavenly Father because you can't be happy when it's messy. The way she said it was so cute and funny. Everybody laughed and smiled.

I was so proud of her. She is exited now to get other projects done. She has 4 projects in mind to start working on. I am so grateful for amazing young women leaders who encourage the girls but also for Rachel being willing and excited (most of the time) to work on her projects and value experiences.

Enoch's 28th Birthday.

Friday October 21st Enoch turned 28 years old. We planned a family party at our house. WE made Enoch's favorite honey mustard Chicken with Greek salad, broccoli salad and fruit salad for dinner. I made the most amazing gluten free chocolate cake ever. It had moose in the middle with heath pieces and then a ganache on top with more heath. It looked amazing and tasted amazing as well. Gregorie came at the beginning and had to leave. Grandpa and Grandma Heileson came over as well as Rachael and her boys, Carter and Collin.

A few days before Enoch's birthday I asked what he wanted to eat and do for his birthday party. He asked for a pinata. I thought that it was hilarious but he wanted to do something fun for the kids. We bought a birthday hat pinata and filled it with candy, Halloween pencils and Rachel put her birthday present to him in it. (A tie) Everybody hit the pinata. It was a lot of fun. I think that I might do that at everybody's birthday's, even if you don't have a big party. It was fun to watch everybody try and hit the pinata blind folded. Enoch hit the pinata last to open it up.

I also got pin the tail on the donkey and everybody tried that too. Jacob, Kaelen, Carter and Collin really loved doing that. They kept playing it over and over again. I think they enjoyed mostly just putting the tail on odd places on the donkey.

We opened presents after that. Enoch got a couple of ties, some new Boise State slippers, a thermos water bottle, some gluten free food, money, Ensign subscription and new shoes for church. It was simple with presents but stuff Enoch needed, wanted, or didn't know he needed or wanted. It was really nice.

We blew out candles and had cake after. I will say that I think that it was one of the best gluten free cakes I have ever had, except the gluten free carrot cake i get from a friend on my birthday. It was so sweet and moist and oh so good. Everybody loved it.

We had fireworks left over from the 4th of July so we blew all those off after. It was fun to watch the kids outside excited to see them all go off. It was also a good time to use all of our fireworks. I am not sure if the neighbors liked it but the kids sure did.

Enoch said he had a great birthday. He loved all the emails, phone calls and presents. You all really helped make his birthday so wonderful. Thank you.

On a side note: The hat is the newest thing everybody gets to wear on their birthdays. Enoch was a trooper and wore it all night. It's a cake with candles on it if you didn't notice.

Averien is climbing

Averien learned to crawl up the stairs this last week. On Wednesday morning while I was on the computer I heard her near the stairs and when I came around the corner she was 3 stairs up. I had no idea she knew what to do. She looked at me like she was so proud of herself but then cried like she wasn't sure what to do next. She tried to climb up again all day. Then a few days later she was on stairs again and when I saw her she was half way up. She scares the heck out of me because instead of turning her head to look at me she turns her whole body. When she finally made it all the way up Enoch was behind her the whole time or right next to her. When she would turn around to look at me I would jump a little because I was so worried she would fall down the stairs. When she finally got up the stairs she laid her head on the stairs like she was so tired. It was so cute.

Averien figured out how to climb through the kitchen chairs. It is so funny because she can't completely get over them so she gets stuck. She gets so sad and cries. Poor little girl. She is all over the house now. She isn't afraid to go anywhere. We all just love watching her crawl. She is crazy fast and will find something she wants and heads right for it. We have to vacuum all the time because if the vacuum doesn't eat it she will. She finds the smallest things to put into her mouth.

Averien loves the fridge and dishwasher. If she hears the fridge or dishwasher opening she quickly crawls to it. She loves to take out the silverware from the dishwasher and she also climbs on top of the door. It is so funny. We are always taking her off of it when we are trying to empty the dishwasher. When we load the dishwasher we have to move her completely away because she will grab out all the dirty silverware. When the fridge is open she will try to climb in it as well. I just loves these pictures of her standing in the fridge looking at all the food. It is as if she is looking at it all wondering what she'll eat.

Averien is extremely fun right now and so cute. She is still little and needs us but she is very good at playing on her own and getting things at her level that she wants. She is such a happy little girl.

Averien in the tub

Averien loves taking baths. She gets so excited when she hears the water running. She will crawl as fast as she can over to the tub and then stand up on the side of the tub. If Jacob or Kaelen are bathing she will stand on the outside of the tub watching. She will giggle and squeal. It is so cute. Once she is in the tub she is all over the place. You have to be right next to her the whole time she is in the tub because she moves everywhere splashing and grabbing toys. She loves the water and isn't afraid at all. She will get her whole face wet as well. I don't know if any of our other kids have loved being in the water this much. She may be our swimmer.

Jacob, his Dad and Grandpa's

Last Saturday while Grandpa Fisher was here, Grandpa Fisher, Jacob, Enoch and Grandpa Heileson went to Swan Valley (1 hour or more away) and cut logs for Grandpa Heileson's fireplace for the winter. They were gone most of the day. Jacob really loved it. There was a rope swing near where they were cutting and Jacob enjoyed playing with it. They all got a good workout cutting and carrying wood. They got enough wood to last Grandpa and Grandma Heileson all winter. They have a fireplace upstairs in their house that heats the whole main floor. They have to have wood to stay warm. Jacob seemed to have a good day. He came home happy to have spent the day with his Dad and both of his Grandpas.

Grandpa Fisher and Averien

This weekend we had Grandpa Fisher come from Orem to spend the weekend with us. We always love having him come stay with us. He hadn't been at our house since the end of August so it was really nice to see him. When he came on Thursday evening Averien cried when she saw him. She plays shy sometimes and she did it with Grandpa. It was so funny. She looked at him and then a minute later started sobbing. It didn't take long before she was crawling to him and climbing on him. She soon enjoyed being held by Grandpa as well. I took pictures of Grandpa and Averien together before he left. I love these pictures. She looks so happy looking at him.

Our First Snowfall October 6th, 2011

We had no school October 6th and 7th. It was a long weekend for our kids and we woke up to it pretty cold but then it started to snow. It snowed all day long and night. We got at least 4 inches of snow. It was so crazy. The snow was really wet and heavy. Our trees do not hang that low on the trampoline but because everything is still green and the snow was so heavy as the day progressed the trees hung lower and lower. Trees all over the city were falling down. We were happy that we didn't lose any trees. I hate these fluke snowstorms. It of course will warm up again before it gets cold for a while. Kaelen was so excited for the snow. He got his winter boots out and put on his rain coat and ran around outside forever. He loved jumping on the trampoline. The snow was so heavy that every couple of steps Kaelen would have to stomp his feet to get the snow off them because the snow was making it hard to walk. Kaelen also tried to go out in just a pajama shirt, winter hat and my rain boots but he lasted 30 seconds before he came in. Averien loved seeing the snow too. She crawled right over to the sliding glass door and forever watched it fall. It was fun to see her reaction like that.

Peek-a-boo

Averien loves peek-a-boo. She is so funny when you play with her. She will laugh and grunt and squeal. It is so cute. We all laugh when we play peek-a-boo with her because she is so funny.

(Averien is 8 months old in this video)

Boise State Football and Kellen Moore

The weekend of September 23-25 we had the opportunity to go to Boise and spend the weekend with Noal and Wendy and their girls and to see Annelise and Boyd but also to go to a much anticipated Boise State football game. It was Boise's first home game of the season against Tulsa. We have promised our kids for along time that we would go to a game. We were able to get tickets to this game. Everybody in the family was so excited especially Mom, Dad, Annelise and Boyd because little did my kids know that after the game they were going to meet Kellen Moore the Boise State football quarterback and Heisman hopeful. The kids had no idea. We decided that we would make a fun event of the game and treat the kids to tons of food at the game. We certainly got tons of food. We got popcorn, hotdogs, ice cream, candy, pop and donuts. Yah we ate a lot. The kids loved it. It was a really fun game. It has been many years since we went as a family to a Boise State home game. Kaelen wasn't born the last time we went. When we walked into the stadium and Rachel and Jacob saw what it looked like with everybody in their colors they were so shocked. They loved it. They couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces. We all had a lot of fun. Averien was great and even slept for part of the game, Kaelen was great until the end when he got tired and really wanted to go to bed. Boise State beat Tulsa 41-21.

After the game we met Annelise and Boyd in the sports center where all the coaches have their offices and where they do the news conferences. Annelise the week before had talked to her institute teachers about trying to get her nephew who LOVES Kellen Moore to some how meet him. Well they asked her to send them a letter and they would send it on to people in the the sports department. Well they came through. They set it up for us to have a private meeting with Kellen Moore after the game and to get some things signed. I was so excited when Annelise told us what she had done. While we were waiting somebody said so you are waiting to see Kellen. My kids were so excited and shocked when they heard that.

When Kellen came walking out he right a way said "hey Jacob". Jacob was so excited. We all couldn't stop smiling. He was so awesome with Jacob. Jacob for the first time in his life couldn't say anything at first. Kellen signed so many things for us. I am excited because we are now going to frame stuff and redecorate his room with Boise State memorabilia. Jacob though did embarrass me. As people know I have a little crush on Kellen Moore. I think he is a cutie but more so for his football talent and his awesome personality. Well Jacob said to Kellen that my mom had a secret. Kellen looked at me and said yah. Well Jacob immediately said "my mom has a crush on you". I was so embarrassed. Both Kellen and I turned bright red. Jacob I sure love you. He and I both laughed though. Kellen probably spent 15-20 minutes with us. Afterwards Jacob kept saying that this was the best night of his life. He met his hero and saw a football game all in one night. Not bad.

And she's off....

Averien officially started crawling September 19th, 2011. She for over a month and a half has been getting up on all fours and would rock back and forth. A week before she started crawling she went a foot or two but then would lay on her belly. On the 19th, she crawled 5 feet and after that she really took off. She is so happy to be crawling. She loves to follow everybody around the house and crawl to her toys and play with them.

I really love these pictures of Averien and Rachel playing at the stairs together. Averien kept smiling and laughing. Averien would put her face right up to Rachel's through the banister.

Averien has just gotten so much cuter since she started crawling around. She loves to roam the house but at all times needs to know where you are. She is also our human vacuum since starting to crawl. We have to make sure the entire house is vacuumed all the time and the kitchen floor is swept. She puts everything in her mouth. It makes us have to watch her all the time now.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Rachel had a doctor's appointment at Shriner's hospital on May 5th. It was in the middle of the week and Enoch wasn't able to come so Grandpa Fisher (who was staying with us for a couple of weeks) came with Averien, Rachel and I. We had to leave at 5:30 in the morning to make it in time for Rachel's appointment. The drive down to Utah went really well and the appointments went good. After her appointment we ate and then at the last minute decided to go and visit the church museum. Rachel had never been before and she really loved it. We had a lot of fun. The kids section was so much fun. They had dancing and other fun interactive sites. I want to go back with the rest of the family. Kaelen and Jacob would love it. Rachel really loved looking at all the church history items. She loved seeing things that the pioneers brought with them but also things from when the church was first organized. She also loved looking and learning about all of our prophets. We were able to see a replica of the pulpit at the conference center. The museum also had a quilting exhibit going on. They had quilts from the early pioneers to quilts made out of the tags from the back of shirts. It was so amazing. They had on display dresses from the 1800's as well that were all sewn by hand and worn as wedding dresses and for church. It was really cool. We had so much fun all of us together. Averien was really good as well. We always go to Utah at least 2 times a year and we never look at church sites. We need to next time with the whole family stop and visit temple square and other church sites near by. Heck we have never even seen the conference center. We need to all see that for sure and maybe even go to conference in it.

Funny Kaelen

Kaelen is always making us laugh. He will put on the funniest things but also do the funniest things. He will put on random things and run around the house in it. He will dance around and act crazy when he doesn't think we are watching. It is fun to just watch him and see what he does. He found my shower cap and put it on his head and danced around with it on like it was a hat. He also put on my rain boots while wearing nothing but his pajama shirt and diapers. It was so funny.
Kaelen loves grapes and strawberries. He is always in the fridge grabbing them out and then eating them where ever. He will take the entire grape bag with him to different rooms to the house to eat. When we have strawberries we will always find the carton of strawberries on the kitchen floor with half of the strawberry eaten and the rest back in the plastic carton. It is annoying that he does that but also so cute and funny at the same time. I am glad he at least does it with fruit instead of chocolate or other candy.

Broken Elbow

Rachel broke her elbow on Monday April 17th. It was in the evening while we were getting everybody ready for bed. I was in the kitchen doing dishes and Enoch was going outside to put something in the mail box. We heard a few thud. I thought that one of the boys had fallen but they were both in the kitchen near me. When I went around the corner Rachel was in the middle of the living room floor laying down holding her elbow. She said that she missed the couch and fell on the ground. We thought that she had just hit her funny bone. I even laughed. After a while though she started crying and holding it more. We kept trying to figure out what happened too because we didn't quite understand what happened. She went to fall back on the couch and missed it completely and fell and hit her elbow. She hit it just perfectly that she broke it.

Enoch kept saying that he didn't think it was broken because she could move it. Well we looked on the Internet and the only time you can't move it when you break something is if there is nerve damage. Enoch after that took her to urgent care. When they left the house she was really crying.

They came home an hour and a half later with a broken elbow in a sling not even a splint, pain pills and then told us to call in the morning with a orthopedic surgeon to call. They didn't even splint it so she was so miserable all night.



When we called the next day for them to call an orthopedic surgeon to have it casted they took hours to call and when they got us an appointment the soonest was the next day on Wednesday. I was so mad. I told Enoch that there was no way she would make it till Wednesday. Well he took things into his own hands and called a bunch of doctors. When we called a Dr. West they said that they were booked for the day. When Enoch told them he would call somebody else they immediately said that they would have the xrays sent over and would call back. Well within 5 minutes they called and asked if we could come in right away.

When we went in Rachel was in so much pain and the pain was making her sick. She started throwing up. She was miserable. They talked to us and told us that she needed surgery on her elbow and would do it tomorrow. Wow what a shock for us. We had no idea that she would need surgery we just thought we were going in to have it casted. They said they would have to put wires and pins in her arm that would stay in 4 months. The cast would stay on for a few weeks but the pins would come out later. What a shock for us.

We were so glad that we got in to the doctor when we did. He does surgery on Wednesdays so he wanted to see her so he could do it. We were so impressed by him too. He sat down and explained everything to us and even drew pictures. They splinted her arm and instantly she felt better. She should of had it splinted the night before. Poor Rachel.

Wednesday April 20th we went to Mountain View Hospital at 8 AM for surgery. We registered her and waited and then they took her back. She had to get in her gown and surgical hat. They took her vitals and gave her an IV. The doctor was running behind so we sat and watched TV. She laid in bed but Enoch and I sat in comfy chairs in the room and watched TV, Enoch slept with Averien. We met all the nurses and anesthesiologist. Rachel was given a really nice blessing before that talked about everything would go well, that she wouldn't be nervous and that she would heal well. She would be taken care of and in good hands. I asked her a couple of times before surgery if she was nervous and she said she wasn't at all. She said she felt fine.


Surgery was an hour and then after she was awake and well enough we went back to see her. We saw Dr. West first and he said that surgery went really well and that she should heal fine without problems. When we saw Rachel she was sleeping but soon woke up and really soon was able to drink. It was 2 hours after surgery that we took her home. She slept the whole day. She actually slept for 2 days. She was so out of it. She really thought that it was the drugs knocking her out so after 2 days she wasn't on any pain killers and then seemed to get back to normal. She had a nice surprise too. On Thursday evening after her surgery Rachael Adams her best friend who moved away came and stayed for a few days. It helped Rachel feel better too. Rachel still was out of it at times and Rachael would hang out and play the wii with Jacob while Rachel was sleeping. I did feel bad for Rachael Adams at times but she didn't seem to mind. The doctor too said that she couldn't go to school till Monday so it worked out great having Rachael be here.

She was not put into a cast yet. She was splinted on both sides. They want the swelling to go down before they cast her. They wanted to see her back in a week before they casted it.

We went back April 26th for it to be casted. Her arm looked so crazy when they took the splint off. She was swollen at the elbow and had some long sutures coming out of her arm. They stitched her up internally but had a few long pieces sticking out. They removed those and then casted her arm. She got to pick what ever she wanted for her cast. She picked glow in the dark material and then a light blue to go around it. It looked so awesome. I was so impressed with the office doing her cast as cool as they did. It was the PA and med student that put her cast on for her. She has to keep her cast on for 4 weeks and then they will take it off and see how it is. If they keep the cast on too long then she won't be able to straighten her arm after a while. The pins will help it fully heal. She will have to have surgery in September to have the pins take out too. We thought that she would just get them out at the office but they have to go in and surgically remove them. So nice. That means that in one year she will have had 4 surgeries. Wow.


She is so much happier with her cast and loves everybody signing it. The cast totally glows in the dark too. It is pretty awesome. It is a pain though for showering and doing her hair. She can shower herself for the most part but I have to do her hair. She also can't play the piano and really do anything. Luckily it was her left hand that broke because if it was her right she would have been in trouble.

Trip to Provo

At the end of April we had the chance to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for some appointments and then to Provo and Orem to spend the weekend with Grandpa Fisher. We had a lot of fun. The hotel we stayed in while in Provo was really nice. The room was nice and a good size with a fantastic breakfast and an awesome pool. We took Averien swimming for the first time. The hot tub wasn't too hot so she spent her time in there. She was so happy and was going crazy in the water. Rachel didn't like swimming very much because she could only sit in the hot tub and watch everybody else play and get wet. Enoch and Kaelen had so much fun in the water. Kaelen went crazy. He loved swimming with his Dad.

On Saturday we went to Grandpa Fisher's work at UVU. The kids loved seeing where Grandpa worked. He has a pretty fun workplace. They loved seeing the firetrucks and the helicopter on the tower. They were a little afraid of the burned out buildings but were troopers and went inside of them for me. We really loved seeing where Grandpa goes each day for work.

Averien and Claire

Averien and her new cousin Claire are 5 weeks apart and the same size. They are cute together. They of course have no concept of each other but they soon will and will love having a friend to play with. Claire being five weeks younger still can't do as much as Averien but because she is as big as her it is hard to forget. Like Averien can hold her head up and you still need to support Claire's head. We will hold Claire and forget she can't do what Averien does yet because she is still smaller. Soon though they will be doing the same things. It will be fun to see them in a few years.

Rachael Adams visits

Rachel Adams came to visit right after Rachel's surgery. She came April 21st and stayed till Sunday April 24th. We didn't know that she was coming but her family called and said they were coming and wanted to know if she could stay with us. Heck yah. We love Rachael. Rachel and Rachael have so much fun together. They get together after not seeing each other for months and they act as if they have never been apart. They get a long so well and they seem to be laughing all the time. Kaelen and Jacob love Rachel Adams too. She is like an adopted child when she comes. It is fun too to yell "Rachel's" when I need them both. Rachael Adams recently got braces too. They look so much a like now. Rachael even stayed for Easter and all of our Easter activities.

Averien 2 1/2 months old

Averien is getting to be so much more active and fun every day. She loves to take baths. We put her bath mat in on the width of the tub instead of length so when Averien lays on it she can put her feet on the side of the tub. She loves it. We will take her off of it and hold her head up and she goes crazy kicking and splashing. She smiles, giggles and babbles all the time. She'll start screaming while babbling. It is so funny. She has also started to blow raspberries. Averien loves to suck on her hands too. She doesn't suck on any specific finger but loves just the whole fist. She has awesome head control and can totally hold it up now.

She has slept through the night a few times now 6-8 hrs and we have figured out how to get her to sleep for hours at a time for naps. She loves her belly and we finally decided to let her just sleep on it. She is swaddled and then laid on her tummy. She will sleep 2-4 hours hours 3-4 times a day. It is so awesome. She always loves to lay against us when we are holding her asleep so it is no surprise that she loves to sleep on her tummy. We will also put on white noise in the room she is sleeping in and is so happy. She is such a homebody too. She does not sleep good anywhere but her own bed. She cries because she is tired and will sleep for a bit if we are somewhere else. She already knows what she likes and doesn't like for sleeping.

She is still our best baby. She is so happy all the time and is so easy as long as she gets what she needs.

Kaelen outside

Kaelen loves to play outside. He always wants his coat on and when it is cold he wants his hat. He will grab everything and will have you put it on sometimes for him. Other times he will do it. He will spend hours walking around the yard and playing with Bernie. When I saw him outside in what he was wearing I had to grab the camera and take pictures. He had put his hat on himself. It was so cute. He also got some awesome monkey rubber boots that he loves and put's on himself. They were on his right feet this time

Kaelen turns 3

Kaelen turned 3 today. We still can't believe how quickly time has flown. His birthday was on Sunday this year and during General conference. I spent the morning and afternoon making his cake and dinner for everybody. This was acutally his second cake because the first cake he found on the counter and decided to take a very large piece out of the center of it. I was not too pleased.

Kaelen loves the movie Cars, so we decided to make him a race track cake. He loved it. We also for dinner made Grandma Fishers amazing "mom's chicken". Everybody loved it. Kaelen doens't have a favorite meal just favorite foods so I picked dinner for him.

Grandpa and Grandma Heileson came over as well as Rachael, Joseph, Carter and Collin. Kaelen had no idea that it was his birthday. We would tell him he was turning 3 but he didn't even know he was 2. Anytime you ask him how old he is turning he says "good".

When we opened presents he at first had no idea what to think of it. He was giving them to everybody else but after a bit he understood the concept and was excited to open the presents.

Kaelen loves cake and candles as well. If he says any cake he calls it a birthday cake. He loves to blow out candles too. If there are candles on cake he will blow them out even if it isn't for him.

For Kaelen's birthday he got some battery operated trains for his train track. He got two that are from the movies Cars. The train set was originally Jacob's but he never played with it. Kaelen plays with his all the time. He got a cool portable car launcher from his Grandpa and Grandma Fisher and Grandpa and Grandma Heileson got him some much needed clothes. He also got some books. He was given a book when he was a baby about dogs. He loved it so much that it was destroyed very quickly. Well we bought him a new one. He was so excited. He also got the books 5 little monkeys. He loves the stories of the 5 crazy little monkeys. He also got a Boise State bat and ball. He loves Boise State and baseball.

Here are some things that Kaelen can do or does. I could write for hours but here are a few.

-Kaelen's favorite foods are carrots, lettuce, apples, strawberries, oranges and anything chocolate.
-He loves Boise State. He will see the Boise State logo and right a way yell Boise State.
-He loves to watch Dora, Diego, Backyardagins, Cars, Toy Story, Lion King, Dogs (101 Dalmations)
-He talks all the time and says everything. Our favorites are:
Avring (Averien)
Pick he up (for picking Averien up)
he too heavy (when he doesn't want to Averien anymore)
hey Guys (he will yell down stairs for Rachel and Jacob and calls them guys)
Boisa State (Boise State)
puter (computer)

-he loves to count to 13 and counts everything
-loves to chase the dog around the house
-loves to play outside. Will spend hours outside
-loves to play with trains and cars
-he doesn't drink from anything but a cup and then when we go places like church he takes his water thermos. Only water goes in it too, everything is in a cup.
-loves to throw things
-really good at beating up Jacob
-pretends to talk on the phone to everybody but never wants to talk on the real phone
-everything is his pretend computer

Grandpa Heileson and Averien

Grandpa Heileson doesn't like holding new babies very much or so he says. He says he doesn't want to hurt them and doesn't like it when they cry. I always try to get him to hold my babies. He loves kids but babies not as much. Well with Averien he seems to want to hold her a lot more. She loves him. These pictures are so awesome because you can see how happy she is and how happy Grandpa is. I have always said that Grandpa has these blinking lights around his head that only kids and babies can see because as much as he says he doesn't want to hold the babies they all love him. All the kids seem to love him. They all fight over Grandpa at times too. These pictures are just so awesome.

Averien is 2 months old

Averien is 2 months old now. Time seems to fly by so fast. She is getting so big. She is getting so big that she gained 3 pounds in a month. Wow. She definitely doesn't like to eat. She now weighs 11lbs, 9 oz and is 22 inches long. Averien smiles all the time and loves attention. She sleeps pretty good. She will sleep 4 hours at a time at night. She still never cries. Her cry has gotten louder but only cries when tired or hungry. She has started to babble a little too. It is really fun. She is such a fun addition to have in our family. Everybody loves her and loves holding her. Kaelen asks to hold her all the time and then after a couple of seconds says she's too heavy and doesn't want to hold her anymore. Kaelen will acutally call her a he. Everybody is a he. It is pretty funny.

Jacob shooting a gun

Jacob for Christmas got a red rider BB gun. He loves shooting it. Enoch set up targets all over the yard for Jacob to shoot. I was so glad that all the 'Chick for Congress' signs that we had in our garage were finally getting some use out of them. :-) Jacob did a pretty good job shooting. Kaelen loved watching him but also was really good at setting the targets back up. When Jacob would shoot them down Kaelen would then run out and put them back up. They played outside for a really long time doing this.

Jacob"s spelling bee

We have decided that Jacob is such a smarty pants. Today at school Jacob had a spelling bee with all of the 2nd graders at his school. Jacob a week or 2 before was given a list of words to study. Jacob worked pretty hard on the words with his dad to learn them. The day of the spelling bee they divided the kids into 2 groups. The higher and lower spellers. The lower spellers competed in a the spelling bee and then the higher spellers competed in the afternoon. The students were all given numbers and then one at a time stood up and was given a word. It was like a regular spelling bee. If they got it wrong then they would hear the bell and then they were out. We were not going to go to this but in the morning decided to go. I called Enoch too and asked him to come because I thought it would be fun for Jacob to have his mom and dad there watching. I was so glad that I made that decision to go. I would have been so sad if I hadn't of gone. Jacob made it through the first round where about 10 kids were left. Jacob then made it all the way to the last 3. It was Jacob with a boy and a girl. The boy ended up spelling one of his words wrong and then it was against Jacob. The girl and Jacob kept going back and forth. Jacob would get a word right and then the girl would. Jacob would get a word wrong and then the girl would as well. They did this for about 10 words or more. It was so crazy. At one point the kids from their classes in the audience kept saying just get a word wrong Jacob so we can be done. It was so funny. Jacob during it too would have ht biggest grin like he was ready to laugh and he would have to grab his mouth to stop from smiling. He was so fun to watch. Well at the end of it Jacob got his word right and the girl got her word wrong. It was so nerve racking. I was freaking out inside. I was so dang proud of Jacob. I still can't believe we almost missed it. Jacob got a medal and a trophy for winning the spelling bee. Jacob won by spelling the word 'recognizing'. The hard thing was after kids who didn't win cried because they had missed their words. It made me sad because here was my boy who won and then others who were sad. I guess that's life. It made me happy too that Jacob did really well at it because he isn't athletic like a lot of the kids at school so it was nice to have him be good at it. Jacob was such a good winner. He went and shook hands with the other 2 he competed with and told them that they did really well. He was so sweet and humble about winning.

Here is a list of the some of the words from the spelling bee (how many of you could have spelled them?)
centimeter
challenge
compare
comprehension
contrast
define
demonstrate
describe
develop
differentiate
distances
estimate
evaluate
expert
expository
forces
freezes
friction
fulcrum
gases
glossary
gravity
identity
inclined
inferences
informational
investigate
kilometer
length
liquids
magnetism
measure
model
motion
Newton
observe
predict
recognizing
repel
rough
smooth
surface
technology
temperature
understanding

Rachel and Kaelen Sleeping

I came up stairs and this is what I found. It was so cute. Rachel had been asleep on the couch and Kaelen climbed up on the couch and had laid down next to Rachel and fallen asleep with her. It was so cute to see them sleeping next to each other like that.

March and April Birthdays in the Heileson family

Something that is fun with the Heileson family is there seems to be so many of the same birthdays around the same time so we will all get together and celebrate every bodies birthday together with a bunch of different cakes. This time we all got together and celebrated Aunt Rachael's, Uncle Joseph's, Aunt Lindsay's, Lucy's 2nd birthday and Kaelen's 3rd birthday together. Kaelen and Lucy both had their own little cakes. They loved blowing out their own candles.

Averien in the bath

Okay we really love bath pictures. Averien is so fun to watch. She splashes and loves putting her feet on the tub wall. She will spend all day laying in the tub if you let her. She is always so happy to be warm and in water. She will kick and splash so much that we end up getting a little wet too. It is just extremely fun. It amazes us everyday how much bigger she gets and how much she changes.

Averien and her cousin Claire

Today Madeline and Brytton welcomed a new little girl into their family. Claire Jane Long was born early in the morning weighing 10lbs 2oz. She was bigger than or just as big as Averien at 5 weeks old. Poor Madeline has big babies. I can't even imagine. It was super fun to get pictures though because they look about the same. Claire even though was as big or bigger than Averien was still a newborn so she slept the whole time and seemed way heavier because she has no head control and her head seems heavier than it really is. It was nice to be so close to the hospital and to take the kids to see their new cousin. It will be fun to see Averien and Claire as they grow up because they are so close in age.

Our Trip to Boise March 4-6th

On Friday in the late morning we all drove to Boise to spend the weekend. We were going for Morgan's baptism on Saturday. I was so worried about driving and how Averien would do. She actually did awesome. It takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours to get to Boise. Averien actually slept the whole way till we got to Mountain Home (30 minutes from Boise). She pulled over there and changed her and fed her and then drove on to Boise.

When we got to Boise we went right away to meet with Annelise who took our family pictures of the blue turf at the stadium. When the football team is not practicing the field is open to the public. We went in our Boise State attire and got pictures. I even went as far as making matching blue and orange flower clips for Rachel and Averien. We had so much fun and the pictures turned out amazing. Jacob and Kaelen absolutely loved it. They loved running up and down the field. It was pretty cold and windy out buy it didn't stop the kids from playing. Our family are huge Boise State fans we wanted an updated family picture for our living room. We have a 24x20 picture of us in our living room that we update all the time and this time we had to have it on the blue turf. Our kids will remember this for a long time.

After our pictures we checked into our hotel. We then went and met Annelise, Noal, Wendy, Morgan, Ainsley and Grandpa and Grandma Fisher for dinner. We had a lot of fun eating. WE ate at a place called Soupor Salad. It is a buffet style place that has tons of soups and salads and then a pizza bar and taco bar. We loved it.

All of us but Wendy and Ainsley (they went home to bed) then went to Meridian Bowling lanes to go bowling. That was a lot of fun. I played with Kaelen so our score sucked. It actually would not have been better even if Kaelen had been playing with me. We even had the bumpers on and still did bad. Kaelen kept crossing the line though so we kept getting fouls. Kaelen also hated waiting his turn. We all had so much fun though. It was fun thing to do together as a family.

The next Morning (Saturday March 5th) we woke up and went to the mall to the Blue and Orange store where Jacob got some Boise State stuff signed by Jeron Johnson. He was a safety for the Boise State football player. Jacob loved it. Well just before Jeron Johnson was to leave the owners came up to us and said that Jeron wanted to give him a jersey with Jeron's number on it and signed. It was amazing. Jacob was so dang excited. It is a white football Jersey that retailed for $50. Wow, what an amazing thing to get for Jacob. I was so impressed. The owner said how much he loves their fans. That I think was the highlight of Jacob's whole trip this weekend.

Morgan was baptized in the afternoon. It was really awesome to be there. Jacob really loved it. Kaelen loved running around so Enoch wasn't their for any of the talks. It was a Stake baptism so they had other kids form the stake there too. We all sat in the chapel for the talks and then each ward was taken at separate times to the Relief Society room where they were baptized and confirmed. Kaelen loved watching Morgan get baptized. When she was done and they were closing the doors to the font Kaelen still sat on the floor watching. It was really cute. We were so glad that we could be a part of Morgan's baptism on her special day.

After Morgan's baptism we went to Noal and Wendy's for dinner with the Fisher and Park families. It was a lot of fun to hang out. Jacob and Morgan went and played the knect. They loved that. It is a totally awesome game that uses no remotes. It senses your body and you do different games just using your body. Amazing. We really loved hanging out with Noal, Wendy, Morgan and Ainsley. All of our kids get a long so well and we always loved being with them all. We ended up staying pretty late that night too.

The next morning after sleeping in we woke up and packed up and went to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Fisher because they were heading back home and we wouldn't see them for a while. It was nice to see them for a bit and have our kids say goodbye. Our drive home on Sunday went really well. Averien once again slept really great. It was so nice. I hope she drives that good all the time. We loved our weekend with family. It was so much fun.

Crazy Dress Day

Rachel had a crazy dress day for Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd. She enjoyed picking out her outfit. Rachel has these little quirks that she does all the time. She gets her clothes out everyday and sometimes when she wants to know how it will look she lays it out on the floor so when she gets up in the morning she knows what to put on were. Rachel also everyday with a dry erase marker writes things on the mirror that she needs to remember for the next day. It will have how she wants to do her hair, remind her to grab certain things and to wash and brush her teeth. Sometimes it even has directions for Enoch on how to plug her flatiron or curling iron in. It is pretty funny. I love that she does it though. She will then after wipe it all off. When she does it though she never does forget important things for school. I enjoy each night before going to bed and going into the bathroom and reading what she has written. It always brings a smile to my face.

If you notice in the pictures of the mirror she has drawn pictures for Enoch on how to turn her crimper on. It is pretty creative and funny

Averien 1 month old

Averien is 1 month old. Wow time seems to go by too fast. Too bad it couldn't have gone this fast when I was pregnant. Averien is smiling already. It is so fun. None of our other kids have smiled as early as Averien has. Averien loves to be held all the time. She loves laying on your chest. She will sleep for hours this way. This last month she moved up a size in diapers. She has moved from new born diapers to Size 1. Averien weighs 8 lbs 8 oz. and is 20.2 inches long. We feel blessed everyday to have her in our family. She is such an amazing little girl. She still only cries when she is hungry, tired or needs to be burped. Her cry has gotten louder and stronger but still nothing like our other kids.

Averien has become a night owl. We really need to get this figured out soon so I can sleep better. She sleeps pretty good during the day but nights are hard for her. That is when she is fussiest. I can't complain too much though because even after the kids leave for school I am able to go back to bed for a bit while Kaelen is still asleep. I haven't been too exhausted during the day. Some days are more tiring than others but I manage. Enoch is an amazing help so that helps. He does a lot around the house for me so I can relax and take it easy still. I am not one to sit around after I have a baby and I always pay for it so I have been good about listening to my body telling me when it is enough.

We all can't get enough of her. We all love just holding her. She is just a wonderful peaceful little girl. We have been blessed with a wonderful little girl.

More pictures of Averien in February

February seemed to go by so fast. I guess there was just a lot going on but it makes me sad to know how fast time has gone by already. Averien is getting bigger already and changing so much. She is just the sweetest little baby. We feel so blessed to have her in our home.

Rachel is an amazing help. She will hold her for me so I can get some things done or help Jacob and Kaelen things. She will change her diaper for me and help get her dressed. She is a natural. I don't know know what I would ever do without her.


Rachel loves to sit at the piano and play with Averien in her arms. Averien loves to be cuddled and swaddled up. She loves being all wrapped up and warm.

Averien's Great Aunt Margaret and Uncle Clint live close by and they came by to see her and to give her a present. They got her an adorable 3 tiered dress. It was so nice to have them come over and visit and so nice to have them close by. We love that they live close enough to know our kids.

Splish splash I am taking a bath

Averien enjoys taking baths so much. She becomes so calm when she is placed in the water. She loves to play on her bath mat but also just float in the water with you holding her head up. She has started to become a little more active in the tub when she is in it. She gets so sad when you take her out. I absolutly love these pictures of her alseep with her Dad after her bath. She is always so calm after a bath. She will fall asleep soon after and sleep for a couple of hours.

Kaelen and Averien

Kaelen is such a fantastic big brother. He really loves his baby sister. He is very fascinated by her. He will go up and touch her and kiss her. It is really cute. He has been doing great since she arrived. He scares me though because he doesn't understand gentle. He wants to pick her up ll the time too. February 9th, 2011

(doesn't Kaelen look like Jakson in these pictures above)

February 24th, 2011- Kaelen still loves his sister but is not always the nicest. He has hit her a couple of times and he loves to jump over her when she is laying on the bed or floor. It scares the heck out of us. he will also grab her arms and pull of them. I am grateful that kids are tough. Kaelen also loves her things. He will grab her binkies and put them in her mouth and will also put on her hats as you can see in the pictures. He put on her knitted hat from the hospital and ran around wearing it. It was pretty funny. Even though he has some jealousy issues and isn't always nice he does love his sister. He is kissing her all the time and gets excited to hold her.