Nelson Happenings

New Blog!

2008-11-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

Check out my new blog,
Life, Love, and Laughter

http://nelsonhappenings2.blogspot.com/

Want a giggle??

2008-10-18T19:02:00.001-07:00

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Bye bye Nelson Happenings...

2008-09-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have some sad news...It is the first day of Autumn...Can you say D-E-P-R-E-S-S-E-D??? and on top of it all, I can not find my "LAYOUT" tab on my blog!! It has changed from Layout to Template and I don't know what to do with a "Template" tab??????????????????
I have been on the blogger website to try to find out the reason and how to fix it, have done what they say unsuccessfully....and I can no longer stand it and have decided to print this blog off and to make a new one!! I had no idea that all of the extras were some of the things that I loved about blogging! I am super sad to say good-bye to this first year of blogging-but have a feeling that this new blog will only bring better and greater things for my blogging experience!! I will keep all of you bloggers and blogger readers posted on my new address and exciting new adventures! If any of you have had this happen to you...please let me know what you did to make it right!!! We are leaving for Disneyland on Friday and so I will have a week to simmer down before I decided to make the move permanent and if I can salvage this one...that is what I would prefer!! HELP! See you all on the other side of my very anticipated vacation!!! Love ya all!

Quentin #12!!!!!

2008-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Am I old enough to have a 12 year old??? On August 29th, we had a really simple evening celebrating Quentin's 12th Birthday. He only wanted one thing for his birthday and so we got him this huge Lego star wars ship that he wanted and then he had one friend and Grandma's and Grandpa come over for dinner and cake and ice cream. He requested Stromboli for dinner which was easy and Chocolate cake! YUMO! He was so happy all day. He just had a huge smile on his face whenever I saw him. That morning, I asked him how everyone was going to know that it was his birthday because all of his friends have gone to the other middle school and he said that he didn't think anyone would know. I told him that I would have to come and hang a balloon from his locker and he immediately said NO WAY!!! He is in Middle School now-I should have known. The other night I was at a Back to School Night with the Stake Presidency and the Stake President told the kids that some of them might be older spirits than their parents. I totally feel that way about Quentin. He has always been so wise and mature for his age. I feel like he has an old soul. I just love him and the joy that he brings to our family! He keeps all of us on the right track!

Happy Birthday SON!!!

Back to School

2008-09-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

7th Grade

Back to School was sad but always fun too. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year was bitter sweet for all of us-but here are the kids pictures before their first day! Quentin entered into middle school in 7th grade and Calli is now in 4th and Mack started Kindergarten. What great kids we have! It was fun to send them off-but sad too. The little kids are no longer bused with the cut backs this year and so we have to walk to school in the morning. Mack started in AM class, but the next day, I found that I could switch him to afternoon and I am so glad that I did!

I love it!!! He hasn't loved it so much so far. I guess that he just needs to get used to it. One day, Jeff took him to see what he would do because he had been crying for me everytime. He didn't cry for Jeff and so when I was walking Mack home that day I asked him why he cries for me and not for dad and he said "Okay I will cry for dad too!" I can't win...!

4th Grade

Kindergarten

(I tried to get him to do a "k" in sign language...)

In Mourning!

2008-08-19T10:58:00.001-07:00

We are in mourning around our house this week! School starts and none of us can hardly stand it!!!!!!!!!! I usually can't wait for the kids to get started, but this year is different. It may be because there are too many milestones this year with Mack going to Kindergarten and Quentin starting Middle School (NOOOOOOOOO!!) Above is a picture of Quentin getting his locker and figuring out how to lock and unlock it at registration!!! He's sooo big now! On top of those things, we have had such a great summer! We especially have had a great last few weeks. Here are a few things that we have been doing......And then keep reading so that you can see my Chicago Post too :-)

The Night of August 1st, I went with a bunch of my friends to go to the release of the new Stephenie Meyer book Breaking Dawn to finish the Twilight series. It was such a fun night! We started at Outback for Dinner and then finished the night at Barnes and Noble to see quite a few strange people that were dressed Vampiry and a little weird, but I suppose some later 20's and early 30's gals looked a little weird in our Edward and Jacob t-shirts too...but who cares! So great! I was showing some of the pictures to my cousin down in Utah and she said that she thought I had the cutest friends and I really do-look how cute they all are! What a fun, crazy night! Thanks girls!

We went down to Utah for a few days to go to family reunion.

It was fun to see everyone again. I got to get caught up with my cousin Julie who I roomed with at Ricks.

It is always fun to see her.

I also love this picture of my Grandpa with Mack being a Pirate.

When we left Utah, we also left our two oldest to stay with Jon's clan for a week. It was so much fun to let them do that and they were so excited to do so. They did lots of fun stuff while they were there. They went to Thanksgiving Point a couple of times, Jump Around, swimming at their grandmas, etc. They had a ball. Joe brought them back to Idaho Falls for us (Thanks Joe) and they stayed for a couple of days. Jon followed later that weekend with his Family and so we had a party all weekend long!

Sara called on Saturday and decided last minute that she would drive for 13 hours with her 4 small children to visit and we had such a great time with her and her children. Thank you so much Sara for making such a great effort to get here so that we could see you! I just loved it!!!

Olivia, Mack, and Joshy

Quentin and Calli at the Splash Park in Rexburg Sam on the Swing-cheesin'
Michael and son
Emily on the slide
Baby Kevin-ADORABLE!!!!
We said good-bye to Idaho Falls last weekend to go and visit our friends in Boise. Jeff went back with us for the first time since we left a few years ago and we had sooo much fun. We did Back to School clothes shopping and went swimming, Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory (I know-I am obsessed!) and just a lot of fun visiting with Justin and Valerie! Love you guys!!! Thank you so much for being the bestest friends anyone could have! On our way home, we drove by the Twin Falls Temple and went to the Shoshone Falls for a little while. It was a great ending to an even greater SUMMER!! Boo Hoo-it's over. I am glad for a routine again but I will never forget the summer of 2008!

School Clothes fashion show w/ Calli and Taeya

Jeff and the kids at the Falls in Twin

CHICAGO!!!

2008-08-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has taken me forever to post this blog-but I have been so excited to do so! Jeff and I took a little break together and went to Illinois for a few days. He had a business trip there and so we went a few days before to enjoy some time just the two of us. It was amazing!

Here's what we did...

19th of July

We flew into Chicago, rented our PT Cruiser and drove to Jeff's Grandmas home where we spent a couple of days there with her. It was so much fun to watch Jeff with his Grandma and to enjoy some time there with her. She of coarse would have liked to have seen the kids-but I hope that she was able to enjoy the time that we spent with her. She is an amazing woman. Jeff's grandpa passed away in December and because of Jeff's dad's passing the day before, we were unable to attend the funeral for Grandpa. Jeff has a special spot in his heart for his grandparents. He would often come and spend some of his summers with them and has a lot of memories tied up in their home with them. It was fun to have him take me around and remember a lot of things that happened there including learning how to swim, loosing teeth, getting in an accident with grandpa's car one summer, etc. We went to Ice cream every night and spent most of the time with Craig and Sue too. We are so grateful for the time that we were able to spend with our Illinois family! We love you guys!

One thing that I loved before we went to the city while at his grandma's house were my own memories that came flooding back of my own childhood. I have been back to the Midwest quite a few times since I moved from Indiana but it seems that so much was going on, or that I was preoccupied with taking care of children, etc. that I didn't take the time to breathe and remember. Driving along the corn fields, all of the red barns and beautiful farms that are so well kept, etc. The grass is so green and people don't even have sprinkler systems! One night we sat at grandmas window and watched a lightning bug light show. I had missed them so much. Jeff's family thought I was weird, but I sure enjoyed it. We went on a walk one night in the dark and we heard the cicadas chirping, saw the fireflies, and heard quite a few bull frogs by a small pond. It was like heaven on Earth for me to remember those sights and sounds from my childhood. One thing that I do not miss however is the humidity. Oh what it did to my HAIR! My skin was nice, but my hair was out of control!!!! The third day I was there, I finally gave up and did my hair curly (which it is naturally more curly than I thought) from there on out!

JULY 21st

After saying a tearful goodbye to the family, Jeff and I ventured on to the Big City! I could hardly stand it driving the 45 minuted to get there! I was so excited to be there and do the things on our agenda. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton which is right where we could be center to everything! It was a beautiful hotel and everyone was so nice to us. The concierge got to know us very well! We were constantly asking questions of where things were, how to get somewhere, the cost of things, etc. I LOVED Chicago! I soaked up every minute of it! I had been there a couple of times as a kid, but not like this! I have to admit, one of my favorite things about being there was the "traveling Jeff". I have never met him before! Those who know Jeff know how shy he is and pretty timid for the most part to talk to people he doesn't know, etc. Now that he travels all of the time, I was able to see him in action as he talked to anyone, went out of his way to ask directions, or have someone explain things to him, hail a cab, whatever!
It was so fun to see him like that!

The first night we were there, we just went down to the Navy Pier and just hung there the whole night. We rode on the Ferris wheel, we ate hot dogs (not a common thing for me), got ice cream, played miniature golf, and shopped. It was a very fun night. We walked to our Hotel that night and got to see a lot of the sights at night.

JULY 22nd

The next day was our only full day there and boy was it FULL!! We got up that morning and took our time finding this great restaurant that we had been recommended to go to called

Lou Mitchelle's. It was worth the hike that we had to take to get there. It was a lot of fun. While we were waiting, they brought us donut holes and Milk Duds to eat as a teaser. It was a fun little Diner feel. A great way to start the day. Afterwards, we had had our fill of walking so we decided to catch the trolley which took us more time than it would have to get to the museum which was our next stop. Jeff loves museums and I wanted to do something that he wanted to because I was making him go to a Broadway show that night. We went to the Field museum and it was so interesting and extremely HUGE. We could not have seen everything even if we had been there for 6 HOURS! When we were done there, we walked again back to our hotel to change and get ready for our evening outing. We were going to go see WICKED! A dream come true for me to go and see a Broadway show! I got to ride in my first Cab ride to dinner first at the Cheesecake Factory-my fav place to eat and get dessert and then we hurried to the Oriental Theatre to see our show. Words cannot describe what an amazing production it was and how I felt being there with Jeff, seeing this show and feeling exactly-even more-how I knew I would feel to be there! INCREDIBLE!!!! Jeff even liked it a lot. He even let me listen to the soundtrack in the car the whole time while we were driving around! That is a night that I would relive anytime!!! Even after we walked back to the Hotel, we hopped in our car and drove around to see some other stuff, and find the route to the airport for me the next day.

JULY 23rd

Bitter sweet would be the words to describe how I felt leaving Chicago. I was excited to go home and rescue my mom and dad who so generously kept our kids for us while we were gone, but I was so sad to leave Jeff and to leave the CITY! It would have made things easier if he didn't have to stay for work for a few more days. Wednesday, he went to work that morning and I took my time getting ready and packing to leave. I then walked my way one more time to the convention center all by myself to meet Jeff for one last meal! (Can you tell that I was sad to leave?) We got some Chicago Pizza and we said our good-byes! You would have thought that we were saying goodbye forever! It was pretty pathetic watching us probably-but we had had such a great time! Good-bye Chicago-but hello to new memories. I can live off of that one for a long time!

What I believe...

2008-07-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I have wanted to write a little bit about what I believe in. A lot of my friends and family are members of the church that I am a member of, The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. However, there are a lot who read my blog who aren't members and may not know what I do believe in other than I don't drink alcohol or smoke, etc.

I was reading an article in the Reader's Digest the other day (one of Jeff's favs) and It really helped me think about how I could approach what I'd like to say. The article was titled Why We're Happy. Here's the link if you want to read the whole thing.

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/gross-national-happiness-adaptation/article75230.html

In a nutshell, the article was about how happiness is determined not by our "things" that we can acquire but by our values. Of coarse it was written by someones point of view and there were some studies that backed up some of what he was trying to prove-but it will help me in some of things that I would like to chat about for a second.

He listed 5 things that determine our happiness.

HAPPINESS FACTOR #1: FAITH

Mr. Brooks mentioned that it doesn't matter what faith you belong to, as long as there is some sort of faith that you do have-or prayer that you say everyday, etc. For me, this is of coarse huge. Anyone that knows me knows that my faith is a big factor in my life and use it daily to help me through anything that I am doing. I believe in a Heavenly Father that loves me and knows me by name. I know that he has a son, Jesus Christ who came to Earth not only to suffer for my sins but to fill in all of the blanks in my life that I cannot manage on my own. I know that if I remain faithful, that I can return to live with them again someday and have more joy than I can even imagine. I know of the power of prayer. I have felt it everyday in my life when I choose to use it. It strengthens me and it humbles me to know that all I need to do is to ask my Heavenly Father and he will lead me and guide in the right direction. It doesn't mean that every time my prayer is answered that it is exactly how I wanted it at first, but he knows me and knows

what is best for me.

HAPPINESS FACTOR #2: WORK

Mr. Brooks talks about work that earns you money in this section. I don't earn any money in my line of work as a mother and wife but I definitely earn happiness (there's that word again...). Words cannot express my feelings on motherhood and the importance of it in my life and in the lives of my children. When God created Adam and Eve, he gave them the commandment to multiply and replenish the Earth. Jeff and I haven't chosen to do that all on our own:-), but we have chosen to have three wonderful children that complete our lives more than we could have imagined! That is our heavenly Father's plan for us to have a family and to be together

forever with that family.

HAPPINESS FACTOR #3: MARRIAGE & FAMILY

This is a little out of order because I already talked about my children, but being married to Jeff has brought me so much happiness. Mr. Brooks said this about marriage;

"Marriage isn’t just associated with happiness -- it brings happiness, at least for a lot of us. One 2003 study that followed 24,000 people for more than a decade documented a significant increase in happiness after people married. For some, the happiness increase wore off in a few years, and they ended up back at their premarriage happiness levels.

But for others, it lasted as long as a lifetime".

In the Temple, on August 6, 1993, I was sealed to Jeff for Time and all Eternity. I believe that in the temple we can make covenants to our Heavenly Father that will bind us not only to one another on Earth but also in the life after we die. This principle of the gospel has meant so much for me in different ways through my marriage to Jeff. When things are great...it makes me think how grateful that we have each other forever and when things have been tough, this promise I have made has made me work harder to be a better person for Jeff and for myself so that we can be happy here on Earth and after we have left this life. How incredible it is to have this in my LIFE! I know that when I am done being tested here on Earth, I will still have Jeff to come home to and he to me. With this sealing, our children who were born after we were sealed are also sealed to us and this brings our family many promises and blessings as well. We are protected through our faithfulness as a family.

HAPPINESS FACTOR # 4: CHARITY

At the end of this section, Mr Brooks says: "In essence, the more people give, the happier they get". He speaks a lot about monetary charity. In the church, we have been asked to give ten percent of our income to the building up of the church and for those outside of the church also.

Here's a link to some of what the church does for outside the church and the United States. http://www.lds.org/humanitarianservices/0,19749,6208,00.html

I have a very strong testimony of this Tithing that we give. It blesses my life more than I think our money blesses others. It truly is something sent directly from our Heavenly Father.

Even more than money to the church, we give of our time and talents. We receive "callings" that the Lord asks us to do and do them without any compensation other than blessings that the Lord will send our way. Right now, I am currently serving as the Young Women's President. This organization has been created for Young girls ages 12-18.

http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,6821-1,00.html

It is an amazing program that I believe in. As I participated in this program myself as a young woman, it helped me to become who I am today. It taught me practical skills in life for my own personal life and for my home. It also taught me leadership qualities to help me live the life that I now live. and help to lead others. I hope and pray that I am doing the same for the girls that I serve. The main thing is, when I am serving these girls, I know I am also serving my Heavenly Father and he blesses me and my family as I serve. I feel of these blessings everyday. Every Sunday, we recite the Young Women's theme:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:Faith, Divine Nature,Individual Worth,Knowledge,Choice and Accountability,Good Works, and Integrity.We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

I know that these things are true! What an incredible opportunity I have to serve!

HAPPINESS FACTOR #5: Freedom

Mr. Brooks speaks a lot about the freedoms that our country has because of the choices that our founding fathers made for our country and the morals that this country was founded on...so that we can have the freedoms that we enjoy. I would like to mention that I am so grateful for these freedoms. Especially the freedom that I have to worship how I please. I know that from the outside looking in, as a member of the church some people may think that some of my freedoms have been taken away through the things that are required of me to participate in or things that are required of me to refrain from. This is not true. The guidance that I have received through the gospel of Jesus Christ protects me from the things that could destroy me or destroy my family, therefore giving me MORE freedom to be happy and free from the worries that these things of the world could take away from me. Our Heavenly Father sent us to the Earth and gave us this great gift of agency! I am proud to practice that agency in the way that I know will make me happy and lead to my earthly progression and to gain my heavenly progression as well.

I consider myself happy! I do have a love for life, but especially have a love for MY life. I am forever grateful that I was raised with the principles that I was. I know that Jesus Christ lives and he loves me. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and I know that we have a prophet on this Earth today that speaks with Heavenly Father and our Savior and tells us the things that guide us to be better people every day. I know that my family is forever and what an amazing comfort that gives me each day. I know that as I live my life according to the things that I have mentioned above, that I can return to my Heavenly Father with my family and live forever with them someday.

These simple things make me happy!!!!!

If you would like to know more about the church, please check their website out.

It is AMAZING! www.lds.org

New TV Show

2008-07-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

It's not a new show on television, but it is new to me. I watched it a few times whenever I would go to Boise to visit my friend Valerie-she loves it...I just hadn't made the effort to watch it until Lately. Since everything else is off season, I started recording it everyday on my DVR and now I have something to watch this summer. I love seeing their "real life" and believe me you, this is really life. I know that I don't have eight children and 6 of them all the same age for that matter, but enough things on this show I can relate to to make it seem like my life is real and maybe a little easier than someone else's-okay...A LOT easier! I especially love John and Kate's relationship. It too is real and I like to have Jeff watch it sometimes to help him know that I am definitely not a naggy wife like he may think some days-she definitely takes the CAKE! Today I watched one where they had made a music video and I thought it was just darn adorable. I searched for it and this was the best link I could find. You have to watch an advertisement first, but click on the video to the right that says Music Video: John & Kate Plus 8. It's a cute song and a cute video.

http://tlc.discovery.com/search/results.html?query=music+video

Summer Swimming Lessons

2008-07-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

My neighbor has begged me to put our children in swimming lessons the past two summers and I have declined. This summer I decided to go ahead and do it and I am so glad that I did. The kids LOVED them and did such a great job! They have so much more confidence and skill in just two weeks. The very last day, they let the kids jump off the diving board. Fun and funny!

Grandpa and Grandma Visit

2008-07-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma from Illinois came to visit this past week and we had so much fun. It was great to be able to have them come on the fourth of July. They go on these long motorcycle rides all over the country and we are able to see them as they pass through Idaho.

We did lots of activities with them. The first day we spent together was the Fourth and we went to the Fireworks that night in Idaho Falls. They say that it is the biggest show west of the Mississippi and after seeing it this year (we hadn't seen them for quite a few years when we were visiting a long time ago) I believe it! It was incredibly entertaining and we enjoyed them so much. Very worth the hour it took us to get home.

The following day, we drove to Island Park and did the float down the river in canoes (our boat was a flat bottom). It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We also went to a fishing bridge that had the biggest fish!!! There was also a very old log cabin that was built and run by one man-very creative and fun to look at. He even built his own water wheel to run his own electricity. Other activities we did consisted of eating a lot of food, going to the movies, swimming for the kids at the hotel (one day for 4 hours!!!!) and going to eat Ice cream.

We enjoyed our visit with them. It is fun to have people come from out of town. It forces us to get out and do some things that we wouldn't usually do-especially in the outdoors. We love you Grandpa Craig and Grandma Sue! Thanks again for the fun weekend!!

July Fourth

2008-07-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of times. We went to Nelson's the night of the 3rd. Before the Rigby Fireworks display, the boys always shoot of their own fireworks and every year, I am nervous someone is going to get hurt. This year Jeff only singed a few of his leg hairs off. Rigby has some really great fireworks there on the third and Quenalee's home faces right on the Rigby Lake where they shoot them off. I loved the summer shots that I got of the kids that night and also the night of the 4th of July where we went to the river in IF to celebrate the 4th with Craig and Sue. Here are a few of my favorite shots. Happy Independence Day!

Callianne #9

2008-07-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Calli turned nine on the 30th of June. She is such a sweet girl. This year has been a fun year with her getting baptized and being such an individual who says funny things and mostly calls it as she sees it! We love her brutal honesty and her humorous way to say things a little sarcastic already at NINE!!! She is beautiful and we remind ourselves everyday that one of these days...she will be all grown up and ignoring her parents and playing with friends more often and even going out with BOYS!!! Oh jeez! I will take these days right now and treasure them! We get an I love you from her periodically and love to hear it because it is very rare. She wanted a really simple party with just "Our little Family" (her words). She did let Grandma and Grandpa come over and eat cake and ice cream. She got a bike, Hannah Montana CD (grandma and pa O), JIVE POD, money from G. Craig and G. Sue that she bought some Nintendo DS games with, a book and a gift card from Target that she bought some really cute clothes with (grandma N.)
I love YOU Calli and are so happy and proud to be your mother! Happy Birthday!

Happenings in JUNE

2008-06-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Father's Day...June 15th
Happy Father's Day DADS!
We decided to skip out on church early this day and go for a Father's Day drive. We drove up to Darby Canyon which was where I was going to girls camp that week with the Young Women. We scouted out the camp ground which was still covered in snow a few weeks before and found it to be dry and beautiful! YEA! Then, we drove up to Jackson, WY and ate dinner there at a place called BUBBA's. How could you go wrong with a place called Bubba's. It was delicious! I still dream about the French fries there. It was a beautiful day! It was the perfect way to celebrate our Father and husband and what a great one HE is!! We ended the day at Jeff's moms home and went to visit Jeff's dads grave. We miss you DAD!

Girl's Camp 2008...June 17th

A couple of months ago, I was put in as the Young Woman's President of our Ward. It is overwhelming and extremely challenging, but the Lord has guided me and strengthened me along the way in more ways than I can express on the blog. One of my favorite events during the summer as a girl was when I would go to Girls' Camp. I did it for 6 years! Now as an adult, I still love it and have gone for the last 6 years..in Boise and now here! I don't love to camp, but I do love to hang with the girls. We headed out on the morning of the 17th and started the week. Both my counselors were there and my friend Ranay was put in to be the Camp Assistant which was extra super fun! My favorite memory was staying up giggling in the tent (even after all of the young girls were asleep) and watching my friend and counselor singing (and doing the motions...) to Deep and Wide. I tried to show my kids that song when I got home and told them it was such a great song and while I was singing it, they just had a blank looks on their faces. I guess that it is only funny at 11:00 p.m. around a campfire with bellies full of S'mores!

Mack's Birthday...June 18th

Mack is five this month. On the 18th, our baby turned five! He is obsessed with Indiana Jones right now and so pretty much everything about his birthday was Indiana Jones. He had his neighbor friend Josh come over, his cousins and his grandparents to celebrate with us. It's hard to believe that he's five. We have so much fun with him and hope that he is having the best little life that his parents can offer. We sure get a lot of JOY from having him in our family.

My FIVE favorite things that I LOVE about Mack:

1. His toothless grin as he sits cross legged on the stool in the morning across from me at the counter!
2. His kisses...3 each time. One on the lips, and then one on each cheek.
3. Watching him listen to daddy read him stories.
4. He still snuggles with me in bed in the mornings.
5. The funny things that he says.
Happy #5 Mack!

Summer is finally here! June 25th

It's hard to believe it after we were still having 30 degree weather just a couple of weeks ago-but the HOT weather is finally here and I have sworn to my children that I will take them to ROSS park 4 times this summer! This was our first day there and the kids especially loved the Lazy River. Bring on the sun, sunscreen, slushies, BBQ's, and fun summer events!

Calli's Hamster

2008-06-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me well know that I think animals are to be looked at-but not owned. I know...I am a cold hearted person-however, Calli (and the boys for that matter) has been wanting a pet and of coarse I wouldn't let her get one! A few months ago, I told her that her Dad would take her to the pet store to look at Hamsters and if she could buy one herself with her own money-she could get one! I knew very well that she is horrible at saving money and so consequently wouldn't be able to afford one! It backfired!!!!!! The pet store they went to happened to have one for adoption-cage and everything-free of charge. Someone had brought it back to the store and they can't resell them! So....lucky Calli-got to bring a pet home. She named him Dash. I have to admit that he has grown on me a little- and that I am quite impressed at how well Calli has taken care of him. She cleans his cage every week without complaint and she has purchased all of the food, bedding, and accessories since we got him! I am really proud of her!

The next chapter of this story is that yesterday Calli's cousin Kylee came over to play and they were talking "Hamsters". Kylee also has a hamster and told Calli that they should have a sleepover with their hamsters. These eight year olds then started discussing that they could have a sleepover because both Hamsters were boys. If one was a girl, then they would "mate" very quickly and we couldn't have that (serves me right for taking Calli to the Library the other day where she got a book on hamsters and it talks about such a thing!!!). Calli them mentioned that she is pretty sure that Dash was a boy-the guy at the store told us he thought this hamster was a boy and so they decided to check for sure because Kylee said that she could tell by looking at the "body parts". They checked Dash out and couldn't really tell-neither could I-so...we went to the all knowing Internet and wouldn't you believe it-there were pictures! Dash is now Dashette and there will be no sleepovers with Kylee's "boy" hamster!

Girls Getaway!

2008-05-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am finally coming out of the closet as a true Twilight Fan. It took me a while for a lot of people around me to convince me to read a book about Vampires and werewolves! I finally caved and I am truly obsessed about this love affair between Bella and Edward and have to admit that I am a true Jacob Fan. I am rooting for him...even though most of the world is for Edward. I like Edward too, but I believe that she can find true happiness with Jacob...There I go again! Sorry!

I love it!

With that being said-the author, Stephenie Meyer, does really peak my curiosity-Where did she come up with this story? What kind of mind could produce such a story and have such an incredible following? The "buzz" is extreme and intense. I was sitting at McDonald's by myself the other day while Mack played and I overheard a whole table of young mother's talking about Twilight and I am ashamed to admit that I moved over one table so that I could hear their conversation better!!! How pathetic is that? At least I know that I am not alone.

I have one friend in particular that I have discussed Twilight with on many occasions. I really think that she is even more obsessed than I. She called me one day to ask if I would like to go to Utah to a book signing where Stephenie Meyer would be promoting her new book The Host that came out recently. It sounded like a lot of fun all except that when she tried to get tickets, they were all sold out. A few days later, we made an extremely last minute decision to go to Arizona and go to her Book signing there. It wasn't hard to find people to watch the children, make arrangements with our husbands-who were both very supportive I might add-and jump on the plane and go!

Here's what went down...

Tuesday, May 13th 5:00 a.m. Left our homes to drive to Salt Lake City to catch our flight.

11:11 a.m. Arrived in Phoenix to pick up our rental car. I made the mistake to ask if he would upgrade us for free that day and he said that he couldn't do that, but we could get a convertible for a small add-on of cost. We did it!!! It took us a while to figure out how to put the top down, but once we did we were on our sunny way!

We checked into our hotel and then found the High School that Stephenie Meyer would be doing the book signing that night. We were able to find our way around pretty well and had so much fun just shopping, eating, and driving until the signing happened.

5:15 p.m. Got to the High School where the signing was going to take place and waited in line with all of the other people there. We met a really nice lady, Barbara, and her Granddaughter, Jordan who were also Twilight fans. We had quite the conversation with them about the books and our feelings about them and what is to happen in the upcoming 4th book in August.

6:00 p.m. It finally started! They introduced Stephenie to the crowd and away it went! We had the opportunity to write down questions for her to answer prior to her coming out and my friend had written a great question, but unfortunately, it wasn't used. I could have listened to her for hours. It was so fun to hear how she is inspired and to hear her talk about the books and the characters in them and how real they are for her. I loved it! Even more than I expected I would.

7:00 p.m.-who knows what time? We waited in line for her to sign our books. When we finally got up there, Ranay was so excited to tell her that we came all the way from Idaho to see her! I felt bad for Ranay when she told her because Stephenie just said that the were others there that had come further that had us beat! Oh well...It was still fun to see her and to hear her talk about her books. What a great Highlight to a trip. It was really late when we got back to our hotel and I promptly went right to sleep watching TV and started snoring! Sorry Ranay!

Wednesday 9:30 a.m. We finally rolled out of bed! It was great to sleep in and to be able to not have the constant interruption of a hungry child or someone who needed something!

11:00 a.m. After getting ready, we went downstairs to map quest the Cheesecake factory and a store that we were told about the night before called Sprinkles. We got ready and headed straight to the outlet malls across the road from where we were staying. Shopped til we dropped!

(around) 2:00 p.m. Got hungry and found our way to the Cheesecake Factory, got seated outside by a fountain, where we had a delicious lunch/dinner and an even more amazing dessert! I had the Chocolate coconut cream cheesecake which I recommend to EVERYONE! YUMO!!!!!!

3:30-6:00 Did some more shopping right there at that Mall by the restaurant and found some fun stuff there too!

6:00 p.m. We drove to Scottsdale to visit the Sprinkles store that we had heard so many good things about and I have to admit that it did deliver! There were a few flavors to pick from, but the ones we chose to sample were, Chocolate coconut, peanut butter chocolate, red velvet, and vanilla chocolate! What a dreamy store! I loved it!

8:00 p.m. After going back to the hotel to get our jackets and freshen up, we headed to a movie together at the outlet malls. We went and saw Maid of Honor. Cute show.

Thursday, May 15th 4:00 a.m. Got a wake up call from the front desk of our hotel to let us know we needed to get out of bed to get ready to go to catch our flight at 7:00 a.m.

5:15 a.m. Got to the airport to return our convertible (sadly) and got all checked in to return to our homes and back to the real world...

9:30 a.m. Got to SLC and started our drive home, stopped to eat once more (so much for a diet!) and then returned home to our families early afternoon.

My kids had made me a welcome home sign and everyone had signed it-even dad. It was good to be home, but sad too. I had had such a great getaway with my friend Ranay! I know that I would have never have done that on my own and I will be forever grateful to her for twisting my arm and getting me to go with her. It will always be a great memory!! The sun, the SUPER friendly people, our convertible, meeting Stephenie Meyer, the shopping, and especially the good company! Thank you for that Ranay!

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is a special day to celebrate our mothers. Sometimes I am still getting used to the idea that I am a Mother now that my own celebration can occur. My kids did get me some rather cute things and thoughtful too.

Quentin has a reward system at school where they give the kids "Viper Bucks" according to their behavior and their academic accomplishments. Periodically, they will have an auction of things where they can spend their bucks on different things. I don't particularly love this flavor or beauty products and I am not sure where it came from and if I will ever use it, but the fact that he used his hard earned bucks on a gift for me was more thoughtful and special than the gift itself!

Calli is my girl for sure! I got a frilly card that she had written a poem in and colored beautifully and then at school, she had covered a glass vase (which we provided) with tissue paper and it turned out so pretty! I will cherish it forever!

Macks gift to me was the smile on his face when he handed me a little cut off milk carton with dirt and a couple of things growing from the dirt the day he returned from Preschool after making it for me. There was a card with only his name on it! I will never forget that

toothless grin!

I love being a mother to these three

precious children!

HOME

2008-04-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

I just got home from playing basketball over at the church with some of my friends that finally got me to come and play. I am happy to say that I have gone numerous times now and am having a great time! I know that anyone that knows me is probably red in the face from laughter, but it is just for fun-it's not a real game-but I am learning some things about basketball and although I am not a pro-I believe I have improved a little and on top of that, it is great exercise! A little tidbit about myself that some of you may not know....I LOVE TO EXERCISE! It may not be the crazy heart pumping exercise that some people enjoy like running a marathon or anything like that. It is just my little gazelle and me in my bedroom at night settling down for an hour long session in front of one of my television shows that I have TIVO-ed for this very purpose. I enjoy my TV shows-but one of my favorites (beside OPRAH and American IDOL) is Men In Trees. Anne Heche plays the lead role of a woman named Marin Frist. Who moved to Alaska few years prior to "find" herself. I find myself relating to her quite frequently and love her little monologues at the end of the show where the final scenes are shown while she talks about something that matters to her and is relevant to the episode just shown. Last nights episode monologue was especially nice. These are Marin Frists' words last night...

"We all love to lose ourselves in a good movie. When I was a girl I loved The Wizard of Oz, especially the moment when Dorothy opens the door to that fantastic world. But once Dorothy appreciated how bright and beautiful everything was, she had realized she had a bit of a mess on her hands. One of the classic examples of be careful what you wish for. Spend 5 minutes in a fantasy and you just might find yourself wishing for your old life back. We miss what’s right in front of us when we are looking for what’s over the rainbow. But sometimes, it takes stepping into someone else’s shoes to realize how much you love the life you have. Because no matter how magical the movies are, at the end of the day, there is no place like home."

There have been a couple of thoughts that I have had about HOME lately.

In our home right now, we have been able to make a few improvements to out humble abode. It has been more refreshing than I even expected to have some things look and feel a little more fresh. Make our home feel even more like "OURS". There truly is no place like home! Even though my home would be wherever Jeff and my children are, I have to admit that it is nice to have the space and the ability to refresh that space periodically. When I am finished with these spaces, I will post some pictures of what we have done.

At Easter, we were able to get together with both of our families. Jeff's family on the Saturday prior and my family on Easter Sunday. Going to my mom's and seeing the hot crossed buns that she made upon my dad's insistence and the BUNNY cake made me feel like I was HOME. Traditions are an amazing thing that help you to remember where you come from and who you are. When we were little, mom would make a bread Easter basket for breakfast and then have the hot crossed buns with ham for dinner, and then the bunny cake for dessert. There truly is no place like home-especially when you have a mother who is a great cook!!!

The day before Easter, we had gone to Jeff's mom's to have dinner and an Easter Egg hunt. AT the time, there was still about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and so we did an indoor hunt. The kids had a blast. We also sent some balloons in the air with letters to Grandpa tied on the string. I had suggested this idea when I had overheard Mack talking to his friend one day at the house as he was showing his friend a picture of his grandpa and started crying. When I saw this, I ran to him and tried to comfort him and he asked me why grandpa couldn't be here with us anymore. I explained to him that Heavenly Father needed him to come HOME to heaven. He was still so sad and asked if he could write him a letter. I told him that of coarse he could do this and then I remembered the balloon idea that I had seen on a television show one night. It was a special time that we were able to share with our family. Jeff's mom asked me if I might be able to get a balloon big enough for her to fit in. I know how I feel about my home and I am sure that with Galen being physically absent, she is not sure what home is for her right now. I hope that eventually she will find her home again and that she knows how much we are here for her and how much we love her. Thank heaven that we know where our eternal HOME is and the steps that we can take to get us there. I am grateful for this knowledge and having lost someone close to me has emphasized my desire to return to my Heavenly Father so much more over the past few months. When we are all there together...I am sure we will still say

"There's no place like HOME".

Here the kids are writing their letters.

That was the best part.

They were so thoughtful and adorable.

They said some very special things to grandpa.

We watched them until we couldn't see

them anymore (a little difficult with the sun and the tears).

Hello Sweetheart, Dad, and Grandpa! We love you!

Recent Ramblings

2008-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time and so I am going to brief in my descriptions so that I don't bore all of you...however, it has been a fun March full of "new" things. I just want to mention a

few of them for y'all.

Anyone that knows my father, probably won't be surprised to know that he is having a book published!! He has tried before to publish informative books and with no success has ventured on to a brighter road with a novel. It is titled Unto This End. I have read it and it is great! But more than the fact that it is a good book, I am a proud daughter. Not everyone can say that their father is a published author. He had been made an offer to publish his book by a publishing company last year, but he sat on it for while because it was going to be quite expensive. There is a friend of his that is trying to start a new publishing company and as it is-Dad is interested still in having his book published and so there you have it! He is going to get it done after all of this time. I can not express how exciting this is for me!! Anyhow, I was over at their home the other day and lo and behold, on their kitchen table was the sample of the front cover. It just made it so real and exciting-I had to share it with all of you!

That same day, I had gone over to my parents house to join my mom and her "quilt club". In her ward, there was enough interest to do a little club where she has been teaching them to do quilt squares to put together for a quilt, a table runner, or whatever else they can come up with. I decided to try. For anyone that knows me, I DO NOT sew, but to mine and my mother's surprise, I tried it and I actually liked it!!! It even turned out cute. It ended up not being as hard as I thought. I will even go back to make another one! Here is a picture of my first quilt square ever!! Also, a picture of me sewing above because it doesn't happen every often!! Documentation is part of it!

At the end of February (I know...it's been over a month!) we were able to go down to Salt Lake City and go through the Temple with my youngest brother Ben. It was a very special day. My grandparents were there, my parents, my brother and sister-in-law Jon and Kyla, my younger brother Joe, all of my aunts and uncles from my mother's side and Jeff and I were able to be there. It was beautiful! Thanks Ben for letting us share your special day with you!

While we were down for Ben's Temple day, we able to take our family and visit my grandparents for a little while. How lucky am I to have two grandparents still who love me and are just still livin' life and doing their things together? My grandpa works at the temple a couple of times a week and they are still very active and do a lot together still. They especially love to go on drives together and look at their surroundings. They live just walking distance from Temple Square downtown Salt Lake which comes in very handy when we need parking for that area. What a special event it is to go and visit them. I love them so much.

Lucky Tender Mercies

2008-03-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

I have very ambitious scrap booking friends. I LOVE it!! This year they decided that we should do a new challenge every month. In January, the challenge was 31 scrap book pages in 31 days. In February it was a mini book. March's' challenge is a one page layout of things we feel lucky for. With that being said, a few years ago, I heard an amazing talk given about Tender Mercies. It was an account of one persons feelings of our Heavenly Father and his tender mercies that he gives her. Since that talk, I often try to notice the little things that I receive from my Heavenly Father each day and thank him for them. Yesterday was a day of Luck and Tender Mercies. I know that not all of us may think of the same things as luck or tender mercies, but here are a couple of mine yesterday that I would like to give credit.

1. A plumber who came and unclogged a pipe for me and it surprisingly cost way less than I would have expected!!!

2. A GOOD hair day.

3. A four year old who didn't cry when it was time to go to preschool.

4. Another moment that I got to spend with my parents! Living by them has been more amazing than I would've ever imagined. Lunch out is nice!

5. A new(er) van that we have the money to make the payments on.

6. A hidden bag of Easter Chicks and Bunnies under the luggage in my cart at Target so that when I loaded my luggage in my van saw that I hadn't paid for them and therefor had to hurry and return them to the store without eating the whole bag before I got home (which I would have)!!!

7. Had money to put the extreme amount of gas in my car that I needed.

8. Recycling.

9. A son who is 11 and can stay with the other kids while I make a quick run to the store all by myself.

10. Front row parking at the store.

11. Kodak machine where in minutes I can choose, edit, print, and enjoy my pictures!!

12. A VERY creative friend who can pop an idea right off the top of her head when I need an idea for an activity!!

13. THE SUNSHINE!!!!!!! and warmer weather!

14. Primary songs being played on our humble keyboard.

15. A husband who flew home to be with us for one day before he flies out for another 4 days!

16. Friends in Boise who still want me to come and visit so that I am not alone for those 4 days!!

Farwell Elder Andrew Nelson

2008-03-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law left for his mission to Argentina yesterday on March 5th! Mom and brother Alex went with him to enter the MTC down in Provo, Utah so that he can be taught the language and to be taught how to teach the people in Argentina. It is so exciting sending a brother on a mission. I am not sure how I will feel when it is my son, but it sure is fun sending brothers. He was so ready and so excited! Quenalee told Jeff last night on the phone that as soon as they entered the room where they welcome all of the new missionaries, he was escorted to the front and then asked to give the opening prayer. WOW! That would be scary and intimidating! She said that he did such a great job! I would not have thought he would have done any different. The best of Luck Andy! We love you and know that the Lord and your dad will be there with you the whole way!

An Old Friend...Do you think she'd remember me?

2008-03-06T04:23:00.000-08:00

Okay-I was telling the girls during scrapbooking the other night about my friend that I had in High School that I sang on stage with in a show choir that we had. Well, I guess we WERE friends-who knows if she would remember me or not now-however, I still wanted to share this with you. Without embarrassing myself too badly (because there are no closeups of me...) I am showing you a video of her from one of our competitions (wait a while, she comes out after the storm...he he). I would tell you to watch for me, I am the one with big hair-but then...everyone has big hair!!! I really just want you to see HER...THEN! you have to watch the video of her and Andrea Bocilli-it is amazing!!

And to think that in my Senior yearook, she wrote "Becca, You are my hero!!" Crazy!

Charisma 1992 http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ld9oBJwthsg

Heather and Andrea http://youtube.com/watch?v=3wZxZ9U1rjs&feature=related

Welcome Home Elder Alex Nelson

2008-02-02T08:01:00.000-08:00

Elder Alex Nelson returned home with honor from Brazil on Thursday afternoon, January 31st. He is safely home with his family now. It was a wonderful reunion. We all went to greet him at the airport that day and about 2:45 his plane came in. He looked so different. Everyone said so. His suit coat sleeves looked a little short and so I swear he had grown a few inches. He towered over all of his brothers. What a joyous reunion!

That night, after he was released, we got together. As he swept the Brazil map to show us the places that he had been, we heard him tell stories of his mission. He told us a little of the Brazil people, did a door approach in Portugese, and sang I Am a Child of God in Protugese for the Kids. It was priceless. We all soaked in every minute of him! He just smiled the whole time! It is great to have hime home!

New Baby, Brooklyn Nelson

(born on January 10th)

was there to greet her Uncle Alex.

(The video below is sideways. Sorry about that! If anyone has any tips as to how I can rotate it-they are welsome to share. Otherwise, turn your head sideways and watch the joyous reunion!)

Farwell President Gordon B. Hinckley

2008-02-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Our beloved Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints passed away on Sunday night, January 27th, with all of his family around him. He was 97 years old. I am so grateful to him for all that he did while he was on this earth for the building up of the Kingdom of God. He has been the prophet pretty much all of my adult life and I will be forever be grateful for his counsel and his loving, kind, "to the point" way that he was able to express himself for our benefit and growth. There are a lot who are so sad about his passing and I haven't felt that way too much. I know that the church will go on and that it is still true. I also just keep imagining the glorious welcome that he recieved in heaven and how happy he is to be reunited with family that has gone before and the other prophets that he came after. Imagine the people that are rejoicing there for all of the Temples that he built!

I am glad that he is there now with his wife and family.

Until we meet again!

VEGAS BABY!

2008-01-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

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???

2008-01-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-01T21:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-01T20:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-01T19:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

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.

Thanksgiving Holiday

2007-12-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We had so much fun with our family that was there and missed those that weren't there. Jeff and I took the kids down Tuesday Night to Utah to stay with my big brother Jon and his family. We went down early because Jeff had a doctors appointment with the Doctor there at the University. The appointment was Wednesday and we both felt that it went really well. We had a fun day in Salt Lake together. Jon and Kyla watched the kids while we went to the doc and then went to eat lunch and had the anticipated visit to IKEA!!! I have been dying to go! My sister Sara took me to the one in Seattle when I went to go visit her and I just fell in love. There is one in Draper, UT which is just a couple of miles from Jon's and so Jeff and I went and had such a fun time looking around. Wednesday, the rest of the family came. Ben came from Salt Lake that morning and then Joe and his family came later on that day. When Jeff and I got back, they were all there. Mom and Dad came later that night. Let the fun begin!!

The "girls" did most of the the preparation for the following days dinner and even though it may not have been just like mom's. It was fun trying. We made all of the pies and they even turned out even despite our inexperience! I think that mom enjoyed not having to lift much of a finger-just her voice every once in a while to let us know what she would advise. The kids of coarse made their contribution by decorating the Turkey sugar cookies which is a tradition in the Ostenson Family!!! The Picture above is the tower of Turkey cookies we created!

The kids had a blast together! Getting the cousins together is the best babysitting ever!! Dad even made the comment that when the cousins get together, they don't get to see them every often because they are always off being together and not with grandma and grandpa! It is so fun to watch them be together. Their favorite game that they played as many times as they could was the animal sound game. It is where you all sit in a circle and the center person puts a blindfold on and as they get twirled around, people switch seats and then the person takes a pillow and feels around for a lap. When they decide of a lap, they sit on their pillow (used to disguise the lap they are sitting on) and ask that person to make an animal noise, such as-"make an elephant noise", or the kids' favorite- "make a snake noise." When that person gets done with their animal noise, the blindfolded victim has to try to guess whose lap they are on! It is a riot-even more fun with all adults! The kids loved it! They played it at least twice a day!

Thanksgiving day was indeed a day for Thanksgiving! What a great time we had all together! I am thankful for my family! It is great to be able to spend the holidays with family. We missed that while we were Boise. That night we played a rousing game of adult cranium where I will never forget Jon trying to use dad as his puppet to get the rest of the boys to guess "milking a cow"!! We also took the whole family to see Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium (very cute). The girls went shopping on Friday and left the kids home with the boys. It was great to shop, but even more fun being with just the girls!! Our talk at Subway I will never forget. It meant a lot to me to be there with them and to discuss the deep matters of our life! The girls also made a craft one night. These signs that say; Call it a Clan, Call it a Network, Call it a Tribe, Call it a Family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one! They turned out so cute.

Our last night there, we went out just the adult to a fun Mexican Restaurant and had so much fun together!! The funnest part about it was that we didn't have to hire a babysitters, Jon and I both have children old enough to stay home and be with the other children! Thank you to Jon and Kyla for putting up with us those few days. I am sure they were relieved when we all left! What a great time though!!

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well. We all have so much to be grateful for. It's nice to have a day to remember that!

It' been FOREVER!!! (A little more than a month in review)

2007-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

I am finally posting again! (This one is for you Gina!) I have been unbelievably busy lately and have put off blogging for a while. I have decided to do one long blog instead of separating them out. Hopefully you have a moment to sit and read. It's going to be a loooong one. A lot has happened in the past month or so and I have a lot to write. Here goes it!

Quentin received his Arrow of Light at the September Cub Scout Pack meeting. He is officially done with Cub Scouts. It was quite the ceremony. They really spot light their achievements and follow their path through cub scouts, talk about their progress to get where they have gotten and paint different colors on their face for each requirement that they have been awarded. I cannot believe that he is in 11 year old Scouts and is starting camp outs and merit badges. I have a lot to live up to with my mother-in-law who has '6eagles' on her licence plate because she had 6 boys receive eagle rank. Jeff said that if we don't get in gear, she'll probably take over and will have to change her plate to 7eagles! ha ha! I am excited for him to enter into this program and start progressing to that accomplishment.

The first Saturday of October, we woke up to endless snowing that day. It ended up snowing about 4 inches!!! Who gets snow in OCTOBER anyways??? I love Idaho Falls! That day, there were branches off trees like you would not believe. I wish I would have gotten pictures of that. All over town, huge trees were injured by the snow that fell. The fact being that the leaves hadn't fallen yet and as the snow collected on the leaves that day, the heaviness bent the branches down so far that they broke. Luckily, we only had a few come off our willow tree, but all through town... branches down! It was a pretty incredible sight. That next day, we were talking about it at my parents home and my brother was talking about how the trees weren't prepared for the snow yet because they hadn't lost their leaves. He then mentioned how there is a time and season for everything just like the scriptures say...I had thought about this earlier that day too about how incredible nature is and how it prepares itself for each season and how the changes need to happen in a particular order to receive the proper progression in their life. This is true with our nature also. Just as a child learns to crawl first before walking.
It seems as if I am in a "season of winter" time in my life right now. Everything isn't necessarily sunny all the time-in fact, every time I turn around it seems to get a little darker for one reason or another. I am not sure what I am to learn from the challenges that have come my way recently, but I know that with all that has happened, I am learning to be patient. I am an instant gratification type of person and for me to have to wait is not an easy task. However, just like those branches on those huge trees weren't ready yet for that snowfall, I know that I can't force things to come quicker than time itself can bring.

With all that crazy talk above, let me fill you in on my dear husband Jeff. We went to Utah last month to go to a Doctor down at the University of Utah. We were pleased to discuss our options with him and also to feel not so alone with Jeff's situation. He shared with us that there were quite a few men that he had seen with this exact problem. Thank heaven there are others in our boat, with an unfortunate twist that he still had no resolution for us. He sent us home with some medication for Jeff to try. He called it a nerve blocker/ anti-inflammatory. It hadn't really appeared to be working until a few days ago, Jeff told me that he thought that his pain was getting a little less intense. My heart about leaped out of my chest with happiness. That was good news. He's wondering if he is imagining it, but regardless, whatever works right? We did however spend the beginning of our week this week in the emergency room. Sunday (his b-day also) he came home from Florida (for business) with extreme abdominal pain which they temporarily diagnosed him with diverticuli (sp?) It is a bowel disease. I am still not sold that that was what was wrong with him. We will go see a specialist to confirm. On Monday we were in the emergency room again with the same pains. So...on top of everything else he has to deal with, he has an extreme stomach ache! NICE! On Tuesday, while I was working up in Rexburg, my mother-in-law got a call from my bro-in-law Travis who works with Jeff telling her that Jeff had had another seizure! Is it ever going to end??? I was worried, but not as worried as the first time because we had done this once before, I didn't have to watch it this time, and I was more familiar with the situation. It was again the medication-the doctor reassured us about that. We are working through everything, although challenging, it brings us closer together and understanding that this too shall pass!!

Last weekend my friend (in the red, with her mom and sister) had a scrap booking event to raise money for the children's cardiomyopathy foundation. Her daughter was diagnosed with this disease and so she is passionate about this cause, and therefore I was so excited to help her with this event. She did an amazing job with organizing a really neat evening with lots of fun prizes, yummy food, lots of scrap booking, & great conversations with friends. Check out this website to find out more. http://www.childrenscardiomyopathy.org/

Halloween was yesterday. Can I just say that it was a light among the darkness!!!? WE HAD SOOO MUCH FUN!!! This is why people have kids! Quentin was an ARMY guy, Calli was a Devil/Angel, and Mack was a very active Ninja! I especially loved Calli's outfit. Amazingly enough, Idaho Falls was having an extremely beautiful day/night and we for the first time went house to house for a couple of hours. It was so great! Prior to the house hopping, we went to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church where everyone just goes from trunk to trunk getting a very large amount of candy in a small amount of time. Don't be late, or you will miss it! Jeff and I enjoyed watching the kids run up and down the streets hitting every house possible to get as much candy as possible. We got tired before they did. We eventually just followed them around in the car while they walked the sidewalks. Mack never quit running! It was so much fun! Did I say that already?

All in all it has been an eventful last little while for our family. I am grateful for my husband and for my sweet little children who keep me smiling and laughing everyday of my life. My little Mack tells me every day just out of the blue that he loves me at least two or three times. Keeps me moving forward and reminding me that the small things in life are the important things.

Last but not least, check out this video of Mack at Preschool and check out
my adorable Nephews!!!! Because I have a paranoid brother, I will leave their names out-but my brothers name starts with an M. These three beautiful boys are his children. Aren't they dang adorable???

BUBBLY

2007-10-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you all about my new favorite song!!! It is called Bubbly by ColbieCaillet go to this website and check it out!!! http://musicjesus.com/videos/watch.php?video=2PWfB4lurT4

Dry Pack Canning

2007-10-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are told constantly by our leaders to have a years supply of food in our home so that we can be prepared in case of some unforeseen emergency. Jeff and I have been obedient to the best of our abilities-some years it has been better than others, but we are constantly working at it. One of the things that the church has to better enable us to fulfill our commitment to this is they have a facility that we can go to and can our own food (for us canning challenged people). We can do wet canning and also dry pack canning. The other night I went (with one of my good friends) and participated in an evening full of FUN Dry pack canning and wanted to share with all of you the process and what we do.

1. First, we get there and decided what we want to can. There is a number of things that we can can. Flour, beans, rice, macaroni, spaghetti, hot cocoa, dried onions, carrots, etc.

2. We enter the production room, put on gloves and beautiful hairnets, and begin canning. The product comes in large 20-30 lb bags or boxes and then we grab the cans, put the product in them, and weigh them to make sure that they are the correct weight to seal them up. Before we seal them, we put an oxygen pack in each can on top of the product.

3. After the product and oxygen packets are in the can, we put the lids to the cans on with this really fun machine. It seals it and then it will keep on your shelf for various years pending on what is inside. For example, once dry milk is sealed, it will stay good on your shelf for up to 20 years! Amazing, and very helpful to those of us that take years to get a years supply!!!

4. After it is sealed, we get a sticker label from the wall that is marked with the name of the product and also the nutritional value of the product. We also mark the date that we canned it so that we can get it used up as it expires.

5. After the cans are all sealed and labeled, we box them up, take them out to pay for them, and then take them home. The fun part is taking them home and putting them in the storage room on your shelf and see the rewards of your labors.

I got flowers

2007-10-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

SO, the other day I was standing outside on my front porch talking to my mother-in-law about this and that in the late afternoon, when I looked off in the distance and saw a bright orange shirt walking around the corner onto our street. (The orange shirt in significant because when Jeff is training during training weeks at Press a Print, they are required to wear these orange shirts.) I looked a little baffled and my mother-in-law looked behind her to see what I was looking at and said "Is that Jeff?". It was. The reason why this is so off, is because he usually doesn't walk home from work (right now he can't drive because of the seizure) and so he either calls me to get a ride or asks one of his guys at work to take him home. There he was walking down the street towards us and the closer he got, the clearer it became that he had a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I found out later that he had someone drop him off at the store down the street so that he could get some flowers and then walked home from there. We had had a little disagreement on the phone earlier and so he was bringing me flowers as an "I'm sorry" gesture. Even though-the fault was mine, or more, as much as his. His mother told me he was a keeper, and even though I already knew this...I had to agree with her. It doesn't happen very often that I get flowers, so I thought 'd take a picture and blog this beautiful event. What a great guy!

Getting "Stuff" done

2007-09-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

This week has yet again been a very busy one. I keep thinking that my life will slow down eventually, but have finally surrendered to the fact that this IS my life now and the older my kids get, the busier that it will continue to get. I have also decided that it is okay. I read somewhere this week a quote about this and it says in some way that the busier you are the more that you get done. I guess that has proven true for me this week. In some way because I am more booked with my schedule, I have gotten my life a little more in order this week and still managed to get all of my cleaning and laundry done. This week my most covetous wish is to have someone come in and clean my house!!! If I had all the money in the world, I would probably hire my windows and bathrooms out for someone else to do.

I have been working up at Rexburg at the In-Laws apartment complex Tuscany Place and I am loving it! I don't love the commute-but it is a small sacrifice to make to have such an incredible opportunity to make a little extra money while being able to pick my own days and hours and still be able to take Mack with me while I work. I mostly do the bookkeeping part of it when my mother-in-law can't be up there and so I enter checks, go to the bank, take payments from the girls, answer questions that the moms or girls have about their payments, etc. It has been fun working and feeling like I am contributing to the Gross National Product. I have to admit that my favorite part has been remember the time that I spent while there at Ricks College (now BYU IDAHO). The memories I have of there are some of the best that I was able to cram into 1 year! A lot of them include the time that Jeff and I were dating and it's been fun to drive by old places and reminisce of the times we had. I loved that first year of my independence and reaching out to who I was to become. I used to wish that I had gone there one more year before I got married, but now I wouldn't change a thing-but that year was amazing. It's fun to watch those girls come in and see the hopes and dreams that they have for themselves. Some of them are timid and some of them appear that they are going to conquer the world-but I know what they all have in store and as long as they make good choices in their lives the best is yet to be!

I got together with some friends on Thursday to do all of my cooking for a month in that one day. We cooked 20 freezer meals and I am loving the fact that I have them all in there again. We took a hiatus during the summer so it is good to be back to the freezer meal world! I love it! Here are a few pictures my friend took that I stole off her blog. The one of the freezer is mine and I just love the result!!! Don't you all wish that you had a freezer full of food?

Another thing that I got done this week that I have been longing to do is go to the temple with my husband. It was so nice to be able to go and be there and to settle my cares and to feel a little calm even for just a moment.

A good laugh that I had was about my adorable sister. I have to tell you that I just love her to death-not just because she is my only sister, but because her "hair" stories keep me laughing always. My sister is a natural blond-not a typical one-but a natural one. She has beautiful hair, but can never seem to get it the way that she wants it. She colored it not too long ago and it ended up being a strawberry blond/brown, but only after she had it red and then "green witchy" color as she calls it. She really wanted to go back to her natural color and so upon entering the salon this week told the hairstylist what she wanted and promptly had to warn her that if she used ash color in her hair it would turn to a "green witchy" color. The hairstylist being the "expert" didn't listen to her caveat and still used ash in her hair. It turned the witchy green color that my sister warned her about. The hairstylist fixed it, but colored it brown. The picture below was the result. I think it looks adorable still-but the story gave me a good chuckle. SO much for ever being blond again...

Hello good friend....I have missed you!

2007-09-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

I feel like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when she ran to her computer in the morning after her boyfriend leaves for work and checks her computer for new mail and she sits there looking so cute as usual and repeats with the computer "You've Got Mail". It's as if she has found a long lost friend. That is how I feel today as I sit at my computer and update my blog. I have been having technical difficulties the last week with my computer and I have missed it extremely!!! However, I am back and I have a couple of things to share.

The latest update with our Jeff's Health Saga....

We went and visited with a Neurologist this past week and he confirmed that his EEG came back abnormal because of the medications and a bump that he received on the head a couple of weeks before the seizure happened. He called it a provoked seizure and the abnormalities on the EEG were really not that abnormal. It has been a huge relief and comfort to hear it from the expert. I had no idea how stressed out I was about it until we heard it from him. We have now put that out of our mind and are trying to focus on his prior issues and trying to start all over with that. We have an appointment with a Doctor down at the University of Utah on October 3rd and are both really anxious to get there and pray that we can figure something out. In the meantime, I am so happy that Jeff is my husband and the Father of our children. It just never ceases to amaze me what an incredible man he is and how wonderful he is for me and to me! Here's a picture that I took of Jeff and the kids reading bedtime stories together. He always reads to Mack and inevitably, the big kids come in to read stories like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Harry and the Dirty Dog, Dr. Seuss, etc. whatever Mack picks out for the night. Somehow, moments like this mean more to me these days. I wouldn't have usually thought to take this picture-except it was so precious to see them all together...I found the quote beneath the picture in one of my magazines the other day and it made me think of my dad mostly, but also about us and what we have gone through this past couple of weeks. All of us can relate though right?

"In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways."

Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance

I love that!!!! Don't you???

Our Crazy Busy Week

2007-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

This week was another crazy week for our family!!! It started out with Mack starting preschool on Monday. We had to wait all of the way until 12:00 to go and I about pulled my hair out listening to him ask me when we could go to school! It is horrible to wait for the afternoon, but he went right in and didn't even flinch when we told him goodbye. He is so excited and I was so excited for him and for me too. His teacher is really cute. Her name is Miss April and Mack asked her on the first day if she was a mean teacher or a nice teacher. What a silly boy. He even has his own locker outside his classroom. He HAS to hang his back-pack up and he won't let me help him at all, but that it part of this whole thing of new independence.

Quentin had his Birthday on Wednesday and we had a fun night. I was supposed to make him rice and meatballs for dinner, but when I went to the freezer to pull out some hamburger, I didn't have any so we went to Pizza Hut and Grandma and Grandpa met us there on her way home from work. The night before, he had purchased (with our help) the last Wii in Idaho Falls. We looked all over and called everywhere to get one and no one had one. It was quite the adventure when Jeff and Quentin went into Toys R Us and they found that there was one there that they were saving for someone, but ended up giving it to Q because the guy had never come back to claim it. He had saved really hard all summer for that with working, mowing lawns, and allowance. We were so proud of him for saving that much. He and Calli have played it all week and have gotten some good exercise from it. I have been tempted to try it out sometimes because they get such a good workout.

Calli's end of the week activity tops off our week for sure. Calli turned eight in June and decided that she wanted to be baptized. She had a really beautiful service yesterday and was just glowing all day. Her grandma had made her a beautiful white dress that she just loves!!!! She looked amazing. She didn't even mind being the center of attention. We had a lot of family there which was so much fun for us. I just kept looking around being so grateful that we lived by our family and that we had some family that traveled to be there for it. It was such a fun day. Both grandparents were there, Jon and Kyla and their children, Michael and Rachel and their three boys, Joe and Bethany and their two children, Kylee Nelson & Becky and kids were there. It was great! I love surrounding us with our families especially on such an occasion. Jeff baptized and confirmed her and gave her a really nice confirmation blessing. She was the only one from the stake that got baptized yesterday so it was really special that way. I of coarse was teary all through because I am just a horrible milestone mom. I am so proud and I guess a little sad that they are growing up, but mostly just so proud of their decisions and the steps they are taking in their lives. What a beautiful day!!!

Later that night, grandma and grandpa got a sitter for all of the grand kids and "Just adults" had a night out on the town. We went out to dinner and had some fun being able to discuss topics without children there to interrupt us and then we headed off to a Shakespeare Play that was being put on by the local community theatre. It was soooo much fun. They had three men who comically put on an act depicting all the Shakespeare plays in a condensed version and it was so much fun. We sat right in the front row and got used a lot throughout the play. Jeff even had his own solo version of part of Ophelia's ultra ego. He was so embarrassed, but it was fun for the rest of us. Afterword I took this picture of my brother's in some of the props that were thrown out into the audience. I just loved the whole night!

What a busy week for us. I even started helping out at Nelson's apartments up in Rexburg. I have really enjoyed doing that. It has been a good experience to get out there and start doing a little more than just being home all day with kids. Mack gets to come with me and he doesn't do too bad. He gets a little impatient, but I just need to be a little more creative with what I take up there for him to do.

I hate to end the entry with Jeff, it hasn't been all sunshine for him lately, but we keep venturing on with the next doctor's visit. He had his EEG this week and it came back abnormal which neither one of us were expecting. Therefore he still can't drive which he is starting to hate me driving him all over. We now have an appointment with a neurologist this week. We are grateful up until this point that we haven't found anything too serious, but are praying and hoping that we are lead in the right direction for us to find out what is wrong and what we need to do to get him back to "normal".

This week in Review

2007-08-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun week that I wanted to share with all of you. This week the kids started school which was fun for all of us! The night before I was a little worried because as I went to tuck them in that night, I asked Calli what she was wearing the next day for school and when she said that she didn't know, I told her that I always had my first day outfit planned before I went to school and she informed me that I did that because I was excited to go to school and she wasn't!!! When I talked to Quentin about school that night tears welled up in his eyes and said that he wasn't that excited! However, after the first day, the kids came home and Calli told me about how nice her teacher was and Quentin said that this year was going to be the best school year ever!!! (He said that because all four of his good friends are in his same class.) They had a good first week. Mack went to meet his preschool teacher-Miss April and he was excited to do that. He starts on Monday.
Jeff is doing really well. We go in for his EEG tomorrow morning and hopefully that comes back normal. If it does, then I think I will let him drive again. It is driving him crazy not to and we have been told that if his EEG is normal then there shouldn't be any reason for him not to drive again. That does mean that we will be in the market again for a new vehicle because his car is about to croak for good.

Yesterday we attended the wedding of Jeff's brother Travis and his beautiful new wife Lacey. We are so excited to have her "officially" in our family. She has been such a big part of it for a few years now and we love her. Jeff was a groomsmen and walked one of bridesmaids down the aisle and Mack afterwords asked Jeff if he was married to her! We had a good laugh about that one. It was a beautiful outdoor "casual" wedding in the Jeff's parents back yard which is AMAZING! Ryan and Becca came from Mississippi and it was so much fun to have them there and be all together (all except for Alex who is in Brazil). I helped them out with the music for the wedding song and for the background music during the luncheon/reception. It was fun to put that together for them. I was a little nervous out getting the sound system down, but with the help from my "techy" son Q, we did it! What a fun day! Exhausting though-We all slept in until 8:30 this morning which is really late for our family!

The day after...

2007-08-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

So, the whirlwind slowed down a bit. We decided to only spend the day together as a family. I wouldn't let Jeff out of my sight so he had to go run some errands with me and we took the kids to lunch and a movie. We went to see The Last Mimzy which Calli described as scary, but everyone liked it. I especially liked just sitting there in the dark peacefully with my husband and all of my children. After that, the kids pretty much spent the afternoon with us in bed while I tried to sleep, but I am still having a hard time closing my eyes and not replaying the whole event from the night before in my mind. I did sleep okay last night and so did Jeff. I hope the people at work take care of him today because it is sure hard to send him into someone Else's care! We received lots of phone calls and a lot of prayers and a few goodies from friends. I had a friend bring me over contents to make myself a huge bowl of caramel popcorn, some Pepsi and the Wild Hogs movie which Jeff and I thoroughly enjoy! We also had some neighbors bring pizza over for dinner! You never want help, but when you get it like that unexpectedly, you are so grateful that you have people who care and know exactly what you need.
Jeff is doing really well. He is on his way back to work today and I am going back to my routine. I need to drive Jeff to work because Doctors orders says that he can't drive for 6 months. Sounds crazy, but I will do whatever I have to to make sure he is totally well. There is a chance that the Neurologist may clear him before that. We both feel like that will probably happen. Quentin will go and mow grandpas lawn today and I have some last minute school supplies to go and get for Mack for Preschool. I am looking forward to a routine next week. Thanks again to all of the concerned friends and family! Jeff told me that he was going to have to write thank you notes! I chuckled...

Jeff's Scare

2007-08-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep so I might as well write some feelings down about what happened to us last night... Jeff had gotten home from work and had just finished eating dinner. We were talking about having a quick Family Home Evening before he went back to work to do some printing. I went down stairs to tell the kids to come up and heard a very large crash! I looked around the corner and there on the stairs, fallen head first was Jeff, appearing not to be able to move. My heart sunk! I kept calling his name. He was looking me straight in the eyes as if pleading for help and I couldn't do anything. I dialed 911 and got someone on the phone and she told me to get him off the stairs and to lay him flat. At this point, he was blue and had quit breathing. I asked if I could administer CPR to him and she told me to proceed but to keep talking to her and an ambulance was on its way. I thought I was going to lose him. A lot of thoughts went through my head at that time. Some that are too sacred to share, but I knew I didn't want to be a single mom, and I didn't want to be alone. I prayed with all my might that he would be okay. After I had done CPR, he started to breathe and the relief that I felt was indescribable. The lady on the call asked me if he was moving and I told her no. He was just laying there limp. The whole time, his eyes looking right at me. I thought that he knew what was happening, but couldn't talk to me or couldn't move. Soon after that the response team showed up and started treating him. I immediately called the children upstairs because I yelled for them to go downstairs earlier because I didn't want them to keep watching what was going on. I hugged them as tight as I could and told them that the response team was there and they were going to take good care of him. By now, the whole neighborhood is at our house, one dear friend came to ask if she could take the kids and so she took the kids and I went with the ambulance to the emergency room. By the time that we had been in the ambulance for about 3 minutes, they told me that he was starting to respond and that he knew who he was and where he was. They also told me that they thought he had had a seizure. When we stopped and they pulled him out of the ambulance to enter the hospital I was so relieved to be able to go and kiss him and have him know who I was. After three hours and many tests, they told us that the only thing they could figure caused the seizure was the medication that he has been on for a little over a year for his pain. I was able to take him home last night and have him in my bed! I didn't sleep a wink because every movement I wanted to make sure that he wasn't having another seizure! When the kids came home last night and saw their dad they were so relieved. Mack just kept staring at him. I know that it really scared all of them. Now that I look back on it, a seizure may not seem serious and I'm glad that they couldn't find anything majorly wrong, but believe me when I say that I am grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who blesses me each day with this amazing man by my side and he'd better not take him from me sooner than he really needs to! Thank you to all of the prayers that I know that were said in our behalf!

The importance of Family

2007-08-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

There have been a few things happen recently to really make me even more thankful for family than I was before. Living by our family has really emphasized the importance of family and how special it is to have one another. Also I have been passing off my scrapbooking as a way to journal some of my life, but I don't always get my feelings down about certain things, and we have so many things to be grateful for that I would love to express. I also love this idea to keep people posted on events in our lives. Hopefully I will be able to keep up on it!

Our Summer Coming to an END!!!

2007-08-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

Where did the summer go??? I can't believe that it is over!! We have had so much fun this summer! Starting out, I thought that our busy part of summer would be over after the Fourth of July, but it wasn't-it just barely got started and got even crazier! That always happens...every summer. The older the kids get, the faster it seems to go! We had a lot of fun activities we particitpated in! A lot of family events! We first went to Lake Powell and stayed on the Nelson house boat for a week and then went strait to the Ostenson Family reunion in Utah where we spent the next few days with the WHOLE family. That's a lot of people!!! (I will post some separate posts for these items.)

Lake Powell 2007

2007-08-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

Every year for the past few years, we have gone and spent a week on the houseboat with Jeff's family. It is such a great time. This year, every family was able to be there and we had such a wonderful time just being together. We always have fun swimming, playing cards, eating, boating, skiing, did I mention eating? oh and eating! This years highlights included the many Lizards that the kids caught out on the beach, Calli's obsession with the water slide, Quentin being told that he can't ride the jet ski solo until 12 years of age, riding the waves of the jet ski, and Grandpa falling off the speed boat while trying to board the housebout. "I fell off my boat" is now a common phrase used by the family and joked about quite frequently. My favorite part this year was taking the boat and going a little ways around the lake and visiting Rainbow Rock. What an amazing sight! I loved going there! It was an beautiful boat ride, and then a little hike in to the rock (and with 2 four year olds and 110 degree weather that was quite an adventure). When we rounded the corner during the hike where we were able to see the Rainbow shaped rock, I was just in awe at its beauty and its location-in the middle of nowhere! We met a guide that told us all about the rock and told the little ones to stay close to us and not wander off because of the protected surrounding area. The best part was he sprayed all of us with some water from a water bottle to cool us off for our adevnture back to our boat. He was a very interesting gentleman with an interresting job. What an amazing family adventure to do every year! We love it!

Ostenson Family Reunion

2007-08-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

After Lake Powell, we traveled north again through Utah and spent a few days with the Ostenson Family. It was so great to be with the whole family. It has been forever since that has happened. Jon and his wife Kyla have access to a cabin up past Park City and it is beautiful! Sara and her husband came the furthest from Washington. It is always fun to be with everyone. There are 15 grand kids now and so it is definitely crazy-but so much fun. We did lots of activities including canoeing, swimming, hot tubing, a fourth of July treasure hunt for the kids, playing Pirate(Mack is a pirate in one of the posted pictures), took family pictures, and had lots of food and laughs. One of our favorite activities was the Wii system that Jon had brought and all of the boys could strut their stuff by competing with baseball, golf, bowling, etc. It was so fun to watch them because they are all so competitive! I especially loved the evening when we all sat around and read our family memories that we periodically write every couple of years and submit to a compilation book of all of these memories. This year, we all had to draw a layout of our Indiana home and write a memory of one of the rooms. It was fun to see every ones interpretation of our house. Not only did we share what we had written, but a flood of memories flowed through that room that night of growing up and of funny things we had done in that home, and special memories that we had too. With dad's health these past years, I realize more and more how important these memories are and try to hold onto all of them with all of my might!