Catch Up for 2014

So much for blogging throughout the year, it appears I like to only do it at the first of the year.  Here is a catch up of the past year:

When I bowled the State Tournament the boys had plenty of fun with their shoes pictured above and their dad pushing them down the stairs in a box.

 Our 8 year anniversary fell on Easter so we had a double celebration.  The boys stayed at my parent's house Friday night while Adam and I had a movie night then we picked them up to start Easter preparations.  Again this year it was only Avery coloring eggs as Aiden has no desire to do it.  As I was taking a picture his dad decided he needed to be in there as well, aren't they two peas in a pod?

 As our sweet Abby starts to get older we know our time with her is limited so we want to do everything we can to make the transition easier on everyone so we adopted Freedom.  We were hoping by adopting Freedom Abby would become more active having a puppy around and it certainly has.

 This dog has been a trial for all of us.  Abby was a few years old by the time the boys were born so they never knew her as an active puppy and had to learn how to deal with her.  Potty training this one while we were at work most of the day was a huge project for us to overcome and we pick up multiple pieces of stuffing from animals or pieces of rope.  At first I wasn't sure how I liked the name Freedom but after realizing how much "freedom" from heartbreak she has given me the name has fit perfectly and she has pulled me out of the depression I had slipped into.

For Mother's day we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend it with my mom and Adam's mom.

For Father's day I was in Reno with my dad and realized I didn't get any pictures with him that day and of course Adam didn't take any with the boys while they were home.

For the 4thof July we kept with our tradition of going to Murray to the parade.  Grandpa Cookie's house had been sold so we knew this would be our last year getting to go down there.  After the parade we headed home to have a bbq with family & friends before heading to the demo derby and fireworks for the night.

Avery played baseball again this year and of course loved every second of it.

Aiden joined fishing club and while he enjoyed fishing his coach stopped showing up half way through it ( I don't think his kids enjoyed it at all ) and we would rather just go fishing somewhere than at the pond.

Camping with my parents this year was one of my favorite camping trips I have been on.  They took the boys up with them on Thursday while Adam and I headed up Friday morning.  For the most part it was just the 6 of us an quite enjoyable.

With Adam's family I was so against just sitting around the campsite so we made sure we kept busy.  We rode 4 wheelers, went fishing, and enjoyed some swimming.  Leeza also bought some water guns so one day when it was hot a water fight broke out.

As one of our date nights this year we headed to the Tim Mcgraw concert.  We enjoy the time we get to spend just the 2 of us listening to one of our favorite country singers.

Ever since the boys were little Adam and I have talked about going to Glacier.  I have always put a stop to it and said we couldn't go until they were both out of diapers.  Well that has been done for awhile but something else has always come up to stop us from going.  This year happened to be the year that we said we were going no matter what and whoever wanted to go with us could go, we gave the dates and went from there.  It ended up the dates didn't work for anyone else so it was just the 4 of us and was the first vacation we had taken without anyone else.  We first headed to Yellowstone and spent a couple days there then headed to Glacier where we spent a couple more days.  Adam had always told me how pretty Glacier was but I was completely amazed by its beauty.

Avery has always talked about playing football but I had hoped he would change his mind before he became old enough to play.  Well my hopes didn't come true and I became one nervous mom for a football season.  Avery ended up playing nose tackle and the boy held his own against boys that were twice his size.  His team went undefeated for the season and only had 1 team score against them.  He first had an issue with the helmet and it always hurting his head so we had to bribe him to practice but after they had their first scrimmage and he was able to "hit someone" it didn't hurt anymore.  At the end of the year he said he wasn't going to play again but a few weeks after football ended he has decided he wants to play again.

Aiden was off to 4th grade this year and Avery was headed to 2nd grade.  I am amazed everyday by how smart these boys are and how much they continue to grow and learn.

Both the boys decided to play soccer this year which didn't shock us with Avery but did with Aiden since he didn't want to play last year and has no interest in any other sports.

For Aiden turning 10 this year we decided to give him the opportunity to do whatever he wanted for his party.  Well he decided he wanted to go bowling so off to the bowling alley we went.  This sweet boy had spent the last year reminding me that he was in his last year of single digits.

Another one of our date nights this year was heading out with some friend to the Blake Shelton concert.  We didn't have the best weather and it decided to rain on us but it was still an awesome show.

The boys don't care much about trick-or-treating so we didn't head out until later.  For the first time this year Aiden actually wanted to stay out longer than normal and go to more houses so Adam took him while Avery and I headed back home.

This guy keeps getting older and I want to keep him as just my baby.  I can't believe it has been 8 years since this little guy joined our lives.  This year because I was so sick around his birthday kind of got the short end of the stick and we didn't even get to his birthday pictures until January.

Thanksgiving this year was spent at my parents house.  I was really looking forward to getting to be with my family and have my moms cooking.  I was sad when I wasn't able to eat and enjoy the food but overall it was a good day for us.  I was super excited when I was looking at our pictures and we finally have pictures of Aiden smiling and didn't have to fight or bribe him to take a family picture with us!  I had to work Black Friday this year so I did most of my shopping online Thanksgiving morning and after doing that I don't know that I'll ever go back to store shopping for the sales again.

December 9th was bittersweet for me.  I had so much going on at the time to be happy for but it was also a reminder of the little one we had lost.  In remembrance Adam and I bought some flowers for Al.  It was a tough year dealing with the loss and questioning why us but like I was told, the pain will always be there in some way just may not be as strong I just need to give myself time to grieve.

We were lucky to get to spend Christmas with my family and my grandparents were even here.  I like the opportunity my boys have to get to know their Great Grandparents.

This was the calmest New Years Eve we have had in awhile.  Adam's brother and his girlfriend came over along with a couple of our good friends.  The boys spent the night upstairs playing the Xbox while we hung out downstairs.