The face of innocence...

During the holiday season most people think about others that are less fortunate than themselves. Today I am thinking about all of our little furry friends that aren't as lucky as our Izzy to have a warm home to roam, a backyard to dominate and a family that would pay an arm and a leg to fix her leg. At a local animal hospital, there is a kennel beside the road where many dogs are placed until they can find a home. I have driven passed it many times since they set this up and I am always astonished and saddened at how many homeless dogs are for adoption. This particular place keeps all of the pets there until they are adopted, unlike pounds where there is unfortunately a time limit on these priceless lives. I wanted to write about this because it is something that is very important to me. I eventually would love to do more to help than just blog on my new laptop about what people should/shouldn't do, but for now I hope to bring more awareness to those around me.

I was told that these dogs are owner surrenders or from puppy mills. One thing that we can all do before we ever make the commitment of purchasing a puppy/dog is to understand it could be a 15 year commitment or longer and on average dogs need about $600-700 in care each year. Along with understanding the expense and life span, maybe even more important is finding the right breed for you and your family. If you have a little apartment, you don't want to get a dog that is full of energy and really needs a lot of space to run. They will rip everything to shreds out of boredom! Matching characteristic and personality to you is something I think most people look over when they see that cute puppy face and just want to take it home to cuddle.

Next, once you have a dog, PLEASE, please, please spay or neuter it! And it you know someone that hasn't done so to their pet please encourage them to do so. Izzy was spayed before her first heat cycle so we never had to deal with that and it wasn't expensive! There are thousands and thousands of dogs that never would have been born and never would have been put down if people were responsible and fixed their animals.

The next dog we get will be adopted. We purchased Izzy from a pet store, which I don't regret because Izzy is a wonderful dog, but I don't want to do anything to support puppy mills and I wonder where all of those puppies are coming from. So many wonderful pets are in need of loving homes. I want to add another to our family as soon as I feel we can handle the responsibility.


There are many organizations like the Humane Society that help our four legged friends find lifelong loving homes. Having a dog has added so much to mine and Scott's life and even though we get annoyed with her and end up bathing her three times in one day because SHE KEEPS DIGGING IN THE MUD AND TRACKING IT INTO THE HOUSE AND I CAN'T KEEP MY FLOORS CLEAN, I still wouldn't trade her for anything!
I encourage you to research the different breeds and add a new member to your family for the New Year and give them a second chance, if a loving and stable home is something you and your family can provide! It is proven that there are actual health benefits that are in it for you as well when you have a pet! Not to mention someone that will always be excited to see you, even if you have only been gone for five minutes, you will always have someone to cuddle and someone you can talk to or a should to cry on. You will be rewarded with plenty of kisses and an endless amount of laughter. I am not trying to talk anyone into it, I am just thinking about how lucky we are to have our little Izzy and am just rambling...

Freshly Fallen Winter Wonderland!

December is here and it brought inches and inches of SNOW! I love surprises like this in the morning! Here is our cozy escape from the winter chill. (If you look closely you can see little miss Izzy gazing out the front window!)

Izzy really loves dashing around in the snow! She would run this way and that way and I had a hard time getting a picture of all the action!

RUN IZZY, RUN!!! (I think she is part rabbit, among other animals...)

SNOW PLOW!

What a face...

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Tonight we went to The Festival of Trees with some friends. This was my first time going and I was very impressed with the creativity, time and money people had put into these trees to donate for charity. All the money goes to Primary Children's Hospital. My nephew, Kaden spend almost two months at that hospital so I have a special place for it in my heart. Hopefully, I never have to go back there to visit anyone I love, but it is nice to know there is a place like that if our little ones need it.

This year I have already received a wonderful Christmas gift from my mom. A brand new TREE! We picked out some of the ornaments together and then I found the rest here and there. I really enjoyed decorating this tree and I am proud of it! I still am not completely finished, but here it is so far. MY FAVORITE TREE OF THE NIGHT!

Here are some of my favorites at the Festival of Trees...

On this first tree I loved the polar bear and penguin theme. The second tree is so creative with the giraffe coming out of the tree itself!

This third tree is a Polar Express theme and I LOVE the train going up the tree! SO CUTE! Then the fourth of course is an upside down tree!

I love this skinny blue one as well as the look of the last tree all decorated in white with positive words like Joy all over it.
Then this one below had a whole set to go with the trees.

Here is one for all of you Star Wars fans! There are only a couple figurines on there...

We were told the most expensive tree was a BYU/UTES tree that went for 10,000 dollars! I hope they could write that off on their taxes!

I LOVE the Christmas season and for some reason this year it seems extra exciting. Probably because we have our baby celebrating it with us! Or it could simply be because I am not working retail... :)

Cousins and Grandparents!

These are the Green Family Cousins!

Left to Right- Zoe, James, Nate, Mia, Andrew, Cohen, William, and Kya (and one more on the way for Michelle! Yeah!).
Cohen has really enjoyed watching all of his cousins these last couple days. The boys have come into town from California for Thanksgiving and the girls just live down the street from us! Yeah for family!

We were really excited for Cohen to see his Grandma and Grandpa Green. They live in California as well and we don't make it out there too often so it is nice when they come here!

Fun with Grandma!

While they were here we also celebrated her birthday! Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma! We hope this is a great year for you!

Yeah for Grandpa!
Cohen thought they were both pretty entertaining and had lots of fun with them!

Granny Dolls Banana Bread

My family has a tradition of going to Moab for a huge family gathering and feast every year for Thanksgiving Day. My great grandma Genivieve Miller was the center of our gathering with her children, grand children, great-grand children and great-great-grand children all there among other friends and relatives. I looked forward to this week of eating until you couldn't eat anymore and fun with my cousins every year growing up. I also looked forward to seeing my great grandma whom everyone called Granny Doll. My Granny didn't own a TV and instead filled her time with her love for books, crocheting, playing cards and she had a huge collection of dolls. She was surrounded by family that adored her and she loved to visit with everyone who would come to town. She taught me a lot about what is important in life. It has been a few years since she passed away and Thanksgiving hasn't felt quite the same since.

Last night I thought about my Granny as I used her recipe to make banana bread. I couldn't remember the last time I baked banana bread and I really enjoyed it! It is so YUMMY!
This year I am so thankful to be celebrating Thanksgiving in Moab once again. Scott and I get to stay at my Grandma and Grandpa's house because we have the youngest baby! I am excited because I think it has been six years since I stayed there instead of a hotel. Too bad Cohen is too young to experience the 20 foot long table filled with Thanksgiving choices! I guess I will just have to do that for him!

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Months Old!

Dear Cohen,
Today you turned five months old! This month you have started discovering the world with your mouth. You love to suck on blankets, your toys, your fingers and just about anything else you can get your hands on. Ever since you started reaching for things, I have noticed you use your left hand a lot more than your right. I am betting you are going to be a lefty like your daddy! A couple of times you have surprised me with how fast you can grab objects and you have thrown your hand right into the middle of whatever I am eating. Which brings me to the next thing, FOOD! You have experienced eating rice cereal (with water, milk or apple juice), sweet potatoes and carrots now. I say experienced because you don't like it all that much yet and most of the time you seem to barely put up with it, but you do eat the carrots a little better than the other food I have offered you. People say that once they started their babies on solids it was magic and their babies then slept through the night. Well, you aren't one of those babies, but last night you did do pretty well. Actually, probably one of the best nights yet! You went down at 7:30 and woke up at about 9:30 and then slept until 2 am and then until 6 am and again until 8 am! That is two 2 hour and two 4 hour increments! YEAH! Good job! You now take all of your naps and sleep all night in your crib. This has been nice for your daddy and I because we don't have to worry about breathing too loud and waking you. I tried putting you in your own room when you were 3 months, but I was so nervous about it that I didn't sleep well. There is only a wall separating us, but it seemed like a thousand feet away. I don't know what changed, but now I am fine with you growing up and having your own room. I even get a chance to miss you when you go down so early in the evening, but your daddy always reminds me that I will see you in a couple of hours so enjoy the "me time".

You LOVE to play with your daddy. You both laugh and laugh together while he makes funny faces and sounds and tickles you. You still love to bounce and I love your jumper! It is the only toy we have for you that you seem to enjoy for longer than 5-10 minutes. It is hilarious to watch you push your little legs off the ground and jump around spinning in the door frame.

I want these newsletters to be not only about your development and what I love about you, but I want to hopefully teach you about what is important to me. You have two uncles that you haven't met yet. One of my brothers lives a few states away and I haven't seen him in over eight years. The other brother, my oldest, lives here, but has been in jail most of my pregnancy with you and since you were born. A couple weeks ago he almost died when he left the treatment center he had been court ordered into and over dose on heroin. He was extremely lucky to live since they were breathing for him for quite some time. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time he had come so close to death. He is consumed by a serious drug problem that he can't seem to overcome. He has lost both of his children and has no material possessions to his name. He has repeatedly hurt everyone around him to support his habit. The devastation that his choices has brought to our family has been endlessly wearing on my mom. I tell you this because he isn't the only one with addictions in our immediate family and I have learned first hand by watching my loved ones that drugs and alcohol, among other things, can destroy your life. I love you so much and I want you to know about the dangers it can bring. Even at this early age when I see so much potential for you I think about what I don't want for you as well. I want for you to have an extremely happy and healthy life and I hope I can lovingly guide you through hard decisions so you can look back on the choices you eventually make and know they were the right ones for you.

Love,

Mama

Size difference

What 4 and a half months can do...