Happy Days~

There has been a long wait for these days to arrive.. Days where my husband no longer had to study, but got to be part of our family again! He was in nursing school for 5 years, and lets just say, we did not get to see him much. In those four-five years, we got married, had a child, had a miscarriage, moved 5 times, and clearly just tried to function happily :)

I did daycare in our home, and had 5-6 little's, under the age of 2. I love each and everyone of them so much, but the nights got long. After having small children all day, then doing night routine with Zoey every night alone, it would get lonely.But I never gave up hope, because I knew someday it would be different. Someday, we would be a whole family again. I would lay next to Zoey at night, after she finally went to sleep and would just be in awe, at the wonder of how special God made her. She never stopped smiling, even when our houses just kept getting smaller, and her toys seemed to keep going to storage. She is the greatest gift we ever received! God truly gave us a little miracle.

So, five years later, we celebrate this new change of life. Derek graduated with honors, and has already got his first nursing job! It is incredibly exciting to ask him to go for a walk with us, and hear him say yes!! Not that he did not want to go with us before, he just always had to write a paper or study for a test. Now when he is not working, he is a wonderful daddy and an amazing husband!

So thankful for this change, and we are relishing in every moment that we have! We may  not have had a summer together, but we sure can enjoy every bit of fall that we get here in Montana :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was such a beautiful day for our family this year. First I want to thank God for allowing me to be a mommy. That's all I wanted from the time I was three years old. I got every bit of what I wanted in our little spunky firecracker :)  She keeps me on my toes at all times. Yesterday she was a little pill, typical two year old things...but she wore me out. We had to leave REI because she hit me, when I said she could do something. I must say, she loves to shop. Really it doesn't matter where, she just loves to shop. We had talked about going to REI to get my mother's day sun glasses, and of course we were going to look for her some, but when she was naughty, I simply left the store with nothing. Well that was a first for us, and lets just say, she sobbed for a long time. It broke her heart we did not even get to look at sunglasses :)  So, we were at a family birthday dinner and she announced to everyone, " I hit my mommy in the neck and we had to leave REI, and it really mad me sad. " Thinking it made a big impact on her but it was also hard on me. I know as momma's we have to be 
the one to raise them right and teach them right from wrong, but boy do those little tears running down her cheek get to me. I know, I am sure you are saying, buck up buttercup :)  I pray everyday for God to help us raise her first to love Him, but also to be a kind, compassionate little girl. It's a tough job raising kiddos ... not sure how my mom did all three of us. Must have been that I was so sweet :)  wink wink

So, back to MOther's day. I was already extremely blessed to be a Mother myself, but to have the best Mother in the world as my own makes it an even better day! I really am thankful for all she has done for me. Not sure where I would be without her today. She has been though a lot of rough times with me, but also shared the best days of my life with me.. aka..my wedding and the birth of my daughter. Those were two very special days, that she played a huge role in. Ever since that moment Zoey was born, and my mom got to hold her, while i was being stitched up, she has bonded with Zo in such a special way! We are so blessed to have her in our life! She made many trips to Bozeman to make sure my sweet girl did not forget her.. and now that we've been in Missoula, if a week goes by without seeing her, it is too long. Soon we will be moving to the same town as her, and that will be amazing. We will have lots of family dinners, garden together and oh so much more. The joys in life don't always have to cost a lot, just being together is the greatest one I know! I also got to have my mother in law with us that day and it made it special for all of us. She is so good to us and I am thankful for the relationship we have with her as well. 

My sister surprised us and brought my three nephews to make my moms day even more special and with Nathan and Brandt being there, it completed our family. What a wonderful day we had. 

Sorry this is so long, just my thoughts for the day. Much love to all you Mommas out there! No one said it is easy, but it is the greatest job we could ever have.

All I ever needed~

So many times in life we keep searching for more things to fulfill us or make us happy, no matter what we already have. I want to be that person where less is more! I have all I ever wanted and dreamed of.
 My husband is graduating from nursing school in a week!!!! Wow, I wasn’t sure we’d ever get to this point ;) it was a long grueling process for all of us, but I’m so proud of him. He studied more than anyone I know and took everything extremely serious . Like a paper I would’ve winged the night before, he worked days and days on, staying up all hours of the night to perfect it.
 Then two and half years ago the most unimaginable thing came in our life! Our little ray of sunshine, Zoey Steele Halden. She has been a firecracker from day one and has kept up on full speed ever since. She is all I ever hoped for and more. When I put her to bed at night and say her prayers I still have the lip quiver, and tears rolling down my cheek from thanking God for our precious little Angel. 
So from the outside people might say we have so little but to me, we have everything I’ve ever wanted and more !