I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!

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I loved the Twilight books and had a really hard time putting them down. I don't remember the last time all I wanted to do was read! There is nothing like a good book and now there with be an amazing movie too! If you haven't read the Twilight books (there are three so far) I encourage you to do so, no matter if you are male or female, 14 or 84! Can't wait until December 12th!!!

Our New Addition!

Scott and I have been thinking about getting another dog for a while and after watching the Oprah show on puppy mills (see post below) I constantly thought about how we could give a homeless pet a good home. So I started looking at both of our local animal shelters and also went to the Humane Society in Murray and an adoption center in Salt Lake to see what was out there. I looked on the website Petfinder.com which has lists of thousands of dogs and other animals available for adoption through rescue groups. I also looked through KSL classifieds online searching the adds for people wanting to find new homes for their dogs. There were so many lab, border collie, pit bull and other mixes and pure breeds like these in every place I looked. At first I wasn't sure what breed we wanted, but we like so many things about mixes like Izzy because they don't shed, they are a good size and energy level for being an inside pet and are generally great with kids. We saw quite a few smaller dogs that people had purchased for their kids, then the kids mistreated them by being too rough and the dogs got nippy so then they ended up in the pound. I thought it would take a while for me to find a dog that Izzy got along with, that would be good with small kids and one Scott and I felt good about. I put my name on a couple lists through the shelters to be called if any dogs that met what we were looking for were dropped off. I was really surprised that it only took a couple days to find an incredibly sweet puppy that seemed to fit right in...

*Meet Lilly!*(It is hard to see her eyes in this picture since her hair needs to be cut!)
We adopted her last Saturday from the Lindon Animal Shelter!
She is a 5 month old shih tzu/poodle mix. She loves to play and explore the world! She is a very sweet puppy and is doing well with potty training. She is great with Cohen and she loves to rough house with Izzy!
She has soft black hair, brown eyes and I love how her chin, chest, paws and the tip of her tail are white!

Lilly was surrendered by her owners because the girl that purchased her said she didn't realize how much her husband hated dogs until she got one. (I think they had her less than three months.) Having another dog is a huge responsibility financially and time consuming since I try to take them on a walk everyday and play with them and Lilly has a barking problem and I am trying to train her on basic commands and obedience. I have been watching a series on the Discovery Channel called the DOG WHISPERER and it has really helped, I recommend it to anyone wanting to understand more about dogs. He gives great incite and training advice!
We are so excited we adopted Lilly and we love having her as a part of our family! There still are so many more homeless dogs that would make great pets just waiting to be adopted... It was hard to pick just one! I wish I could bring them all home!

10 Months Old!

Dear Cohen,

The picture above wouldn't give you any clue in this, but this has been the month of screams (with good reason because of the following), constipation, diarrhea and one day of vomiting. What a great way to start your 10 month newsletter, huh? At times your daddy and I have joked about how you may be our only child because you are more than enough of a handful for us. And then we go and add another family member! We adopted another dog, who we named Lilly from the animal shelter this month. To my relief, she has been great around you. I was a little worried since she is still a puppy, but besides potty training and her barking problem, adding her to our family has gone well. Before Lilly and before the diarrhea and throwing up you became a world class sleeper! For almost two straight weeks you slept 10-11 hours straight through the night! I was in heaven and besides the constipation (stemming from your love of cheese, I think, which I had to completely remove from your diet for now... sorry) we were really having a great time! And then you got sick and since then you are waking up once a night again. I have to feed you and rock you for almost an hour every time too! What is this all about? I know you know how to sleep, you gave yourself away already and now I want it back! Most days start before 7 am now too. Yippy...
True, this month has been hard which all the other months have been too in their own way and generally I try to just look at all of the positive things I want to remember and to share with you. But, I also don't want you to have a false perception of what it was like to raise you, my beautiful boy! I feel like Heavenly Father prepared me for you with the years of trying to conceive and the three miscarriages we had. We had to learn patience and we had to learn how to support and comfort each other in times of emotional breakdown and extreme depression. When I look back on those three years of trial before you were born I think about how much we grew and now I look at how much we continue to grow through being your parents. I am constantly seeing things in myself that I want to better so I can be the role model, mother and friend that you need. I think we learn the most when we feel the most weak because we are humbled and have to turn to others and our Father in Heaven for help.You finally met your uncle Dustin for the first time! He was really cute with you and he gave a nickname to the way you get around. He called it The Cohen SHUFFLE. You get part way into the crawling stance and then keep one leg tucked and scoot all over the place. Of course, when you are on carpet it takes you a little longer because you don't slide as well. Your uncle had so much fun with you and he thought you were just adorable! Luckily he is now getting serious help for his drug addictions and will be in California at a rehab for the next year. We plan on visiting him sometime this summer if we dare make the drive out, lets just say driving isn't your favorite thing. (You can barely make it to Salt Lake and back!) I want him to be a positive example for you, he is such an amazing person and he has so much potential that hasn't been used, like other people in our family that have been consumed by addictions. I hope this is the start of his new life! I have learned a lot from the choices he has made, so in some ways I am thankful to him because I have learned what I don't want in my life without having to live it first hand. There is never a dull moment in being your parent. I am truly grateful for you each and everyday. I remember life before you came to us and now I can't imagine it without you and your sweet baby kisses. You are loved!!!

Love, Mama

Fight against puppy mills!

Yesterday Oprah encouraged animal lovers to unite! Using hidden cameras she exposed the sickening world of puppy mills. It was extremely hard to watch, but she asked for her viewers to not turn away because these dogs need us and after seeing what torture they endure she knew her viewers would not stand for it!

(I couldn't find the entire video so here is the preview...)

Puppy mills are dog-breeding facilities operated purely for profit, with little or no regard for the health or welfare of the breeding animals or their offspring. In these brutal facilities, dogs typically live in small, filthy cages, never receiving the human attention they crave and deserve. Many are forced to endure pain from broken bones, skin diseases and other severe conditions that go untreated for days, weeks, months and even years. A lot of these dogs spend their entire lives in wire cages and have trouble walking on the ground if they are ever rescued. Some have their vocal chords damaged by a pipe in order to keep them from barking. Others are completely filthy, with their coats overgrown and soaked in urine. Certain female dogs are repeatedly impregnated from a very young age until they are no longer fertile, at which point the breeders often abandon or KILL them. One cocker spaniel could have given birth to as many as 140 puppies. According to The Humane Society of the United States, there may be as many as 10,000 puppy mills operating across the United States.

The objective here is to raise awareness. People go into the pet stores, and they see these cute little puppies not knowing where they come from and what they go through. If you are thinking about adding a new pet to your family, make your first stop the local shelter or animal rescue office. "You can find any kind of dog you want, any age you want, at a shelter or rescue," Oprah says.

I bought Izzy at a pet store and it sickens me to think her mom could be somewhere being treated horribly. I will never support a pet store again. When I purchased Izzy I did ask the owner of the pet store about puppy mills and she said they would never do business with anyone like that, but the Humane Society says as many as 99% of pet stores purchase puppies from puppy mills. They continued to say how responsible breeders would never sell to pet stores. For people who would still like to use a breeder, they urge you to find one that is responsible. Quality breeders care about the quality of life their dogs will have when they go to their new homes and will often interview you about your home. They will even take their dogs back even if it's six or seven years later.

Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society, says there is an easy way you can turn your passion into action and help save the lives of animals. "Everybody can spay and neuter their animals. It's better for the animals, and it prevents the needless killing of millions of animals," he says. "Why are we churning out millions of dogs for the pet trade when this is happening in shelters all over America in every community? It doesn't make sense."
Taking care of animals is a duty that every person should assume. "It's precisely because we are intelligent and powerful that we have responsibilities to these animals. They are helpless before us, and they rely on our good conscience," Wayne says. "The terrible thing is the inhumane treatment of these animals at the puppy mills. It's awful. It's contributing to the larger pet overpopulation crisis, which is resulting in over 4 million dogs and cats being killed every year."
So what can we do to make a difference? "What we can do is we strongly discourage people from going to a pet store to obtain an animal. Go to a shelter. That's got to be your first stop," Wayne says. "A third of the animals are purebreds—go to a breed rescue group. And if you insist on going to a breeder, go visit the breeder, talk to them. See the condition of the animals, especially the breeding females."

Also, if you know of anyone who is interested in getting a dog or cat PASS THE WORD ALONG! Encourage them to spay or neuter them as well! We can make a difference if we all work together!

Below are a couple videos I encourage you to watch. It is hard, but after seeing this I know you won't be able to ignore what is going on.

This is a very informative video on puppy mills in Virginia...

Here is a video of a dog auction...

A couple more important videos...

Again, I know this is really hard to watch and is graphic, but I feel strongly about everyone seeing this so we can educate everyone we know and put an end to the suffering.

Here is another clip of the Oprah show. If anyone knows how to find it in its entirety let me know!


Here is a video by Charlize Theron sponsored by PETA.


WARNING: This video is VERY disturbing, if the other videos were enough for you, you may not want to watch...


This is plenty. With all of these videos, I think I have proven my point... PLEASE help in sharing this information with others.

Happy Easter!

Better late than never, right?
We had such a great first Easter with Cohen! He was spoiled by the Easter Bunny and got a firetruck Easter basket filled with fun goodies: the movie 101 Dalmatians, a giggling Elmo, raisins (which he chews and chews until I have to dig them out of his mouth because he never swallows the skin) and some clothes for summer including a swim suit and some sandles that he will be so cute in if it ever warms up enough around here!Scott was very creative this year and sent me on a scavenger hunt for all of my Easter gifts! It was really fun and I was excited to get some yummy chocolate, the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, as well as a Rachel Ray cookbook! Good job Mr. Easter Bunny!
I got him a basketball, a shirt, Easter treats, a framed picture of us and some "man" shampoo!That morning we got a couple cute pictures of Cohen! The shadows are really bad, but we worked with what we had. (Cohen REALLY loves to walk around. He would love it if we would hold his hands so he could cruise around all day! He is getting better at balancing and is being creative with scooting on our wood floors without actually having to be on his belly. He can also get from his hands and knees to his bum. He is trying new things everyday!)
We hope you all had a great Easter Day!

It's Winter still here in Utah!

While most people are posting about going swimming, to the park and beautiful sunny summer like weather we are still having winter storms and there is still snow on the ground! So we decided to to embrace it! Last weekend Scott, Cohen and I went up the canyon to do a bonfire with Jen, Carter and Dylan! We roasted hot dogs and ate baked beans, chips, cookies and had hot chocolate. YUM!
We have so many great friends and really enjoy doing all sorts of the fun things with all of them. Jen and I were talking about how it looks like we only do things together because we never remember to take pictures with our other friends! We had a lot of fun with them while Carter was being a little pyro and Scott was a professional roaster.

A few days later we went to Dylan's 1st Birthday Party! He actually blew out his own candle!
CHEESE! If you look closely you can see Cohen's two bottom teeth. This is the only picture I have been able to see them in. What cute boys! We are so lucky!