Long Time...Lots of Changes...

Sooo...It has been way too long since I updated my blog. I have plenty of excuses and all of them center around working like a mad woman, being a single mommy (most of the time) running my boys to all their activities and trying to get my act together so I can go back to school.

First off summer has gone too fast! Colton did two sessions of swim lessons and moved up to the third level. He also participated in a parade, sports camp and an arts camp. He loved all of them and is excited to start hockey this winter and violin this fall.

Brodon is my daredevil and keeps me on my toes! Never a dull moment with that child:) He has started to ride a scooter and tries to ride Colton's bike, and Colton's skateboard. He is an active child and will be amazing at whatever sport he decides to focus on when he gets older!

Billy started a new job in April. He is now an operator on a wireline crew and works primarily with pipe recovery on stuck drill rigs or work over rigs. He likes it and his new engineer is a hoot and we are counting our blessings everday for our good fortune.

I still work at Fairlight, but only part time. I am a full time nursing student at WSC and am excited. I can't wait to be done though to continue with the next part of my life:)

Until Next Time!

January went by so FAST!! It's almost the end of February and I feel like I just got done with Christmas. Well, not a lot has changed for us. We had a few visitors in February. Jake and Amy came to visit and we had a great time with them.

Billy got me that huge teddy bear and roses and chocolate for Valentines day! I was completely surprised and very thankful for such a great man!

Colton had to make a Valentines box for school and he wanted to make a Packer Football Field:)

My Brodon is getting so big that it makes me sad, he isn't my little baby anymore! He's walking and talking and getting into trouble...lots of trouble!

Until next time...

Time to Play Catch Up

Brodon getting his hair cut...

My days fly by in a whirlwind of work, getting the boys ready for the day, school, fiddle lessons, and trying to squeeze in quality time with my little men.

So for those that had not heard yet, Billy proposed on Christmas morning. Of course I said yes!!!! I am so happy that we will be taking the next step...even if the steps seem a bit out of order for some, it works for us! Christmas flew by in a whirlwind off presents, phone calls to family back home, food and family time. The boys got all they wanted and more, Billy got all that he asked for, and I of course got an amazing engagement ring! We were not able to make it home but we had a good Christmas anyways. The weather was crazy here December, we got just under 40" of snow and the below freezing HIGHS took its toll on us.

So far the month of January has been great. I think that I suffer from seasonal sadness and have started to tan once a week for the Vitamin D. It may be all in my head but I think it works! I feel so much better and I look forward to my tan time:)

Colton started fiddle lessons and he loves it! He really wants to play the piano and he has to learn the fiddle first before we can progress to the piano. Lessons are on Wednesday 6:15-7:15, so our Wednesdays are crazy.

Brodon got his very first haircut on January 22nd. I almost started too cry! My baby looks like such a big boy now!! He is such a little man! He is full of spunk and is constantly into everything!

Billy has been working 75-80 hours a week and he is pretty tired when he finally gets home at night. He's pretty excited because they are getting a new rig this week. This means that they also get a new truck and a new dog house.

We are very excited to be coming home in May! We will be home starting on either the 20th or the 21st and we have a full week planned. No minute is going unplanned. We have a dance recital, a graduation, and a visit with good friends, visit with family and maybe some good family vacay time:)

Until next time...

Finally!!!

Merry Christmas one and all from North Dakota!!! Life has been crazy the month of December...here is a break down

Billy has had 3 day off this entire month...that's right...3. He had off December 12th for his company Christmas party, WHICH by the way was FABULOUS!! The company he works for really takes care of their employees! Even the wives/girlfriends/significant others got a Christmas present!

He then got off on the 13th early because one of the guys got hurt and they all had to go in for drug tests.

And now he has off today, Christmas day and what a GREAT day it has been! Colton and Brodon slept in today...that alone is amazing! Then we got up and got our presents opened and Santa must have thought our boys were excellent for the stuff that they got! Colton got everything plus a little bit more than what he had asked for and Brodon...well, he got a cozy coupe car and that is perfect for him! He fills his little car up with toys and then crawls in and sits there with his toys. He is a hoot!

Billy got some essentials. A new coat, good jeans, flannel lined jeans for work and new shoes. And an ornament for our tree:)

Myself...I didn't figure that anyone would know what I wanted so I went ahead and got myself a new purse...LOVE new purses!

All of a sudden Billy comes out with this boxed and tells me to open it...so I do and there is another box in it...so I unwrap that one...and there is another box...so I unwrap that one and there is a beautiful little white box and inside that white box is a little black box which is cradling my engagement ring!!!!!!!!! YEAH THAT'S RIGHT MY ENGAGEMENT RING! Two babies and almost 6 years later I have gotten my engagement ring and could not be happier!!

Colton looked at us and said, 'Does this mean we can get married now?' hahahahaha...

God has been very good to us and has blessed us with so much to be thankful for that it makes my heart feel like it is going to burst. I wish everyone a healthy, happy, safe, and blessed Christmas and New Year!!!

Time fly's...

Time is going by so quickly and life is becoming more routine every day. Our sighs of homesickness or sadness are now becoming giggles of joy and laughter at the little things we get to do as a family.

We are grateful on days when Billy gets done with work early, which is about 8 at night. We are thankful for the days when he doesn't have to leave until 6, instead of 5:30 in the morning. We value our family that we didn't appreciate to the fullest when we were around them all the time and we miss our friends that we may have been too busy to spend a lot of time with.

Colton and daddy love to read stories together at night and Brodon loves to snuggle.

We had a wonderful visitor last weekend Dr. M came to visit and we had a great time! Being the generous person that he is he offered to give us a plane ride. Colton and Billy went up first and they had a blast. I went up second and it was a different story. I loved it! The view was amazing! I can't believe that Dr. M would ever want to drive if he had this option, and then it hit me...turbulance. I tried very hard not to sound panicked (I didn't want to be sick in his airplane, his baby) so I calmy took a breath and said, 'Doc, I don't feel so good...' and he said 'And, home it is...' When we got to our house I spent the next 2 hours trying to stop my world from dipping and spinning. It was amazing, I just wish that my stomach would have felt the same way.

Billy and I are now joint land owners in North Dakota. We bought a lot 8 miles north of town and hope to build a new home in the next 1-2 years. We have sold our home in Wisconsin, but still own the majority of our land, in case we ever want to come back.

Until next time...

Life is so busy! Time has been flying and I am a very bad procrastinator...so here I go!

The end of July was busy and hot, nothing too exciting happened. We were just surviving day to day.

The month of August started on a high note with an interested party calling and inquiring on our home back in Wisconsin. Colton turned the Big 4 on the 18th and we had a good time. We missed our family and friends but our new friends made it fun and helped us all over come our home sickness. After Colton's party Billy got a weekend off and we decided to go to Minot and check out fence and storage sheds. After pricing everything out and a few discussions we bought fence and a storage shed 'kit'. Colton is enrolled at a preschool a few blocks from where I work (since we don't have busses in this town) so I can pick him up and not take too much time off to get him. He goes 2 days a week and he really seems to like it. We love our sitter! We have been blessed by God to be able to have the opportunity to have Judy as our sitter. She really makes our new life here wonderful because I don't worry about my kids when they are with her.

So far this month we have been busy! I have been working in a department at work that I am not used to (but I like it) and Billy has been working long hours. He is still with Sun and likes it a lot and I still like my job and all the women and gentleman that I work with. We started September out getting Colton enrolled for hockey and getting his gear. He is very excited for hockey and we are excited to support him and be hockey parents for the next 20 years or more depending on what the future brings. This month also was Brodon's first birthday and once again great new friends helped us celebrate and make his day fun and special.

Another positive that has come this month is that our home has sold in Wisconsin. This is bitter sweet for not only Billy but myself as well. It means that we must move on and cherish our memories but look forward to our future in North Dakota and jump head first into the challenges and tests of our new life in North Dakota. This is our home now and we are excited for the future.

These are pictures of my finished interior decorating. Billy had off over the past weekend and we got all the pictures, shelves and other miscellaneous decor up on the walls. It definately feels like home now...

This is our backyard. I am pretty sure it is the biggest yard in the park, so we are pretty lucky. Billy built the boys a great sand box...

I'm such a dork, but this is first tuft of grass in our lawn:) You can not imagine how sick of mud and dry dirt I am...

This is the lone tree in the state of ND...hahaha, just kidding, this is our little scraggly tree. Hopefully with some TLC we can make it flourish...

This is my front porch, deck, whatever you want to calll it. I love it...

BUSY WEEK!!! Oh my gosh...crazy...here we go on Saturday the 17th we went to a friends house for a cook out and we got to catch up with all of Bill's former coworkers at Superior...from the conversations that we heard Billy definitely made the right choice going to Sun. We were going to go swimming on Saturday with Sally and Quincy but things didn't work out so we went swimming on Monday night after I got done with work. Billy told me before he left for work that he wouldn't be home until late but I got a call while we were getting DQ informing me that he was locked out of the house and he asked if I would come let him in the house...so I left the boys with our friend at DQ, went home to let him in the house, went back to DQ to eat, and then swam for 2 hours with my boys and our new found friends.

Brodon loves the water but he got cold and started to shiver so he and I got out and just watched everyone else. Colton kept on swimming and then he started jumping and then he decided he didn't need any of us to help him so here are some great pictures...


Today wasn't a picture day, just a day filled with important phone calls and decisions to make...

I have been trying to get Colton enrolled into preschool for a few weeks now and I finally got him into one that is 3 blocks from my work and 2 blocks from the sitters house:) It is a parochial guided school and curriculum located in a church. I am so thankful that he is going to be going to school that I could have cried with joy!

More to come....

The other good news is that Brody took his first steps yesterday and Billy and I both got to see it... which is amazing! The bad news is that he bit a little girl at daycare yesterday as well...and he bit her hard! I called her mom and she was fine but I felt so bad and embarrassed that he did that. Hopefully the lemon juice will curb his biting habits. Until next time!