VEGAS BABY!

So...I have had a lot of people wondering how our Vegas trip

went and so I wanted to jot down a little bit about it.

On the 14th of January, Jeff and I took flight to Las Vegas together. This wouldn't necessarily be my destination of choice, but Jeff had a business trip there and so his part was paid for. It was very inexpensive for us to go there for this reason and so upon my mom and dad offering to take care of our children (ever so graciously-I might add) we went without hesitation! Jeff has gone two prior years and hasn't enjoyed it at all and so I promised him that I would go at sometime and this year was the year. We stayed at the Excalibur with the other Press-a-Print employees and this was the view from our 28th floor room. We were at the very top!

Jeff said that he enjoyed this trip much more than years past-but the majority of his time was spent presenting for Press-a-Print and rubbing shoulders with distributors and Press-a-Print Operators. I on the other hand had a marvelous time the entire time! It was precisely the break that I needed to recharge my batteries to tackle the rest of the snowy-dreary winter.

The first night that we got there we walked the strip of coarse. I hadn't ever been to Vegas and so it was the thing to do. We tried getting some last minute tickets to a show and upon failing to do so-we just went shopping. We hit the 4 floors of the M&M store and had a great time picking out gifts for the kids and a couple of other things for family. I was a little shocked by all of the wild and crazy things that you see and hear on the strip-but Jeff had forewarned me and so I was okay with it all.

The next couple of days, I spent with my dear friend Leslee whom I love dearly. She and her family moved from Boise to Vegas a year ago and when I knew that I would be coming to Vegas, I thought of her immediately and we hooked up right away! Jeff was working and so it was a perfect outlet for me to do! We shopped a lot! She knew the great places to go and find some Vegas treasures for me to indulge in and she knew the right places to eat and to sip our Diet Cokes (or Pepsi). We talked a lot about our families, shopped, solved all of the worlds' problems, shopped, ate, reminisced of our times in Boise and the people there, shopped, I got converted to Bare Minerals (Thanks Leslee!), I got introduced to fried cheese on a stick, we talked some more, shopped, got to see her children and see how amazing they are doing, and then without taking one picture of us together (the shameful scrap booker that I am) we had to say goodbye. I had a blast with her. I needed her right now. What a strength she was to me at this moment in time. She said all the right things and touched my life in the right way that I needed right now. Thank you Leslee for the time we shared and for the memories of those two days I will treasure forever!

After my shopping was through, I could focus on my scrap booking. I had brought some scrap booking supplies so that I could get some stuff done. I was doing a "31 pages in 31 days challenge" and I was already behind-so what a more perfect time to do it while away from my home, children, work, calling, the telephone, etc. I knew I would have enough down time with Jeff being busy all day. One day, housekeeping came and knocked on my door while I was busy scrap booking and through her broken English asked me if I was here for a scrap booking convention. I probably blushed as I said no and explained that my husband was here for a PPAI show and that with the down time I had-I chose to scrapbook. She then told me that all week she has been looking at my fun pages that I had spread out on the beds and tables. It was fun to chat with her and cute that she noticed. I got so much done and had a great time watching what I wanted on TV or listening to my iPod music. It was heavenly!

In the evening, Jeff and I would take off when he was done and go eat Dinner. A couple nights we went simple and just did Pizza or whatever, but one night he took me to The Cheesecake Factory which I love! YUMO!!! I loved it! So did Jeff. We also ate at the ESPN restaurant one night where there was even a TV at each table to watch your favorite sport. Jeff of coarse mostly paid attention to me and the Nachos and dessert that we shared, but I am sure it was a bonus that he could check scores every once in a while! We did lots of walking and casino hopping-just to check things out. We went into the large F.A.O. Shwartz toy store which was incredible. The only show that we went to was the Tournament of the Kings that plays all the time at the Excalibur hotel. Jeff has always wanted to go and so I told him that I would go with him this year and it was a lot of fun. We were seated in the Spain section where we ate (without utensils) a full Cornish hen, some potatoes, broccoli, and a roll. We cheered for our Spain king to win. He didn't win, but he sure gave a valiant effort and it was quite entertaining with all of the horses, fire, sword fighting, beautiful maidens dancing around, and the typical cheesy performance that any Vegas show has. It was a lot of fun. We kept thinking that Mack would just love it because he is so into knights, and castles, etc.

The last night that we were there, we got a call from one of Jeff's coworkers saying that she had some extra tickets to a Chris Daughtry concert that we could use if we wanted. HECK YEA!!! So we went that night to that and it was a blast. I felt a little old at the beginning because I was thinking that it was rather loud and I couldn't understand what he was saying, but then he softened up a lot and ended up having an enjoyable time. The people there were just as entertaining as Chris was. It was fun to go see him in concert because Jeff and I are such American Idol fans. We probably wouldn't have gone out f our way to see a concert of any of them-except for Chris. We both really like him and that doesn't happen very ofter where we have similar taste in music...

On the 18th we flew home to see our little family who had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa (Thank you soooo much G&G!!!!!). All in all, we had an amazing time. It is nice to get away and to spend that time together. I already want to do it again soon.

Can you say SCHOOL???

So...my kids had last Friday off for Parent Teacher's Conference and then they had Monday(yesterday) off for Martin Luther King day. Today, we got out of bed only to find the temperature to be below ZERO. Evidently at some point of below zero, the diesel fuel in the buses will gel and they are unable to run them. Seems to me as if the funds are low, but with some of those funds garages would be an investment worth checking out! I guess we don't get snow days here, we get cold days. So-I will go crazy yet another day with my children home, unable to go outside because of freezing cold, and invading my space once more! I love them dearly, but thank heaven for SCHOOL (if it is ever in session)! I have to admit that this morning when we were listening to the radio and they announced the Bonneville School district was closed and my children cheered, it was cute. I know that that is part of the fun for kids. I do remember having a few days of snow when school was cancelled in Indiana while growing up and we had so much fun on those days. But... I will say it again...Thank heaven for school!!

Temple Open House

We were very fortunate to be able to attend the Rexburg Temple Open house this month! We were very excited to go and to be able to show the children the Temple. The day we went it was very cold and there was snow every where and wind like only Idahoans can imagine, but inside the Temple doors, it was warm, peaceful, quiet, and beautiful! It didn't take us very long to go through the tour. They had us watch a video about Temples and about the making of the Rexburg Temple before we actually went through the tour. The kids were perfect little angels and walked through with curiosity and awe. They all especially liked seeing the sealing rooms and the celestial room. When I was a girl, I remember going through the Chicago Temple open house and seeing the sealing room and it being my favorite room also. It was a special experience to be able to go through that with our little family and see the Lord's work moving forward in that way. Afterwords, I made the family take some pictures in front of the Temple (against every one's will), so that I could remember this day forever and so could they.

It pays to Browse!

The other night, we were all in the mall returning some things from Christmas and I just happened to walk past the Old Navy store when I saw a huge bright RED 75% off sign. When I see a sign like that, I can't pass it up, so I told Jeff that we should go in a browse for a minute. One and a half hours later, we walk out with 5 huge bags full of clothing for the whole family! It was so much fun looking for everyone. A lot of the clothes will be used for next fall when the kids go back to school. They all got into it! There were items like slippers for Jeff for $1.50, shirts for Mack for 1.00, a pair of pants for Q for $3.00, a sleeveless jacket with a hood for $5.00 for Calli (just what she always wanted!!!), and a sweater for me for $2.75! There were 9 pairs of pants, 17 shirts, 3 sweaters, 3 sweatshirts, 1 coat, 1 scarf, 1 pair of shoes, & 1 pair of slippers. After Quentin did the math for me, we figured that we had gotten over $500.00 worth of clothes for $136.00! I was so pleased that I took a picture of the back of the van with all of the bags!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! I have to admit that I was a little happy to be done with 2007. It has been an eventful year for us and not necessarily all wonderful, but for sure we have been strengthened to be a better family and better people through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my knowledge of my Heavenly Father, My Savior, Prayer, Forever Families, and to have this to strengthen me through everything that life may throw my way! With that being said, I would like to recap our December if I may in a number of entries. We had an unusual December and so these are the things that I would have blogged if I had had the time.

(Make sure that you check out my Christmas day one that didn't fit onto main page.)

Christmas Cookie Exchange

On December 8th, I hosted by second annual cookie exchange that I started having with my friends here in Idaho Falls last year. I had a friend that did it every year in Boise and decided last year that I would start my own here in Idaho Falls. I just love it! Everyone that is invited is to bring a wrapped Christmas present to exchange and 1/2 dozen cookies for each person that comes.


You end up bring 7 dozen cookies of the same kind and then taking home 12-14 different kinds of cookies equalling the same amount that you brought. It is something so fun for me and a gift that I can do for all of my friends at once. The cookies brought were delicious and I think that everyone had a great time. We exchanged the gifts by rolling dice in the center floor and whoever rolled a 1 or a six got to unwrap a gift and then if the next person rolls a 1 or 6, the can either steal that gift, or open a new one. When you get the dice rolling, it ends up getting very exciting and a huge game of chance. I had everyone bring a Christmas decoration this year and I loved the fun things that everyone brought. I am so grateful for the friends that I have and what they mean to me in my life.
Merry Christmas friends!

We love you Dad and Grandpa

On December 11th, we lost Jeff's dad, Galen Douglas Nelson. We lost him in a tragic plane crash that morning. He left that morning in his airplane at about 7:30 a.m. and reports are that they probably went down at about 9:30 a.m. a short distance before they reached their destination of St. George, Utah. Reports are that it was because of the weather. He and two other men, whom he was very good friends with, were on their way down to St George, one to sign some papers for the real estate project that they had been working on down there, the other a very experienced pilot that Galen liked to take with him as another pilot on the plane. We got the news that the planes beacon was going off around noon that day and then received the horrible news that there were no survivors at about 9:00 p.m. It has been a long few weeks and it has been a long road to get to where we are emotionally today. Galen was an amazing man, husband, father, and grandfather. Jeff and I both loved him very much. He always wanted to fly and had gotten his pilot's licence last year and had just purchased that airplane a few weeks prior to the accident. He was just one of those guys that always had a dream, something bigger than what he was doing at the time. If one thing didn't work, then he tried something else. He was incredible that way. He also loved his family so much and always looked for ways to get together and spend good quality time with one another. He and Quenalee, his beautiful wife and Jeff's mom, always took us to Lake Powell every year. Our children (us too) will always have fond memories of that week every year with him on that boat with nothing to do but spend time together.They had us over for dinner or birthday gatherings for anyone in the family, and then afterwords we always played a rousing game of cards. He loved his grandchildren and will always be remembered as a wonderful grandfather. He will be greatly missed. We love you DAD and Grandpa!

(See the pictures of dad and grandfather at the top of my blog)

Here's a link to the news of the accident.

http://www.idaho8.com/Global/story.asp?s=7489746

Alex hearing the news in Brazil

Alex, Jeff's brother is serving a full time mission in Brazil right now. He returns home on January 31st. The following day after the accident, one of Galen's brothers had called the mission home there in Brazil to tell the President the news of Alex's father passing away. The president said that he would go tell Alex in person and then he would have Alex call the following morning. Quenalee got that call about 6:00 a.m. on the 12th. She was comforted to be able to talk to her son that she hasn't seen for almost two years and has only talked to him on Mother's days and Christmases. Alex told her a story of the previous day when he and his companion were cooking dinner and his companion asked Alex what he would do if he lost his father while on his mission. After thinking about it for a minute, Alex told him that he knew it would be hard, but that he would stay and fulfill the remainder of his mission. The mission president was on his doorstep early the next morning with the news. Alex's mission president also lost his father while on his mission as a young man and so he has got to be a huge strength to Alex at this time. Heavenly Father blesses those young boys out there on their missions and I am sure that Alex has felt his Heavenly Father since this has happened as I am sure that he has felt his earthly father as well.

Grandpa Hultgren

The day after we lost Jeff's father, we heard news that his Grandfather in Illinois wasn't doing well. He had been in an assisted living center for a while with Dimesia and we knew that his time was limited. On the morning of the 13th, we recieved news that he was gone. Jeff spent many summers in Illinois staying with his grandparents there and has many fond memories of his grandpa. We have been out there as a family to see them and loved Grandpa the couple of times that we were able to spend with him. He was a great man. It was unfortunate that under our present circumstances, we were unable to go out and attend his funeral and say good bye to him, but know that he too is in a better place and is so happy and filled with joy of the life that he led on this Earth with his family.

Here's a link to his obituary

http://www.ungerhornerfuneralhome.com/index.cfm

Saying Good-bye December 18, 2007

Today we had the funeral. It has been a whole week since the accident and it feels like it was such a long week. It was hard to wait that long to have the funeral, but there were a few bumps in the road along the way. The weather was so bad that they couldn't get the men off the mountain the night that it happened and so they had to wait until the following day. It was hard for us to wait, especially for my mother-in-law, Quenalee. There is an investigation that goes along with the plane crash and so the three great men that we lost that day were sent to Salt Lake to have an autopsy done and so it delayed us getting them home. We were finally able to get them home and start the progression of grieving for our husband, brother, son, father, and grandfather. The funeral was beautiful! All 6 of Galen's boys got up and gave parts of the life sketch and then they got up and each one of them shared some memories of Dad. I am a little partial because I have been in the family for a long while and have watched all of these men grow up. They were all amazing! I was so proud of all of them. They shared such special stories of their dad and also such sweet emotions about how they felt about him. Alex, the fifth son is serving in Brazil right now on and even though he opted to stay in Brazil and finish out his mission, he was there in spirit and Ryan read an e-mail that Alex had sent about his experience when he found out about his father. He is such a great kid! I know that he has been comforted. I am sure that it has been hard, but he has shown such strength and knowledge of forever families and has strengthened all of us through his testimony of the Savior. It is so hard to let him go, but what a great man we were all able to spend the years that we got to with him.

Christmas Eve

We didn't have much of a December to really experience the Holiday the way that we usually do, but what better way to remember our Savior as we try so hard to do each Christmas than to feel of the love that we have for each other as a family and to remember what our Savior did for us so that we could be together forever.
Jeff's whole family was here of coarse and so we spent a lot of time at his mother's home with one another. My brothers Joe (& his family), and Ben were here and my sister Sara and her family came from Washington through the dreaded winter weather to have a nice visit with everyone. It was fun to see all of them and to connect with all of the family that we were able to be with.
Christmas Eve is usually celebrated with Dinner and gifts at my parent's home, but this year we spent Christmas Eve with Quenalee and all of Jeff's family. I think that Galen must have been smiling at all of us being there together and although we ached inside missing him, we were still able to watch the children as they opened up their gifts from Grandma and grandpa.
The highlight of the night for the children was

Santa (played by my brother Michael) coming and surprising
them and giving each one of them a gift. He even had Grandma sit on his

lap and gave
her some new pajamas! Quenalee had Jeff's youngest brother Andy read a poem about being with
Jesus on Christmas night. It touched all of us remembering that Galen
is somewhere where he is experiencing more joy than we can even imagine. She then gave each of the children a bullet shell from the grave site where
they shot off the guns for his military salute.
It was a very special evening that we spent with Quenalee and Jeff's brother's (all except for Alex in Brazil), their families and all of the cousins being together.

Christmas Day

We had a quiet morning Christmas morning with just our little family. After spending nonstop time with family for a couple of weeks, it was nice to regroup and be with just "us". The kids were up ate about 5:30 that morning. Jeff had told them 6:30 would be when we would wake up, but after laying in bed for a few minutes listening to them downstairs talking and sooo excited, we got out of bed and dragged ourselves downstairs. It is so much fun every year watching the kids opening their presents and cheering and smiling and feeling the magic that Christmas can bring.

Quentin mostly got Lego Star Wars ships that he asked Santa for.

Calli finally got the American Girl Doll that she wanted! Mack got a lot of things, but his favorite gift by far was this last minute guitar that I had purchased because he said that he wanted one. It was so funny to watch him with it. He absolutely loved it. It surprised both Jeff and I. Later that day, Calli came to talk to me and told me that no one would play with her. I told her that I was sure Mack would and she said, he was playing with me, but every five minutes, he has to go pick up his guitar and play a song or two. It made me giggle. What a funny little boy.

Joe's daughter Elizabeth and Mack.

Later that day, we went over to my parent's home and had an enjoyable time with them. We love to play games and we had a wonderful game of Cranium that Joe and his wife Bethany won and then the next night had a rematch that the boys beat the girls at. The kids had so much fun down in the basement with each other and all of grandma and grandpa's toys. It's fun to be with cousins and to have that family connection. It is always so fun to be together when we don't get to be that often anymore.

Sara's daughter Olivia and Joe's Son Christopher.

It was a good Christmas all in all. It was hard remembering our father and grandfather and how they are never going to spend another Christmas with us, but we know that through the atonement of our Savior we will be together forever.