christmas time at the cemetery

we miss our little man as christmas time rolls around, but we love that we know where he is and that through our saviors atoning sacrifice we will be able to live with him once again and have infinity more christmas' with him. we cherish the memories we have and can't wait to make more christmas memories with him. 

(check dad out. he's adorable.)

thankful

as this thanksgiving season comes to a close, we reflect on all we have and are so very grateful for the many blessings that heavenly father blesses us with. we are thankful for eternal families and for the knowledge we have that we will see sweet cooper again. we are eternally grateful for our savior and for his atonement- because without it, we would not have the knowledge we do that we will be able to live as a family again. we are thankful that through thick and thin, we know that we have each other.
we know that we have a heavenly father who knows and loves us, and we rely on him each and every day. we love when we can feel of coopers spirit and we know he is not far away.

we missed our little man as another year of christmas tree picking came around, but we know where he is and we know he probably picked out a large tree of his own; to decorate with chocolate and naked snow men (; 
let the christmas countdown begin. we turned on our lights and started the christmas decorating today!! we are so excited for this wonderful season full of cuddling, hot chocolate and our saviors love.

let it snow

We had our first snow fall of the season, and it obviously makes us think about Cooper. He absolutely loved the snow and Christmas season. We have no doubt that if he were still with us he would have run out in his little boxers and made naked snow angels and snow men to match.
Today, Kennedy and I, (Hunter) braved the cold and made a hop-skip-and a jump up to the cemetery and pranced through the six inches of snow to stand with our little guy. We love the feeling of peace that we have up at his spot, and something about the snow makes it that much more... peaceful, clean and inviting. The white blanket over the grass is so pure and gives us a little glimpse of what heaven will be like. (With snow, of course.)
We are truly grateful for the knowledge that we have that we will be able to live with Cooper again- and make naked snow angels and snowmen. We are grateful that we can visit his spot and feel him near. We are grateful that we have and love each other.

What are you grateful for this season?

it's been a long while

So sorry, it has been so long since we've posted on here... but I (Hunter) promise to start being better about it. These will be posts about our every day life and our constant, continual love for our perfect little pirate.

This halloween, we dressed up as the cast of Despicable Me. We know for sure that if cooper were here, he'd be Vector, (because of the orange jump-suit) We miss that sugar crazy little booger each and every day and our love for him grows stronger as the years go on. We know where he is, and we know we will see him again. 

Have a wonderful day and we hope you check back soon.

to read more about our little family, read Cooper's sister- Hunter's blog here.

christmas 2011

we made it one more year. although our hearts are heavy and ache for our dear cooper, we know where he is and we know without a doubt that we will see him again. we as a family are so grateful for our savior, jesus christ; especially at this time of year when we can pause and reflect on the great sacrifice that he made so we can once again be with cooper.

our favorite sight is the sunset up at the cemetery. tonight, we just so happened to capture that view with coops christmas tree and decorations. we hope you enjoy your holiday season! remember what the true meaning is as you tuck your little ones in bed this night.

happy birthday cooper:

we love you so much today buddy! happy and sad tears have been shed as we remember you and your loving spirit. we have felt you and we hope that we can continue to feel you as the days go by.

be well angel boy, till we meet again.

we love you!

two years- a letter from coop's sister.

today; july 31, 21011, marks the 2 year anniversary since your passing.

wow how time has flown by. it seems like just yesterday you were bossing me around, refusing to let me put sunscreen on your tan tan body, running around without clothes or shoes on, refusing to eat anything i made for you, being your silly silly self. i miss it. i miss you

around this time every year, memories come flooding in. feelings come flooding in. its hard. it takes my breath away, and sometimes i just want to sit and cry. but i know i cant. i have to keep going, keep breathing, keep living.

every once in a while, your accident will ring heavily in my head, and i will remember the emotions and feelings that i had that day and the days and weeks that followed. its not fun. i remember when chance told me about it. i remember the long, hard drive home from 7 Peaks. i remember how i couldn't sleep at all that night, and how i got in bed with mom and dad. i remember when the feeling of shock and numbness went away and reality hit me; that you were really gone. i remember that feeling of absence that no one could take away. i remember feeling SO frustrated because i couldn't see or hear you.

but then i remember the good things. the reassuring peace re-enters my mind, and for a moment everything is okay again. i remember how strong your spirit was for a long time and how grateful i was that you stayed close to my heart. i remember holding your hand at the mortuary, and for the first time since your passing, seeing your face as you ran to me. i remember being able to hear your laugh, and hear you say my name the way you did when you were here. i remember the time when you visited me in my dream, the most real feeling dream i have ever had. i am so grateful for those amazing experiences that i have had. i hope they never stop!

cooper, i have learned a lot through this trial. i have learned that you cant have happiness without a little pain. but i also have learned that through that hurt, i will be made strong once again. i can rise above this, and i will. it seems that every time i have one of those, "this isn't fun" experiences, something comes over me and lets me know that this is only going to make me better. after every dark feeling i have, i remember you and your sweet face and i am made whole once again.

i miss everything about you. honestly. even though you were a little stinker most of the time. i miss hearing you whine because you want gum. i miss helping you secretly reach the chocolate even after mom told you that you couldn't eat any till after dinner. i miss teaching you. i miss taking pictures of you. i miss snuggling with your warm little body, and feeling your heartbeat and your small, shallow breaths. i miss hearing you laugh and cry. i miss your little hands. i miss your tiny, yet perfect nose. i miss you skinny stick legs and your flimzy arms. i miss your pearly white teeth, and your perfect blonde hair. i miss bribing you to hear you say "i love you hunter, my favorite sister ever." i miss your giggle. i miss the soft kisses that you would give me as i left for school. i miss coming home and recieving a big bear hug from you.

i love looking back and being able to remember times that i helped you. i am grateful for those times. they show me to never take for granted what you have. you never know how quickly something will be gone. i cherish all of those funny little memories, and think of them often. some of them make me laugh, while others move me to tears. each of them good memories.

i am so grateful for the eternal perspective you have helped me to attain. because of you, i know where i want to end up, and who i want to be there with me. because of you, i like the way i should so i can stand worthily at the feet of my heavenly father and have him say to me, "you served me well my little child, come into my arms to stay."

cooper, today i am thankful for you. for everything you have taught me. for the doors you open up for me each and every day. i am grateful that i can take quiet moments to remember you, and in those quiet moments, i can feel your sweet spirit. i am grateful for the memories. i am grateful that because of you, i know without a doubt that i am a daughter of god. i know that my heavenly father loves me. i know that i have a savior that died for ME so i can live with you once again. i know that he felt every sad and lonely feeling that i have ever felt, and he is always there to renew my spirit and mind. i know that i can live with you, mom, dad, carson, kennedy, duncan and lincold again. i know so many things because of you sweet boy. i truly know that when i crumble to my knees, you will be there to hold my hand and walk me through this. you have many times, and i have seen your hand in my life.

i miss you, but i know where you are. i can feel you in my heart every day. i know that you are watching over me every day, and i know you're not gone forever. in heavens time, you're only seconds away.

i love you cooper, and i miss you more and more every day. i also appreciate you more and more every day, but i know that you are here with me.

dont get too big on me, okay? i love you.

love always and forever,

your sister, hunter.

rest well my little angel boy.

don't forget

2nd annual cooper's run 2011.

it is going to be so fun and we would LOVE to see you all out there. we have some amazing things planned!!

so get on your computer and REGISTER!!!

coopersrun.org

you'll love it.

even if you're not a runner, get a bike... rollerblades... ANYTHING (:

just come and support!!

APRIL

{as of now}

this month is easter. we are so lucky to have each other. we are so lucky to know that we have a savior who died for us so we could return to him again. we are so lucky to know that he was resurrected and that we will live again. we know that he lives, and as long as he lives, he loves us. we are so lucky for this gospel. it makes us all want to be better. we can not wait to see our little cooper again, and we cherish every memory and feeling that we have. we are so lucky to have had so many in the short time we had him on the earth.

this month, we also put coopie's little headstone in::

it is perfect, and it is even more beautiful than we imagined.

thank you to everyone who helped.

thank you for all of your love and support.

we love you

MARCH

this month, we are lucky to love each other.

scroll to read about the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011

lately.

it has been so crazy lately. we've slacked on blogging! so so sorry!!

CHRISTMAS

we sure do miss skiing with our little buddy!!

JANUARY

we hung some snowflakes in the trees and had fun balls hanging.

no pictures for this month!! SORRY!

FEBRUARY

we have no pictures for this month either.

we are awful, so sorry.

as we thought of cooper, we could feel his love.

we love you coopie.

christmas 2010

another christmas where our hearts are grateful for our eternal family, and for cooper who reminds us every day who we want to become, and for a baby jesus who we love and adore as we cary the light of christ in our hearts.

Halloween 2010

We were all wondering what to be for Halloween, when Quinn suddenly thought of this amazing idea! We would be Cooper's Runners! Wear orange pants, and blue sweat bands.

We all dyed our pants to be orange or blue, or a little of both. It was a funny process, but they turned out great!

New Rings

This year for Cooper's birthday, we all got new CTR rings.

Not only do these rings help us to choose the right, but they help us to think of Cooper.

(Cooper Think Rings)

They really remind us of who we want to be, and how we need to act so we can live with Cooper again.

Cooper's Run 7/31/10 (sorry so late)

this year was the first annual coopers run! it was so fun! there were so many people there! the feeling of the day was so peaceful! we could feel cooper all day! he was there, watching over us!

this has been such an amazing journey. lots of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it has been a very beneficial experience. we as a family have grown in so many ways that we feel we couldn't have otherwise. we miss him so much every day, but we know where he is... and we know he is with us when we need him most!

after the run, we went up to little cooper's resting place, and watched the sun go down. Quinn found a bagpipist that came and played very sweet music while we were there. we as a family sat there in silence, thinking and pondering. we were all in tears by the end of it. good tears. we all thought a lot about cooper, and how much we miss him, and we thought about how lucky we are to have each other. we don't know what we would do if we didn't have each other.

we love, and are grateful to all of you who participated in the run in ANY way! thank you so much for your support!

Happy 6th Birthday Cooper!

Today was a PERFECT day! There are still no words to describe how our hearts are feeling, but we are taking it one moment, one heart beat, one breath at a time. We know where he is, and that is so comforting. We love each other, and we lean on each other more and more every day. We can hardly wait for the day to come when we will see him, and hug him again.

Thank you for all of the prayers, texts, notes, and other means of your condolences. We appreciate them all, and we love you!

Happy Birthday Cooper Hamblin Kofford! We love and miss you so much!