Reflections.....A New Influence....

My life has changed so much in the last 6 months. I have moved with the boys into my mom's, began commuting everyday, learned to sleep alone, been forced to search deep in my soul to find the strength and desire to press forward in a positive way, and had to learn how to enter the dating world after 10 years. 

I have to admit, dating is FUN! Way more exciting and easier than I thought. I've done things I've always wanted to and had different people show me a new version of life I never knew existed. 

I've had the amazing opportunity of having one man in particular influence my life immensely. He has eased me out of my comfort zone, is teaching me to live in the moment and offers support in all of the right ways...not to mention we work so well together.  

The latest adventure he's taken me on was snowshoeing. I have to admit, for someone who had never done something like this, it was super fun. 

 The mountains were gorgeous, the day was so pretty and the peaceful quiet of being away from everyone was priceless. I had never taken the time to relax, and really take in the scenery. It was breath-taking.

 I've also been trying out some "camo" inspired attire lately. This really isn't my hat, but I have tried to enjoy other color schemes than my black work clothes. Think I pull off "hunter-wear?" :)

Zac is also super sweet with the boys. He is so positive with them, but also helps me when they're naughty. The support he gives me when I'm disciplining them is one of my favorite things about him. (I know that sounds bad, but it's a nice change for me) 

We play games, watch movies, cook dinner and hang out at his house on a regular basis....I keep wondering what single guy would want an instant family right? For some reason he kinda likes the three of us. 

Carter loves going over to Zac's and learning all about being a firefighter....

 Braxton thinks fighting fires is awesome, so he's always up for "helping" Zac. 

The positive environment, support and fun-loving attitude he provides for all of us has been just what we've needed. 

Thanks for being amazing to us, Zac. 

Superbowl.....Valentine's

This year the boys and I were lucky enough to watch the Superbowl at the fire station. Seriously, what could be better for two little boys...fire trucks and football?! It was really fun for all of us to hang out while the guys were on duty. 

What's not to love about junk food and TV right? The "theater room" (as Carter and Brax call it) was perfect to watch the game. The boys literally ran around the station with each other and completely wore each other out. This is how I found them when I realized how quiet they were being...

 Here's the little trouble-makers looking very sweet and innocent. Actually I do have to admit, it was actually super chill having all the boys run around and play so well with each other. 

 After the game was over, it was clean up time....and of course Brax was ALL over that! This kid cracks me up! It was a great way to spend the Superbowl, the boys haven't stopped talking about the day they spent at the fire station. 

 We have quite the drive now that I live in Clearfield every morning and evening. The other morning Brax was complaining about the sun in his eyes.....then he proceeded to ask for my sunglasses. Since he was doing such a great job problem-solving I gave in. This is how I found him at a stop light....

 Valentine's Day is tomorrow! I don't know about the rest of the world, but I'm so ready for this holiday. There have been so many little events I've missed out on because of working 50 hours a week, but this is one I'm going to be all over. 

I made red waffles, conversation heart cupcakes and "pink milk" Though I had to stay up late to do this so that it would be ready in the morning...it was way worth it. 

 Seriously, these mini cupcakes turned out better than I thought. I even got my laundry done while they were cooling. (Multi-tasking is a serious must now-a-days)

 About 2 weeks ago I got these cute guitar valentine's shipped to the house. I was so excited to see them...and they turned out just like I'd hoped. Carter and Brax wrote their names (well Brax mostly just drew on his guitars) and we stuffed each one. I did a few every night because there were 48 to do! But it was really fun to do these with the boys and have them write their names on them. 

 This is what the boys will get to wake up to in the morning. I can't wait to see their little faces. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

New Year's 2012...

2011 is now over...and my New Year's post is a little late...but here it is. Ryan, JuJu and I took the boys to the Treehouse Museum for the countdown to noon. It's actually a really cute event that the Treehouse puts on every year. I try to go every year but I missed out last year, this year I knew we had to go. 

The boys loved it....

 We made party hats for the craft....

 The cutest little boy ever...Charley...came with us this year and it was super fun. He seriously is adorable and is really fun to see how much he's grown. 

 Cute "baby Charley" as Brax and Carter call him, was the only one who actually wore his hat that we all made. 

 I am so glad I got to take the boys this year and have fun with my favorite boyfriends on New Year's. 

 We all loaded up and met up with the Davis bunch at the Hill Aerospace museum. Carter was so excited to see Hunter....

 Brax climbed up on a chair and chatted it up with one of the volunteers there....super funny!

 Brax and Brin....being super cute together. We pass by the Aerospace museum everyday on the way to school and work, and my cute Braxton always says, "Airpanes with Binley" it's really cute!

 Where do you take 5 kids and 4 adults for lunch all together? McDonalds! I don't have any good pics from there because the kids were playing and the adults just talked the whole time. We were there for almost 4 hours. Really fun!

I'm so glad that we all got the chance to play with the kids, enjoy some good conversation and ring in the New Year with some great memories!

Ogden City's Finest Moment....

Ogden City rallied together over this past week because of an officer killed in action. I have to say, the community outreach, compassion and thoughtfulness that has come out of this tragic event has been enlightening. 

It broke my heart to hear that a young officer was killed on duty last week. He left a wife and two small children behind, which hits close to home for me as a mom. It has been truly inspiring to see the events that have taken place because of this. 

Today was the funeral and procession along Washington Blvd. Even though it was about 2 degrees and I had a an overwhelming amount of work that still needed to be done, the opportunity was once in a lifetime. 

The Ogden City Fire Department was there to show support as well, the American Flag hung from two ladders....

 MarketStar on Washington and 25th also had signs in their windows showing honor and love for the fallen officer...

 The motorcycle police officers were the first to go through....watching the fireman as they controlled the mood of the crowd was amazing.

 The fallen officer was on a fire truck with other officers on guard. The most heart-wrenching part was watching the fire fighters slowly salute them....it literally brought tears to my eyes. 

 Although it was an unfortunate reason, it was a fun surprise to see Zac during work. Full uniform on a fireman is something I could get used to. 

I'm so glad we had the chance to participate in this event and make the memory of Officer Francom live on. 

Christmas Eve....Julia's Birthday...

Christmas Eve happens to be a HUGE deal in my family. For obvious holiday reasons, but also because of my sister's birthday. We really go overboard for her because a Christmas birthday is not super awesome. 

We opened presents....

 Made cookies for Santa...and some for us....

 talked about helping Santa....and the real meaning behind Christmas...

 And finished off the night with football cake! Pretty random, but super fun. I found these candles that the flame actually is the same color as the candle. You can't see it really well, but literally the fire was red, green and blue....super cool!

 Here's the end result for our cookies for Santa....

Thanksgiving....waaaay Late!

I am downloading everything from my phone and updating the blog, so I'm way late on the holidays. (A camera is something I didn't get in the divorce, so I've been using my phone)

On Thanksgiving, the boys spent the morning and early afternoon with me and my family before heading off the the Morris' to spend time with Scott and his family. 

My mom's friend Jay came over to help cook everything that day and included the boys in the whole mix too!

 I don't have more pics of the actual Thanksgiving day, but the next day....Black Friday to be exact....my friend Zac and I took the boys to Cabelas. The boys were super excited!

 I have to admit, I've never been to Cabelas, especially with that amount of hectic people running around, and enjoyed myself more! The boys behaved, we played with everything, and Zac taught us about the animals and such there. 

We ended our day by taking the boys, and his dog Lilly to the park. Brax just loves that dog, she's super sweet!

Super fun holiday weekend!

Updates....

We had our first snow about 3 weeks ago and the boys couldn't have been more thrilled! I was super sick, and really couldn't go outside with them, so my mom brought the snow to us. 

The boys thought it was pretty cool!

 I've been trying to make sure to spend time individually with each boy every day....Carter and I had some fun pulling faces together and checking it out on my phone....

 Though Braxton didn't participate....he wanted in on the fun when he saw Carter and I laughing hysterically. 

 I just love these two! Knowing that I'm now a single mom and that I am not only putting one kid through a divorce but two has been really hard for me to digest. However, knowing that these two boys have each other through everything is comforting. I know that no matter where these two are, whether it's with mom or dad, they will be together. I'm truly glad for that. 

 This is the cool bunk bed i found on KSL for them when we moved in. It's perfect because Brax has a problem with falling out of bed, and Carter has always wanted a slide in his room....like I said....PERFECT!

 It's been an adjustment for me to sleep alone now. After so many years of sharing a bed with someone, the idea of being alone is weird. But it's been almost 6 months now and I am fully enjoying every minute of having my own space. I love my bed, it has so much storage and has my favorite pictures and handprints of my boys. 

Overall, we are adjusting to everything and taking it one day at a time. It's been a learning curve for me, but it's getting easier each day.