New Traditions

Wow... Halloween and Thanksgiving, done. Now we are celebrating Christmas all month long! Well that seems how we do it anyway. We started it off with Black Friday... no we didn't stay out all night shopping. Those days are in the past and now that you can buy everything online why waste my sleep! So we headed up to the North Pole. This is now going to be our new family tradition. Brayden loved it and we had so much fun. He was tall enough to go on most of the kiddie rides and he loved every single one of them! He is definitely my kid. I have loved amusement park rides ever since I can remember! We tried to visit Santa but again this year Brayden was having no part in it. Oh well... we will just keep trying until he loves it! :)

So here we go ... a month of craziness. We have holiday plans every weekend this month. Filled with Christmas parades, family recitals, holiday fests, and family gatherings! Oh and did I mention... Brayden is turning 2 at the end of the month. YES, I said 2! HOLY CRAP!!! My baby is getting so so big!!! Check it out yourself in the slideshow!

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The busy holiday season is here!!!

Oh my goodness! What a crazy crazy month October was! Every time I would sit down to update my blog something would come up and I never could get caught up. So now I have brought my laptop downstairs while I am baking cookies... so I can get this updated in between baking times.

We had a fun month but I am happy to say that I am glad it is over. I even took down all my Halloween stuff the day before because I was sick of looking at it. I know bah humbug on me. BUT now I am ready for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season!!!

Every year at church that have a day called Super Saturday. I LOVE IT! I love crafts and especially when I can get together with people I love. Here is one of the projects I did...


At the beginning of the month we took a drive to the mountains to see the pretty colors before they were all gone. We drove on a peak to peak highway and it was absolutely beautiful! We stopped at Echo Lake and walked around and let Brayden play in the snow for a bit. He loved it! We drove to Idaho Springs from there with a few stops in between. I love the mountains. I love exploring. I love the fresh air. I love the peace and quiet that comes with being up there. It truly is like heaven on earth. We stopped at Beaujo's Pizza for dinner. YUM! I could eat the crust and honey all day long! We had a great day and I'm glad we did when we did because I think the very next weekend it snowed real bad up there!

I was really excited to take Brayden trick or treating this year. I had chose his costume, which was the fireman. But then Brayden's cousin asked if he wanted to join in the group of costumes they were all dressing up as, Angry Birds. I of course couldn't pass that up. The only downfall to this was we had to make the costumes. They ended up being a little more time consuming then we had all planned but man did they turn out cute!

So this month we had Trunk or Treat, Northglenn Trick or Treat Street, and Boo at the Zoo. This was all days before Halloween. I always love going to Trunk or Treat. It's at my church and we have chili and cinnamon rolls, carnival games, costume parade and then everyone decorates their trunks and we go out to the parking lot and trick or treat. It's always a success and the kids always have so much fun.

We also did Boo at the Zoo again this year. I love it. Not only do the kids get to wear their costumes and get more candy but they get to see all of their favorite animals doing it! Good day and it's always crowded!

We tried something new this year and went to Nortghlenn High Schools Trick or Treat Street. NEVER AGAIN! Complete chaos! Not organized well at all and it takes FOREVER! And not fit for young kids. I understand that Halloween is all about ghosts and goblins, I get that. BUT don't invite a bunch of young kids to a Trick or Treat Street and then try to scare the hell out of them. Advise of an age that is appropriate for those types of places. A clown (like on the move IT) walked right up to Brayden and got in his face and then growled. I have never heard Brayden scream so loud. I was about to get into a huge fight in front of all the little kids. I so wanted to rip that mask off and pop him in the face. (Not sure why I didn't) Anyway the whole night was just annoying and a crazy mess. Like I said... never again!

So we get to Halloween night and Brayden I think was just done! He fell asleep in the car on the way over to my moms and had a hard time waking up once we got there. He was a bear once he woke up and screamed every time I tried to put his costume on. So we hunkered down and just handed out candy for the night at my moms. He loved it and probably had more fun doing that then if we had gone out. It was so cute to see him run to the door every time the doorbell would go off. So the night was still a success!

Also this month I have been taking more pictures and doing some research on photography. I have been tossing around the idea of getting into a photography side business. I love love love taking pictures. I always have a camera on me wherever we go. I love to catch all those memories! I have been told that I do a pretty good job. Now I just need that confidence in myself. My type of work isn't going to be the same as everyone else and I need to quit comparing myself to every detail out there. Or I will never feel good enough! So I am going to try it and see how it goes!

Well October is over and here we are at the end of the year. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Brayden's 2nd Birthday!!! Can't believe my little man is going to be 2 years old!!! He is so amazing to me and picking up on things so fast. He is my little music man. He loves anything related to music. He loves to play with drumsticks, he loves to sing and play his Elmo guitar, and he has recently picked up playing the piano. My mom just got one and he loves to play it. Oh and he always rocks it like a rock star in the car! I can't wait to get him started in some sort of musical lesson!

Alright ... well here's to another couple of busy months ahead!

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Love this time of year!

I get so excited at this time of year! It is truly my favorite season! I love the cooler weather, I love wearing hoodies and sweaters, I love the warm colors, I love to see all the kids playing in leaves, I LOVE HALLOWEEN, Corn Mazes, Pumpkin Patches, Haunted Houses, I love seeing the kids in their costumes, I love to carve pumpkins and I love the smells! And I love that it brings on the Holiday season for the rest of the year!

This last weekend we spent some time with some of Gary's family and drove up to Estes Park. We like to go up every year about this time to enjoy the colors and the Elk that are always down in town at this time of year. It was beautiful weather and the colors were so pretty! We had a nice relaxing day and brought up a picnic lunch and let the kids play at the park. We got lucky and all the Elk were right there where we were eating and playing! And I'm pretty sure the boys loved every minute of it!

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Papa and Nani's Visit

My dad and Lynn were just out for a visit. We had a great time as usual and stayed busy! They arrived on Tuesday evening. We surprised them and brought Brayden to the airport to greet them. It was fun and I don't think they were expecting us at all. Wednesday Gary had to work so my sister joined us and we did some shopping at Colorado Mills. Brayden got to ride the carousel a few times thanks to Nani and Papa. After shopping all day we just headed home and hung out for a bit. Nani wasn't feeling too well so we ordered some yummy Italian food and ate in. The following morning poor Nani still wasn't feeling well and had to go to Urgent Care. She had a real bad sinus infection so she was able to get an antibiotic. After her appointment we headed down to Colorado Springs for a few days. We stayed at a beautiful resort called, Cheyenne Mountain Resort. That first day we visited Seven Falls. You can climb steps to the very top if you want or sit at the bottom and enjoy the view. Just the first set of steps is 224 STEEP steps. My husband decided to go up. Me, being the dummy that I am, followed. WE MADE IT though! Just up the first set. I didn't go all the way because I didn't want to make everyone wait for us down below... ha ha ha ha! YA RIGHT, I thought I was going to die and my legs felt like jello, I wasn't sure how I was going to get down. Maybe next summer that can be goal, to make it to the top!

After Seven Falls we had reservations at the Flying W Ranch. So fun! They have a tinplate dinner with real cowboy singin! It was fun and the food was pretty good. You got your choice of steak or chicken, baked potato, applesauce, baked beans, spice cake, and a biscuit. And the best lemonade ever! We had a good time!

The next day we drove down to The Royal Gorge. It had been years since I had been there! I thought I was going to have to carry everyone across. LOL. My sister was having anxiety but crossed it even though she practically ran. Gary made it but had motion sickness a bit. My dad (sorry dad) was funny. He felt nauseous and was holding on to the rail. Just funny cause he was laughing at himself saying this has never happened before. I believe my dad and Lynn finally made it across but by the time they did and had gone back we couldn't find them. So we took Brayden to the petting zoo and he got to ride his first horse. Holding daddy's hand the whole way of course. But he still did so good and seemed to like it. We rode the carousel a few times too! It was a fun day and we all got a little sun!

After that we headed back to the hotel and decided it was pool time! We were all pretty wore out and just wanted to relax. And that we did! I now know that my son loves the HOT tub. I couldn't get him out of it. I was being as careful as I could and when I thought he had been in it long enough, he cried when I said it was time to get out.

That evening we had dinner at the little bar and grill at the resort. We played Wii and relaxed. Lynn wasn't feeling so well and my dad was pretty tired so they went up to the room. Brayden went up with them shortly after. Gary, Angie, and I hung out by the fire for a bit. It was a nice night.

The following morning we headed to Manitou Springs for breakfast. It was different but still pretty good. The place we picked was completely vegetarian. We didn't know that until we were pretty much seated. But it ended up being better than we thought.

Saturday evening was our last night with my folks. We had a little BBQ and just hung out at home. We had so much fun and such a nice visit with my folks. It's always sad to see them go back home. Thank you Nani and Papa for all the fun!!! We miss you and love you!!!

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We've Moved!

I have officially made the decision to never ever move during the summer again! SO HOT! I have never sweat that much before in my life! GROSS!!! But we are getting settled in to our new place and it feels like home!

So weird how things work out sometimes and I always know how God has his hand in everything we do. At the beginning of summer Gary and I talked about buying our own home and how we needed to financially get things straightened out to be able to do so. We want a home for our children and a yard they can play in. But right now we are just not able to do it. So we set some goals and made some plans. In the meantime we got a phone call from Gary's Aunt and Uncle asking to talk to us about something. We had no idea it would be one of our answers to our prayers. They invited us to live them for awhile. They had some things coming up that this would help them out with and also be helping us save some money for getting a new home! It was a win win situation. We have our own living area and it very comfortable here! I love my husbands aunt and uncle. They are such good, kind people. And I'm glad that we can help each other out right now. Brayden loves it here too. He has lots of room to play and a yard! He also has a new buddy! Gary's cousin is 6 years old and they never want to leave each other alone. It's cute. I think they help keep each other entertained.

Brayden is growing so fast! He is finally starting to talk a lot more now and actually making out sounds that I can understand a little bit better. He says dow(down), ah duh(all done) , hane u (thank you), owe(owe), guh (again) AND he says Joshua (gary's cousin). Although that one sounds like YAH-SHA. It's very cute and very funny! He loves his cartoons and of course my least favorite is his absolute, can't tear him away favorite. Caillou. Such an annoying show... BUT, I know if I need to get something done I can turn that one on and do it! And it makes him happy, so I'm all for that! He sniffs and crinkles his nose when I ask him what a pig says. He also says oof oof (woof woof) for dogs. Also if someone is sleeping and we tell him to be quiet he puts his finger to his lips and says "sshhh". He fakes sleeping to when he doesn't want to talk on the phone. Little stinker.

I got to do another photo shoot the other day for my friend Kara and her 2 boys! They are so cute. Here are a few of those! I am loving all the practice right now and enjoying learning how to use my camera!

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My first photo shoot

Here is my first shot at photography. I have always loved taking pictures and using my camera everywhere I go. But now I have a new camera and really want to see what I can do with it!

Here is my photo shoot with Olivia (6 mths old)

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Just Fishin'...

This last weekend we got to enjoy another relaxing weekend with some family at their house in Leadville! It was so beautiful and perfect weather too! It was nice to get out of the 90 degree heat. We did lots of fishing, played games, laughed and just enjoyed the outdoors! I love to get out of the city and enjoy the slow down. Thank you Henke's for having us come up with you! As always, it was great fun!

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We really needed this last weekend of fun. This month is going to be a bit crazy! All the rest of our weekends this month are booked! We are moving at the end of this month... so that already takes up most of our time. To be honest it was really an answer to prayer. Gary and I really want to buy a home but we have some other things we need to get taken care of first before we can do that. So we were trying to figure out what we were going to do. So funny how God works in my life. I have not been to church in awhile BUT not one day goes by that I don't pray. And I know that he listens and always answers even when I am at my lowest spiritually. So in praying and trying to figure out what Gary and I were going to do, Gary's Aunt and Uncle called us. They offered for us to live with them. This was huge for us! Not only will we be able to save money but we can also pay off some debt that we have! I am so excited! Just one step closer for us to be able to buy a house! I am looking forward to this move. Both Gary and I know it's the right decision for our family!

... Total change in subject... but I had to post these pictures, I just thought they were too cute! I was babysitting for a good friend of mine the othere day and he is a cubs fan too. So Brayden, of course, had to wear his cubs attire too!

This is the life...

I don't know if I have mentioned it before... but... I LOVE MY LIFE! I am so blessed to be married to the most wonderful husband who is so patient with me and loves me for me. I also have been blessed with a very very cute little boy! Although right now he seems to have hit the terrible 2 stage! The fits are something I never imagined! BUT one little smile or kiss from him and it just makes it all better! He is growing up so quickly! Still not a whole lot of talking. I am still waiting... His only words are: Uh oh
Hot
Wow
Mama
Da or dada
and then just some blabber.
He has almost all of his teeth now. We are just waiting for 1 more now I think. Oh and along with the terrible 2 stage he is the worst at sharing. The doctor told me at this age they have no idea what sharing even is and to tell all the older kids they need to share. But at some point they have to learn right? Everything right now is Braydens though (he seems to think) and we are still working on teaching him how to share.
He is now my little escape artist too and loves to be outside. He has never escaped without me knowing, yet. But he loves to test me while I'm sitting right here watching him.

At least he sat right on the step.

Brayden telling me to get my booty out there!

I tried another new recipe! It was YUMMY!

Chicken Enchilada Ring:

(ok, so it may not look great... but it was good!) My advice... don't buy generic crescent rolls! I try to buy generic everything and some things you just can't go generic on!
2 C. coarsely chopped chicken
1/4 C. chopped pitted ripe olives
1 C. shredded Monterey Jack/Cheddar blend
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies, undrained
1/2 C. mayonnaise
1 T. Southwestern Seasoning Mix
2 plum tomatoes
1 lime
2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips, divided
2 pkgs. crescent rolls
1 C. salsa
1 C. sour cream

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix chopped chicken, olives, cheese, green chilies, mayonnaise and seasoning mix in bowl. Seed and chop one tomato. Slice lime in half. Juice one half of lime to measure 1 t. of juice. Reserve remaining lime for garnish. Add chopped tomato and lime juice to chicken mixture. Reserve 2 T. crushed chips and add remaining chips to chicken mixture. Mix well.
Sprinkle reserved crushed chips over flat side of a large cutting board. Place dough onto chips and press down so chips adhere to dough.
Separate dough into triangles. Arrange triangles, chip side down, in a circle on a 13" baking stone. Wide ends should overlap in the center and points should be toward the outside. There should be a 5" diameter opening in the center.
Scoop chicken mixture onto the wide ends of the triangles. Bring points of the triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends. Do not cover filling completely. It should show in between each triangle.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
For garnish, cut remaining tomato into 8 wedges. Cut remaining half of lime into 4 slices, cut in half. Arrange between openings of ring where filling is showing. Serve with salsa and sour cream.
(Oh and I don't have a baking stone so I just used pizza pan! A small one so I didn't have much room to spread the dough out!)

New Recipes

I get so bored eating the same foods over and over for dinner. And I'm sure my husband doesn't appreciate it either. I just got into this funk. We make the same things every week it seems. You know, spaghetti, hamburgers, brats, tacos, steak. And then we start all over the next week with the SAME thing! UGH! Boring!!! So I was reading a friends blog and she has tons of recipes. I have copied her idea and will take pictures and post recipes. Because if your anything like me you need to see a picture with the recipe. I am trying 4 new dinner recipes this week and I am so excited. LOL.. yes I am laughing at myself.

The other night I made Upside Down Pizza:


1 pound beef
1 onion chopped
1 tsp garlic minced
1 16 oz jar marinara sauce -NOT SPAGHETTI SAUCE-
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mini pepperonis
2 cans crescent rolls

Brown Beef, Onion, Garlic then add 1/2 marinara to mixture.

Open 1 can of crescent rolls and roll them out to one sheet, place on greased 9x13 pan
Add meaty sauce mixture and add cheeses then add pepperoni's.
Top with remaining sauce, then remaining cheese.
Open last can of crescent rolls and roll them out too and place on top.
Sprinkle with Oregano and Parmesan.

Bake for 30 minutes.

I also made some good 'ol Monkey Bread... YUM!:


3 cans Buttermilk biscuits (not the flakey kind) - I used 4 cans!
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 sticks butter


Preheat the oven to 350.

Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.

Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. 3 will be really cinnamon-y. Dump this mix and the biscuits into a gallon size zip lock back and shake it up really well.

Drop all of the biscuit quarters into a bundt pan (or jumbo muffin cups). OR I just used a 9x13 pan.

Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium-high heat until combined. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, pour it over the biscuits.

Bake for 30-40 minutes (or 20 minutes for the muffin cup ones) until the crust is deep brown on the top.

I HATE MOSQUITO'S!!!

We had another fun, scratch that, another weekend of camping. I don't know what was more fun... how hot it was or the thousands of mosquito's! We left Friday evening a little later than planned so we didn't get up to our area until dark. We decided to go to Terryall and it's all first come first serve. We had a large group of us, so we took the chance of campsites even being open. On the actual lake it was of course completely full. So we drove further in and found a large spot that we had all to ourselves. The only bad thing was Gary and I have the only camper without a bathroom and we camped in open space! So every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to drive back to the lake where they had the bathrooms. No bueno! Oh and there was no shade for the HOT weather they were having there! UGH. AND the mosquito's were insanely annoying! I thought I was going to lose my mind. AND Brayden was teething and another eye tooth came through over the weekend. He cried nearly the whole time. Poor kid! Needless to say ... wasn't my favorite camping trip. I think we came home with over 100 bites on us each! BUT I did catch my first fish! I need more practice and can't wait to go fishing again!

We did see the most beautiful sunset ever as we drove into the valley and did some 4 wheeling. Even Brayden got to ride. When he wasn't crying he seemed to just enjoy wandering around camp. That made me not mind not being next to lake so he could just wander around and not have to worry so much.

I was sure glad to be coming home from this trip though. Usually I always want to stay longer ... but the mix of bugs and Brayden's crying I couldn't take it any more!

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This other slide show is from my cousins wedding in June. I am so lame and forgot my camera and so my cousin sent me these pictures!

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July 4th Weekend

I think I am still paying for this last weekend. I am exhausted!!! It seemed as though it was nonstop Friday though Tuesday.

Friday we thought we would test Brayden out on watching some fireworks and see how he would do before the big day. Gary, Brayden and I drove down to Coors Field and parked basically under where they let fireworks off. Good spot on a little hidden back road. Brayden did great. As a matter of fact they had really no affect at all on Brayden. He got bored about half way thru and just wanted to play in the back of the car. So I don't know what we were so worried about! :) It made me laugh because I was worried he would get scared from the booms but nope! A few times he would point at the really big loud ones and say, "woa", and then giggle. That was it. I'm so glad.

Saturday we invited ourselves over to my brother-n-laws house. (Thanks guys!!!). Poor Henke's... they had been working out on their deck area all day and we bombarded them with dinner and family. I'm sure they were exhausted! But they put up with all of us and we had so much fun. We brought some of our own fireworks and the kids seemed to enjoy that.

Sunday we met up with the Henke's again and went and walked around Bass Pro Shops, one of our favorite places. We then went over to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill for dinner and after that drove over to the stadium where the Colorado Rapids play and watched their firework show. The boys all had fun playing on the hill and running around and they had a really great firework show. One of the best I have ever seen!

I thought we would never get out on the 4th. Brayden I think had had enough. He was over-exhausted from the whole weekend. Fighting his naps all the way and was throwing major tantrums all day. So we cancelled our plans to go to the Broomfield fireworks. Brayden finally fell asleep about 5pm for his nap and didn't wake up till 730pm. I knew if we tried to go anywhere at that time we would NEVER find parking. Gary's Aunt Shelly and originally invited us over so we called and begged (ok so we didn't have to beg) but asked if we can take our invitation back and still come over. I'm so glad we did. We had so much fun! Their house backs right up to a field and they live right near where they let off fireworks for the City of Thornton. So we got front row seats almost. It was another great show! AND the whole neighborhood was one big party too. Everyone was doing fireworks and having BBQ's. It was great!

We had a great weekend and so much fun! Thank you everyone for celebrating with us!!!

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Sunday

Vacation is never long enough!

We just got back on Monday from such a fun long weekend in Chicago. We had a jam packed weekend of fun! Not only did we celebrate Fathers day there but my cousin also got married. Congrats Ashly and Rob!! It was a beautiful day!

I have been going to Chicago almost yearly now since I was 12 years old. So it's a lot of fun now taking my own son to do some of things I got to do when I was younger. My dad and Lynn packed our days full of fun! We enjoyed every minute of it too! Ok ... maybe not the minutes that Brayden screamed in the car because he wanted to be outside continuing in the fun and how dare he take a nap!

Thursday we got to enjoy a nice day at the Brookfield Zoo. I haven't been in years. I forgot how big it was and how beautiful it is. My cousin Kristen and her family have a membership so they got us all in for free and joined us for the day! We had so much fun. Brayden enjoyed going on the carousel with Nani and Mia. And of course they conveniently put it right at the entrance so when you are coming and going it's what all the kids see... and what kid do you know does not want to go for a ride! We had fun at the zoo and they had really nice exhibits.

After the zoo we went to Salerno's Pizza. This is my very favorite pizza place in all of Chicago. Okay ... so I haven't tried many there... but I am not really willing to. I LOVE IT! I know it definitely is better than any other pizza we have in Colorado... so this is a must when we visit Chicago!

Friday my dad and Lynn took us downtown. We went to the Shedd Aquarium first. I had never been there before even after all these years. So I was looking forward to checking it out. It sits right out on the edge of Michigan Lake. It's huge and there is a lot to see. The only unfortunate part was it was free day for the general area. There was a line wrapped clear around the building. My dad was the smart one though and had purchased our tickets online. So we were able to bypass the line and go right in! Good thinkin' dad! We got to see all sorts of fish, and turtles. They also had dolphins and a whale. We didn't think Brayden would sit thru a show so maybe next summer we can go to the dolphin show. We had a good time regardless. After that we took a water taxi over to Navy Pier. Here we bought tickets to go on the Architecture tour down the Chicago River. Brayden seemed to enjoy all the boat rides. The tour is pretty cool. They talk about all the old and new buildings in the city as you ride by. I guess most buildings aren't any older than 1930 because of the old "famous" Chicago fire that happened back in 1877(?). Pretty interesting.

Leaving the city was a rough one... Brayden cried almost all the way home. It wouldn't have been so bad BUT it's a long ride home from the city. It's not like Denver where you can be home in 20 minutes. Poor kid... no nap and overexhausted. He was screamin at me big time! After maybe 30 or 45 minutes of the scream he finally passed out.

We stopped at Portillos for dinner on the way home. Again... this is another favorite we hit every time we go to Chicago. They have the best italian beef sandwiches EVER! I don't even know where to get it in Denver. So anyone visiting Chicago... stop by!!!

Saturday was my cousin Ashly's big day. It was so pretty. She had picked like a watermelon color for the girls dresses. It was very nice and everyone and especially Ashly looked beautiful. My only regret was forgetting my camera this day! DAMN! So I snapped a few shots off of another camera and as soon as I have them I will post pictures from the wedding. She had a very nice ceremony in a really cute church. Had that cute old wooden church feel. The reception was held at a VFW turned banquet hall. It was very nice. The food was yummy, the dancing was fun and the bride was beaming! We all had a great time! Even Brayden was up till midnight jammin it out on the dance floor with us all!

Sunday we enjoyed a nice Father's day at home. My dad cooked some yummy BBQ. Italian sausage, ribs, hot dogs, and chicken. We had a very nice day and we were able to relax. It was nice. The weather was perfect too!

Monday was our last day. We met up with a good friend for lunch and then headed to the airport. Brayden did really well on both flights in and out. No crying. He did get a little antsy on the plane ride home. The only mishap... he pee'd thru his diaper right on to my lap! So that was fun! LOL... He did sleep for about the last hour on the flight home. Made it nice for me to be able to close my eyes for a few moments too!

We had a great time on our vacation and miss Nani and Papa already! Can't wait to see you again! Love you guys!

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Busy Busy

We've had so much rain here lately that this last weekend we were in desperate need to get out of the house. And that we did!

Saturday morning I got up early and went on a 5k walk with my mom that our church was doing just to get people thinking more positive about their health. It felt so good to get some exercise and just enjoy the beautiful weather, finally! Although that afternoon it got a little chilly. We still met up with some of Gary's family for a BBQ. His sister Alecia got leave from the Military for the weekend and surprised some of the family. So they had a nice little get together.

Sunday was probably the nicest day we have had in a long time. Gary, Brayden and I went to Mesa Trail head and did some hiking around for a bit and then drove over to Evergreen and did some more sightseeing. It was nice to get out and do some hiking and just enjoy the beautiful weather we were having.

Monday we spent the day with my mom and Jerry. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast, visited cemetery's and put flowers up on some of our family sites. Then we went to the Museum and saw the Pirates Exhibit. It was very interesting and fun!

I originally wanted a quiet relaxing weekend and it ended up being quite busy. But I enjoyed every minute!

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Brayden and Grammy after the Pirate Exhibit... no photography was permitted inside!

Catchin up on pictures...

Yes.. I am just now catching up. We have been so busy lately and Brayden caught the flu last week... so I am now catching up on the goods.

Mother's Day-
I had a really great Mother's Day. My husband took me to movie that morning. We saw "Something Borrowed". LOVED IT! Thought it was so cute. And then that afternoon my family and I went over to my Brother-n-laws sisters house for dinner. It was so yummy and so relaxing. We walked to a park so Brayden could play for awhile. It was so beautiful outside and just a very enjoyable day!

I love being a mom. I always wanted to have kids and knew I would like being a mother. I just didn't know I would enjoy it as much as I do AND fall in love this much with it.

I feel so lucky. Most kids I knew growing up that had to go through divorce in their family always seemed to have such a hard time. But I always felt so lucky I got 2 moms out of the deal. 2 moms growing up who showed me so much love and support. They showed me how to be a great mom. They showed me how to be a parent first with my children but that you can also be the best of friends. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I love both of them so much and I am so grateful for all they have done for me.

I am talking as if this is all in the past. They still continue to show me this love and support and now I am more grateful than ever for our friendship that we have built over the years! So THANK YOU! And I love you both!!!

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Camping-

Yes, we have gone on our first camping trip this season! We had so much fun. EVEN THOUGH... I told Gary last year before this season started, 'I will never go again before Memorial Day Weekend because it's just to cold'. Yeah I caved. We only went up for 1 night to Carter Lake. And YES it was cold. Actually Saturday when we got up there it wasn't too bad. Bundled up in jackets and hung out by the campfire. We luckily have heat in our camper so during the night we always stay toasty warm! Rained all night so we woke up to puddles all around and Brrr cold in the morning. Glad it was only for one night. No matter the weather though, Brayden wanted to be out in the open air and playing. I didn't get to take many pictures because my fingers were froze so here are the few I got.

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