St. George...

Scott and I got the amazing opportunity last weekend to go to St. George and get trained to become NAMI Teachers. Both Scott and I have taken the National Alliance for Mental Illness classes and participate in the group sessions, now we've made it a goal of ours to progress into teachers.

Scott and I haven't left the boys ever! The last time we've gone anywhere without them was when Carter was about 2. So this was a special treat for us!

I'm really proud of Scott (and myself) for how far we've come. Now that things are under control in our lives, we're determined to make a difference in someone else's. So, it was off to Sunny St. George for the weekend of training.

My mom watched the boys while Scott and I drove the 5 hours drive there, NAMI paid for our hotel and food, so it was just cheap gas and a few goodies that we had to come up with.

Though I was hoping for this to be our mini vacation, we really were stuck in the conference training ALL weekend. It was 9 hours on Friday, 11 hours on Sat and about 6 hours on Sunday. So pretty much we just enjoyed having dinner with each other (being able to talk without food being thrown everyhwere) and staying up late watching movies in our hotel room.

We did make one important stop though, we got out of class on Sat around 7 and drove by the St. George Temple. Breathtaking...especially at night. What a gorgeous sight....

Though it was a long weekend of training, driving and information overload....it was so nice to come home to the boys. I really missed them....I won't be going anywhere else anytime soon without them.

We took them to Smith and Edwards the other day...and I found the coolest thing! It's a corn cob, or so it appears.....

The boys examined it, and we put it in the bag, microwaved it for 3 minutes and....
POPCORN! The corn literaly popped right off the cob! Such a fun "winter activity" and it only cost $1.

Our Boys...Fun Times

We're getting back to normal...finally with our routine. I work less hours outside our home (many still in our home, but at least I'm home) and have been getting the hang of it! It's taken me a little longer than I'd expected to be better at scheduling, but it's all working out.

I've been having so much fun on my days "off" to play with the boys. The other day, I rotated the toys and they rediscovered their remote controlled construction trucks. They had a blast! (and the stayed occupied for about 30 minutes...so I even got some work done!)

They played so well with eachother. I love watching the 2 of them have fun playing games together. THey even make up their own rules while playing and get along so well.

We played so hard today that Braxton didn't get his usual 2 hour nap....this is what happened to the little man while sitting on my lap...

Scott found this cool bow and arrow set for Carter and was so excited to show him! I really was probably more excited than Carter, but the 2 of them had fun setting it all up....complete with a target and everything!

It's been all about having fun in our house lately....that's what life it really about right?

Friends....

We spent the afternoon last week with our friends, the Davis'. Braxton and Carter just love hanging out with their friends Brinley and Hunter. Brax was happy playing everywhere....their house is so nice because it's all one level.

Brin is sucha sweet girl, she's always been so kind to Brax and gives him kisses and hugs. So cute! Brax was actually one of the very first kids she would hug when they were little.
Hunter has always been such a sweet "huggy" boy and Carter usually resists it. (Though our Carter is such a sensitive little guy, he's not really the touchy feely type.) This time though, it's been a while since the boys had seen eachother, so Carter was excited to hug Hunt. These boys have literally grown up together since Carter was about 8 months old.

Scott and I took the boys to Boondocks one night. We ended up meeting there right after I got off of work, and we all had a blast! This was Braxton first real time going up the playland stuff by himself....pretty sure this little guy was excited!

Carter just loves the slide! He has such a blast going down it every time! I do have to say, I lost my camera while there (between the coats, diaper bag and my purse, it's easy to do) and the most amazing thing happened....I called Boondocks a couple day later when I realized the camera was missing and someone had actually turned it in! (It's times like these that I'm happy for our human race!)

The latest....Carter has his first-ever frien Sleep Over! That's right, our 4 year old is sleeping at his friend's house tonight! Wesley is such a cute kid and really kind to Carter, they really play so well with eachother...and he's been asking for a few months now to have Carter spend the night.

So one huge milestone is currently going on for our Carter....hopefully he lasts there all night.
Boys. Friends. Family. Life.

Memories, Changes, Traditions...it's the New Year!

2011 has proven to be a time for changes for our little family. I finally feel like things are slowly getting back to "normal" for us.

I am working less hours, so that allows me to spend more time with the boys. It's been hard leaving them so much...I can't wait to be a "fun" mom again.

Scott and I have been going through the house lately and really getting rid of things that we no longer need. (To be honest, most of the stuff we've gotten rid of we didn't even need in the first place) Part of our "winter cleaning" was moving Braxton upstairs into the "playroom." I've wanted the two boys on the same floor forever now, so I'm super excited now that's done!

He LOVES his new room...

Carter has been working hard on his writing skills. My little guy is a lefty, so that makes things a little harder on him. I'm a lefty too, so I've been working with him on holding his pencil/crayon and he's progressing so much! He got a new TV tray to work on his school work, eat breakfast in the living room, etc...and he's been loving it!
Our little Brax is now a member of Junior Nursery! We have too many kids in our ward so we have to split up the Nursery by age. Now our Sundays go a lot smoother. Scott has been going into Nursery with Braxton to get him used to it. I peeked in and saw both of my "boys" sitting on their carpet squares singing the songs together. PRECIOUS!

The other night, Scott and I got the boys in their matching PJs and took them to the Layton lights. It was a fun activity to do, and we all got stay nice and warm. There happened to be an Elephant made out of lights....guess who loved that?

The boys had so much fun watching the lights and what they made. I'm glad we went!

I'm excited to have the memories that we're making with our boys, I'm thrilled with the changes taking place in our family, and can't wait to keep our own traditions going...