Let it SNOW! Let it SNOW! Let it SNOW!

I guess you can say we will have a white Christmas because this snow isn't going anywhere anytime soon! Everything is completely covered! It's finally a snow storm like I remember when I was a kid! It has been years since I have seen snow like this. I have told the girls many times that it just doesn't snow like it did when I was a kid. I remember playing on several huge(10-12 feet high) snow hills out in front of the house that my dad made with the tractor & loader because there was no other way to move it! The girls finally got a glimpse of what I have been talking about. With Adam's job, snow days are crazy. It requires him to leave very early to check road conditions. The first phone call came in at 3:45 a.m. and they didn't stop after that! Snow plows couldn't keep up with the heavy falling snow, so around 7:30a.m. the announcement was made to cancel school. I have to say I was a little shocked! I never had the experience of school being cancelled when I was a kid! From reports it hasn't happened in over fifty years! I told the girls the news and couldn't believe that they were a little disappointed! Kaitlyn said, " But we were going to make gingerbread houses today!", and Kourtney response was, "But what about the gifts we were going to give?" As you can imagine everyone was outside trying to clear driveways and sidewalks, and there were several high school boys out as well. It was fun to see others with the excitement I had anticipated my girls having! When the boys heard the news they raised their shovels over their heads and yelled, "Ya!!! No school!!!!" It was funny! My kids responses told me how much they really do enjoy school! After shoveling and snow blowing several times, I decided to measure. 20 1/2 inches in a twenty four hour period! It could have been more since the wind in our area likes to blow on a regular basis and makes it look like a winter wonderland most of the time. I loved walking outside and seeing kids in every snow pile and in every yard. They were loving it! The girls stayed outside for four hours playing, sledding, and making snow sculptures! I guess we are living up to our motto: "The Greatest Snow On Earth"!

Naughty or Nice?

Makell: I think that was the REAL Santa!
Kaitlyn: I don't think so...didn't you see his eyebrows?

Yeah, a little creepy!

Dressed in White!

I love this picture! Two beautiful little girls dressed in their white baptism dresses! Kaylee, Kaitlyn's cousin was just recently baptised. These two little girls are practically inseparable. I think they could play forever and live in a fairy tale if we would let them. What a special year for the two of them.

Christmas Concert!

Kourtney and her choir group put on a concert for family and friends the other evening. We were finally able to hear what all the early morning and after school practices consisted of! It was a perfect way to bring in the Holiday Season! I love the songs they sing with bells. They are some of my favorite! She has some amazing teachers!
I just love this girl!
























Kourtney has several friends that participate in the choir as well. A great group of girls!























Kourtney was excited grandpa and grandma came to support her!

Train One, Train Them All!

For the past few months we have been in the process of having Harley trained. We just completed our training with Leo. Leo is absolutely amazing! He is a miracle worker! This is the story of how we found Leo!
In September, we participated in a walk to raise money and help find a cure for diabetes. While we were there, I noticed a young lady with her dog. Normally I don't pay much attention to things like this, but we had just recently added Harley to our family atmosphere. As I watched her and her dog for some time, I leaned over and whispered to Adam, "do you think Harley will ever mind like that?" Adam could only roll his eyes at me. This dog was so well behaved. While in a crowd of several hundred people and chaos, he was so calm. His owner would give him soft short commands and he immediately responded to them. I was impressed!
When we got Harley he was about ten weeks old, and we had heard all the stories about the puppy stage. We were told that the earlier we had him neutered the more mellow and calm he would be. As soon as he hit the 16 week old stage, we called and set the appointment! Two days following the surgery he was back to his hyper energetic little self. There were many times Adam wondered what on earth was he thinking letting the girls get a puppy! It felt as if we had a two year old all over again. I was constantly having to watch what went in his mouth, potty training, and trying to prevent him from getting into trouble. We were told by several people that his excessive chewing would go away after his puppy teeth fell out. Well, yeah that didn't happen! After Makell's bike seat and helmet had been chewed into hundreds of little pieces, we knew we had to do something.
So at the walk, I ask this girl if she trained her dog or if someone else had? That's when she told me about Leo and her story. They had had three other trainers before Leo, and none of them could do anything with their dog. They were at the point of putting him down because they thought he would always be mean and unteachable. After hearing her story I couldn't believe I was walking with the same dog! I ended up talking to her throughout the whole walk. She gave me Leo's information, and I was ready to give him a call! The appointment was set and the training began!
That call was one of the best things we could have done! We have a totally different puppy now! He responds well to commands. As Harley went through the training, Adam and I had to learn as well. I think we learned more than the dog to be honest. There are times he listens better than the kids do! :) We are in the process of signing our kids up to go through the program as well! JK! We have great kids! Leo and his family are some of the nicest people we have ever met! They have become really good friends. The training comes with a Life Time Guarantee so there will be many more group training sessions in the future!

Peter is Back!

He's back! Makell was sure to not let any of us forget that Peter would be returning the first day of December! The morning of December 1st Makell was the first one out of bed and on a mission to find our friendly Elf. The girls hunted high and low before they left for school and still couldn't find Peter. They began to wonder if he even made it to our house from the North Pole? But sure enough after everyone was home from school, Peter was spotted! I guess he figured he needed to hide in better place this year! ;)
Adam and I wished Peter could stay with us year round! I love to hear all the little comments about how they better be nice to each other because "Peter is watching"!


They scramble to clean up toys and messes because they don't want Peter returning to the North Pole and telling Santa not to bring toys, because they can't clean up the ones they have now.

I love the fun and magic the holiday's bring!

An Afternoon at the Movies!

The kids have been anxious to see Tangled ever since they saw it advertised several months ago! We thought it would be fun to watch it with the other Heaton family! ;) Before they left to catch their plane and return to Texas, we headed off to the movies! The kids loved it! It was such a cute movie. I think it's going to be a movie that is watched over and over again.

I just love this picture!