What Christmas means to me. By Sarah Burnes Heiner

Christmas is the pine tree Scent - you can smell throughout my house,
And tending the neighbor’s hamster - that my 4 yr old calls a mouse.

Christmas is our first nativity scene - I bought for a small amount.
A porcelain set I fixed with super glue - too many times to count.

Christmas is the sound of music - echoing throughout my home with delight.
Jingle bells, Rudolph and my favorite “Oh holy night"

Christmas is tiny paper scraps - from paper chains & snowflakes
No school and too many treats - that caused a few belly aches.

Christmas is watching the movie Elf - oh what a great show.
And laughing harder than my kids cuz Buddy just said “Francisco”.

Christmas is our elf named "Dovey" - who hides in a new spot each night.
Except for when he forgot to hide - there was confusion - and a little fight.

Christmas is a car full of kids - cranky, sad and happy
On a quest, to find Christmas lights - oh I wish I had a nappy.

Christmas is my boy telling me “the Edman’s have prettier lights!
Because they have rainbow colors and all we have is white”.

Christmas is giving service - to those who need a break
For we all have been there - when times were tough - it was all that we could take.

Christmas is the big sleepover - in the parents room on Christmas Eve.
With the window cracked - to hear Santa outside - oh, they truly believe.

Christmas is the talk with grandma right before she passed away
Life was hard, she had no presents, just a feast on that Christmas Day.

Christmas is forgiving those - who have done a little harm.
And putting all our faith in Christ - as he holds us in his arms.

Christmas is remembering our ancestors - for they are the ones who paid
That great price - of hard living - but their legend has always stayed.

Christmas is learning that Joseph and Mary - were Both from the tribe of Judah.
Joseph descended 52 generations directly from the prophet Noah.

Each year I try to teach my kids - the true meaning of this great day.
The kind acts - the simple joys - in remembrance of Him we pray.

This Christmas may we all be diligent - in remembering our Christ and redeemer.
His atonement, what great sacrifice For the weary and the dreamer.

Christ was born on Christmas Day - that's where this story begins.
For Christ is here - everyday with us - if we just let him in.

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Oakland Temple - A Breathtaking sight to See.

When I was 12, I had the opportunity to go the Oakland temple for the first time, and i'll never forget the peace I felt that day. The location was absolutely breathtaking especially during sunset!! It overlooked the entire Bay Area with a panoramic view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and the peninsula. The Visitor's Center was also amazing. I remember the giant sized statue of Jesus, and the interactive story room of how God created the Earth. I would highly recommend everyone going to see this spectacular sight nestled atop the Oakland Hills in Oakland, California. It will be an experience you will never forget.  More info --> http://mormon.org/faq/topic/temples

Photo Credit: Matt Granz Photography

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I am thankful for music~Maddy

I never knew how much good music could bless my life! just a couple of days ago I had the wonderful opportunity to be in my schools seventh grade choir concert, and I realized that I absolutely love being on stage and singing such beautiful songs! Music has blessed me in so many ways. I noticed that every time I do my homework I get stressed and feel like I can't do it any longer, so one day while doing my homework I turned on  my iPod to the church section and after an hour of working I felt no pain, no headaches, and no stress! It was then when I decided to try this technique in my morning routine, instead of listening to loud, up beat music, and barely having enough time to make the bus, I listened to slow, soft, church music and, not looking to see what time it was, I was early for the bus. Because I wasn't rushing and being in a panic from that loud music! That just proves how much music can help me and everyone in daily lives, and I am so grateful for that!:)

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Maddy the Track Star!!

This year Maddy decided to participate in her Junior High School track team. She has enjoyed running and getting better and faster with every practice and track meet. I managed to capture this video while she ran the 400 meter run (1 complete lap around the track). It's awesome to see how far ahead she get's in first place, and close to the end she get's a competitor. Watch the video!

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Princess William

Anamarie has done it again, but this time there's a new victim; little William. Anamarie has been known to dress up Brett (on many occassions), but she has now discovered that two is better than one. I sure hope my little boys grow into manly men, and not the contrary. Here's her masterpiece; Princess William.

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Meet "THOMAS THE MONSON"

One of Brett's favorite books is "Thomas The Monson", as he calls it. Every time we talk about Thomas S. Monson, he tells me what a good train he is. In his prayers, he says "...and thank you for our Prophet, Thomas The Monson". I hope one day soon he will figure out that The Prophet is not a train, and I hope he's not too disappointed :)

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We Are ALL Children of God!

We are all Children of God; no matter what Religion we practice!! In God's eyes we all have EQUAL & INFINITE worth. Growing up in California made me "thick skinned" when it came to my LDS/Mormon Religion. I even had a High School Teacher keep me after class to lecture me about my beliefs. My religion is very personal to me. It has given me more direction than anything in this life. It gives me hope, it gives me knowledge, and it gives me the ability to do better each day. Whatever your religion might be, I respect it, let's all do the same. Let's steer away from those who be-little ANY religion, and Stand a Little Taller, we are better than that!! -Sarah

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The yummiest girl.

Brett just informed me of this... "Mom, you're the yummiest girl, I eber seen".

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My gift from Brett

Brett came running in from outside with a big surprise for me. He told me to close my eyes then he presented me with something so beautiful and said "look mom, I picked you some bootiful flowers" What a sweetie pie :)

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Funny question of the day?

Brett: "Mom, does Heavenly Father spank butts?"
Me: "No".
Brett: "oh ya only daddy spanks butts, huh?"
Me: "yep, only daddy does ;)"

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Anamaries super awesome hair!!

Last night after bath time, we rolled foam curlers into Anamarie's hair and, voila, perfect hair today! Isn't she adorable??

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Thousand of melty beads everywhere!!

Anamarie loves to make her melty bead creations almost daily, but after about 30 minutes, boredom started creeping in, and she abandoned her half way done fishy and the entire container of melty beads. Yep, you guessed it; William and Brett saw the fun and dumped thousand of beads all over the kitchen floor and did a little "happy dance".

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My creative wand.

I was so surprised when Anamarie gave me this "wand" present that she had created. I was impressed that she thought to put these 3 random items together to create one single masterpiece. Notice the ruler, the (taped on) hair flower clip, and a (taped on) cuticle pusher. Right in the middle is my "Sarah" Pizza Hut name badge from 15 years ago. So creative!! :)

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"Mom, I just love my new Marriott"

Last night Anamarie found lots of fun "treasures" in my office closet. Some she liked more than others, but her favorite was a black zipped case with writing on the front. She brought it over to me and asked "mom what does this say?" I said, "It says Marriott". About 2 minutes later, she asked again, "what's that say?", I repeated "Marriott". We repeated this about 5 more times, until the word stuck in her mind. This morning when she awoke, she told me, "Mom, I just love my new Marriott". She has played with the contents of her new "Marriott" all morning; scissors, tape, stapler, notepad, pen, ruler, highlighter, & more. These items enabled her to make snowflakes, letters to her friends to come play today, and a letter to her little brother telling him to be nice. The simple joys for a child.

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How William eats with a spoon.

The other day I caught William eating Brett's leftover cheerios with a spoon. So I thought he was totally ready for this next big step in his simple life. So, this morning, I presented to him his first bowl of Cheerios (in a suction bottom bowl, so it wouldn't spill) and a SPOON. As you can see, he didn't like the spoon too much, but loved the hand fulls of Cheerios.

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I know what Kangaroos smell like :)

Anamarie informed me today that she knows what Kangaroos smell like. I was quite humored by this comment, but I always give her the benefit of the doubt. I happened to be curling her hair and spraying hairspray when she told me this. So, I asked her, "Anamarie, tell me what Kangaroos smell like?", she said, "it smell like that" (pointing to the bottle of Aussie hairspray). She said, "see, it's right there on the bottle. It says Kangaroo spray". LOL. I didn't even notice the kangaroo on the hairspray bottle, but apparently, that's what kangaroos smell like.

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"Our Value is set and cannot be Diminished"

Maddy received this present from her Grandparent's Kim & Janise for her 13th birthday. She unwrapped her present and found an Egyptian pound on a chain with an "M" charm for her name. She loved this present so much that she wore it for her birthday during her night out with mom & dad. It wasn't until today, that I discovered an even deeper meaning to this this necklace. There was a little piece of paper folded so small inside a tiny woven box that shared a story that Janise wrote about while visiting the Maadi, Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Cairo, Egypt. Here's the story: (click image below to enlarge)

Thank you, Kim & Janise for this gift that has such great meaning.
We love you!!

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She almost caught a Leprechaun :(

This morning, Anamarie could not contain herself, she just had find out if  there was a trapped leprechaun. She ran downstairs and noticed the gold was missing, and hoping it had fallen inside with the green guy. However, as she got a little closer she saw something inside the box...a letter. She didn't cry, she didn't laugh, she was incredibly "ticked off" to say the least. The letter was very nice though. He told her that it was the best trap he's ever seen. He even gave her a clue as to how she could catch him next year; with a four leaf clover.

Here's Anamarie with her "ticked off" look immediately after discovering her leprechaun got away...
...with the gold too.

Here she is saying "don't take a picture of me MOM! Geez"

The letter from the Leprechaun.

At least, Mr. Rumple said "thank you" :)

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I am thankful for Family~Maddy

I am so happy that I could come to this earth into such a wonderful family! We may be crazy sometimes, (or a lot) but overall we are just dandy! ;) My parents are so amazing and thoughtful of me and others, I am so glad that I can have such wonderful parents, brothers and sisters, and Grandparents that support me and encourage me to do things I never thought I could! My Family will be with me forever, and I am so happy that they are!

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"Watch Mom, I can Karate!!"

We all know Brett is Mr. Tough guy, but he has just learned that he can threaten his older sister (Anamarie) with his sweet karate moves, just to be tough. She believes that he is some overnight Karate Master, and he uses his "arm cross", then his "karate chop", with a "kick" and a keeee-aaaahh, to scare her away; thanks to Jaden Smith. Of course he's not hitting her, but he threatens her from a distance, which still gives him great gratification.

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---> We're Gonna Catch a Leprechaun!!

After I picked up Anamarie from school today, she kept telling me how she wanted to make a leprechaun trap. So, with a little imagination, and lots of crafts, we made the perfect trap. Anamarie and I decided to get real gold dollars so that we would surely catch him. Anamarie made the glitter walkway, the green ladder, and the "FREE GOLD" sign, and I just helped her put it all together. The trick to the trap is once he steps on the top he will fall right in, but Anamarie wanted to make sure he landed on something soft, so she put lots of padding in the bottom of the box. So what's up with the long green polka dot ribbon, you ask?? Well, we're gonna make him work for his gold by climbing a 4 foot ribbon. She knows she's gonna catch him, so we will see what we find in the box tomorrow morning ;)

 

Wanna see if she caught the Leprechaun? Click here >>

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I am thankful for Personal Progress! ~Maddy

From the Day I turned 12 I have been working on this wonderful book! It is for the young youth girls to grow closer and become more Christ like, and I must say It takes a long time! But every time i finish each value experience, or project I feel so great inside! I am so grateful for my leaders and parents for supporting me in everything! If it weren't for them I wouldn't have very much desire to do It! Thanks guys! Love ya

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Brett Can Make His Bed!

It's fascinating how quickly Brett learns how to do something. I showed him how to make his bed, and the next morning he jumped out of bed and made it all my his little self, and then came to show me how smart he was.

Here he is sitting on his "made by Brett" bed saying "ta-daaa"

now he's saying "oh ya, I'm awesome!" I hear these words about 20 times a day. His confidence is amazing!!

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LEAP YEAR 2012 Happenings!!

Leap year only comes once every four years, and it seems like leap year 2012 wanted to be a memorable one because many many exciting things happened in the Heiner home; here they are:

Anamarie loses tooth #5, and wakes up to $2 plus the "Leap Year Tooth". That's right, little miss Tooth Fairy told me to tell Anamarie that she gets to keep her tooth because it was such an important tooth.

Brett figures out the copy machine and makes 37 hand print copies...lol.

Taylor earns his Varsity Scout Letter at the Court of Honor

Mommy teaches the three little ones how to make "no bake cookies"

Maddy starts 7th Grade Track & Field...and just about dies form the brutal workout!

Brady preps to meet the top Executives at KLAS, for his new work adventure.

HAPPY LEAP YEAR 2012 - LOVE, THE HEINER'S

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Madison's 13th Birthday Invitation!!

I just finished designing Madison's 13th Birthday invitation for this Saturday, March 10, 2012. This will be her first birthday in many years, that she is not in Florida for her Nationals Cheer Competition. She wanted me to do something totally different with her invitations, but after I started my design work, she began to change her mind. Lots of pictures are coming soon!!

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I am thankful for Forgivness!~Maddy

I am so thankful that even If I make a horrible sin Heavenly Father will still forgive me!!! What would life be like If every time we did a sin and we wanted to forgive, but we couldn't. I would be in so much trouble at the judgment seat If Heavenly Father held me accountable for every little sin I have done! God promises us that every time we deeply forgive of our sins, He will forgive and COMPLETELY forget! I am so grateful for this wonderful gift, and I will never take it for granted.

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I am thankful for Temples! ~Maddy

Temples are such an amazing thing, for me they are just more proof that god lives and protects us, and wants us to live back with him in Heaven! It says that Temples are a tiny-tiny glimpse of what Heaven will be like. Whenever I see a picture of the temple I feel so relieved and comforted, and at that very moment I feel no need to think about the world around me, I just think about my goal and where I am headed to. I love temples, through the temple I can baptise family members that never got the chance to when they lived on this earth,   that is a true gift, because I am doing exactly what God wants us to do; serve others!!! I know someday I will be able to go into all of the different parts of the temple and see the wonderful house of god, I cant wait!!!:)

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