The Nilson Way of Life

A year in review

2011-08-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here I am ! I didn't disappear forever.... but I've decided that I am quite behind.

My last post was about girls camp and here we had girls camp AGAIN last week so I am offically a year (or more) behind.

So here goes my year in review:

August 2010:

Back to school! Leah started preschool at a local neighborhood preschool, Sarah started 2nd grade, Bekah started 4th and Emma 5th. Here they go... off on their first days

September 2010:

Joey turns 2

Emma turns 11. She invited some friends to go roller skating with her and had a great time

October 2010:

Halloween:

November: I hosted my own Turkey dinner this year for just our little family. We did great except the turkey didn't get done until a couple hours after we ate... hahaha

here's our harvested sunflower from our front yard... large as usual

December: Christmas time!!

We all got to meet Santa at the Lee Santa Clause party, even Grandma Hart got to sit on Santa's lap!

Pinatta time!!

January:
Bekah turns 10... she celebrates by getting her ears pierced, roller skating with the family and a friend party.
She was very nervous to get her ears pierced and was a bit upset before it happened.

February or so...Joey figures out how messy he can be and the messes begin.....

(okay I admit this is a "clean" messy picture)

AAAGGGHH TACO SAUCE!!!

March
Leah turns 5

April:

Cruise to Mexixo! Zack's parents celebrating their 60th birthday's invited all of their children on a week long cruise to mexico. we had a great time!!

Easter

May:

Sarah turns 8

End of school

preschool graduation was really cute. The kids sang a lot of songs and had a great time

June: Sarah gets baptized!

That just about gets me caught up, whew! Now I can spend some time on some more detailed posts of our adventures of summertime!

here's some odds and ends from the last year:

Loves

2010-12-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

So Time goes by whether I would like it to or not... Life happens. Sometimes I wish we could stop the clock for just a moment to absorb everything in full detail.

Here it is December... the weather has turned and Christmas is fast approaching.
Someday I'll get my pics posted and stories of our family told and caught up. Today I thought I would be publicly thankful for the little things:

* Turning on the fireplace and cuddling up on the couch with a blanket and Leah and Joey to watch "Dora" in the mornings
* Listening to the 4 girls interact and play and sometimes fight with each other in the other room... It brings "life" and excitement into the house
*sitting in the basement and hearing the pitter patter of little Joey feet running upstairs (oh boy, what is he getting into now?)
* seeing Zack come home from work on the train, crisp with the cold, in his heavy coat and dress clothes. but he's HOME and glad to be there
*waking at 3 or 4 in the morning and finding Joey all snuggled up between Zack and I, fast asleep.
*spending time with Emma braiding her hair or laughing and singing with Bekah, reading and gigling with Sarah and going hug crazy with Leah.
* "Jamming out" in the kitchen with all the kids, singing to the radio

Life is not perfect... we have out struggles, things break, get dirty, and get behind. We fight, neglect things we shouldn't, dissapoint and disrupt. But at the end of the day we are family, we trust in the Lord and end our day kneeling together as a family...all in all, it's pretty great!

Finishing up Summer 2010!

2010-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

I know I'm very behind, but I thought I would make a post that finishes up our Summer 2010. All the kids are at an age where it is becoming fun to spend time with them and outings are more enjoyable. I had a great time with them this summer.

After the 4th of July festivities were over I headed out for the weekend with the "girls" as in the teenage girls of the ward on Girls Camp. I had a great time and felt young again being around all of them.

the theme this year was "It's a Jungle Out There" so I created a Jungle Mail station for secret sister exchange

Girls Camp 2010

The Colton Family Gathering 2010 was a lot of fun this year. We spent 2 nights with all of my siblings and their families in Paradise, Utah We had a nice large house to stay in and camping cabins down by the river. we played games, played in the river and enjoyed some time around the campfire together. Joey was a bit sleep deprived so he spent a lot of time getting "rides" with Grandma. ( sorry the picture is turned and I'm not sure why)

I also discovered a nice place to go with the kids on a nice summer afternoon. We drove to Pineview reservoir to a swimming beach there and played in the water and sand, the kids had so much fun they wanted to go the next day... I told them they had to wait, so we went the next week. The second time we went I made sure to bring more shade as it was pretty hot.

Another new and exciting part of Summer was our new puppy, Sophie. She is part pug and part beagle called a puggle. She's playful and fun and a bit sneaky. The kids have come to love her (though it took Bekah and Leah a few weeks to get used to her)

Joey and Sophie have an interesting relationship, they are like pups together, wrestling a bit. Joey just pushed and shoves her if she starts to annoy him. He also likes to be like Sophie, crawling around and chewing a shoe if she does.... or strip and climb in the bath when we are trying to wash the dog. I think they will be great buddies

This is at her first trip to the vet, we took all the kids so they could see what it was like.

Wheeler Farm... Gateway Discovery... Zoo etc.

Here's some more snapshots at a few more fun places we visited this summer

Oh so behind!!

2010-07-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, quick recap:

April: Yahoo! great, awesome, wonderful, beautiful, relaxing trip to oregon... a couple days with our cousins in Grants Pass and 6 Days on the beach with our friends from Washington.

Easter With the Sill's

At the Sea Lion Caves

Beach Time

Tillamook Cheese Factory

Evergreen Aviation.. Emma next to a model of the spruce goose, the actual Spruce goose is behind her but too large to fit in a photo.

Searching for sea life in the tide pools

( I will try and post some more pics later when I have time I have waaay tooo many!!)

We also took a day trip to Carbon County, Utah with G&G Colton for Emma's county report.

May: Sarah turns 7!! All she wanted to do for her birthday was go to the Mayan restraunt and watch the divers they have there. G&G Colton met us there. She had a family birthday party as well. Sarah is so easily pleased and had a great birthday. She loved her Hello Kitty cake

May also brought us all the end of school programs, field trips, etc....

Economics fair

Joey is an artist

recorder fun!

Family music night for Musikgarten

and the best thing in May.... no more braces for me !!! woo hoo! I know, not much change from before... but I have a much better bite now and tons less jaw pain!

June: was packed full of swimming, working in the garden, and music camps. Sarah and Leah got to go to a one week summer camp for Musikgarten and I got to volunteer yipee, it was actually lots of fun!

The great time/money sink growin in our backyard...

Bekah, Sarah and Leah all had swimming lessons for 2 weeks and did fantastic. We celebrated the end of lessons by going to the Roy Aquatics Center and spending the day.

Sarah showing off her dive

Leah, still not wanting to lay back in the water

The 4th of July we spent doing the usual Parade... play in the water at G&G Nilson and then off to fireworks at Davis High.. a very busy day, but lots of fun.

and there you have it... I'm all caught up... time to start staying caught up... yeah... right...

April Fools!

2010-04-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Haha! funny Mother Nature. Joey and Leah were the only ones able to play in this late season snowfall. It was pretty much gone by the time the older kids got home from school.

Joey would just run...making footprints in the snow and laughing to himself. It was quite funny to watch

March randomness with Joey and Leah

2010-03-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Leah is 4!

2010-03-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

Me (2 months ago at Bekah's birthday) "Leah! your birthday will be next, it's in March!"

Leah "YAY! I want a parade cake!"

me "okaay.. a parade cake" (weird kid)

Leah a few days later " I'm going to have a parade bithday!"

Me...thinking... okay I guess she is stuck in this "parade" thing

A few days later the kids are playing, marching around after each in a parade. Then it clicks... They are MARCHing and Leah's birthday is in MARCH.. so no wonder she wants a Parade birthday, because obviously we will be marching in March. Hahaha silly 4 yr old !

So the parade cake didn't really work so I talked her into putting Tinkerbell on her cake instead.

We celebrated at G&G colton's house with a combined party and then we took Grandma Nilson out for dinner the next day to Spaghetti Factory. Leah got a new "big girl" bike and helmut, she was very excited and rode up and down the street telling every neighbor she saw that it was her birthday...what a cutie!

School fun

2010-02-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Sarah's class got to creat a Chinese Dragon and the entire 1st grade did a little parade around the school celebrating the Chineese New Year. They had a blast!

5 years ago...

2010-02-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Just doing a little pondering and remembering tonight...

5 years ago this month, Zack and I made a monumental decision that sent us on a whirlwind adventure to move back to Utah. The holiday season of 2004 was a lonely one for me. We had lived away from Utah for 8 years (minus a little 9 mo stay inbetween school and residency). We had 3 little girls and Emma was going to be starting Kindergarten in the fall. We wanted to have another child and the thought of being so far from our extended family was getting really depressing for me.

We put lots of thought and prayer into it and decided that Zack would start "looking" for a job in Utah. In 2 weeks, Zack not only had a great job but we had put the house up for sale and sold it within 5 days and we were moving out. What an amazing thing! The Lord provided a way for us to return.

I still deeply miss beautiful WA state, our friends there and the cozy little "easter egg" house we had in Stanwood. But I'm also grateful to be close to Grandparents and have enjoyed watching my kids play with and enjoy their cousins.

It's amazing how time flies!

The 3 girls.. not long before the move to Utah playing in the back yard:

February Fun!

2010-02-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

February started out with a bang for us... we managed to get our taxes done the last week of January.... so some tax refund fun was in store for us.

Yay!! Finally a (MUCH NEEDED)shed. No more scooting past shelves, bikes and other junk in the garage. Really I can't figure out why we have so much junk! The more space we get, the more junk we accumulate. Oh! and believe me we somehow NEED it all... HA! At least we have a place to put some of it now. Leah loved watching them build the "house for the bikes" it only took about 4 hours for them to get it all done.. this picture is about halfway done.

For Activity days, we created a "Heart attack" for the bishop's house. I have 11 girls in my group (plus my girls) they had a great time making cookies and signs to put out in the Bishop's yard. It was lots of Valentine's fun.

Emma was excited this week to get the Herpst appliance off... you can see it sort of in this picture. Basically it was 2 jaw joints that pulled her bottom jaw forward. She keeps the braces, but at least there is a lot more room in her mouth now.

Thursday morning I was babysitting so I sent the kids to school on their scooters so I wouldn't have to load all of the kids into the van to draive them to school. 10 Min later Emma met with disaster...

All cleaned up it's not too bad, but I guess it bled a lot at first. Emma got to stay home from school and play computer that day so that was a plus for her.

Here's just some other fun pics that were on the camera from this month.

Joey is still being cute as ever... he's much too attached to his paci though.

Gotta "Hop" to it!

2010-02-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Life is nuts and motivation is lacking....

Here's a fun Easter picture just to get us in the mood for Easter.

Rebekah is 9!

2010-01-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet Rebekah!

We celebrated with a combined party at Grandma Colton's and then for Family night we went Roller Skating at a local rink... the kids LOVED the roller skating... the adults... not so much. Either way it was a fun night.

Emma and Lizzy

Leah LOVED! riding her scooter

Bekah and her friend, Erica

Sarah!

Where did December go?

2009-12-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

The last week of school before Christmas Break, Sarah had her 1st Grade Christmas program. She was so cute up there with her class. G &G Colton came to see it along with Grandma Nilson. Here are a few of the photos and a short clip from it:

Emma also had her Recorder music program. A neighbor called it "music only a Mother.. or Grandmother could love" :) It actually was really cute they all did a great job preparing and presenting the program. They also presented it for a care center for the elderly nearby. Emma really liked doing that.

This year the kids had an entire 2 weeks off for Christmas break. So they had to work hard the week before Christmas. We managed to get the baseboards and walls in the basement all clean and many other little jobs done. We went sledding one day and out to see a movie another day.

We also celebrated our usual "Santa Clause Party" with the Greater Lee family (my mother's family) the kids liked that and got to see and sit on Santa's lap and get an early present. they all got a radio-controlled car from him, except Joey who got a regular toy car.

Christmas Eve was a sad and happy occasion this year as my Grandmother is usually presiding over that party. Since she had passed away so close to Christmas she had already set aside money for Christmas and the party so we continued with the party as if she and my grandfather were still there to be with us. This was the last time we would celebrate Christmas Eve with my uncle's family, a tradition that has continued for I'm guessing at least 40 years. It was a special night and we all had a great time. At the end of the evening we each took an ornament from my grandmother's Christmas collection home with us to put on our own trees.

The pinatta...ie, lots of kids with bats diving for candy

Opening one last present from Nonni

This one is for the record books... Dan is playing a game of musical chairs against Bryan. (Sort of an inside Joke... Dan would never play any of the Christmas Eve games)

Unfortunately this was Zack's year to work Christmas Day and he had to get going bright and early to work. So to change things up a bit we decided to invade my parents house and have Christmas there. We watched the nativity story before bed and sent the kids to bed. Leah kept sneaking up but I don't think she realized Santa was trying to work. We were up at 5:30 to open presents so Zack could get off to work on time. Santa sure found us there and also decided to leave stuff for Grandma and Grandpa too. I'm not going to mention what everyone got because it doesn't really matter much, lets just say that everyone got what they wanted and more. We are very blessed to have each other and the joy of spending time together and remember Christ's birth

We went to G&G Nilson for Christmas dinner and gathered with the family there. We had an enjoyable time with them. Grandma and Grandpa gave each of the kids a savings account... where each Christmas and Birthday they would get a deposit from them. At the end of the evening, I was sure glad to head home. The lack of sleep/ stress and wound up kids had done me in... I think I slept 14 hours straight ( that only proves the kids were tired because they slept that long too) The day after Christmas was nice, we got to relax all day and play togther.

We finished off the month with our usual New year's Eve party! Our friends Jason and Sarah came (but had to leave early) Nick's family and Angie's family were all there. We had a good time eating, visiting and watching "Mr. Bean" episodes.

I only have one picture to sum up that evening.... out with the old in with the new??

Rosie Colton

2009-11-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

This last week we lost my grandmother, Rose Marie Colton.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=rose-colton&pid=136590398

Here's a slide show I prepared for the funeral.
She will be greatly missed.

Carving pumpkins and Halloween fun

2009-10-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Friday, the kids were out of school for teacher prep day. So we spent the morning carving pumpkins. Leah insisted on a "Sad" pumpkin, Sarah did her pumpkin almost completely by herself. I was impressed at her independence in the task. Emma copied a spiderweb pattern on hers and cut it out, she did a pretty impressive job. Bekah had fun this year and actually touched the pumpkin insides, which I couldn't get her last year to do.

Sarah and her pumpkin

Monkey Boy!

Indiana Jones

Tinkerbell refused to wear her wings :)

On Halloween, we went trick or treating while Zack stayed home and answered the door. Afterward we had hot chocolate, doughnuts, and watched a movie. Emma invited a friend to join us for the festivities. They all had a great time and ate WAY too much candy

Happy Halloween!

Smile Pains!

2009-10-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, a friend of mine, Melanie Cameron,who is from Washington where we used to live, was looking for someone to go to Los Angeles with her. She half-heartedly asked if I wanted to go, not really thinking I would take her up on it, but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't stop thinking "that would be sooo fun!" So I took the bait and told her I could make it.

After a nice date out with my hubby (before sticking him with 5 kids for the weekend). I flew out to LA for 4 days of happy fun. We spent 2 days at Disneyland and CA adventures. It really is the "Happiest place on Earth". We went to Medieval Times for dinner another night. I thought it was awesome, and really enjoyed that show. Melanie had her baby, Summer, with her, and because of her medical equip we were able to fast pass most of the rides and the ones the baby couldn't ride, we could do the stroller swap/single rider deal so we really didn't have long wait times anywhere.

It was great to have some "me" time for a bit where I could be goofy and laugh and not be in charge. We dubbed the vacation "dumb luck" because we had a lot of airhead moments of getting lost, running late, etc. But we still made it where we needed to go and had a great time doing it.

I even went a bit Crazy Chicken as I worried about getting checked out, fighting traffic to the airport and getting the rental car turned in. I guess Melanie will still be my friend after seeing me get all worked up , HAHA

The kids weren't too sad to find out I went to Disneyland without them, they liked all the fun stuff I brought home for them. Someday we'll get the whole family there...

Melanie and Summer

Yup, you guessed it. These are the Chip and Dale dancers we saw...

Melanie is heading off to jump in the Brair patch with Briar Rabbit

Medieval Times

Outside It's a Small World

Pumpkin day!

2009-10-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's Fall!
The Saturday before Halloween was declared "pumpkin day". Since I was leaving out of town that evening to California, I felt like I should do something with the kids before I left. So we went hunting for pumpkins or a"pun-kin" as Leah says it.

We found a farm in syracuse that had a roadside pumkin patch and got them fairly cheap. Afterward we went out for pumpkin flavored shakes.

I'm so behind....

2009-10-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here's Leah doing finger painting for Preschool at our house

Emma turns 10

Joey's 1st Birthday

So I am behind again... sigh. I will do better from now on, I hope.

Sorry, for the most part this is a pictureless update... I don't have time to get the photos organized and uploaded.

The end of summer brought us 2 weeks of swimming lessons, 2 trips to Lagoon, and multiple shopping trips to get ready for school.

The girls all did great in swimming, Sarah will be retaking lvl 2 and Bekah will be retaking level 3 next year. Emma passed lvl 4 which gives me peace of mind that she can swim across the pool easily. Leah who was scared at first, did great by the end of swimming lessons. Joey is a monster in the water... he thinks its the greatest place to be and will jump and pull and go under water, he hates being in the baby floaters.

We took a day and went to lagoon as a family and spent some time at lagoon-a-beach and riding rides. Then I took the kids the next week and did the "bounce back" with their cousins. They had a great time, we hadn't been to Lagoon for a couple years and they were old enough to enjoy it more this time. I still can't get Bekah and Sarah on the big rides though.. I did force them onto the white roller coaster and they both screamed/cried the whole time. Maybe next year...

School started the last week of August, much to my relief. They were all excited and so cute the first day. Emma is in 4th, Bekah is in 3rd and Sarah is in 1st. Leah has been driving me a bit nuts now that she is home with no one to play with. So I started her in a few activities, play group exchange on Tue and Thurs mornings, Music class on Tues afternoons and a preschool exchange on Mon and Wed afternoons. She is a very social little girl so it will help her a lot to have those activities.

We also celebrated a couple Birthdays, Joey turned 1 the first week of September along with Emma, who turned 10. So we had a combined party with the Nilson's and with the Colton's. Emma got to have a date out with G&G Colton, a 10 yr old birthday tradition and they spoiled her with dinner at Red Robin and some Lego Indiana Jones and a reading pillow. Emma had sent out a detailed list of what she wanted for her birthday to her grandparents, including things like her own computer and satellite TV and a couch for her room. Crazy girl!

Joey was sick with a cold and didn't really enjoy his birthday too much. I'll took him to get some professional pictures done which turned out darling, I'll try and get a slide show posted of them. The poor kid just isn't getting as many professional shots as the other kids did, I feel bad.

Zack has been very busy at work the last couple of months, he has been picking up shifts as much as possible, working doubles, or on his days off. He does try to only work his assigned weekends and not extra there so he can make it to different weekend activities and church. He has slowed down a bit now that summer is over.

I enjoyed the first couple weeks after school started of actually staying home and getting a little caught up, we had been on the move all summer so was nice to just be home for a few days. Ive been walking the kids the school in the mornings and have only had to get into the van a couple times for trips to the store. Okay.... the last few weeks have not gone as good walking, its getting a bit too cool in the morning for the kids in the stroller.

Bekah and Emma had their first piano recital of the fall in September, it was a quick one they each only played one song, but they did great. Bekah is really picking it up fast and doing well. Emma is finally to a point where I think she will start playing pretty well. On Saturday they did another Halloween recital and they played a few more song and wore their costumes.

In August, Emma was surprised with a letter from the White House. Last year Emma had written to Obama just after the election all of her own desire. She got a letter back from him, it was just a form letter and not very personal at all, but was neat for her. I thought we should frame it and hang it where Grandpa Nilson could see it every time he comes over just to drive him batty.... hahaha

Now we find ourselves in the middle of October. Time is going by too fast. I'm usually pretty busy keeping the household running and helping with homework and reading. The kids are busy in school and playing with friends everyday. Halloween is looming in the next couple of week and Christmas is around the corner... goodness! I feel like I just got done with the 4th of July.

I will hopefully be posting a bit more often and getting some more pictures up to view but who knows :)

July Happenings

2009-08-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

Music Camp

In early July, Emma and Rebekah had their summer music camp, they met in the mornings for a week. they made instruments and learned to play them in ensembles they also learned some dances from other cultures. They presented these at a Family music night at the end of the week.

Hoop dance

Playing in ensemble

Yellowstone Vacation

Then we were off to Yellowstone for a week of fun with the Nilson family. We stayed in West Yellowstone Montana at a nice resort right next to the west entrance to Yellowstone. The kids went swimming every single day we were there and loved it. We enjoyed drives through Yellowstone and also went up to earthquake lake north of where we were staying. We also enjoyed days spent at the condo relaxing with family and going to some of the things in West Yellowstone... IMAX, Bears and Wolves exhibit, Shopping, and eating out.

Grandma bought the kids all matching shirts and we gathered them all up for some pictures:

The sights in Yellowstone....

Petrified Tree

Canyon Falls, the grand canyon of Yellowstone

"Serious Joe"... some days that kid won't smile for nothin'!

Mammoth hot springs

a "cone" geyser

and the highlight of the trip, Old Faithful

Buffalo next to the trail (there were buffalo everywhere)

Sarah at the Canyon falls area

...at the Bear and wolf Exhibit

Pretty much the only visible bear we saw on the trip

At the Condo, Grandma had all the kids set for fun and crafts, the kids got bug jars, bags, sunglasses, glow sticks and flashlights.

the Nilson Men

Gathering the babies for a photo is harder than it looks

Okay Grandma, get in there and hold those boys still.

Trip to the Dentist

The day after we got back, we had Sarah and Bekah in for some dental work, Sarah had some cavities filled and Bekah had the underside of her tongue cut (she has been a bit tongue tied since birth)

Sarah did great, Bekah no so great.... as you can tell from the pictures I took off my phone.

Off to Snowbird....

Last week, the Colton Family had a get together up at Snowbird ski resort and enjoyed the Summer activities they have there. My parents have a condo for a week there in the summer time, just like they did when we were all young kids. We went on Monday and again on Friday to swim and play. The kids loved the alpine slide and zip line.

Bouncy house

(sorry for poor quality, these came off my phone)

Dinner at the park

we didn't see a single Moose while in Yellowstone, but one found us at Snowbird.

And finally....

I took the kids for a play day at Gateway discovery center. We used some gift passes given to Zack from a co-worker

I took a couple snapshots with my phone.. Sarah playing in the water and Leah in the little toy cars they have there

So it's been pretty busy around here. Summer has been fun, but I think we are all getting ready for the routine of school to start back up again. Only 3 more weeks of Summer and 2 of those weeks we will have swimming lessons to help pass the time, it will be here before we know it.

Summer is happenin'!

2009-07-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well I blinked and a whole month went by. Here's a little update to our happenings here. I haven't had my camera with me as much as I should have as we have been doing a lot of fun stuff, so I don't have pictures of everything.

The first week we were out of school we went to Grandma Colton's house and helped her clean a little to earn some spending money for our summer activities. Then we went swimming at the So Jordan Rec center while Joey took a nap at Grandma's house. They had a lot of fun there and had a hard time leaving.

We also took one last trip to the Zoo before our membership expired. We packed a lunch and stayed for hours and saw every last thing and caught all the shows. The day we went was very nice, it was still mid 70s and was great, all the animals were pretty active. We didn't have the camera with us that day, so sorry no pictures.

I can't recount everything we've done but between working in Grandma's garden and swimming in the backyard and at bigger pools, sleep overs with cousins, trips to the library and grocery store, picnics in the park and Farmington pond, and playing with the neighborhood crew of kids we have managed to keep ourselves quite busy.

Music Camp:

Sarah and Leah had Musikgarten summer camp the 3rd week in June. They went 4 days from 9 to 11:30. They had all kinds of crafts, painting, singing, water play, etc. They had a great time. On Thursday, we had Family music night where they could show off everything they did.

Here's some fun Bath time photos of Sarah Leah and Joey

...and here's Jo Jo after discovering Mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies... can we say yummy?!

4th of July fun:

The 4th was a busy day we started out with the Kaysville parade in the morning then we went back home and set up the wading pools to play in the water. Nick and Natalee's family came and we had a BBQ and played, followed by fireworks at Davis High. By the end of the day, the kids were pretty worn out.

Joey gets a haircut!

It was really odd to cut his hair so short, I almost went into a panic after the first swipe of the buzzer. I had to remind myself that he's a boy and it's OKAY to have short hair...not a freak out moment like it would be if I did it to one of my girl's hair.

BEFORE

AFTER

DURRING: Those little rubber bands ended up everywhere but they kept him occupied :)

...and one last entry before I switch to my gardening blog and get it updated....

by special request from Emma, she wanted me to post pic of her creation of blocks :)

I'm sure I'll be on again in a couple weeks with a giant update again. Emma and Bekah have Summer camp next week and the week after that we are off to Yellowstone for the Nilson family vacation.

School is out!

2009-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yay! the biggest news this week is that school is out... Emma and Bekah could hardly wait to get out of school, in fact they were so excited to be home that the first thing they did was "play School"... I know , it's weird.

Here's the kids out playing in the water last week when it was so hot... We didn't have our air on so I almost felt like climbing in with them... it was quite hot.

Sarah Finished up Kindergarten with a smile. We still need to work lots this summer to keep her up to task, but I think she will do great in 1st grade next year. She had a little kindergarten program that I attended. It was really cute.

Joey has also learned new feats... the girls know how to grab the camera and take pictures of him when I'm not around. Emma thought it would be great to teach him how to climb the stairs. Hmmm Gee thanks, Emma.... just what I needed him to know.

Let the torture begin... yes, the girls took this picture too....

Unlike last Summer, when I was bloomin' pregnant, I am really looking forward to having some fun with the kids this summer. We have scheduled out our days to include some homework time and housework time. I have dinner helpers everyday and they all have "zones" they are in charge of to keep clean each week.

I'm even paying Emma $.50 a day to make all the lunches for us all and pack them in the cooler at breakfast time. She's in charge of making a shopping list of things needed for lunches and cleaning up after herself... that way, where ever we are (at home or away) lunch will be ready and I won't have the huge temptation to just stop for fast food and drain the wallet. Today we relaxed at the park for a bit and had lunch.

Time for an update

2009-05-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Once again it is time for another update! Yay, I know you're excited...

We have been busy with this and that. The biggest change lately has been the mobility of "Mr. Joe" as I have begun to call since he seems to think he is so grown up and can go anywhere in the house he wants to and get into anything he wants.

We've had to start blocking things off, putting things up...oh the joys.

2nd Grade Program

Bekah had her 2nd grade patriotic program last week as well, it was really cute. They all practiced so hard and did so well. Bekah was dressed as a nurse for the program.

Sarah turns 6!!

Sarah had her birthday this week, she was so cute. All she wanted was a butterfly cake. She got a giant butterfly balloon also. Mostly all she needed and got for her birthday this year was clothes. But she was still excited. We took her out to lunch and let her pick any toy she wanted (within reason of course) of course she picked out another doll (I think that makes about 300 she owns now haha!) she got some craft stamps and toy computer as well.

Memorial day weekend highlights that don't have pictures :(

Saturday we went on a small hike with some friends. I think the kids all had fun. We borrowed a child backpack from them and put Leah in it on Zack's back and I carried Joey in the Moby wrap. It was fun and I promised the older kids I would take them again sometime and go a little farther, since they wanted to keep going when we turned around. We came back to the house afterward and hung out and had dinner together and let the kids play out in the water.

Then Monday we went to a BBQ at the Colton's. It was also Grandpa Colton's birthday. The kids played and the adults sat out on the lawn and enjoyed the evening.

We are back to counting down again... the kids with anticipation and me with intrepidation 2 more weeks until school gets out... yipes! I hope summer goes well this year. I'm actually not dreading it as much as I did last year, of course I'm going NOT to be pregnant this summer either... whew!

Poor Joey!

2009-05-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Yup, this is Joey. The poor kid....he has way too many older sisters. They surprised me with him like this Sunday morning.

I may have to delete all evidence that this photo exists later to spare him humiliation.

Easter egg hunt

2009-04-20T14:05:00.001-07:00

Saturday, we had a late Easter with the Nilson Family. Zack's sister was visiting from New Mexico to have their son, Levi, blessed. So we had a big get-together for the blessing, followed by an Easter Egg hunt around the house. As usual Grandma went nuts with the Eggs and treats, but the kids sure loved it!

Here's Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grand kids:

Joey stayed inside for the hunt.

Adventures in gardening

2009-04-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first entry in what I hope becomes a series of entries. Zack and I have become "inspired" lately or "motivated". I'm not sure what the right word is but basically we have decided to turn our bruised thumbs back to green and try our hand at a garden.

First, here is a history of Nilson gardening.....

The first 6 years of our marriage was spent in apartments and no outdoor area for a garden.
8 years ago we buy our first house and my kind father comes and helps us to plant some tomatoes and some pansies around the house. Dun dun dun duuuunn! they all fell victim to neglect and weeds....
4 years ago I try to plant some flowers in front of our current home, 2 months later they were all burned to death in the searing sun I planted them in.
2 years ago I get ambitious and tear out everything in our front garden and replant... then we have another child and the garden falls into disrepair yet again...
Our only success that year was a couple of giant sunflowers, planted... not by me but by my children.

So as you can see there is some desire here...little or no knowledge, not a lot of follow through... and a LOT of weeds.

In comes inspiration... first a friend of mine suggested the reading of a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" A very eye opening read on the realities of commercial farms verses organic community agriculture and home gardens.
So I was on board to do something.... but oh! the work involved in having a garden! no way was I subjecting myself to that torture.
Next, Zack and I listen to a great talk at church (thanks Bro Johnson) about the church efforts to teach gardening to 3rd world countries. The importance of being self reliant hits home and Zack mentions how we should do a garden.... yeah I know we need to, but the WORK! no way!
Zack, being a bit more ambitious than I... (or maybe he was just having a slow day at work and browsing online) found out about a new method of gardening that promises... little work, not many weeds and abundant harvests... yeah sounds like a dream right?

Check it out... it's so simple...

We both have read the book and are on board to try this new method (the same method the church is using to teach in 3rd world countries)... we are giving it a test run this year. We are putting only one 4ft X 4ft box in. Zack has had to reign me in a little, for as soon as I read about the idea I wanted to redo the whole landscaping of the house to fit with the box idea!

So here begins the Nilson Gardening Chronicles...an experiment in gardening and gaining that green thumb... or green "foot" with Square Foot Gardens.

More WA pics

2009-04-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here's some more pics from the vacation

Washington Vacation

2009-04-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

For spring break this year we decided to take sort of a last minute trip. A combination of a tax return and easy time off of work for Zack and Spring break for the kids made up our minds for us. We called up our friends near Seattle and said we were coming back for a visit. One thing led to another and it was decided that we would spend a few days in Seattle and then a few days out on the WA coast near Oregon (Long Beach) with the Cameron Clan (see http://melandcompany.blogspot.com/)

We started Sunday Apr 5th with an early visit from the Easter Bunny, that clever bunny knew just what to bring us... sand buckets, sunglasses, umbrellas, and activities & treats for the car.

Zack had to work Sunday so we spent the morning listening to conference, eating candy, packing the car and waiting very impatiently for Dad to come home. The girls actually took chairs down the street and sat on the corner watching for Dad to get home so we could leave on the trip. We drove as far as Baker City Oregon and stayed a night there. The room at the Super 8 there was crammed with 3 queen beds. Exciting for the kids but not very conducive for 5 little wound up kids to sleep. I woke a couple times to Sarah laughing at Bekah's snores. They had an indoor swimming pool but silly me didn't pack the swimsuits into the overnight bag we used for the first night. They were buried deep in the van somewhere. That was the only chance on the whole trip they could have gone swimming too... (

Monday morning we got an early start and finished the drive to Seattle. We stopped at Snoqualamie falls and enjoyed the sights there. We had a nice steak dinner that night at a favorite restaurant and checked into the hotel in Seattle.

Tuesday we met Melanie and her kids at the aquarium in Seattle, we got some greasy burgers, fries and chocolate shakes at Dick's (Yum!) after that we went to Coulon beach park and let the kids play a bit. We washed up a the Cameron's and then went to Ben and Cathy Lim's house for a dinner get-together. They made "lympia" ( I know I spelled that wrong) for us and followed it up with a chocolate fountain which was a big hit with the kids... and me too hee hee. It was a great chance to see some friends we used to get together with all the time there.

Wednesday we spent most of the day at the Zoo and then we wandered a giant mall we used to go to all the time when we lived there. We took the kids to the Cameron's house again and then just Zack and I went out to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant in Seattle on the docks. It was fantastic.

Thursday, we loaded up and drove to Ocean park WA to the house we rented there. We stopped at the Cape Disappointment lighthouse on the way in. It's very pretty but we couldn't climb up into it because it is too old. The house was perfect for our two families and we had a fantastic time there. the house was just yards away from the beach. It was very secluded and had a fire pit that we enjoyed. Here's a slide show of all the pictures from there... I'll probably update it later with a few more from Melanie's camera too.

Friday started out looking stormy but turned clear and beautiful. The kids flew kites, played in the sand, looked for shells and eventually were jumping in the waves (brrrr!). We had a BBQ that night and roasted hot dogs for the kids, followed by smores.

Saturday, we got up and had a big breakfast followed by an Easter egg hunt outside the house. We went to the other light house on Long beach (North Head Light house) and we were able to take the older kids up to the top in that one. It was built in the 1890's. The guide there said as soon as it started to crack they would have to lock it up like the other light house.

It was a bit more stormy this day so we spent most of the time inside paying games, watching Monty Python and eating .... Melanie was a bit braver and took the kids out to the beach to play in the rain and wind at the beach.

Easter Sunday, for us, was spent in the car coming home... the whole time wishing we could have stayed. Emma said the trip could be complete finally after Sarah was sick in the car and we had to stop to clean that up. (the "token" throw up event) Anyone who has heard about the car trips with us has probably also heard about the many many throw-ups, ick!

We had a fantastic time and can't wait to do it again sometime.

Leah is 3!

2009-03-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of weeks before Leah's birthday we would ask her how old she was going to be and her answer was a always a detailed (as detailed as a 3 yr old can get ) description of a flower cake with candles and "fi-ire!" that you blow. In fact anytime I would start cooking in the kitchen she thought I was going to make her flower cake and get all excited.

When the moment came and she finally got her flower cake... she really wasn't all that excited about it anymore. I guess the anticipation of it coming was more exciting than the actual thing.

For her birthday we took her to Build-a-bear and she picked out a bunny that was named "Pinky" by her older sisters. Leah was too distracted buying accessories for her bunny to come up with a name. We went to dinner at Applebees afterward. Then Sunday we celebrated with cake and ice cream at G&G Colton's house.

I just can't believe she is 3 already and so independent. She's fully potty trained now (only had 1 poop accident early on, I've never been so lucky) she even got mad when we tried to put her in a diaper for bedtime and insisted she wear underwear to bed. She also insisted she did NOT wet the bed (even though I found her wet jammies)
Her favorite things to do include playing with her sisters and going outside to play with her friends there. She also loves movies and will get mad if we turn on Nick or regular TV... it has to be a movie. I think she just likes running the DVD player, the other day I came in and the movie "The Thin Red Line" (a gory War movie that Zack likes) was starting. I guess I need to put some of the movies up out of the way.

Anyway, happy birthday Leah! We love ya!

Baby Food

2009-02-20T07:55:00.001-08:00

So we have begun a "battle" of baby food. This little guy does NOT want to eat it. He delights in keeping his mouth closed, or spitting it out the second it hits his tongue. We discovered a little while ago that he LOVES Cheerios, He will practically try and eat your hand if he sees that you are holding a Cheerio. So I figued it out! I put a cheerio on the tip of the spoon with his baby food on it...and of course, he opened right up for it and didn't even try to spit it out.

Crazy baby...I can't help but love him :)

Hand-made Tag

2009-02-19T17:30:00.001-08:00

you can thank my Sis in law Natalie for this....

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year. {it might be a little while}

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. I don't even have a clue what
it's going to be.

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift! It may not be great, but it will be fun!!* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!**

2009-02-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a few weeks since I last updated. Probably because I've been too preoccupied to get on and update.

Bekah got baptized on Saturday the 31st. It went really well. She was the only one in our ward getting baptized so we had to take care of the whole program. We asked her who she wanted to speak and it was Grandma and Mom. So Grandma Nilson and I had the honors. Bekah had a great day, she was very excited to wear a dress handed down in the Nilson family to be baptized in and a new dress afterward.

By the way, I have a very funny story about her right after she got baptized, but I don't dare put it in writing, so if you want to know you'll have to ask me sometime. ( sorry about the teaser)

(Mom has the camera out, we need a picture too!!)

In January, we also took some time and went out to get some professional pictures taken, I'll post those in a slide show for your viewing enjoyment.

I thought they turned out nice. We had to get pictures in before I started the next adventure in my life... braces! Yeah, you heard me right. Thursday I went in and got braces on. I am hoping this will help with my bite and jaw problems, and hoping to even out my teeth a little. So far, all I can think is, "What have I done to myself?!" This is going to be a long 16-21 mo months

Bekah turns 8

2009-01-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Bekah today!
We celebrated her birthday with her friends on Friday. She invited some friends over and played games and had cake. She had a great time. Today we celebrated with grandparents over dinner.

Here's a look at Bekah through the years

Blessing Day

16 mo

2 yrs

Bekah and her blanket that she was VERY attached to.She would rub the corners of it with her thumb or rub it on her cheek. After it wore out we had to make a new one similar to it, she called the second one her "quack" blanket ( it had ducks on it)

3 yrs

4yr birthday

5th birthday

Bekah first lost tooth

1st day of kindergarten

6th birthday

7th birthday

2nd grade:

I can't believe that she is 8 already, she'll be getting baptized on Jan 31st.

Christmas fun

2008-12-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

So instead of being negative and making a list of things that drive me nuts about the holidays, I'm making an effort to be positive... here we go

Now for the top 10 things Mom likes about the Christmas Hoidays:

10- mmm, yummy Sticky buns!

9- staying in my sweats all morning long because I want to and not because I got too busy to remember to get dressed.

8- finally being done with making wash cloths and other craft items for Christmas

7- Motivating kids with "no presents for you unless you get the chores done"

6- almost a whole 2 weeks of not having to take the kids ANYWHERE unless we want to or are going to a party

5- new toys=no bored kids (for at least a day anyway)

4- a "no guilt" eating binge for a week... I'll hate myself later for it :)

3- knowing I wont have to listen to another Christmas song until next year!!

2-spending time playing games and doing puzzles with the kids

1- taking the time to remember Jesus' birth and giving to others

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Piano recitals, parties and more, Oh My!

2008-12-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here, as I'm sure it is for most everyone at this time of year. Last Friday night we had the ward party and then Saturday, Emma's Christmas recital. This last week, Bekah's class had a Christmas open house and Emma did a presentation of her favorite tradition that I needed to help with. Saturday night was a family party ( the first of TOO many) the girls all got to see Santa and get a present from him. Leah just loved Santa and was way excited to climb in his lap and hug him. She called him "My Santa".

As for me, I must say that my stress levels have been a little off the charts lately. The kids are outnumbering me by many and I'm having a hard time keeping up. All of the kids are so inquisitive and have questions, need help with projects, or homework, or they need to be places. I often hear the complaint "Mom! I don't have any clean pants!" at 8:15 in the morning, before school. Someday I hope to be caught up with the laundry. I also often wake in the night with a numb arm only to discover that Leah has climbed into bed with me and fallen back to sleep on my arm, or that I got up to feed Joey and didn't get him back to bed and my neck will hurt from the weird position that I was sleeping in trying to feed him. Someday I hope to get caught up on sleep.

Bekah started meeting with a tutor the last couple of weeks too. She is doing awesome, but it requires me to go to Layon twice a week and sit with kids in the car for 30 min while she has her lesson. It has been quite interesting. There isn't enough time to drop her off head home and then turn around to head back to pick her up, and I don't really feel comfortable leaving Emma in charge yet with me being gone that long. Luckily there is a park near her house for the kids to play. Poor Joey though, spends a lot of time in a carseat.

I just have to keep reminding myself that someday I will miss all of this excitement. Already Joey is growing so much. Thanks Natalie for saying it so clearly in one of her last blog posts .. "YES I do have my hands full- but my hands are full of darling little angels that make me smile and bring a special joy to my life that I never would have had if my hands were "empty." "

Anyway here's some pictures for the viewing enjoyment:

Bekah's class open house.

Joey in his Sunday Christmas outfit (Sorry I didn't get picture of the girls in their dresses yet)

Fun with Santa:

Sarah wouldn't get too close.... sigh

Emma's recital--I only got to see one of the songs, Leah was misbehaving. She was trying to grab the camera while I was filming her play too... which is why the video is so jumpy. I had to leave and take her home.

Video will be coming soon ( I need to format it to make it smaller)

Merry Christmas everyone.

Playdough Party!

2008-12-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

No, we don't have fun at all while the older girls are at school....

Cute as a .... Pancake?

2008-11-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

So it has become quite the thing lately to be holding Joey and be surrounded by little girls cooing over him. I can't seem to keep them away from him. Of course it's because he has become aware of them and will crack a grin quite easily at them and even giggle.

The other day as all this was happening, Sarah said "Oh Joey! You're so cute! Like a Pancake!"

I think she was getting confused with pie..you know "cutie-pie". But I thought pancake was funny so we went with it.

Here's our little pancake!

Anyway, so sorry we havent updated much lately. We've just been stuck in the routine of school and there really hasn't been anything extra exciting happening. The kids are doing well in school. Emma is excelling in her class and I'm looking for extra things to challenge her with to keep her entertained, she even has started to learn to crochet, she's been watching me make washrags for Christmas gifts so I gave her some yarn and taught her a little and she sat right to work making a wash cloth herself:

Not bad for her first go at it. I dutifully used it in the kitchen the next day :)

Bekah has been making great strides in school as well. she has been so far behind in reading it is taking some catching up. I believe she is catching on though. I just hope the class doesn't move on too fast without her. We're working on it every day.

Sarah is quickly learning lots as well, she knows all her letters now and can recognize a few "sight words" now, such as "I see a cat". Her biggest struggle is playing a little too loudly during class time.

Leah has been my little shadow now, she will follow me everywhere and wants to do everything with me. The only thing she won't do is pee in the potty! So we're putting that on hold for a few more weeks. She's also discovered that it's really funny to put her finger in Joey's mouth. She's gagged him a few times. I just can't get her to leave him alone.... she is quite the boss. She loves music class, and in fact gave me quite the fat lip last week in class while we were singing "bounce a long" she smacked the back of her head into my face on accident, Ouch!

As for Zack and I we are just doing the usual, I've got all my christmas shopping done, (minus a couple things that have to wait for next months budget) and Zack is working hard paying for it all. The house is a mess, there's marker on the toilet, socks in the toy box, toys in the pantry, and food in the dressers, but we're having fun.

Have a good Thanksgiving week everyone, We are thankful for so much and lucky to have all that we have. It's great to have this time of year to reflect on those blessings. There are many that have lost and are struggling right now and our hearts and thoughts are with them.

A new pet

2008-11-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this spring we said goodbye to our gerbil Tommy. We had had him since Emma turned 6. So with the little prodding from the kids we went out last week and got Abraham Lincoln "Abe" (named so by Emma for his black beard and hat... don't you love kid's logic?)

Smile Abe!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

Here's some pictures from Halloween. The girls wore their costumes all day, which resulted in Leah having to change to a different costume before Trick-or-treating (her UoU outfit got chocolate all over it).

And brace yourself...yes, I actually dressed up too to take them out... a first for me, but I guess I was in a goofy mood. I get queasy now looking at the pictures... how dumb of me... hahah

Dimples!

2008-10-26T10:11:00.001-07:00

I don't want...

2008-10-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

...to wear underwear or pull ups!!! I want a diaper!!!

Oh boy! This potty business is going to be tougher than I thought.
Wish me luck

Photo session for Joseph and Leah

2008-10-17T08:55:00.001-07:00

Back to the usual

2008-10-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

This week, Bekah's 2nd grade class had a story telling day and Bekah chose the story of Cinderella to tell her class using costumes and props. She had fun getting ready for it and did a great job of presenting it to her class.

We haven't really had too much going on the last few weeks, so I haven't updated much, but here's a couple of pictures of Joey.

We had Joseph's baby blessing yesterday. I am waiting on some more pictures. As soon as I get them I'll post them here so check back later.

It was a great day, all except the fact that it snowed! We had lunch afterward at our home and when it was all done the girls all went out to the backyard to play in the snow.

and yes, Leah really is wearing her dress and tights still instead of snowpants... she didn't care one bit.

October Flashback

2008-10-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the season, here's a flash back to the kids Halloweens. Enjoy!

Another couple of milestones...

2008-09-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of weeks I have somehow managed to function on not much sleep. The days are sort of blurred together by screaming kids, cleaning up messes, doing homework with kids, doing laundry and...well I would say making dinner but honestly I didn't really start cooking again until the last few days. I have found enjoyment walking the kids to school in the morning with Leah in the stroller and Joey in the sling wrap. It gives me a good hour of crisp morning air and exercize that probably keeps me sane for the rest of the day.

I hit a few milestones this last week, first I turned 29.2 ( that's 31 for those that didn't hear that I wasn't having anymore "real" birthdays)

Here I am as a baby and a 3 yr old and as a 5 yr old. (I posted these so Mom and Dad can have a sentimental moment when they see it... the rest of you can get a good chuckle)

Also this week, Zack and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We got to go out for a nice dinner at our favorite Chinese food restraunt...mmmm walnut shrimp! But our real anniversary outing is in a couple weeks, we are going to see one of our favorite bands in concert ( Great Big Sea)

Gee, it doesn't seem like that long ago:

The girls have made it through their first month of school. I think they are doing well, I can already see an improvement in Bekah's reading, and Sarah is doing much better with her letters as well. They all like their teachers. Sarah says her teacher is just mad at her all the time, but I think Sarah just doesn't understand you can't play tag with your friends during class time yet.

Leah has been my biggest trial lately. It takes constant, diligent watching to keep her out of trouble these days. I'm wearing myself out averting little disasters, but even then she still gets away long enough now and then to color the couch, or herself with marker, or put neosporin ointment all over the TV set, or drink enough of Joey's Mylicon (anti gas drops) to give her a good case of diarrhea. Her favorite exploit lately has been to sneak into Bekah's room and paint her finger and toe nails with her nail polish (at least it's not the real stuff, its part of her play make up... yet still messy) Ug! I'm using up my patience by the bucket load.

Emma had a check-up last week with Joey's 2 week appointment. Of course, the biggest hang-up I had with naming Joseph came true that day when the nurse came out and asked for "Joseph and Emma" and I got a few strange looks... only in Utah LOL. Oh well, I still like the name :) Joey weighed in at 9lb 4oz at 2 weeks and I'm guessing he is over 10 now, he's gaining weight like a champ!

Well that's it for this update. Thanks again everyone for the kind cards and gifts, our family is getting spoiled this month :)

One week old, my baby is growing up (sniff sniff)

2008-09-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a great first week home with Joey. He has been sleeping well so far, though I think most of that is typical newborn sleepiness. We'll see how he does in the coming weeks. We have appreciated the meals from friends and neighbors and the many very cute baby gifts. I have been feeling good considering all my body has been through. The last few weeks of pregnancy were quite miserable so I'm glad to have that part done.

Joey's trip home from the hospital. ( He did great! no fussing! Even though he was in the car seat for about 3 hours between a stop for lunch and picking up his siblings)

Joey's first sponge bath at home

Here's a picture of Joey this morning after a "blow-out" landed him in a new cute outfit.

Emma is 9!

2008-09-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

With all of the excitement of having a new baby in the house, Emma celebrated her 9th birthday. In pure Emma-like fashion she was excited to have the perfect party. Uncle Nick and Aunt Natalee were glad to have everyone over to their house on her birthday. They have a beautiful new home to show. So we celebrated there with an ice-cream cake of Emma's choice.

Emma is lucky to be surrounded by so many people that love her. Every day she has loved to check the mail for birthday cards, and has loved every thoughtful gift, thank-you everyone.

Welcome to the world little one

2008-09-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we welcomed the newest member of our family, Joseph Zachary Nilson! He came quickly into the world at 5:41 PM weighing 8 pounds even and 20 in long. He is adorable and his sisters just love him to death.

The girls come to see their new little brother, bearing gifts.

little Joey

Dad and his son (he really was grinning when they said "it's a boy!")

Fresh from the "hopper".

All is well with Mom and baby and we should be coming home from the hospital on Friday morning.

The first day of school!!

2008-08-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

The first day of school for the girls has finally come! The girls didn't sleep much the night before, they were so excited. Zack informed me that he thinks it's ODD of our girls to be excited for school. That was one thing he never looked forward to I guess... even when he was young. All the way to school Emma had the biggest grin ever on her face.

Here the are all dressed for school. Bekah's class has a "pirate" theme so she was told to wear a bandana on the frst day of school. Sarah's first day of "real" kindergarten isn't actually until Sept 2nd. So she was still home with me and Leah all week. She is excited to get to go with the girls to school next week though.

The End Is In Sight!

2008-08-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

So the end of Summer Vacation has finally arrived. WoopEE!!! Emma and Bekah have had their entire outfits down to the socks and underwear for the first day for school. They are so excited to get back. Over all I think we had a pretty good summer. We tried to stick to our schedule, though homework time in the morning went out the window when swimming lessons started and we never got back to it. The last 2 weeks have been more of an endurance just trying to get through. With my enlarging belly, has come an enlarging loss of patience.
Also an end to the pregnancy is in sight. WAHOO! See my last belly shot.... 38 weeks preggo...My doctor has agreed to induce me on Sept. 3rd if I have not had him already. I still have high hopes for an August birthday, so we are trying all we can do to get him to come before then; including painting the baby room. My absolutely WONDERFUL sister Charlene came this week and helped me to get it painted. I am so appreciative because the edges along the baseboard would have done me in if I had tried to do it on my own (her poor back). Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Before:

After:

It's nice to have that project done, I just need to fill the drawers with his clothes and we are all set in there. It's a large room, so hopefully he will enjoy all the extra play space on the floor.

Edited**

Some people said they wanted to see the Curious George stuff better so here's some close-ups

Colton Family Reu... ehrm... Gathering

2008-07-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

So we started this week off by heading to Fruitland Utah for what I am informed is a Family "gathering" not a "reunion" :) whatever you want to call it it was a fun time. My parents rented a lodge that has 9 bedrooms. We had a great lawn play area to set up a volleyball net and other lawn games. There was also a great Cabanna area with a fire pit and BBQ area. There was a stream that surrounded the place and the kids had a lot of fun walking along it and finding the bugs and slugs. Jared's and Cindy's Family each brought their 4-wheelers and Josh's family brought a boat to put in at a nearby lake. All in all we had a lot to entertain ourselves with. Bekah at the end couldn't decide what she liked best, the boat ride, the 4 wheeler ride or the treats (in the end I think the treats won...go figure) After all the great meals, camp fire Tall Tales and playing in the dirt, I'm glad to be back and clean and well rested. Thanks Dad and Mom for the great trip.

Emma and Taylor on the Water Wienie

Emma and Taylor after being dunked off the water Wienie.

Family home evening, reenacting Samuel the Lamanite

My how the time flies....

2008-07-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Brace yourselves for a long update this time around. It seems I have been too busy playing to pop on and update.

Lets start with the boring pregnant stuff... but its all I can think about these days so we'll get it out of the way :)

I'm 33 and a half weeks now, only about 6 more weeks to go ( I am hoping less...). The good news for me is I have been heartburn free for almost 2 whole weeks!! I started a new medication and have been finally feeling some SWEET relief. I don't think I realized how bad it was until it stopped. I saw the Dr. yesterday and everything seems right on track. They will start checking me next visit to see how progressed I am. Woo Hoo!

Here's Sarah learning how to back stroke her arms

The kids absolutely loved swimming lessons. Bekah finally decided it was ok to dunk her whole head and swim under water, a feat that I never thought would happen with her. Emma is learning to dive and some more of the basic types of strokes. Sarah is overcoming her fear of water and will bob her whole head into the water now too. Leah is the one who has me cracking up though. She loves the water and will almost swim on her own doggy-paddle style, she will climb out of the pool and almost cannon-ball herself in. she still doesn't like getting her head submerged so I have to be sure to catch her. They all passed their swimming levels so will advance on next year.

Zack had a day off last week so we took the kids to Hill Air force museum. I must say I am quite impressed that they keep the entrance fee FREE! We enjoyed it about as much as the Seattle Boeing museum and they charge over $10 a person to get in.

Next to update you on is a picture that speaks for itself:

Yes, Yes. Leah has begun studying the art of hair design and has decided to try her new and exciting styles out on herself.

I think its a mix between the 80's mullet and a homeless mutt. Haha! She doesn't look too bad if we comb it right and she still has a lot of long curls still.

It's all my fault though I was too busy working on this: to check on her.

Here, I almost forgot to mention the 4th of July activities. After a BBQ at G&G Nilson we went to the Davis high fireworks, Where Bekah and I got to stand in line for an hour for the dirtiest and most well used port-a-potty ever. I could not talk Bekah into holding it or finding another way(Looking back now I should have just taken her home and brought her back) At least we made it back before the fireworks started. Here's some fun pictures:

Okay, this post is getting too long .... so I'll just stop this one and start another. :) I have to tell you about our fun with the Colton Family this week....

Happy 4th Everyone

2008-07-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since I last updated so I thought I better get going on it. The last 2 weeks Sarah, Bekah and Emma have been involved in the summer camp for their music class. They had a great time. They came home with all kinds of crafts and they tie-dyed Tshirts. They made one for Leah and a onsie for the baby too.

Everything else has been pretty much good, I really can't complain too much about the kids, they are being pretty helpful. There are days when I can tell they are getting sick of each other so we'll plan an outing. We went to the Ogden Treehouse museum and the kids had a blast there, they didn't want to leave. It wasn't very busy at all the day we went so they pretty much had the exhibits to themselves.

We also planned a last minute outing to Grandma and Grandpa Colton's house. They got to play with their cousin,Devin, across the street and Grandma even took us all swimming to the South Jordan Pool. The girls agreed that it was the best pool ever. They are getting excited for swimming lessons starting next week because they'll get to swim pretty much every day. I don't know if I'm excited for that because for 2 weeks the house becomes a mess of wet towels and swimstuff.

I'll update later with some fun 4th of July stuff. Have a good one everyone...and in case anyone wanted to ask how I was feeling lately, here's a cartoon for you :)

Summer Fun

2008-06-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

So we have made it throught the first 2 weeks of summer. I must say that things have gone pretty good so far. I have been much busier trying to provide activities for the kids. We have a semi set schedule in the mornings starting around 8 or so we have breakfast and then "school" I have the kids do a few worksheets and reading. Mostly I need to do this with Bekah to help her reading come along, she is doing better, but still gets very frustrated with reading. It's helping me to learn patience I guess. With Sarah we are working on teaching the ABC's and recognizing the letters... I'm actually surprised she doesn't know them yet, but I've just never taken the time to sit and teach them to her.

After school work it's housework. I believe my house is cleaner now than it has been in a long time. If I have a chore assigned to one of them they are very good about making sure I show them how or help them to do it.

I hope I can keep the routine up all summer.

We bought a membership at the zoo and have been there twice now. The girls love to see all the animals, We went this morning for a bit and rode the new carousel.

In 2 weeks I have the girls enrolled in a summer music camp for a week, they will get a half day of crafts and singing, etc. It should be fun. Then swimming lessons start in July, they can't wait....

Here's a few pics from the Zoo:

Belly Shot 27 week 5 days

2008-06-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's another quick belly shot. The Dr. appointment this week went great. I hate seeing the weight on the scales though, I need to stop payig attention to it. The Glucose Tolerance test went fine, at least the doctor hasn't called back yet to tell me I failed it. Now its a just a waiting game until the end of summer. ug! The nesting bug has finally struck a bit, I'm trying to use some of my 2nd trimester energy (I know I'm in my 3rd now) We moved Emma and Bekah to the 2 bedrooms downstairs and they love it down there, their rooms are much larger and there is lots of room to play. Now there is room upstairs for the baby and my craft room. Here's a pic of the baby room at the moment... We have a long ways to go to get it ready. I'm looking at paint ideas this week and hopefully can get some help to paint it in the coming weeks. Note the box of legos on the dresser, one of the ideas for paint is a Lego theme ( in primary colors, lego moulding, etc). The other idea I had involves and browns and reds in stripes and stenciled cars and trucks.

Last Day of school

2008-05-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to the end of school. Now the long summer begins, Emma has already tearfully informed me that she wants to go back to school already. I think the structure school offers helps her feel secure in her comfort zone. She gets stressed out with the chaos of summer. My goal is to keep some semblance of structure this summer, have certain things that get done each day, set times for lunch and snacks etc.

Thursday was the long awaited "Little house on the Prairie Day" for Emma's class. She had been looking forward to it all year. I was going to make her a bonnet to wear, but decided just to go ahead and do the whole dress. It was fun and Emma was way excited to have the dress to wear that day.

The kids had a blast playing in the water Friday after school. I had been toying with the idea of taking them somewhere, but I think think they had more fun here in the neighhborhood. There is quite a "gaggle" of kids ages 3-10 on our street, when they are all out playing it becomes quite the place to be.

Here's a couple pictures of Sarah and Leah's music class, they love it and it is coming to end now for summertime as well. Leah just loves her teacher and sits in her lap to sing the song with her.

A lesson in Nature

2008-05-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

Last year we discovered in one of our front trees a new little bird's nest. We had fun listening to birds everyday and hearing the baby birds chirping and growing. Though we couldn't ever really get a good look in the nest we knew they were there and it was fun to have them there. As Fall came the nest was abandoned and the girls wondered what would happen to it. I told them to leave it there and we would see if the birds came back to it in the Spring. A bird did come back to the nest and laid its eggs there. Sadly, yesterday's winds and rains proved to be too much for the small birds nest and it came tumbling to the ground while we were gone. We came home to discover that 3 newly hatched birds had been in the nest and didn't survive the fall and exposure to the rains. The girls were sad for the birds and wondered about the birds' mother and how she would feel when she returned to the nest. I told them that this was the the nature of life. Some times bad things happen and the animals can adjust and will continue on. Later, I considered this and thought of my little baby birds in our home, our safe nest. I hope that our home can withstand the torrential winds and rains of life to keep them safe. I marvelled also at the strength of mothers out there that have had to deal with loss... ok I know I'm being sappy now :)

Sarah is 5!

2008-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well we've had a wild week of celebrating Sarah's birthday. I can't believe how much my little girl is growing. She has always been my little "baby doll" with her big bright eyes and long eyelashes. Now she is entering the "Big girl" life. She wanted her own crafts so she wouldn't have to share with her older sisters. She's much more independent at home and play now. In fact she can be a little too sneaky at times, running and hiding stuff that she isn't supposed to have when she hears me coming.

She got to have 2 parties, one on her birthday with family and one on Saturday with her friends. She wanted a Rainbow cake and I think I finally succeeded in getting one frosted (it was a pain though to keep the frosting straight) we painted flower pots at her party and planted flowers in them. I hope she had a good time.

2nd grade program and other stuff

2008-05-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks of school seems to be filled with programs and school field trips and so much other stuff. I can't imagine how busy it will get once all of the kids are in school. Last week Emma had her 2nd grade Patriotic Program. It was really cute, you could tell they had practiced hard to know the songs and their parts. Leah was really cute watching it, she had to keep pointing out Emma and was the first to clap after each song.

Also...

Yesterday we got to go the Doctor for Sarah's kindergarten check-up. She didn't really tolerate it very well, but I wonder if there is a kid out there that does. I think they probably thought I was trying to murder Sarah in the bathroom when we were trying to get a urine sample. She was screaming like CRAZY! For her shots she was a mess of tears and crying and "NO MOMMY!" After her shots though she was back to being a happy camper. Leah had her check up while we were at it she had one shot to get and just said "OW!" and whinned a little and then was fine, amazing the difference. We went shopping afterward and bought some cookies for a treat and got all of Sarah's birthday party supplies (she was way excited about that!)

Today Bekah's class is off to the Zoo... Thursday they watch a movie at the school....and they still have all next week to get through... field day... class parties.... I wonder if any learning is happening at all there?

Another Dr. Visit

2008-05-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

So here I am, all a bloomin' 23week 2 days pregnant (as of this past Tuesday)

I don't have much to show for this last visit. It was one of those in and out really quick ones. I only gained a couple pounds which surprises me because I feel like my tummy has grown a ton! It's probably because I haven't felt well lately. My appetite is a bit low, unless you put a box of doughnuts in front of me then I can perform magical feats and make them all disappear, Epp!

Next time I get to do the yummy glucose test (blah!) Hopefully I don't fail... sugar has been my biggest vice this pregnancy.

Farewell Preschool!

2008-05-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Sarah's last day of preschool, She has really had a fun year. They did a little program and gave each child a cute DVD with a slideshow of pictures. Sarah was telling everyone that it was her "LAST School!" I think she is ready for Kindergarten now.

Tagged!

2008-05-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Jessica

Here are the rules:

* Each person has to list 6 facts about them

*List at the end of your posting who you have tagged

OK Ill play...

1-I don't like to cook. Honestly I don't think that it the cooking part I hate, it's the cleaning up the mess I made part that drives me nutty! So I suspect our eating out budget is a bit higher than most families. I like to do mass cooking, I'll make 10 lbs of meatballs, a few batches of Sloppy Joe's, a couple lasagnas all in one day and freeze them just so I don't have to bother with cooking everyday

2-I hate to be late, if there's something that I have to be at I usually arrive early. Luckily Zack shares my feelings in this area (except when we're heading to church perhaps). It has gotten us in trouble a few times where its socially polite to be late...like being the first at awkward work parties.

3-Here's a secret confession for you...I love to play online games. I know you're thinking I'm crazy because Zack and his computer games drive me insane. But occasionally I'll indulge and play a bit of Lord of the Rings Online...right alongside Zack. To my defense though, the hours I spend playing games on the computer is FAR less than what Zack does and usually only occurs after the kids are tucked away in bed.

4- I procrastinate WAY TOO MUCH. Many times I've waited too long to make phone calls, or organize something, make something, etc. I know this seems to clash with my never be late policy. Somehow I can make it all work, after many all nighters or stress filled days.

5- I like to paint and decorate kids rooms... but don't like decorating any other room. I have spent a lot of time and effort to make the kids rooms fun but I don't think I will ever settle down and decide how to decorate the living room or family room. So while the girls' room bounce with color and cheer, the rest of the house remains quite boring and undecorated.

6- I love having a house full of kids. As hard and frustrating as it is at times, I love the excitement. I keep all kinds of activities around the house from coloring to playdough and it's fun to sit and play with them. My only wish is that they would listen to Mom a bit more often.

Ok I'm tagging Sarah G.

The countdown

2008-05-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was contemplating how much longer before I had all the kids were going to be home for summer break. There's 25 days left to go...or 600 hours...or 360000 minutes. I can't decide if I'm dreading it or looking forward to it. On one hand, I'll have Emma and Bekah home to play with and entertain Sarah and Leah more. On the other hand I'll have Emma and Bekah home to torture Sarah and Leah more. Just as it is nice to be able to drop them off and the school system take care of them for most of the day, it will be nice to have them home where I can see what trouble they are getting into and be able to go do things we want to do. So I'm torn.
As I was considering all of this I thought to myself "those 2 little girls of mine haven't been in to bother me for awhile, I wonder what they are up to?" So I went to check on them and discovered they had decided to play playdough in their room... with all the playdough at once. It was everywhere, there was no saving it. They gave me a couple sheepish looks and then cracked a grin when they decided I wasn't going to get mad. I'm still not in the habit of grabbing the camera to document such tragedys so I don't have any pictures of the mess. Believe me, messy it was. Sarah was a good girl and cleaned most of it up.
So now I sit here thinking " ug 25 more days....600 more minutes!" If 2 can make that big of a mess imagine what 4 can do!

Oh boy! its going to be a long summer!

2008-04-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

This last week was pretty uneventful. Saturday was a nice clear day so Zack pulled out our new lawn edger for the first time and messed around with it a bit, he trimmed the lawn edges and edged the back patio and a one edge of our driveway before calling it quits. Between our grass being so overgrown and the weight of the trimmer it was quite a chore, he said he'd finish the rest of it later. Once it all gets trimmed once it will be easier to maintain.

(before) (After) I decided on Saturday too that I was going to take it "off" and just kick back and read a book all day...I know what you're thinking "with 4 kids running around how is that possible?" well I'll tell you now that it's NOT possible. The kids begged for treats and snacks all day, they were bickering and fighting with eachother over the games they were playing together, Leah at one point stripped off all her clothes and was running around naked (EEP!). Me? I was constantly having to get up to do this or that or yell at the kids to stop fighting or to get out of the kitchen because "we just had lunch and it's NOT snack time!" You'd think they were poor starving children! Finally evening came and the the sitter showed up and Zack and I were able to go out and meet my family for a nice relaxing dinner (whew!)

Then, Sunday we were sitting in Sunday school and I found Mosiah 4 open in my lap "14 And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they... fight and quarrel one with another.." and I turned to Zack and said" Wow! I think I was doing some sufferin' yesterday!" He got a good chuckle.

All I can say is that its going to be a long "sufferin" Summer

Piano recital

2008-04-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

(this video cuts into the end of Emma's recital, I missed the first bit of it)
This weekend, Emma and I got to go to Utah State University for their annual piano festival. She didn't compete this year, but she was able to play for the judges. She played 2 pieces the first one was more dnamically difficult but I didnt manage to get my camera out in time to film it. I did manage to catch the last little bit of the second piece though. She received awesome reviews, They felt like she was well prepared and followed the dynamics on the the piece quite well. Emma told me afterward that she loved taking piano because she can go do things like the piano festival. Yay Emma! Now just keep up that attitude all year :)

video test

2008-04-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is actually just a "test" post. I'm still very new at all this stuff. I wanted to figure out how to take a digital video off my camera and get it onto the blog. So I took a little video of Leah and Sarah and am trying it out.

Emma has a recital this weekend at USU and I wanted to be sure I know how to get her video of her playing posted the right way before we went.

So I think this is a cute little vid of Leah, she was spinning and getting dizzy so I grabbed the camera to try and catch her doing it. Other than taking a bit of time to upload, it seems like it working so far. Yay!

Ok while I'm waiting for upload, I'll share this cute cartoon as it seems to hit the spot with me these days :) Have a great day!

First lame post

2008-04-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ok here it goes, my first lame post... I'm sure it will be the first of many. Today was a lazy day so I ended up entering the blogging world. There was plenty of other things I could have been doing, but who likes the monotony of mundane household chores? I know I don't. This week I got to go to the doctor and get my 19 week ultra sound of our new baby boy. He was healthy and happy in there. All signs of what may have caused my bleeding a few weeks ago was gone, but the doctor still said I had to take it easy as bleeding in 2nd trimester puts me at risk for other complications later on.

I don't think Leah really understand what is happening yet but I'm sure she'll catch on soon enough. She's not going to like it much though. Sarah is very excited, though she is very scared to look at the ultrasound pictures. They are SCARY-looking. Emma and Bekah are excited but they understand it is still a long ways away.

Also, here's a couple pictures of Easter too, I managed to get a couple before their dresses got completely destroyed (cheaply made things make me mad grrr!)

Anyway, until next time....