HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

We have definitely been busy this holiday season. We went on the Polar Express with Make-A-Wish (yes both of my kids are now Make-A-Wish kids; I will post on that later) where they road on the 'Polar Express' train to the North Pole to meet Santa, tell him what they want for Christmas and receive a present.



With all of the fun snow outside they bundled up to play in the snow. Kelsi made a snowman (just a pile of snow it was so cute but I didn't have my camera) and Cohen played until he fell face first in snow. He was done after that.
We went to the Hope Kids Christmas party (Hope Kids is a support community for children with life-threatening medical conditions. They put on events and activities for the children.) They had a lot of fun. Kelsi played with her very close friend who also has a heart defect. They saw, sat, and received another gift from Santa.We saw many familiar faces from Intermountain Healing Hearts and some of the mom's of children with cancer that I've come to know. It was nice for me to be around so many families who are in the same shoes as us (both cancer and heart) and some I've known for a little over a year now. Many of them I consider my second family. It's nice to have a support group of people who know exactly what you are going through. I now have many. ☺
We celebrated a birthday and had family over for a birthday dinner. I was extremely nervous to have Cohen around extended family for the first time since his diagnosis. Luckily no one was sick and Cohen seems to be healthy still. The kids had so much fun with cousins and my cousin's daughter. It was nice to see Cohen playing with children his age.
Christmas Eve we made cookies for Santa. That was fun. Cohen decided he'd rather eat the yellow frosting than frost the cookies.Christmas Day was so much fun! Cohen got off to a rocky onery start but after the second present he was so excited. Kelsi and Cohen received a lot of fun gifts from Santa, us, grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for all that you have done for Kelsi, Cohen, Chris, and me. We appreciate all of your love and support. This is definitely the season for me to reflect on that. I'm so thankful for everything we been blessed with. Even though we've had our share of hardships they've definitely been blessings in disguise. We've learned to appreciate others and all that we have, love with our whole heart, never give up, have faith, and hope with all of our hearts. (There are many many more but it's late and I can no longer think ☺)
Happy Holidays
~Ashley, Chris, Kelsi, and Cohen.