Forever and Ever........

Principal Pride

This morning Mckezie received an award at school today for her great Mosaic. They have a cute little award ceremony in the morning before school starts. She of course had to do University of Utah. She was so proud of it. And rightfully so :) Way to go Kenz!!!

Good bye Tinker

All Mckenzie asked for was one last picture, so here it is.

Last Tuesday I made the longest drive ever. I met Brandon at the Humane Society. We decided it was time to send Tinker on to see my mom :) She has been deaf and blind for some time now. We have talked about it for a while, but continued to put it off for obvious reasons. She started falling down the stairs. She would follow me into the bedrooms and slip on the hardwood floors and was not able to get up. Her poor hind legs just couldn't hold her up any more. She was like a cat. Where ever I was, there was Tinker. I would go into the basement over and over and she would follow me time and time again. I was not allowed to be out of her sight. She never complained you could just see the pain in her poor eyes. We made several calls as to when they do it and how much it costs. We knew they had 3 time slots a day. I and made an appointment and within an hour she was gone. It wasn't something I wanted to make an appointment for and have to wait for days. So we just did it. I stayed in the car while Brandon took her in. It was the longest 20 minutes thats for sure. It was mean to have him do it by himself. But we both didn't need to be balling. I finally put her pillow that has been in our room now for almost 5 years away in the basement. She was by far the best dog any one could ever ask for. She obeyed better than any child. All we did was snapped our fingers and she did what ever it was you were asking of her. She never barked, and literally was like a cat. In the sense of being quite. Not annoying like a cat :) She was a great dog for the last 12 years.

Oh TINKER we love and miss you!!

Honor Roll.....

Since the quarter is almost over, I figured it was time to post pictures of the girls with their Honor Roll Certificates from last quarter. Yes I am a little behind. They both did great this last quarter and made the Honor Roll. They worked very hard at their grades. Santa brought Mckenzie a phone for Christmas. That had been what she was working for. They both have to keep up their grades to keep their phones. Yes they have the meanest parents on earth. But rules are rules. We are so proud of them both!!!!

Brandon playing with his Lincoln logs he got for Christmas. The simple things in life.

Our new addition to the family ~ Easton

Our never to forget Dennys Christmas Dinner

Christmas morning video.

The girls were so excited. You wont recognize them because they are so mellow. The time is closing in on us needing to put Tinker to sleep. We can't put it off much longer. I suppose Brandon thought it would soften the blow to have a new dog. Yes we got another dog. Yes we are crazy and yes I was the only one that said no. Brandon started looking on KSL. We thought we wanted a puggle. We found one at the pound but was much bigger than we wanted. We wanted some what of a small dog. Since our summers are so crazy, we wanted something we could take with us. Ksl had an ad for Chugs. A pug and a chihuahua. Yes he is cute but none the less I didn't want one. But why would I want to be the bad guy. So now we have a 7 week old puppy. He is doing pretty well at the potty training, or I should say we are doing pretty well at the potty training. This will be my first week back to work since before Christmas. So he will be home by himself for a few hours a day. We will see how that goes.

Merry Christmas.......

The decorated house

Finally getting to open Christmas jammies, Mckenzie could not wait.

Reindeer dust for Santa's helpers

just the girls ~ Jonas we sure missed you!

The best Nativity ever.

Megan and Maggie

Our "TREE"

The girls and their jammies, Mckenzie was so excited to wear Justin pj's

Cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.

The stuffed stockings

Yes Mckenzie got a phone for Christmas.

Megan with some of her new clothes.

Opening presents under the tree.

The girls both got some glasses, they love to be 4 eyes.

Not sure why I am not smart enough to get the right date set on my camera. It cant be that tough. Where to start. Whit and Lindsey were moving Christmas Eve morning. We got up to leave and they were already moved. Lots of family and friends were early and moved them. Christmas Eve we spent with the family at Grandma and Grandpas house. We had yummy dinner and went caroling to a few houses. BURR it was cold. We sure missed Jonas, we know he was there with us. Whit and Lindsey you still amaze us! We love you. When we got home we did a few of our little family traditions. We put out reindeer dust for the reindeer. It sparkles and tells them to stop at our house, because we were good. Then the girls opened their pj's. Mckenzie was so excited for days to do that. Have no idea why, I knew she would like the one she got. They were Justin Bieber. She loved them. Meg picked hers out, so not so exciting for her. We got up Christmas morning and opened all our presents. We had lots of fun. I was so excited, when I came out to open the blinds and turn on the fire place and lights. I got a sneak peak at what Santa brought. A new phone for Mckenzie, I was so excited for her, I could hardly wait. I was more excited than she was. I will post the video later. We were supposed to go to Denver Christmas some time. My whole family was there. We were excited and packed to go. I looked at the flights and there was no way we were going anywhere. I was so upset. I really was missing my mom and wanted to spend time with my family that was missing her too. I was grumpy for a while, but tried to get out of it. Had no idea what we were going to do for dinner. They had a huge dinner waiting in Denver for us. So we did a Kortz tradition and went to Dennys. Yes Dennys, and boy was it yummy! We did that once in Kansas, my dad took us there for Christmas one year. The only Christmas we still talk about, really. I did take a picture for proof. We then went to Chris and Nick's and hung out there for a while. In the end we had a great week. We would of liked to go to Denver, but we for sure would never of gotten home. So it was a good thing we never got there.

Happy Birthday Jason

Char and the kids with their balloons and messages to send to Jason.

going, going, gone...

the whole gang.

Brandon, Char, Dallin, and uncle June bringing down the house.

Mckenzie and Dallin rocking out.

Char had a little get together this weekend to remember Jason. Something her and the kids are going to make a tradition of. We were invited so we flew out. We had a great time. The kids had to much fun, decorating balloons for Jason. We watched them until we couldn't see them any more. After dinner we went to Net Flow and played Rock Band. Can I say we brought down the house.

Shopping for the day in Los Angeles

We hit a store and we were very successful

Headed back to the airport

My friend from work and I took our girls to LA Saturday. We had a great time. We got some Christmas presents, the girls got some new bling bling jeans. Megan and I went to a Jean party several months ago and we bought a pair of jeans. We paid a lot more money for those jeans than we did Saturday. It was well worth the trip. Megan made some new friends and we had a fun mother ~ daughter date. We left early in the morning and we were back at 8pm that night. It's trips like these that make my job ok.

A fun busy week....

Good in the Hood Dinner ~ Auction

The homeless ugly dog

Raising Jonas' star at Make a wish...with most of his cousins

We were able to attend a Dinner put on by Good in the Hood. What a great time we had. It is amazing what a few people can do when they put their heads together. They are a bunch of young kids, that just want to help out and make their community a better place for all that live in it.

Brandon went to a meeting Tuesday night for Megan's softball team. He came home with a stray dog. The girls were all excited, thinking they were getting a new dog. Don't know why they want a new dog, they have an old dog they could care less about :) It was the ugliest thing I have seen. It scared me when he showed it to me. He fed it, gave it a bath, and took it to the shelter the next morning. Brandon was told if the owners don't come back in 3 days he would have the chance to adopt it first. Mckenzie kept asking about the dog, I kept telling her there was no way we would be bringing her back home. On the 3rd day Brandon went back to the shelter to see if it was still there. They told him the owners came in 1 hour after he had dropped her off. Some body was really missing their dog. Can I say I was so excited? I didn't want to be the bad guy and say "NO"

Thursday Jonas would of been 3. Wow I can't believe how time flies. He was able to go to Disneyland in November because of Make a Wish. We were invited by Whit and Lindsey to go see his star raised. What a great organization Make a Wish is. Whit and Lindsey got to pick his star and then they were able to decorate it. We watched it get raised with the others. We were able to see the room where the kids are able to make their wish. It sure makes you grateful for what we have. There are so many brave little kids out there (and parents) and some very giving people. Thanks Whit and Lindsey for including us. What a great way to celebrate a sweet little boy!!

We love and miss you sweet Jonas

Jonas Mathie Coleman 12/2/07 ~ 11/18/10 Our dear sweet little boy, Jonas, was welcomed home into the loving arms of our Savior on Nov. 18, 2010. For almost three years Jonas quietly but bravely endured the progression of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I. Jonas was born Dec. 2, 2007, to loving parents Whit and Lindsey. Jonas had the most expressive, blue eyes that could speak more eloquently than any words ever could. Jonas was a happy, peaceful and calm little boy who enjoyed the simple things in life. Family vacations to Disneyland and St. George were some of his favorite times. He had a deep love of music that would always make him smile. His other loves included being read to, lights, stars, swimming, watching Disney movies and exploring outside. With the odds against him, Jonas held on to see his baby sister Maggie born and loved when she snuggled up to his side. Jonas had the greatest gift of inspiring and influencing everyone he met. He changed lives forever. Jonas taught us more in his short life than we could ever have taught him in ten life times. Jonas is survived by his parents Whit and Lindsey and sister Maggie, grandparents Mark and Becky Mathie, Mike and Merri Coleman, and great grandpa Frank Coleman, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins. The family would like to express gratitude to Dr. Kathryn Swoboda and the Pediatric Motor Disorders Research Group, Dr. Paul Ferreira and staff at Holladay Clinic, IHC home health, Peterson Medical (Orem) and Make-A-Wish for granting Jonas' wish to visit Disneyland one last time. It was his happy place. A celebration of Jonas' life will begin at 12 Noon on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at the Wilford Stake Center, 3080 S Kenwood St (1765 E). There will be a viewing held at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 E 1300 S, on Monday evening from 6 - 8 p.m. as well as Tuesday morning at the ward from 10:30 -11:45 a.m. Jonas was a true blessing and we miss him already. We love you little buddy OFF TO NEVERLAND

Pegasus take 2nd place......

Ashlee came over and swam with the girls. They had fun being silly.

Brandon and Mckenzie were able to shoot some hoops.

Brandon got to celebrate his birthday "again" in St George.

Megan and Grandpa Kortz busted a move in the parking lot after some of the games.

Hot lips!!

The championship game ended at 12:30 am.

We went to St George this last weekend. Megan had a tournament. Brandon got to celebrate his birthday in St George again. We always have a tournament his birthday weekend. The weather was nice. We got to swim, lay out in the sun, shoot some hoops and had lots of fun. Grandpa Kortz flew down and got to see some games. His friend Janet lives in St George and watched all the games, even after Grandpa left. Grandpa and Grandma Coleman came down too. Whit, Lindsey, and the kids stayed the night with us, and were able to see a game, they were on their way to Disneyland. Lucky Dogs!! Traci bought the all the girls wax lips. They had so much fun with those silly things. Yes you read right the game ended at 12:30 am Sunday morning. We are in Utah and they don't play on Sundays. The team they played, we would of had to beat 2 times (they were undefeated). Which means we would of been there for another game had Megans team won. We were all satisfied with 2nd. Megans team was for sure a better team and should of taken first, but had 2 games where they just gave it away. Oh well it happens. We still had a great time. We get to head back down there again Thursday for Mckenzies games.