Faith is like a little seed...

The faith of little children just amazes me, especially when it's my children. The other night Olivia was asking me all of these questions, serious gospel questions. We talked for about 5-10 minutes about it. We talked about a testimony and what it is and how we need to nourish our testimonies. Then she said "Mommy, I love the scriptures, I love church, I love my Father in Heaven and I love you and Daddy." That last part was so sweet and I hope she always feels that way. She is such a sweet little spirit and reminds me so often that our faith doesn't have to be complicated it can be very simple.

I am so grateful for the special little spirits that I get to raise and what they teach me every day. Sure there are days that are hard and I want to cry because my Mike is falling down all the time, or Emily is having another seizure, but all the joy they bring makes it all worth it. I would not be the person I am today without my 3 sweet little kiddos and the help of a loving Father in Heaven.

Just stuff

Things have been pretty quiet in our house these days. The only big news has been Kirk's lovely CSI eye as we've labeled it. Over Christmas his eye got really red, but it seemed to get better. It flared up again and this time he was in a lot of pain. Sinus infection, or so we thought. When he went into the doctor she couldn't find anything and sent him home with oral and topical antibiotics. She said to go into the Opthamologist if it wasn't feeling better in a week.

Things didn't improve over the next week, in fact the pain intensified. So into the opthamologist to find out what was going on. After she looked at his eye and reviewed his medical history of allergies and Guillaine Barre Syndrome she knew exactly what it was. He had Uveitis, an autoimmune disorder; his body was attacking the healthy tissue in his eye.

So more eye drops and two weeks later things are a lot better. We had to dilate his eye for a week to help the swelling go down, it wasn't very fun for him. I kept asking him to look at stuff and forgot he couldn't really see very well. He's very happy to be done with those drops and is feeling much better!

So there you have. Life has been pretty quiet which I don't mind one bit. Now if I could just get over this cold...

It's been a while

Wow has it been a while! Things have been busy for our family. I've started to create a new post describing our year and never seem to finish! So today I will finally get to it!

Last year was filled with some great memories including Mike's wish trip to Disney World! It was an amazing experience to be a part of. Make-a-Wish and Give Kids the World are amazing organizations that really make Wish kids feel special.

Other than that we had a busy summer filled with lots of fun. I had the chance to get away twice this summer and look forward to more time with the girls this summer! We ended the year with a trip to Nevada to visit Kirk's sister and her family. We enjoyed the warm weather, being with family and witnesses the baptism of our niece.

Our kiddos continue to grow in so many ways. Mike was away at camp when he broke his leg this summer. We were surprised when he decided to stay until the end; what a brave boy. He turned 10 and is starting to really change. He'll deny it, but he's starting to like girls. He loves to tell jokes, read Calvin and Hobbes, make lego creations, and play Wii. He has had his struggles this year, but is doing better. He is faced with so much and it's hard to watch him struggle, but I know his sense of humor will see him through. He was just made the MDA Goodwill Ambassador for the Western Slope of Colorado so we should have a great year meeting with local organizations to help with fundraising.

Olivia keeps growing, growing and GROWING. She can out eat her Dad and seems to be our bottomless pit. She will soon be up to my shoulders if she doesn't slow down! She enjoyed another year of playing soccer in our local Parks and Rec. program. She turned 8 in August and was baptized by her Daddy. She glowed all day and we were very proud of her decision. She loves to draw, dance, sing, make boiled cookies and is a very big helper. She is a very compassionate little girl.

Emily is growing as well. She is changing so quickly and her little personality is really developing. She LOVED all the rides at Disney World and Lagoon; she and Daddy are roller coaster buddies! She is always so happy and gets the giggles on a regular basis. Since Kirk has taken her to most of her tests up in Denver over the past few months she is a Daddy's girl. She loves, loves, loves her Daddy!!

As many of you know we have been waiting to find out if we will face brain surgery and at this point we are not. The doctors up at Denver Children's decided she was not a candidate. We are currently looking into getting a second opinion to make sure we do what's best for her.

Kirk has been home since August and although being unemployed isn't very fun, it has been nice to have him around. He's been a big help in the kitchen and taking Emily up to Denver this fall for tests. It's also made my calling as Young Women's President a lot easier. He is thinking about opening his own furniture and cabinet making business. We have been job hunting since August, but there are so many people applying for each job it makes it tough to get an interview. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers for our family.

As for me I am busy being "the Mom" and although I feel like I passed insane a while a go I love it. I still wonder some days what happened to my sweet little man or my chubby girls, time just seems to have flown by. It's so fun to watch their little personalities and see their growth over the year.

When I'm not busy chasing the kids or cleaning the house I'm still busy! Between home projects, trying to get in shape, playing the guitar, crocheting, reading a book(Ha Ha), being the Young Women President and everything it's no wonder. I am happy with my simple little life in a small town and wouldn't trade it for anything! Of course if spring could be here tomorrow I would be happy! :)

We hope you are all having a great New Year so far. We look forward to the many new adventures we will have this year and hope to see many of you along the way. Enjoy!

Love The Coppingers!!

Fall Fun!

Wow, have we been busy this fall!!! Some of our activities have included: getting firewood, picking apples and making applesauce from them (29 quarts to be exact!), hauling rock to landscape the yard, building a deck, finishing random outside projects before the snow flies, soccer games and practice, the boys hunting with Uncle Jason and many other fun and not so fun activities!

Last week we went to the ward trunk-or-treat and had a great time watching all the little munchkins and visiting with friends. I'm posting some pictures of pumpkin carving and our costumes. Olivia decided she wanted to be a "hula girl" and put her costume together. Mike was Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, we had fun spiking his hair. Since Olivia backed out at the last minute I was Hobbes. It actually worked well because he's always bigger than Calvin. Of course everyone kept calling me Tigger! Emily was the "grouchy ladybug" and wouldn't look at Daddy for the picture, she was mad at him. It was a fun evening!

Stay tuned for Emily's latest adventures with Daddy and her new big girl bed!!