Winter Vacation is Here!

I just have to say how happy I am that winter vacation has finally arrived. Don't get me wrong...the school year really is flying by. I am just so happy to have my husband home with us for the next 3 weeks! His new job as an elementary school principal has been such a blessing to our family, but the downside of this job is that it keeps him away from home lots of days for very long amounts of time. We get to have him home with us now for the next 3 weeks and I am very grateful. No school schedules to worry about! Lots of play ahead...and maybe a few "honey-do" chores.

It's Great to Be 8 !!

Olivia Madeline
8 years old

Olivia turned 8 years old on Friday. Her birthday celebration began a little earlier in the week. She invited 5 friends over for a sleep over. The girls each created their own personal pizza, we baked cookies, had cake & ice cream, presents, watched a movie and were asleep by 11:40 PM. One friend felt a little homesick, so at midnight, she called home. In the morning, David made chocolate chip pancakes and then the girls did a little more baking (chocolate dipped pretzels). They played and laughed and really had a good time together. The boys did a good job being the "pesky little brothers", but overall it went well. I was very impressed with how well the girls all got along. It was a great party.

On Friday, she had the traditional birthday breakfast in bed and then we celebrated at home with our family and my parents. We had a steak dinner and more chocolate cake! Olivia opened the many cards she received, as well as some gifts. She got a new bike, a new yellow lab webkinz (she of course named Sophie), an easy bake oven and some boots that she hasn't really taken off yet. She couldn't wait to ride her new bike, so she bundled up and went out in the dark to try it out. It's a good thing we live in a court. She loved when the boys went to bed and she got to stay up a little later to play some Uno with her dad. It was a very nice birthday evening together.

So pretty in her baptism dress. David's dad (Papa) took some wonderful pictures of Olivia a few weeks before her baptism. These pictures are very special to us.

Dressed in the baptism jumpsuit...ready for her daddy to baptize her.

Saturday, was her special baptism day. It was a very special experience. She had invited lots of family to participate in the program (including a special song performed by her brothers, Hannah, Sydney & Kendall). Grammy & Papa shared very thoughtful words about baptism and the Holy Ghost. The spirit was very easily felt by all of us. I know that Olivia will remember this day with lots of love in her heart because of the efforts by everyone that participated in the program and who came to support her. One of the thoughts that continually ran through my mind during that great day was how blessed we are to have so much love and support shown to us by so many people. Truly a blessing.

Mommy & Livie right before her baptism program began.

This photo was taken after the baptism. Olivia had been so excited to wear her special white dress. She looked absolutely beautiful. David looked awfully handsome too.

Olivia picked out a chocolate cake with all white frosting for her special baptism day. After her baptism, we enjoyed cake together in the cultural hall.

Group shot of most of the kids! They were all so sweet and happy for Livie. I am so proud of Olivia and the example she sets for all these kids.

Livie & her brothers!

Nelson Family photo with our 8 year old daughter!

Here is Olivia opening cards and gifts that family & friends had brought for her. She received some very special things (scriptures, scripture bag, bracelets, bookmarks, journal, baptism keepsake book, stickers, pens & highlighters).

After a quick clean-up at the church, family joined up back at our house for some pizza, salad, and more visiting. It was really fun getting to spend some more time together. Mark & Becky, Steven, Bill & Helen all headed back to R.P. Thanks you guys for traveling and sharing this day with Olivia. It really meant a lot to her and to us.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!

Ok, believe it or not...I have worked on my blog with updated info and photos. Now, hopefully I can stay committed to posting once in a while. We will see. I realize life is always going to be busy, but I really do want to find a routine again for posting more often. Ok enough about that.

Last Tuesday night was a super fun evening. Olivia, my mom, Sean & Lisa and their girls, and I all went into San Francisco to see "Wicked". It was amazing. I can't say enough about it. We bought tickets back in September. Olivia and I had been very quietly counting the days until our special night. I am so glad we went and got to experience it together. Olivia was familiar with the music (her 2nd grade teacher played the music often in class) and she kept up real well with the storyline. It was so interesting to follow the stories of the witches. The performance done by Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) was incredible. I just loved how the storyline unraveled. It ended up being quite a late night for all of us, but totally worth it (the following day was a school holiday). I hope this is a lasting memory for an almost 8 year old. I would really like to see it again sometime. We have had so much fun listening to the soundtrack.

Here we are just outside the Orpheum Theater doors. I thought it was so cute that Olivia wore her green sweater to the performance. On our way home she told me that the "Popular" scene was her favorite.

Mom, Lisa, me, Olivia, Sydney & Hannah
(photo taken by Sean)
Orpheum Theater
San Francisco, CA

April Happenings...Part 1

Well...I know it is already May, but I am still going to blog about our crazy month of April. We managed quite a few exciting milestones in our family this month. I will work this blog starting with the happenings from the end of the month and work my way backwards. We celebrated Nathan's 4th birthday with a small family party at home (with a walking fieldtrip of fun to the park). Nathan really enjoyed playing on the slides, being pushed on the swings by Grandpa, racing in Derek's red car...courtesy of Uncle Jon's speed, and doing somersaults down a little grassy hill with all the other kids (and this was only the excitement at the park).

Here he is blowing out the 4 candles on his Lego cake. The Lego character cake was a surprise for Nathan. David, my father-in-law (Bill) and I all helped decorate the b-day cake. We had Lego Indiana Jones racing across the cake in a raft and the "good" Lego Star Wars guys battling with the "bad" Lego Stars Wars guys. Nathan really seemed to like the surprise and that was all I wanted.

How can Nathan already be 4 years old? Here he is loving his birthday breakfast in bed. He wanted pancakes and a piece of his leftover strawberry cake for his breakfast. Let's just say, he didn't eat much of the pancakes. I just can't believe how fast time has gone. He seems like such a big boy to me now. He has such a funny and silly personality. He loves to make others laugh. I love that about him. He makes the funniest faces and sound effects. He constantly changes his clothes throughout the day (and that drives me nuts) and he prefers to wear shorts and colored socks. He cracks me up!
I love you my little Nathan William.
Happy 4th Birthday you crazy kid!


We had a few warm days in April. One Monday evening we spent time outside having squirt gun fights and washing David's car. Derek discovered the hose. He had such a good time playing with it. He later managed to find the soapy bucket we were using to wash the car. He dove right in while no one was looking, and his mommy had to rescue him from drowning during the car wash. He had solid bubbles from the top of his head all way to his belly button. You couldn't even see his little face.
Babies + buckets = trouble.

Here is a picture of Matty and Nathan riding bikes together in our court. Nathan is loving his new bike and helmet. He is really coming along with his bike. And notice, Matty is riding without training wheels! He had set a goal (homework assignment from a few weeks ago) to learn to ride without training wheels...and he accomplished it. He has never really been all that into riding his bike. We had practiced a couple of times before with taking the training wheels off, but he just wasn't ready. Well on this particular night, we took them off, I held on to the back of his bike for about 20 seconds and let go...he rode off without any problems (he even turned and came right back towards me). He was so proud of himself and he now just loves riding his bike. He actually rides better without the training wheels. It's one of his favorite things to do now. Great job Matty Boy!

Derek loves riding on the back of my bike. David rode around with Derek during Matty's exciting night of bike riding. I just think he looks so cute with his little bike helmet (he doesn't mind wearing it anymore...thank goodness).

Well like I said, this is just some of the April fun for our family. I still need to catch up on Easter, our Spring Break trip to R.P. and Bodega Bay, and of course Baseball Season 2009 has begun! Have I mentioned that Derek is now walking???

Date Nights

After David returned home from a weekend in Utah (mission reunion), we had the opportunity for a date night. Back in December, he received some NBA tickets for the Kings & Lakers game from a very generous family at one of the schools he works at. The game was Tuesday night and I was very much ready for a date night. We had really great seats and the game was full of dunks (2 important things at a professional basketball game). Getting to spend a fun evening with my husband was the highlight of the night for me. During our night out I got to thinking about how we REALLY need more of these date nights. Life is so busy with our family, work, church callings, sports, etc.,. These are all important and great things to be busy with, but I feel like we need to make "us" a priority more often than we do. I know I can do a better job even in small & simple ways to make my marriage more of a priority.

A picture from the game.

Before kids, we took lots of pictures together. Something to remember.

David of course cheered for his Lakers. Here's Kobe ready for his free throw.

Final Score

Date Nights = Winning

Happy Birthday Derek!

Well today, our baby turned 1 year old! I really can't believe it! The first year went by too quickly for me. We had a family birthday party last Saturday at our house and we really enjoyed spending time with everyone. Derek was fantastic. He was happy on his special day and really enjoyed the time we all spent playing outside in the court. David pushed Derek around in his red car that he loves while he watched all of the cousins play with lots and lots of outside toys.

This is how Derek feels about being 1 !

Getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to Derek!"

Yummy, chocolate cake! He really liked it. Not really a surprise...he is my son and all.

Oooh, that mint chip ice cream is cold!


Daddy and Derek opening gifts from family. Derek loved the dollar bill he received from Grammy & Papa. He held on to it for quite a while...of course he liked putting it in his mouth...yuck.


Derek giving the gift opening a try all on his own. He really only cared about the paper.

The birthday party crew!

Tonight (his official b-day) our little family shared what we think is special about Derek. Here are the responses:

Olivia: "I really love Derek because he makes me laugh. I like when he wants to play on my bed with me at bedtime."

Matty: "I really love playing with Derek."

Nathan: "I really like going in Derek's room in the morning when he wakes up."

Mommy: "I really love the big hugs Derek gives me when I get him up out of his crib. And when he pats me on my back."

Daddy: "I really love when I come home from work and Derek crawls over to me because he wants me to pick him up and hug him."

Our baby Derek has brought so much love and joy to our family. We love him and value the sweet spirit he is!

Happy 1st Birthday Derek David!

Snow Trip 2009

We made a day trip to Tahoe on the last Saturday of February. Thanks to my mom & dad, Derek was able to sit this adventure out. A day in the snow would not be considered an enjoyable day for him and way too much work for his parents. The "big" kids in our family were very much excited for the snow trip. We dropped off Derek at my parents' house and arrived at Soda Springs Resort around 11:30 AM. We quickly ate our lunch in the car and got dressed in all of our warm snow clothes (we were a little too warm to be honest...it was a pretty warm day in the Sierras...we ended up taking off a layer of clothing later in the day.) Well, Soda Springs was a bust. Too much money for no tubing! We paid and made it up the hill...only to wait in a long slow line. After realizing that this was not going to be at all what we wanted for our kids for the day, we headed back to the ticket sale window and asked for a refund. Surprisingly, I didn't have to go nuts on them to get our money back. We went back to the car and headed to a great "free" play area with plenty of snow and a few hills for the sleds. This little road trip to a new place provided Nathan with an opportunity to take a much needed snooze before heading out to play in the snow (AGAIN).

Here is Matty attempting his first snow ball of the afternoon. He and Nathan were all about the snow ball fight. They had a war with their dad for the first hour of play. They hid behind a bunker of trees and David launched snow balls over in their direction. They laughed and laughed and managed to throw a few snow balls at him.

Here is Nathan after his first run down a small hill with our blue disk. The disk was more manageable for the kids than the sled. He zoomed down and walked up the hill to try again.

Here is David and the kids on the "magic carpet" as we called it. It moved us all up the mountain with the tubes Soda Springs had available to use. Too bad we couldn't actually go down the run with the tubes. The lines were terrible and the tubes were moving very slowly down the hill (bad combination). I really did like the "magic carpet".

A quick pose together in the beautiful white snow!

We had our photographer snap a quick photo of us! She even asked us to kiss and she got that photo too. Thanks Livie.

Here comes Matty on the sled. Watch out below!

Dog-pile on Daddy!

This is a great little video of Olivia flying down the hill on the disk. She really enjoyed it.

Student of the Month

Olivia was selected as "Student of the Month" for February for being a good problem solver and for good decision making. We are proud of her. She went up in front of the whole school to receive her award. There have been times when she hasn't felt comfortable in front of audiences, but she did it without any problems! Way to go Olivia! Keep up the great work!!

Livie's "Liberty" Basketball Season 2009

Here is a photo from Olivia's final game of the season. She is in the blue shirt in the middle of the picture. She worked really hard at being aggressive on defense. I was really proud of the way she kept on striving to get better throughout the season. She definitely wasn't the tallest girl out on the court, but she made up for it with her speed and aggressive attitude. She made one basket all season and that moment was awesome. She was so happy and proud of herself. The look on her face was priceless! Both sets of grandparents happened to be at that particular game, as well as her daddy and brothers. Everyone cheered liked crazy for her. Being her coach and referee of the game, I got to run up and congratulate her right away. Her first words to me were, "Mommy, I did it! I did it!"

A medal to congratulate the basketball player for a great season. Can't wait until the next season of girls basketball. We had a great time together!

Wet & Wild!

It was raining & pouring at our house Monday after school. It was raining so hard...we just had to go outside and enjoy it. Looking back, I have no idea why I had my kids get jackets and boots on. It would have made much more sense to put on swimsuits and flip flops! They got soaked and absolutely loved every minute of it! Derek and I watched from the dry garage. As I took pictures of the little wet maniacs, I felt grateful for this silly moment they were having together. I am grateful I get to be home with my kids and experience moments like this (even though there are days I don't feel so grateful for the opportunity).

Matty and Nathan just getting started out in the rainstorm.


Nathan loved splashing in the puddles with his new fireman rain boots and matching umbrella!

SPLISH, SPLASH!
Yes, Matty is using the princess umbrella (his BOY umbrella broke weeks ago)

They were trying to see who could make the biggest splash!

All wet and totally worth it!

(of course when we were finished, one of the kids...guess who...didn't take his clothes off in the garage and decided it was a good idea to walk through the house... leaving a small river in my hallway and living room!)

Baby Derek is Learning to Walk!

Derek is practicing his walking more and more each day. He loves when everyone is watching and clapping for him. "D.D." (Nathan's nickname for Derek David) likes to show off for us. It is hard for me to believe that he will be one next month. His first year has certainly gone by in the blink of an eye.

Beginning Bowlers!

Monday (our day off from school) was a family bowling day! My parents invited us to go bowling. The kids were really into the experience. This was their first time and they were so excited with just the bowling shoes. Nathan asked if he could get a pair just like his rentals for his birthday.

Too cute.

Here is a photo of our "cool bowling shoes".

Velcro bowling shoes...so smart!

My kids love their Grandma & Grandpa!

Nathan gives the "thumb up" about bowling. The automatic metal bumper guards sure helped his score. This new bowling alley was quite fancy!

Here is the score card during the 8th frame. "D" (Daddy...aka David) and "M" (Mommy...aka me) were tied with 100. Of course that all changed by the end of the game. Ha ha ha.

Livie, Matty & Me having fun being silly together!

Winter Weather??

I know we really need the rain, but we have enjoyed playing outside these last few weeks. We have spent a lot of time riding bikes, scooters, playing basketball, swinging on the rope swing, and I even busted out my rollerblades. I have been able to spend some time working on our yards as well (work that we usually can't do until the spring). The kids and my plants are a little confused about the seasons. Each morning, Nathan and I fight over his clothes. He doesn't want to wear pants because the weather is so nice by lunch time. Nathan loves wearing shorts and t-shirts (he has even got away with wearing flip flops a few days). Nathan and Derek have loved playing with Derek's car (that used to be Nate's) out in our court. It has become a daily ritual. Both of the boys are all smiles as Nathan zooms Derek around the neighborhood. Derek cries when it's time to get out. What is it with boys and their cars??

Derek & Big Brother Nathan

One happy little guy!

Happy Birthday Dad!

So, today is my dad's 60th birthday! Happy birthday Dad! I love this picture of him with my 3 older kids because it reminds me so much of being a kid myself. This was the kind of dad he was to my sister and me. He always made time to play and have fun with us and I am thankful he continues to do that as a grandfather. My kids have the greatest time with their "Grandpa Tommy". He's not very fond of getting older, in fact he manages to continue life like he was in his 30's or so (ha ha ha). He is a great waterskiier and enjoys spending time with his waterski (I mean his 8 grandchildren). We all love him and are thankful for all that he does for each one of us.

HAPPY 60TH DAD!