It's Been a while!

Hi Everyone,
Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I have posted. I guess so much has been going I haven't even thought about it.
We started Zaden in preschool. And he loves it. He was getting really stir crazy at home, and needed something to get focused on. He was really pushing me to let him go to school which I thought was kind of crazy for a 3 year old but, he is doing really great and I am glad I listened to him. He really loves going to school.
I haven't lost anymore weight yet, but it has been a little hard because of holidays, but I am going to strive to lose some more pounds in the month of December, so cross your fingers.
We had a really good halloween, braddock loved saying he was a pumpkin and zaden loved being a soldier, he still wears his costume.
Overall, things are going really well and now we are excited to get ready for santa to come and to have a good christmas at home.

Our Family Photos

We decided it was time for some different, more fun pictures this year. Usually we do the wamart thing. But that just wasn't cutting it for me. For me I think they charge to much for what you don't get. So I asked around to some friends and found a great mom that loves doing it. Her name is Kristi Simmons. She did an amazing job and my family just loved working with her... the best part is that she just gave me a disk of everything she took and I have tons of different pictures to choose from!!! Here is just a few of what she took.

The first 10 are the Hardest!

Well my title is the truth. I have finally lost my first 10 pounds. The sad but good part is it only took me a week. Thanks to some very motivating people I have finally taken it upon myself to smack myself upside the head and get started. So for the last week I have pushed myself, with the wonderful help from my husband to really get started with losing weight. It was kind of hard to just fully dedicate myself to stop doing some habits and start better habits. But I learned from a really good talk I heard recently that it takes a couple weeks to really develope something into a habit. So hopefully now I will have more active updates about losing weight. I am really motivated and excited to get where I want to be!!! Thanks to all of you wonderful people in my life who have helped to motivate me!!!
Yay for my first 10 pounds gone!!!!!

I took some pictures and decided to try the picnik website I have been told about. It is too much fun. If you haven't tried it you really should. So if you wanna see what it is about you can look at some of these photos, or go try it.

I'm just having too much fun!!! I really can't help it....

I absolutely love this one, it started out a a picture from the 4th of july and now it looks like a sketch. I love, love ,love this picture!!

ER and Stitches

We had a not so fun night last night, as you can see from the pictures. I was getting Zaden in his pj's and he started jumping around on his bed trying to play. The next thing we know he fell straight in his bed post. I immediatly grabbed him because I heard a crack. My first though was oh no he just lost some teeth. When I picked him up blood was just gushing everywhere. It took me all of 2 seconds to see that it was big and very deep. I yelled to Aaron and told him we had to go to the ER. Let me tell you that was the fastest drive to the emergency room. When we got there we got in and I was covered in blood. (Sorry if this is too much). I had blood from my elbows to my fingers on both arms. All over my shirt and my neck. And Zaden had a ton on his bare chest.
He only cried for a few mintues at home. But when the nurse checked his vitals he flipped out. He was screaming and there was nothing anyone could say or do to calm him down. Finally, when we got into the room he calmed down and watched the disney movie they had on.
He is such a tough little guy. the doctor's were so impressed. He screamed when they numbed his face. But the whole time while he got stitched up he just laid there calmly and let the doctor get it done, which was good because they were going to restrain him but the doctor gave him a chance. We were so proud of him for being a toughy!!! The grand Total was 10 stitches!!!

So we made it through our first ER visit for one of the boys. And I will tell you I hope we never have to again because it scared me to death!!!! Honestly Aaron and I both agreed that with how much of a monkey Zaden is we are suprised he made it to 3 without already being there. The bad part is Braddock is just as much of a monkey, so heaven knows what the future will bring.

Zaden is doing much better today, for the most part it is like nothing happened to him. Which for a mom is kinda scary because I am trying to get him to take it kinda easy. The doctor was also worried about a head injury because of it, but like I said he is a big toughy, and apparently he is a lot tougher than I thought!!!!!

Fun at the Fair

We had a really fun day at the fair this weekend. The boys got to help out with farming. and make sock puppets. And one of their favorite parts was getting a balloon. There are not very many pictures of braddock because he was just hanging out in his car seat. He is teething and was more interesting in watching than doing. We all had a lot of fun. And Zaden and Braddock loved getting lots of candy.

Cookin' Fun

Zaden and I had some fun making peanut butter bars. He had a lot of fun helping out, with putting most of the ingredients in by himself.

Proud of our Daddy!!

We are so proud of our daddy/hubby. He started going back to school this summer and he did so good. We just got his final grades back and he got an A and 2 b+, how awesome is he!!! Fall semester left and he is done with snow college and moves onto Utah State. I am so proud of him, he had such a hefty load this summer with school and jobs and everything else and still managed to do the best he could. Me and the boys just wanted to take a moment and give him some praise for all his hard work.

4 Years TODAY

Aaron and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary today... I have the best husband ever. He has been celebrating it all week. He brought home flowers on monday. Today he took of work, got a babysitter, and took me golfing and out to lunch. It was so much fun, even though we are both beginners and kinda stink. It was a blast to have a fun date like that. This weekend we get to have a getaway without the kids, I am so excited. I love my husband, I am so blessed to have such a sweet, loving man that is perfect for me. I love you sweetheart. Happy Anniversary, I can't wait to spend another year with you.

Pictures!!! --July Fun--

Here are some pictures of all of the things we did in July. There are quit a few. We had a ton of fun, and were very busy.

We celebrated Zaden and Grandpa Sorenson's Birthday last week. Zaden had a ton of fun. He had a Diego birthday, he got diego balloons, and cupcakes. Some of his favorite presents were the playdough, play gun, and bike. He had a really good birthday.

Grandpa turned 50 this year, and of course we threw all of our jokes his way. But we sure do love him. It is a tradition to make homeade ice cream. This year all the grandkids got to help, and they sure had a blast. All of the men in the family get the fun job of cranking the ice cream until it is ready

The twin babies were there to visit. Laken and Lukin. They are so cute. And they are so sweet. They had me wrapped around their tiny fingers. Usually I am not very good at holding other babies than my own, I get really nervous and they usually cry. These two I could have taken care of all day. They fell asleep on me, and when they started to cry I could actually calm them down. I had too much fun.

This month has been crazy, that is for sure, but it sure was a lot of fun. I also added pictures of the bear track that we got they are kind of fun to see.

Tomorrow he turns 3!

Well tomorrow is Zaden's birthday. He is so excited that it is finally his turn. He has gone through mine and Braddock's and he is just too excited that now it is for him. So we asked him what he wanted for his birthday, this is what he said. "BIKE". Since then he has added cupcakes and balloons. I am very excited to celebrate his birthday, it should be a lot of fun. So since we are going out of town, Happy Birthday to Zaden!!!!! He will be 3!!!!

(Okay so my next post will have pictures of everything, I PROMISE!!)

We hope everyone has a great 24th of July!!

Our fourth of July

Ok, once again I don't have pictures, and I am sorry. I do have lots to put on here, but I wanted to get zadens' birthday pictures before I posted them all. So on my next post I promise lost of pictures for you all to see.

We have had a great July so far. Even though I have to admit it got hot fast. We went to Richfield for the 4th of July and had a blast!!! For those of you who don't know Richfield does some very interesting things for the 4th. First there was the diaper derby. (for those of you that live in Richfield you can skip this cause you alreasy know, hehehe) okay so the diaper derby is where parents can sign there babies up to race against other babies their age. They either crawl, walk, or walk and pull something. But the one to get to the adult first go on to the next round and so on until they get 3 winners and they all get cash savings prizes. So I have to say I like to watch it, some of those babies are really cute. This year one of my neices was in it. Belinda was so cute she didn't move she just sat and smiled her big grin at everybody!!! The other babies in her heat didn't move for a long time either, they all were just having more fun sitting. So poor Belinda didn't make it past the first round, but she looked really cute with her sweet smile anyway!!!
Well then on the 4th we of course watched the parade. And both of my bays got lots of candy, and I mean lots!!!!!! They had a lot of fun though. After the parade we went to the city park where they have a lot of different booths set up, and food. So we just hung out at the park for a couple of hours and zaden got to make a race track at the home depot booth!!!
The big thing at the park for the kids is the fish grab. Now I have to say Everyone including me let's their kids do this, however I think it the really well almost horrifying, for lack of a better word. They have these sqare wooden pools set up for different age groups. Then they put these huge fish in and say "go" and these couple hundred kids just go running in the pools after these poor fish trying to catch them.... Zaden did not do good. The fish were really big and he just got scared of them, but that's okay maybe next year. Now the best part of all and hopefully people see the humor more than anything in this. My nephew has a prostetic leg okay, well when he went in after the fish his leg fell off. Seriously those poor little kids were picking up his leg and didn't know what to make of it. I'm sure you can imagine the horrifying looks on there faces. Not to mention the adults of those kids had no idea what to say. Little Nate is really good with his prostetic, thank heavens he doesn't get embarrassed. He was so excited about getting a fish I don't know how long it took his to realize his prostetic was gone.

So all in all in was a good weekend. Zaden loves playing with his favorite cousin Riddick. And Braddock had fun showing off his great walking skills.

I also had my 5 year High School Reunion. I didn't really go, but I was glad to see everyone that I got to at the park. Life seems to be really good for everybody.

Okay well like I said I will for sure have pictures on my next post I will just post zaden's b-day and the rest of the month together!!! I can't believe he turns three next week!!!

Time for a Change

Well it is time for a change. For me at least. Something I have been struggling with since I got married is losing weight. Granted having kids immediatly, and then everything that happened with Braddock. It has been a rough 4 years on my poor body. So I am officially maing a committment to myself and my wonderfully supportive family to lose some serious weight. I have no idea why I am putting it on my blog, other than to hopefully get support from my friends and family. I will not say how much I have to lose because, well that would just be embarrassing. But I do have a goal. We are going with Aaron's family next june to Yellowstone, that is my deadline. I am going to do it the old fashioned way. By simply watching what I eat, and exercise. I use to love to exercise and I have developed a hate for it. But I guess when you are out of shape that can happen. I don't like to exercise by myself, so i will hopefully be joining our rec. center soon so I ca go to classes. I swear this is not another "I'm Fat" so i'm going to lose weight saying, and then not do it. I really am just dedicated to be where I want to be. As I told my husband I don't want my kids to remeber me looking like this. Plus, I want them to know that physical health care is important.
So I think I will do regular updates I think to post how well I am doing, so it is okay if you give feedback. And hopefully soon we all will be able to start seeing a difference. I have no intentions of posting a before picture. Maybe I will of progress. But just don't expect a before until I have a good after one to put by it. It will look much better. So I guess here I go.

What the 4th of July means to us!

My wonderful husband received the opportunity to write how he felt about the fourth of July for his deparments news letter. I am very proud of him that as a former member of the Army he cares so much. I would like to thank him for serving to keep our country free. We would also like to thank many of our friends and family who have served or are serving. Thank you. And thank your families. We love you so much and pray for you everyday. I hope you enjoy and remember to always say thank you to our family, friends, men, and women who are serving to keep us free to be on this beautiful land. Happy fourth of JULY!!!!!
What does the 4th of July mean to me?
A Special Day. The Fourth of July is the most special of days to
me. As a former soldier it stands for the loss of life for something more powerful than anything else any man ever invented...Freedom. When I think of the Fourth of July I often do not think of the countless parades, or camping, or anything of that nature; I am thinking of the countless soldiers who have stood guard over the thing that they value more than life itself, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think of countless men in the area of Valley Forge,
freezing to death, to protect their young freedom. I think of the people looking down a barrel at someof their neighbors and loved ones in Gettysburg, to give others in this great nation that same freedom. Of men dying in the trenches of the Great War, and landing on Omaha beach near the town of Normandy to a hail of machine gun fire; all to preserve freedom. I think of the history of my own battalion that I was a part of and their heroics in Korea. Not a man was lost, as they killed or captured 2000 Chinese; then in Vietnam as men exited a helicopter to never see anything but jungle again. These are the ones that I think of during this time of year, along with my own comrades in arms who have been and are fighting to preserve our freedom, by ending tyranny on the other side of the world, and who have brought freedom to a people that have never known it. These are they that I think of as I stand as 'Old Glory', the Red, White, and Blue passes in a parade somewhere, and my eyes fill with tears during the Star-Spangled Banner, I think of my friends who have laid down their life, to protect what I love, this
country, and freedom. ~~ by Aaron Sorenson, Roosevelt/Vernal

TheFather's Day Bear!

Wow what a weekend. I asked Aaron what he wanted to do for Father's. Not to my suprise he chose to go CAMPING!! So we went up to the East Park Area, to Kane Hollow. It was Braddock's first time camping, and since he can't walk without falling yet, you can imagine how dirty he got. We had fun and I froze....We planned to stay all weekend, but friday night when we were finally getting to sleep, at 2:00 in the morning we heard a bunch of gun shots go off, that were really close. Shortly after that we heard a car pull away. Aaron and I were pretty freaked out. We were kinda worried we had just witness a murder. I was so scared I couldn't stop shaking, we decided maybe it might be best to go home the next morning. Well when we finally got to sleep and woke up we decided maybe we could stay the full weekend. About lunch time the campers next to us came over to our camp as they were leaving. They informed us that a bear had been in their camp the night before and had went to a couple other campers areas. They were the ones who had shot, because they were shooting at the bear. They said the car was their daughter and her family with a 5 month old baby getting out of there. They decided to get out of there before a bad situation possibly got worse. So because my husband is so afraid of bears, the poor guy, we decided being in a tent it wasn't worth the risk. we have no idea why the bear missed out camp he went to the one before us, and the one after us. It was kind of scary. So before our trip even got started it was kind of over. But before we left we did a little fishing, the moment we got out of the truck we heard that bear. It is a young bear that just got kicked out of the den, so he is very noisy, we heard him making his noises just in the trees where we couldn't see him. It was pretty fun to hear him make his noises, but confirmed our decision to leave. So much to our dissappointment our camping will come to an end until we have a trailor to camp in. My husband was such a good sport about it, the only thing he is really afraid of is bears, and as much as he tried to convice himself it wasn't that, it was. He was too cute. We did manage to get some pictures of the bear tracks, I will post them soon. I hope you all had a less adventurous Father's Day than we did, eben though it was kinda fun!!!

Braddock's 1st Birthday!!!!!!

We had a fun family party for braddock's birthday. He and zaden had a ton of fun playing with their cousins!! They all love to run around together. And for Aaron's side most of the kids have a cousin within 6 months to 1 year of them. It is really fun to see them get together.

The Boys wonderful grandma was so sweet to do a bar-b-q.
And Braddock loved his cake, well as
much as he could fit into his mouth
at one time.

Amazingly enough after he got his eyes washed out, he still wanted more cake. Granted, I do think he got more of the other cake on his face, than in it. Then it was time to open presents. He had a great time with that. He really did a lot of it on him own.

The plane was one of braddock's favorite toys. He loves riding it around them house.

After the party we took the boys to the carnival. They loved to ride the rides for kiddies. Braddock didn't get to do as much, but he still had fun. All in all is was a great first birthday, he seemed to have a great time. And so did the rest of us.

The Apple Episode

This is not a very good pic. Zaden kept moving. They were having a blast playing and eating these apples together. Isn't that a pretty big apple for such a little guy. He was loving being a big boy like brother.

No cut up apples for him. Go big or go home!

Too CUTE!!!! These two just crack me up. I love them!!!

My cute kids!!!

Yes, this is them playing in a cupboard together. Zaden did the same thing when he was that small. Up Close and personal with the camera. You may not see it, but that is a big grin behind that pacifier.

Didn't mean to put this one on there. This is from Christmas Eve opening pj's.

He is just too cute for me to resist. I think he is about to smash food in his hair. AGAIN!

First Timer

Hello Everyone,
This is my first time ever blogging, so I am just a learner right now. Well Braddock has started to actually enjoy walking this week. Meaning, we have been trying to get him to walk, but it wasn't until this week he got excited about it and is actually staying up and walking by himself. It's great because now he just gets up and goes. Yeah I am sad to be leaving th baby stage, but also very excited. The furture of having two walking kids opens up a new world.
Zaden has decided it is time to have a real big boy bike. So everytime we talk to him about his birthday in July and what he wants, guess what he says. "I get a bike".
Aaron is a busy daddy working 2 jobs and going to school full time. I will admit I get frustrated I know it is all for good, but I miss seeing him all the time. I am very proud of him.
As for me I am finally feeling like I get to just enjoy being a mom. I have been planting like crazy around my house and I finally feeli like I have a green thumb. I had no idea I could really make things grow. I started with a strawberry patch and a garden. They are just growing amazingly. Then we get some starters for hedges, and it has been great seeing those grow. Now I have added grass, raspberry and blackberry bushes, and a little flower garden. I am loving seeing my yard transform. I have to say I am done planting for the year, I may add more in the years to come. But I am very proud of myself.