Park City...

...with the Nielson Clan. It was fun to get away for a couple of days. We headed to Utah and celebrated the 4th and Greg's birthday and then on the 5th drove up to Park City to hang out with Greg's family.

We rode the ski lift to the top and then hiked around for a couple hours.  The kids LOVED it!  Definitely take after their momma more than their dadda

getting ready to hike it out!

love heights!

love my kids!

stopping for a little snack

all the trooper kids (minus Ash who wasn't old enough to ride) and what we will loving refer to as "glute burnin hill!" I thought for a min. we would have a little baby up there...phew it was steep, but all of us made it to the top, then turned around and we all made it back down :)

all the big kids (and Kade) and obviously all of us looking at different cameras...we are as bad as the kids :)

funny, the three brothers showed up wearing the same color shirt...what can we say, they look good in blue!

Fun times and good memories made!

The Gang's All Here...

...okay so really they weren't we were missing a lot, but we had a party with those that were here. (Grammie, Papa, Kathy (and fam minus Lance) Kade, Grams, Papa, Chad (and fam) Kirst (and fam) Nana and Papa. Thank you all for coming and making Dax's day all that much better!

Kirst needed a bath BAD after playing with soot all morning, Skye was kind enough to give her the same one she got

when it is super hot outside, you only have one bathroom with lots of people why not?   It is the same water we drink (you all are jealous of my bandana style huh?!

the rinse cycle

Yes, even Dax!

the rinse

One Year Older...

...and no doubt-idly smarter. It doesn't matter how much I dread a birthday (like this last one) I always get to feel young 3 days later :) Happy Birthday to an AMAZING guy! The past few years we have spent our birthdays in the quiet of our little town, but this year we had other things going on so we got to spend his birthday with family. It was a good weekend!

The non birthday highlights...
1) Saturday night at 10:00 my kids were in bed (Colt, who decided this weekend was a good time to start fighting bed time with this new little tantrum, was asleep) when the doorbell rings...seriously my parents are in bed at 10:00, 10:30 at the VERY latest, and probably only when we are in town. The neighbor wanted us to turn off the porch lights. They were to bright to see their (illegal in South Weber) fireworks. We chuckled, and thought "if you wake up any of my kids that light plus all the other lights are going back on" sitting in the back yard it was kinda fun to watch the illegal fireworks. This is the first year Utah has legalized launched fireworks, South Weber let their residents know that they were not allowed. Too bad no one reinforced that rule.

2) CRACKED me up!! We were eating lunch at Greg's parent's house today and Dax lost a tooth. Him and all of his cousins were so excited they all run into the house with the announcement. We put the tooth in some TP and they went back out to play. No one thought another thought about it until little Kyleigh (same age as Skye) came inside with the saddest little face and quivering bottom lip. Her momma asked what was wrong and the alligator tears emerged along with a "I don't want to loose my teeth!" as we all tried (not so well) to hide our laughter she was seriously disturbed and upset at the thought. Her daddy thought he would not only be funny, but also maybe scare her into brushing her teeth more often said "It's okay, Dax's tooth fell out because he didn't brush them." instead of calming her she got more upset and said "but I didn't brush mine today either!" seriously the sadest/funniest/cutest thing EVER, poor little girl!

Happy birthday again Greg! And a happy birthday to AMERICA!

Meet Nephew #10...

...oh I love babies, especially when I can call them mine. Yes, he is MINE! (the best part is I get to snuggle him, but don't have to loose sleep) Isn't he just the sweetest?!

this would be my BEAUTIFUL sister (in law) and Greg's brother

LOVE HIM!!

Happy Easter...

...hope you all had a great one, we sure did! We actually had a GREAT weekend with our families. I got to meet nephew #10 (oh my perfectness-I will share him soon) I got to play with 2 of my other favorite nephews (and their mom and dad-I will share them soon too) had some good chats, laughs and as always food. Funny enough these are the only "snap shots" I took of the whole weekend.
I thought about picking out the best of all the shots, but seriously if you try to imagine what is going through each kids mind...the whole series is pretty dang funny to me and I had to put them all up. These little buddies would be Colt, Rhedd, and McKnowls (as Greg dubbed him this weekend) all born within 1 year and 3 days of each other









can you maybe, kinda, sorta see why Colt's one year pictures have been put off for so long? The kid NEVER, EVER stops moving (remember me complaining of that very thing when I was pregnant?)

On a side note...our house wasn't literally freezing when we came home, not only that it was a whooping 60 degrees...SWEETNESS!

Um Wow,

I love my family! We skipped down to Utah for the weekend for my lil' brother's "Missionary Talk" (it was easier when we called them Farewells). He did such a wonderful job on his talk, he will be an UH-MAZING missionary, I have no doubt. His topic was Of Things That Matter Most and it was a good reminder that sometimes we need to sit down with ourselves and be reminded of those things. It was a little hard to leave my parents house last night, knowing it would be 2 whole years before we will see him again. We kept reminding the kids to make sure to give him lots of loves because they wouldn't see him for 2 years (which for one of our kids is longer than a lifetime, and another kid is 1/2 a lifetime) and every time we did Jacey came back and said "Yeah I will be 10 almost 11 when he gets back!" Okay I don't think I needed that reminder, but it is true! Skye will be in Kindergarten and it will just be Colt and I at home...I know for me the time will fly by because what is a year to us old parents? I can already hear myself saying "wow, has it been 2 years already?!"

As it is we celebrated Colt's birthday a little early (not to say we won't really party until Wednesday) and I can hardly stand how fast that year went by. It hasn't been a year yet though, and I am going to hold onto these last few days of my last 0 year old baby as tight as I can. He is definitely one of those things that matters most!

I think Greg looks just as excited for the cake as Colt was.
(and on a side note I made these cup cakes with pumpkin and no one could tell...so proof that my kids just aren't used to my crazy cooking)

Landon also referenced Good, Better, Best and I think I need to sit down and read those scriptures on a more regular basis. It is just too easy to sink into "the easy way" even if there is something better out there for us. So thanks little brother for the reminder, I am going to try very hard. I promise!

Grammy and Papa Visit...

...it has become quite the traditional visit and we look forward to the visits-it is like Christmas all over again. Either I am a very bad host and never remember to "take their coats" or my house really is that much colder than theirs.


We have so much fun, but I really wish they had still been here when the kids opened their "Squirmles" before they left so they could have seen Skye's reaction in person. HILARIOUS-and while this video is pretty good the initial fear had worn off a little bit but even now after the video and after 20 min. of playing with it herself she is still very nervous of the critter and still wont let the soft fuzzy thing rest in her hand. The funniest part is that she scares herself more than I scared her. Silly girl!

When Mom's Away...

...the children will play, but lucky for Mom they are still young enough that they think it is cool to tell me everything (even the stuff Dad may not want me to know).

I went to Utah for a girls day with my cute sister in laws...my poor mother in law got sick and had to skip it, but no worries we are going to do it again soon-we missed her so much! We went to Gardner Village and ate yummy food, saw cute cute shops, got millions of ideas (not sure I will remember them all-should have taken notes I guess) and I think my "To Do-Craft List" is now 2 miles long. On the way home we stopped at Hobby Lobby and got stuff to add to my "Craft Pile" and I swear one of these days real soon I am going to get to it!!! It was weird to drive down and back by myself, but so worth it.

So back to "the kids will play" part...maybe I should let Greg tell you about the fire in the kitchen (in my pan) the spider the size of Colts fist and all their other fun times. Greg did take pictures of said spider, I will post once my computer is back up and running (I lost a drive yesterday too)...not to worry I have everything backed up and safe, but I just can't get to it yet.

Hi, My Name Is Amy...

...and I am an addict! It has been 5 min. since my strip of fruit leather and if sticky key boards weren't a peeve of mine I would still be eating it. I walk past the fridge (and in my house unless I keep to the front room only-which actually the fridge is still right there-I walk past the fridge to get every where else in the house) open it and eat some more. I can't get enough of this stuff...which I guess it is a good thing it is all natural with no added sugar. It was a huge hit with the kids too-except Skye who didn't want to try it because it made her fingers sticky (what kind of child is she?!)
I think I can call my attempt a success and I might just have to go BUY some more peaches since I used up my last few for these. The kids are all about me making more too. When I told them I would have to try other flavors they were so excited. Jacey even wants me to make tomato leather (we have enough tomoatoes I might have to...just kidding...that doesn't sound very good)
I think it is also safe to say that I have a problem, I ate a whole roll by myself today...(that was 4 cups of dried fruit puree)




I am also addicted to these guys! Could they BE any cuter?!
I have so many pictures like this...it was so cute I would tell them to do something and little sister would look at her brother to make sure he approved before she would do it. LOVE!!




I am just starting this session and I can't wait to see all the other pictures since these first few random selections are so dang cute!

Oak City Party...

As we were packing I thought-you know I am going to leave the camera home and just enjoy the weekend. I will pack Greg's little camera but that is it. We were about 45 min. into our drive when I smacked Greg (lovingly) and asked how he could have let me leave my camera at home. I was having withdrawals already.

Day 1-We got to Oak City around 3:00 and hung out at Papa Fred and Grandma Fred (as Skye called them) house until about 5:00 then we went over to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff's house for some dinner and party time before the parade at 6:00 (Oak City is the only other town besides Oakley that has a parade in the evening...smart people!)

I thought Oakley had a lot of flies...I think Oak City has us beat by a few thousand!

Sadly we don't make it down there near often enough, it is about a 5-6 hour drive (not counting stops and depending on how fast Greg drives), but when we do we have the BEST time getting reacquainted with everyone and meeting all the new ones. When you have 14 cousins (12 of which are girls) there are always new babies and new husbands to meet. Skye and Dax were super tired and didn't get a lot of play time in today, but Jacey sure did.

Day 2- the kids slept wonderfully (oh except they didn't start sleeping until midnight) thanks Aunt Lisa for letting us stay with you. We tried our best to wear them out playing soccer and baseball, but I think the candy loot they gathered at the parade was our ultimate culprit. They woke up happy and jumped right into playing...

animals in the cage...skye jacey jeffrey rylie and rheagan

daxer playing with the animals they got at the parade
eating the feast, and yes the hour+ wait in line was worth it. They do a pit bbq like Clarks does up here and it sure was yummy! with fresh corn, tomatoes and cucs

kason and alyx came down with grammie and papa and we had a blast with them too

dax and kason
papa, uncle craig, dax, grammie, colt, alyx, skye, kason, jacey
in the bounce house
you would never guess the drama that this picture required unless you were standing there...I think skye was a little hot and tired!
snowcone tongues!
I LOVE THIS! You are never too old to sport a BLUE tongue!

So much fun! We had to drag the kids away with tears to get in the car, but thankfully the ride wasn't too bad at all. We stopped at Kathy's house to stretch our legs and get a treat and got home a little after 11:00. We can't wait for next years party!

My Rug Rats

...

are no longer. Greg took Dax and Skye on a date to get their hair cut, and it was MUCH needed. Other than a little tuff of hair cut off by her big brother this was Skye's first ever hair cut. It is hard to see in these pictures, but they cut off about 2.5 inches and I was surprised to see how long her hair still was. It is nice to have it all the same length rather than the inconsistent baby hairs.

and then because Jacey never gets to stay home and hold her baby brother (she spends most of her day at school) she got to stay home with us and she held Colt for more than an hour and just ewwwed and ahhhhed him all morning long.

Colt also got to meet his Grammie and Papa (Greg's parents) for the first time...fun times!