Where do I begin?

I had a life changing event take place on July 27th, 2009. I found out my husband had been unfaithful. That morning sitting at my desk at work changed me forever. I am not divorced yet, but I will be. I never in a million years thought I would EVER get divorced...I never in a million years thought someone would cheat on me...I certainly NEVER would have brought a child into this world if I thought for one moment he would grow up with his Daddy only in his life part time. Most days I am encouraged about mine & Easton's future, but there are days I want to crawl back in bed and not have to deal with my new reality.

What I do know is that God has never left me and He has provided for us so far and that He will continue to provide. I also know that I have the most amazing group of friends a girl could ever dream of. See, so, even though I have not had the most perfect fairy tale, I am truly blessed! That is the hope that keeps me going.

I wanted to get back on and blog, but I was so uncertain about my future. Now I know I will be doing it as a single Mom, and I am okay with that. I want to continue MY story on here...all of the ups and downs of being a Mom. It is the one thing that hasn't changed. I am STILL a Mom!



Easton, you are and have been the most amazing blessing to your Momma...I could not have asked for a better kid. You make me laugh daily and you help me see how beautiful the simple things can be. You make me stop long enough to smell the roses...literally! :) We make quite the team. Thank you for being my Son, and I LOVE YOU!

Gone Fishin

This past Sunday after church Easton and I headed first to Castlewood Canyon to do a little hiking and "fishing". (Daddy was in TN playing ball) Easton has a Cars fishing pole that has a little tire attached to the end so he can practice casting. He doesn't realize that he can't catch fish with it yet. LOL! He LOVES to "fish"! He does really well at casting too! We had a lot of fun until it started raining, lightning & thundering.






We then headed to Cherry Creek Reservoir and the weather was nice, so Easton continued to "fish" and then played in the sand for awhile.







I am so blessed to have such a wonderful son...We have so much fun together!

Barden Family Reunion June 18th-21st

Tory, Easton and I headed to Lakewood, Ohio for my Mom's side of the family, family reunion! I have not seen any of my Aunties or Uncle since my Mom passed away in 1999. It was so wonderful to catch up & introduce them to Tory & Easton. Tory & Easton fit right in! The trip was much too short, but they will all be coming to Colorado next summer!! Wahoo!!

I am missing pictures of my cousin Josh & Cousin Ted...I am working on that!

My Cousin Jessica and I are one day a part in age...I am older. :) The other crazy thing is we got married one day a part (she before me) and didn't even know it!


Auntie Lydia & Uncle Lars

Cousin Erica & her husband James

Uncle Merrill & Alice

Uncle Bob & Auntie Janie

And the most wonderful Hostesses, Sue & Auntie Tracy

A group of us headed to a local market...we bought all kinds of fun food!


Uncle Bob & Easton playing hoops...Bob was giving little man pointers!

Sweet Denver, Jessica's 3rd kiddo.


Cousin Jessica in the pool with ALL of the kiddo's! What a trooper!


2nd Cousin Zachary being silly!

Aubryana & Easton...we were visiting Lake Erie. It was about 2 miles from my Aunt's house.

Aubryana, Angel & Bryan. Angel is Sue's daughter.

Tory chillin...he fit right in with the fam!

We are so looking forward to bext year!

Things I (Easton) do now.

I feel Easton's little life is FLYING by and I keep asking myself, am I taking enough time to remember all of the wonderful new things he does daily?!? So, in an effort to not let all of these wonderful memories disappear I figured I would make an attempt to put some down in his blog.

-Currently you are 3 years old and 5 days shy of 5 months.

-You have a Mommy & Daddy who think you are the greatest little man EVER and love you more than words can describe. You have given us a picture of God's love for us that is just beautiful!

-You still love to play with ANY ball, but ESPECIALLY love to play with your bat and ball. Just last night you knocked a picture frame off the shelf. LOL! You also like to play your version of volleyball (which makes me so proud!).

-You have eaten granola bars EVERY morning for at least the past 4 months.

-You love to eat raw mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, avocado and are a big fan of blueberries, strawberries, gogurt (thanks Grandpa Ken) and ANYTHING that has chocolate in it! ;) (Just like your Momma)

-You say "I love you" at the most random times and EACH time makes me smile!

-You are STILL sleeping in our bed...

-You have visited CA twice and are headed to Ohio to meet Mommy's, Mom's side of the family in just over 2 weeks! (You would have LOVED your Grandma Ann~...Mommy misses her dearly)

-You are currently in daycare with Wonderful Jan & your friends: Jack, Dylan, Kayleigh and Kianna. And you sure love Jakers & Kiera (the dogs)

-Due to your PASSION for being outside & since we live in a condo...we have visited EVERY park in a 20 mile radius! (we sure have a ton of parks in CO!)

-You are fearless in the pool and I PRAY you learn to swim without your floaties sooner than later.

-You say the darnedest thing like "you not the boss of me..." (and get in trouble for it) You love to say "Saturday" and "tomorrow day" and when I need you to do something right away, you say "five minutes"...

-You prefer not to take naps now, (on the weekends) but I am not ready to give them up yet! ;)

-You are the sweetest little guy when you wake up in the morning and love to sing songs and use your imagination at night when I am wanting you to go to sleep!

-Just last night you & I watched the lightning and listened to the thunder from bed...it was so cool!

-You started pedaling your trike about 4 months ago...now we are trying to get you to ride a bike with training wheels. The first time was more frustrating for Daddy than it was for you! LOL!

-You continue to be in the 95% for height and 90% for weight...Translation: You are going to be a big Kiddo! (I can't imagine why?!?)

-You are officially potty trained as of 4 weeks ago!! (minus the pull ups I make you wear at night...you are sleeping in our bed after all)

Easton, we are so proud of you and the little man you are becoming. I discipline you because I love you. Don't ever forget that your Heavenly Daddy loves you even more than we ever will~

xoxo Mommy & Daddy

Our one night in Vegas

On April 6th we drove from Ridgecrest back to Vegas and stayed one night at The Luxor. It was a fun night! We walked around, visited the M & M store, played video games...we had too because as we walked through the hotel Easton wanted to touch the games and we kept saying, "No honey, those games are for Mommy's & Daddy's" so he kept asking, "Where are MY games?!?" LOL! Then we finished the night off at the Luxor's hotel buffet...YUM!!

Our trip to CA...

Ok, so we were there over a month ago...with Facebook now, it is hard to remember to update my blog too!

On April 1st we headed to Ridgecrest CA to see Dawnell (Tory's cousin) get married! If it were not for Tory's Dad this trip would not have happened. "THANKS DAD!" It turned into a Flores family reunion...we had such a wonderful time! We were in CA for 6 days and stayed in Vegas the night before we flew back home. We were exhausted by the time we got back, but had such a great time...I hate being so far away from Tory's family.



Getting ready to take off! (He looks like a pro)

Waiting in Vegas to get the rental car.


Flying a kite at Grampa Ken's


Visiting with Grandma Sharon (Tory's Mom) Thanks for the wonderful dinner Mom! It was so good to see you, and Easton continues to ask for whip cream shots! LOL!




Easton experiencing whip cream shot's from Grandma...that sure was a hit!


Cousins: Vanessa, Cole, Cody & Daniella
Cayden & Easton.

Handsome brothers! Tory, Danny & Richard.

Cole & Cayden...too cute!


Beautiful Dawnell & her new Husband Rodney!



Cute Cousins!

It was so hard to say goodbye! But again, what a blessing to be there in the first place!

Dressing up for church.

Little man was so darn cute this past weekend...Tory was running a softball tournament and it was my Sunday to volunteer at church. One of the MANY things I love about our church is that you can dress casually and no one cares. I typically dress Easton in jeans and a nice shirt, but never really fancy. Come to think of it he doesn't really have many fancy clothes anyway (just like his Mommy & Daddy). SO...he says "Mommy...I pick my clothes..." A few minutes later he comes around the corner with dress cords & a Spiderman t-shirt...LOL! I said the cords are fine but back to your closet for another shirt mister. Sure enough, he picks a nice button down shirt. He was too cute so I had to snap a few photo's!