Joy in the Journey

Wrapping up 2011

2012-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween:

Thanksgiving:

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was fun to plan and decorate. Behind us is a "thankful tree"- everyone could write what they were thankful for on a leaf and tape it to the tree. It looked so pretty when it was filled with thankful leaves! We also celebrated James masters degree with a surprise graduation ceremony! We had a few great speeches and some good music. James was really surprised and it was a fun way to celebrate this huge accomplishment!

Thanksgiving football in the backyard:

Christmas highlights:

Karissa, Kyle and James performed in a Christmas concert that our stake does with the Catholic church. They worked hard to learn their songs and did a great job.

Tyler's preschool class (and siblings) sang at an elderly home for the residents there.

Christmas eve bowling:

Christmas morning:

Trip to the Emergency Room

2011-11-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, October 27th was a horrible day! Trevor and Tyler found a vice in the garage (if you don't know what that is, I didn't either- it's a big, heavy metal block). Trevor dropped it on his toes. OWWW! He came into the house crying and trailing blood. It looked pretty gory. We hurried to Urgent Care, where they put on a steri-strip (also known as a piece of tape) and sent us to the Emergency Room. There, they stitched him up- 3 stitches on the middle toe, and one on the toe next to it just to "tack it on." (It was hanging off on the end.) He ended up getting two x-rays, several shots, and a couple of doses of painkillers. Poor guy! It was an all-day ordeal- 8am- 4pm. Tyler was a trooper since he waited for him to get fixed up that entire time with hardly any complaining. We were so happy to finally get home! Trevor took a while to forgive me for putting him through that and only wanted his daddy for the next couple of days.

Family Fun

2011-10-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

The other day the kids and I went up to Oak Glen after school. The old schoolhouse was open, so we got to visit the museum and then play at the playground for a while. We found a little path and explored a little, and then made a final stop for apple cider and apple slice samples.

Last Friday night we took a trip out to Bogart Park as a family for some "cheater camping." We went for a late afternoon hike. The weather was perfect and the views were great. Kyle could have kept going forever, but eventually we had to head back to our campsite. James and Kyle built us a fire.

We told stories and sang campfire songs, looked at the stars and ate treats.

Then, in true cheater-camping style, we went home and slept in our beds. I love cheater camping.

Our big 2 year old

2011-10-29T07:28:00.001-07:00

Our little Trevor loves bananas, so to celebrate him turning two, we had a "banana day." Banana muffins for breakfast, bananas for snacks, and a coconut-banana cream pie for his birthday dessert.

The Lego Mini-Build

2011-10-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Kyle is really into Legos right now. He loves to build all kinds of things. So when we heard there was a free mini build at the mall, he was so excited he could hardly stand it. The mall was out in Ontario, which wouldn't have been so bad, but since there was an accident on the way, it took us almost two hours to get there!! Then, once we got there, we waited in a long line to finally build their little vampire lego-men. We played games in line, and ended up having a lot of fun. A friend and I traded kids, so she had the little boys and I had her 7 year old.

Here are the kids waiting in line. We played the game where you turn a squiggle into a drawing while we waited.

Finally inside the Lego Store! Those are the cute vampires they built.

Pumpkin Patch!

2011-10-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month we went to the Live Oak Pumpkin Patch. We had a great time. The kids rode a bunch of rides, and we all got to see the animals.

Disneyland!

2011-09-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Our family trip to Disneyland! They had just decorated for Halloween. Even the Haunted Mansion was different, with Nightmare before Christmas decorations.

On Splash Mountain, the ride was stopped, and we all had to get off and walk through the ride. It was fun to have a different view of the ride!

We spent some time in the petting zoo.

The weather was great, the lines weren't too long, the kids were good-- a perfect Disneyland day!

School begins!

2011-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

School started early this year: August 16th!

Kyle is in the first grade. His teacher is Miss Bridgman. He is liking his class a lot, and his table has gotten the most table points for the first three weeks of school!

Here's Karissa. She is in third grade with Mrs. Johnson. Her closest friends weren't in her class this year, but she is still able to play with them at recess.

Karissa and Kyle also have recess together this year, and they even hang out at school sometimes. Now that Karissa's in third grade, she can pick up Kyle from his class and they can walk out together to meet me. One day as they were walking out, I saw them holding hands the whole way. I'm so glad they are such good friends.

After school on the third day of school, through a team effort on the part of all the kids, Karissa got her fingers caught in the immersion (soup) blender! She screamed like her fingers had been chopped off! It looked pretty bad, but luckily didn't even need stitches, and she got to wear these cool bandages to school the next day.

Tyler and Trevor get a little bored on the walk to and from school sometimes. I've started bringing my "secret weapon"- the top part of the leash. I velcro him in to the seat so he can't climb out! On this day, the boys were really good because we found a leaf bug (on Tyler's head in this pic) that entertained them the whole way.

Las Vegas Vacation

2011-07-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Right when school got out, we went on a family vacation to Las Vegas. We had a great time swimming, hiking (or attempting to hike in over 100 degree weather), playing in the Lazy River, touring M&M's world and lots more. The last day we went to Pahrump to visit the Jensen family. It's always so much fun to see them!
It was a great trip and we had such a good time together!

Memorial Day Hike

2011-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, my family came out to spend the day with us. My parents had been to this great place in Palm Springs, and they took us there. Even though it's in the desert, right by this little stream, it stayed nice and cool. It was a beautiful place and we had a great time there.

When we got to the water, Trevor wanted to get wet. We stripped him down to save his clothes. The water was freezing, but he was loving it.

Mormon Helping Hands and Sparky gets a new home

2011-05-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday for Mormon Helping Hands, our stake went to Stewart Park and painted the fence surrounding the park. We used blue paint (if you couldn't tell!) and Karissa and Kyle did a lot of painting. Tyler did a little and still managed to get all that on his shirt! James needed to finish a 12 page paper, so he stayed home, and I was worried that Trevor would be a handful, but luckily he only got a drop or two of paint on him.

Meet the newest member of the Neilson family- Sparky the Hamster! The kids have been saving up their allowance to buy a hamster. They needed about $50 total (after the cage), so at $1 each per week, minus 10 cents for tithing and 10 cents for savings... it was going to be a while!
But, one day last week on freecycle someone listed a hamster, cage, ball and food-- all for free! So, we drove out there and picked up our new pet Sparky. He is really a cute little guy! Karissa and Kyle used their money to buy bedding and more food.
Sparky is named after James' pet hamster from his childhood. The Sparky stories really hit home with Kyle, and he told James "When I get a hamster, I'm gonna name him Sparky too."

Karissa's Field Trip- Living Desert

2011-03-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

Tyler, Trevor and I went with Karissa's school to Living Desert. It's a great zoo out in Palm Desert. Luckily the weather was not too hot. We had a good time together. Some of the highlights were the animal show and the butterfly pavillion.

The Day we met an Apostle

2011-03-12T16:43:00.000-08:00

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the quorum of the twelve came for our Stake Conference last weekend. He spoke to the priesthood leadership last night, then at the adult session, and again Sunday. We loved hearing from him and feel so blessed that he was here. He stayed after the meeting to shake hands and meet the members. We waited in line to shake his hand. Karissa said, "We had to wait in line a long time but it was worth it." I agree! The Spirit was so strong and we are so blessed to be members of a church led by prophets and apostles!

Our little climber!

2011-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hawaii Trip

2011-01-23T16:41:00.000-08:00

James and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. The kids stayed with my parents, and even though we missed them, it was SO NICE to have 4 days alone together in Hawaii!
We stayed in Waikiki, here's the view from our hotel:

We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I loved seeing all the performances and learning about the different islands. It was also awesome to see the students and hear how the PCC allows them to pay for school. James helped out in the New Zealand welcome dance:

The sister missionaries took us on a tour to see the Laie Hawaii temple and BYU-Hawaii:

We went back the next day to do a session at the temple. We also swam on the North Shore later that day, and watched them setting up for a big surf competition.

Overlooking Hanauma Bay:

We snorkeled in the Bay and saw so many cool kinds of fish. We also went on a hike up Koko head, and old train track up the side of a mountain.

This was the perfect trip! We had a great time and loved being together!

December

2011-01-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

Bass Pro Shop- Santa's workshop

Trevor climbing on the boat at Bass Pro Shop

Tammy's Christmas party. It was a Khoury's restaurant in Long Beach. It was great to see family we haven't seen in a long time.

Ruby's- Christmas Eve lunch

Me at Ruby's

Dessert. I love that Tyler is imitating Karissa here.

Christmas eve bowling- our Neilson family tradition. The kids had bumpers and sometimes used the ramp... Tyler was the winner (with a little help from mom and dad).

Christmas Eve Jammies

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

A lion............

Darth Vader....

Hannah Montana.....

A bat...............

Fire Station Tour

2010-11-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

MOMS club took a tour of the fire station in Beaumont. They got to see where the firemen stay, where they eat, and climb in the fire engine. Each of them also got a turn to spray the hose. They sprayed it across the parking lot and almost to the street. Tyler almost got a car... maybe the fireman wasn't paying attention here? But luckily, there was no harm done.

School Days

2010-10-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Karissa and Kyle started school at the end of August. Karissa's second grade teacher is Alyssa Espalin. She won Karissa over right away by being young and cute and fashionable. She's been a good teacher and Karissa is having a good year so far. She's made new friends in her class and is learning lots of new things. She's gotten to be a great reader and loves Junie B. Jones books. It's cute to watch her reading silently and then burst out laughing at something Junie B. said. Here's Karissa on the second day of school:

Kyle is a kindergartener this year! He has Ms. Powell, who was also Karissa's teacher, and he likes her and likes being in school. He likes to get his homework packet done the first day of the week and not have any homework (except reading) on the other days. Every day he rides his scooter to school, and usually when we go to pick up Karissa he likes to ride his bike.

His class had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch last week and I went with him. We rode on a hay ride, went in a petting zoo, learned about pumpkins and got to bring home a little pumpkin of our own.

Utah and Idaho trip/ Ford Family Reunion

2010-09-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

In August we took a trip to Utah and Idaho. In the words of Karissa, "That was the longest trip I ever took." It was a long drive, but the kids did well. Karissa and Kyle made books along the trip, adding souveniers (napkins, menus, brochures, etc.) every time we stopped.

We spent a day in Idaho. We were able to see the McBrides, and went out to lunch with them at Millhollow. The kids had a great time playing, and it was so fun to catch up! Being back in Rexburg after so long was really cool. James and I have so many memories of that great place! We were excited to show the kids and tell them stories about our BYU-Idaho and Ricks College days. We took them to a devotional; unfortunately for me, Tyler decided that it would be a good time to try out his new potty training skills, and we spent a half hour in the bathroom while he tried to go. We also visited with our old bishop and teacher, Brother Packer, and James' old boss, Judy Steiner.

We spent the night in Rigby and took the kids to Rigby Lake in the morning. Even though it was cold, they were eager to get in and swim.

We drove back to Ogden where our first stop was the candy factory tour. Tiffany set that up for us, and we went with her and her kids, Jeanette and Sasha. It was interesting to see how everything was made, but we all would have appreciated more samples along the way!

The Ford Family Reunion officially started the next day. We had the largest bedroom in the Vaughns house... for all 6 of us. Needless to say, it was not easy for the kids to fall asleep! We had a great trip spending time with family, though. Some highlights were: Temple square, the family talent show, the Ogden County Fair where all the girls performed "All the Single Ladies," and swimming in Willard Bay.

The most awesome foreign exchange student ever!

2010-08-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

For the first week in August we had a Japanese foreign exchange student live with our family. Her name is Chinami, and we had such a good time getting to know her. She was great with the kids and they were so sad to see her go! We tried to show her a lot of things. We hiked in Oak Glen, went to a Michael McDonald concert, went to church, the mall, a movie, dinner at BJ's, and a couple of parties with the foreign exchange group. It was a great week! We miss you, Chinami!

Trevor's Helmet

2010-08-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

After months of waiting, Trevor finally got his helmet to help shape his head. He's got a spot on the side of his head that is flat. The doctors said that it happens sometimes with babies who are breach like he was. Their necks are at a strange angle in there, so when they get out, one side of the neck is weak. He would always lean to one side when he was really little. I would try to turn his head to the other side while he slept, but whenever I checked again, he was back to his favorite side. Oh, well! 6 months later, we are finally correcting the problem!

The helmet is fairly lightweight. It doesn't seem to bother Trevor much. He wears it all day and all night. The biggest problems are sweating- he drips sweat when it's hot- and other people's curiosity. We get all kinds of questions from strangers at the store. A lot of people think it's because we want to protect him. (I don't think I'm quite that safety conscious that I would make my 9 month old wear a helmet at the grocery store...)

Trevor will wear his helmet anywhere from 6 weeks to 5 months depending on how fast his head grows and shapes and how good we are about making him wear it. (We'll be good!)

Joy in the Journey- Neilson Family Reunion

2010-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

James and I were in charge of planning the family reunion for his side of the family this year. With his parents, sisters and their families and us, that was a total of 33 people. We planned it super close to home at the Highland Springs Resort, which was great. There are 800 acres of lavendar fields, areas to explore and things to do. Best of all was spending time with family and seeing our kids grow closer to their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Here are some of the trip highlights:

Hiking at the top of the Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs
Family Talent Show (we performed Keep on from the Brady Bunch)
Swimming
Eating Lucky Charms for breakfast (a very rare treat for our kids)
Gospel Scavenger Hunt
Grandpa Stan's song, "Joy Joy Joy in the Journey... boop boop"

Swim Lessons

2010-06-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks, Karissa and Kyle took swim lessons at the Yucaipa Pool. I was a little concerned because they weren't able to get in to level 2, so James signed them up for level 3. When we saw the other kid in their class, he was swimming around in the deep end with no help, something Karissa and Kyle still can't do! Anyway, there were only those 3 kids in their class, so they got a lot of personalized attention. The teacher was able to help them at their level and they learned some new things. A few times they got brave and jumped off the diving board (even though it took some coaxing). Tyler, Trevor and I sat on the side with a friend and her baby. It was fun to sit and talk while the kids were in the pool.

May

2010-06-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

May was a busy busy fun month. So busy that I am just now getting around to blogging about it...

The first Saturday in May (and the last Saturday in April) was spent with James family. James went dirt bike riding with David (his sister Jenny's husband). The next weekend was the funeral of a man in James' home ward, and his sister's father in law, Charles Broberg. He was glad to be able to go to that and we spent the evening with his parents.

Both of my sisters who live out of state came down with their families to visit the next two weekends, so we went out to my parents house to spend time with them. Of course, I forgot to take a single picture of my brand new nephew or either of my sisters! But here's what we did that I DID take pictures of:

Karissa lost 4 teeth in about a week and a half. The tooth fairy almost went broke! Good thing she only gives a dollar..!

Cousins!

Danny and Trevor.

A mom and daughter picture for mothers day. My vision was to have a picture with all my kids, but Kyle couldn't find his church shoes and Ty was already in his car seat, but at least Karissa was willing!

Silly boys eating pudding!

Boy Stuff

2010-04-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Kyle and James in their church clothes. Kyle got new shoes and socks and even agreed to tuck in his shirt and wear a tie- definitely a picture- worthy moment.

James came home from his parents house with this- an e-Bike (a motorized bike) with a "hitchhiker" attachment. The kids have been having a blast riding around with their dad. Tyler hangs on really well and loves to go for rides. Kyle and James had a father and son night and rode this up to McDonalds to get an ice cream.

Ty and Trev

2010-04-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Trevor got their pictures taken together. The photographer tried to take some separately, but Ty was only happy when he had his arm around his baby brother. Ignore the glare, I just took a picture of the picture!

Tyler's officially a big boy in his big boy bed.

Here he is sleeping in/ hanging off of his toddler bed.
I sometimes ask him if he wants to sleep in it, but he always says no.
Earlier this week, he said "Yes!" and stayed in the whole night.
He's slept in there every night this week, but he's come out a couple of times... I think it's a big temptation to him knowing that he can get out!

Spring Break

2010-04-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Before the week started, we sat down with the kids and made a schedule of all the things they wanted to do since they didn't have school. This is how it looked:
Monday-Practice Jump Roping/ basketball. Ride bikes to the park.
Tuesday-Practice hula-hooping.
Wednesday-Meet James for lunch. Read a book.
Thursday- Go to the mall and play at the play place. Return clothes and buy raw milk.
Friday- Go to Mr. B's farm. Play a family game. Restock 72 hour kits. Get an oil change.
Saturday- General Conference. Terry's Party. Meadow's party for Karissa.
Sunday- Easter. Go to Grammy's. General Conference.

We had a good week together. Mr B. was Karissa's long term substitute teacher (her teacher has been out since November). He invited the kids to come visit his farm. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was great. He has all kinds of rare animals. Tyler laughed every time the sheep ran by, and we all got a big kick out of the heritage turkeys. Karissa got to hold a baby chick.

Our fun weekend

2010-03-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

I had planned to blog today about our fun weekend, and I'll get to that, but I need to start with a little segment of my day, so that if you don't have kids yet, or if your kids are grown and you don't remember how they were at the age of 2, here's a reminder:

Things that happened today

Tyler dumped out 2 bottles of hand soap all over the floor.
Tyler dumped a cup of water out on the tile. I didn't clean it fast enough. Kyle was carrying a glass plate, with food on it, to the table. For whatever 5 year old reason I can't fathom, he went around the long way, in front of the fridge, in the water spill.... down went the boy, down went the plate, glass and food went flying everywhere.
Tyler stabbed poked Trevor in the lip with a sharpened pencil and made his lip bleed. (Can someone tell me why we can never find a sharpened pencil when it's homework time, but somehow a sharpened pencil is close enough to be a weapon for a 2 year old???)
Tyler found a pair of scissors and cut his pants to bits, while he was wearing them (you can see the holes in the picture above).

So, on to the weekend. We went as a family to California Adventure on Saturday. James' sister Julie got us in (thanks, Julie!) (she works for Disney). We walked on all the rides in Bugs Land. The kids were scared of the 3-D show and we had to walk out in the middle of it. Our favorite ride of the day was Soarin' over California.

On Sunday James and the kids came with me to a ward conference. It was nice to have church together. That afternoon we went to James parents' to celebrate Joy's birthday.
I was going to write more, but hey... it's been a long day.

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

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

Tyler turned 2 February 27th. When you ask him how old he is, he says "two" and holds up his pointer finger and his thumb. We had a small celebration with just our family and a homemade yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting. Tyler got a big "fire-fire" engine as one of his presents.

He's really into trucks and asks us to read his truck book over and over (his favorites are the backhoe and the fire engine).

Karissa: We like to play babies together. Tyler talks cute.

Kyle: I like to kiss him and beat him up.

James: I love it when Ty ask me to snuggle and gives me kisses and hugs. When I walk down the hall holding him he always points to the picture on the wall and says, "Jesus!" really loud.

Chanelle: Tyler loves to get into my makeup (or make-make as he says). He's a lover and gives LOTS of kisses- to us, to his brothers and sister, to his friends in nursery, to produce that we buy.

We love our two year old!!

Presidents Week

2010-02-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

Karissa had a week long school vacation, and James got Monday off for the holiday, and Friday off (he gets every other Friday off).
We spent Monday hiking in Oak Glen. It was a gorgeous day and lots of fun. There was even a little snow and the kids got to climb around in it. The hiking was a little slow because we let Tyler walk part of the way. He didn't want to stay on the path and we kept having to chase him around.

On Friday, we went to Disneyland. We got our "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" tickets by delivering blankets that will go to needy kids. Disneyland was a fun day. We went on a lot of rides, and it wasn't too crowded. We even bought the kids sugar lollypops (they were so excited!). Tyler loved seeing (and hugging) Tigg-Tigg. (I didn't even know he knew who Tigger was!)

Now before I tell this next part, I have to say, "Don't judge me!" (A friend said this to me the other day while opening the door in her p.j.'s at 3 in the afternoon:) Anyway, we were so excited to get inside Disneyland, and we had to park over in Gardenwalk and take a city bus to Disneyland. On the bus, we realized that we'd left the diaper bag in the car! We didn't want to go all the way back, so we thought we'd just hope for the best or maybe buy some overpriced diapers inside Disneyland. So, we are going along and the inevitable- Trevor poops. We asked the workers and found out that you can get diapers on Main street and we start walking over there, even though it's clear on the other side of the park, when we see.... a diaper on the ground! Manna from heaven! It's unused, totally clean. We laughed and picked it up. Should we use it? Well, of course, a free diaper left there just for us (Karissa said, "Heavenly Father made someone drop this there for us!") We went on to our next ride and James and the kids got in line while I changed the diaper. Of course, we had no wipes, but as you mothers know, in a pinch, you can use the diaper and do without. Except at those times when you really need a wipe. This was one of those times. Enough said.
So, I'm standing there, trying to change a diaper in the stroller with a diaper delivered from heaven, but no wipes to finish the job. I said a little prayer in my mind, asking for the Lord to send someone with wipes walking close by me, and I would ask them for one. A few people walked by, but none got close enough. Then, a girl walked right in front of me, with a baby in a carrier on her chest- and she looked familiar. "I know you!" I blurted out. Turns out, she is James' cousins' (Daniel Haring) wife. She had wipes, and freely shared them with me. What are the chances someone would drop a clean diaper right in our path? And that, with all the thousands of people at Disneyland, someone I know would walk by with wipes? I don't doubt for a minute that the Lord was aware of our needs and watching out for us! Even for our little needs like diapers and wipes!

Miscellaneous...

2010-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

A month ago today I started a blog called Simply Real. You can go check it out: http://simplyrealfood.blogspot.com
It's about food and health and cooking...
I'm doing my first giveaway on there, so enter!
Anyway, it's been pretty fun, and in the first month I've had 1500+ visitors to the site.

I recently won a contest in the Reader magazine. Grand prize was a tv. I didn't win that. First prize was $100 cash. I didn't win that either. 2nd prize was a $50 gift card- oh yeah! I won! I don't know where it's for, but- I won! The contest was to try to figure out the names of the people who advertised with the magazine. It took a little work, but was fun like figuring out a riddle.

We found last night that my brother (Chase) got into BYU-Idaho! We're so excited. He's the fifth in my family to go there. In fact, all of us who have gone to college went there, and all of us who are married met our spouses there. I am sure he'll love it.

Karissa has the week off school. I love not having to get up and be on a schedule. I'm looking forward to summer! It's fun having her around too. Kyle loves having her to play with ALL DAY.

Kyle is 5!

2010-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Kyle was so excited to turn 5 yesterday. He woke up, ran into the family room and announced, "I'm five!" His preschool teacher, Miss Stacey, gave him a balloon, and all of his preschool friends colored him a picture. I cleaned his room as a surprise (he said I was the nicest, most hard working mom). He got lots of phone calls singing "Happy Birthday." Our family went to Chuck E. Cheese and to exchange a toy in the evening.

Kyle at 5:
He has cute little freckles on his nose that you can only see if you look closely.
He loves to invent stuff and make things, mostly out of cardboard.
He wears shorts in the winter and long sleeves in the summer.
He says spaghetti is his favorite food, but he's a good eater of almost all food.
He likes to make collections in the backyard.

Happy Birthday, 5 year old!

B.I.G. expo

2010-02-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, our family split up for girl day (with Trevor) and boy day. James, Kyle and Tyler went out for a visit with Grandpa Stan. They went on a bike ride, out for a hamburger and a treat, and had a great day.

Karissa and I went to the B.I.G. (Believe in Girls) event. It was a Girl Scout expo. We were there all day and had such a fun time. Some of the highlights were doing a yoga class together,

getting our nails done,

making crafts,

seeing the dancers,
and meeting a local beekeeper.

Rollin', laughin' and sleepin'

2010-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Trevor officially rolled over for the first time this week. I say officially because he had rolled over before, but only when he wasn't totally flat on his back. I wasn't sure whether it counted as really rolling over or not. But now there's no doubt about it- this boy can roll!

He is also laughing- so cute! James had him cracking up here.
And for the last 3 nights in a row....HE HAS SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!

Snow day!!

2010-01-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to SNOW! The kids were so excited. They played outside all morning, until it was time to take Karissa to school.

But when we got there, school was closed!

Tyler kept holding snow, until his hands were frozen, then he cried and cried until they warmed up.
Kyle got cold outside. He said, "My feet are freezing! Mom, is there a thing like gloves for your feet?"
I said, "Yeah, it's called socks."
"Oh! Yeah! And tennis shoes...I was wearing my flip flops."
That's my California boy!

All kinds of theft

2010-01-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been having a problem with shoplifting. Somehow, with Tyler in the front of the cart, and Trevor's big car seat in the back, stuff gets hidden and I walk out of the store without paying for everything. The first time it happened, I was unloading the kids and found a candy bar (Ghiradelli 86% cacao- my weakness). Luckily James was with me, so I ran back in to pay for it. Then, twice last week it happened again. The first time I got outside of Staples and found some tape under Trevor's seat. I saw an employee on her way back into the store and asked her to bring it in for me since I'd already put Tyler and Trevor in the car. The very next day I was at Kohl's and Tyler was holding a toy to keep him busy while I shopped. Out at the car, unloading the stroller, I realized that he was still holding the Kohl's toy that I hadn't paid for. So, we all trekked back into the store to return it.
Today I got an email from my bank saying that we had overdrawn our account. What? We just checked it the yesterday. When I went online to check, I found a charge for some kind of theater ticket--$1464! James, is there something you want to tell me? But he was as surprised as I was. I spent some time on the phone with the bank, and it's a protected check card so we will get it all back. In a few days. Or maybe longer. They have to investigate a little to find out who else has been using our account.
Seeing that someone else has been using our money to go to a really expensive show makes me a little angry. At least when I steal stuff, I always go and return it!

Top 9 of '09

2010-01-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

1. Our new baby. It's hard to believe our little Trevor is 3 months old. He is a good baby, and we have loved having him in our family so much.
2. Mallorie's wedding. I'm so happy that Mallo is so happy. The wedding was great and we're glad to have a great new brother in law and uncle.
3. Our house payment. So many people we know have been affected by the economy in so many ways. We are so grateful to be able to stay in our house and that our bank worked with us. I don't know why we're the lucky ones, but I recognize it as a blessing and I'm grateful for it.
4. James' work situation. James was able to have the whole month off after Trevor was born to take care of me and the family while I was recovering. That NEVER would have happened while he was with Pulte. He also started working full time in Yucaipa full time at the end of last year. Not only does he not have to commute, but we have more time with him in the evenings. I hope it lasts!
5. Our family vacation to Santa Barbara. We had such a good time with the kids. We have great memories of our time together on that trip.
6. Spending time with our families. Near the end of the year, we were able to spend time with all of our siblings and their families. It doesn't happen very often that we are ALL together. We are also fortunate to be pretty close to both our parents and most of our siblings. We've been able to celebrate lots of birthdays, holidays, and go on several trips to the lake.
7. Preschool. I was concerned about what to do after the baby was born for preschool, since I didn't want to teach, and none of the preschools in Beaumont are what I was looking for. Our preschool co-op has been working out so well! I feel so fortunate that we have such a good, dedicated group of teachers. It's been a great experience for Kyle.
8. Knowledge. I feel like I have learned so much this year about real food, health, and how to take care of my family and stay in the budget. I love learning and studying about so many things, but health in particular.
9. 9 years of being married to my best friend. We just celebrated our 9th anniversary on December 30th. I am so glad to have him to share my life with! He is everything a girl could want, and it is so much fun being married to him.

Christmas Eve Bowling

2009-12-24T16:01:00.000-08:00

Every Christmtas eve our family goes bowling together. This year, we had three little bowlers at Morongo lanes- Karissa, Kyle and Tyler. James and I watched and helped, and Trevor slept through the whole thing. It was a close game, but Tyler ended up winning by one point. He liked to carry the bowling balls up to the ramp himself and push it down. He even had a little dance he did when the ball hit the pins. Karissa liked to do "granny-style," rolling the ball through her legs. She says, "I loved it." Kyle says, "I liked doing the balls [motioning with his hands], like throwing it.

Mallo and Brian

2009-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

Mallorie and Brian got married last Saturday. It was a great day. They were sealed in the San Diego temple. They had an amazing sealer and I learned so much! I wish I could have written it all down and studied it afterward. Mallorie was a beautiful bride and we're so happy to have Brian in the family. They are a great couple.

Shoes

2009-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

Normally, new shoes wouldn't merit a post on the blog, but every time I put these shoes on Tyler, he smiles and says "shoes," and I'm smiling too. That's a big change from his old shoes. We used to have to shove his feet into his shoes. He would say "ow, ow," and half the time, I would just give up. (I mean, do you really need shoes if you're just sitting in the cart?) I knew he needed wide shoes, but I thought we had the size right-- 6 1/2. So you can imagine what a bad mom I felt like when the guy at Stride Rite measured and he really wears a size 8 wide! No wonder getting his shoes on was so impossible! He never wanted to wear shoes, and I thought he just liked the feel of bare feet, but now that the size is right, he's always asking to have his shoes on. Oops! So, we are both thrilled that he has shoes that fit.

Karissa's big day!

2009-12-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

Karissa has been saving up her allowance since this summer in anticipation of this day. She gets 10 dimes each week that she completes all of her chores. The first dime goes to paying tithing, the next two are for savings, and the other seven...she can choose what she wants to do with.

Karissa had been asking to get her ears pierced, but James wasn't sure she was old enough. He kind of wanted her to wait until she was a little older. We decided that if she saved up the money all by herself it would prove that she was ready to get her ears pierced.

This girl saved every single dime she earned, every penny she found on the ground and any money that was sent to her for gifts. It took months and months, but finally, she had enough!

She was a little nervous, but ended up being very brave and didn't even cry. It helped that her aunt Mallorie was getting her ears pierced the same day.

Later that day, Karissa asked Grammy to look at her loose tooth. Grammy (my mom) said that she could get that out. She tied dental floss around it and pulled! The tooth came right out. It bled and bled, but Karissa was really excited to have lost her first tooth. I wouldn't have been able to do it, so it's a good thing my mom enjoys stuff like that :)

In the evening, Karissa got to go to her first bridal shower. Mallorie's shower was held at Jody Heaton's house (James' cousin who is in my parents ward). I planned the games for it, and they turned out good. The decorations were cute and Mallorie got a lot of great gifts. Karissa thought it was a fun party and a good ending to her big day.

Tyler, a marker and two cuties (clementines)...need I say more?

2009-12-02T14:58:00.001-08:00

Getting Crafty

2009-12-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

This is a project I put together for the little boys room. If you look closely, you can see that all of the "animals" are made of hand and footprints. Each one is one of us. James is the giraffe, Trevor's little foot is the monkey, I'm the elephant, Kyle is the turtle, Tyler's the tiger and Karissa is the lion.

For a girl in our wards bridal shower, I made cupcakes and cut out shapes on the cricut to decorate with. I got the idea from Jill (my sister in law) when she did something similar for Trevor's blessing. I was happy with how my projects turned out!

Sundays

2009-11-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Karissa and Kyle were in the Primary Program at the end of October. They both did really well. They spoke clearly into the microphone, and Karissa even had her scripture memorized. I could hear them singing, too, and they kept looking over at James and I to make sure we were watching. Primary programs are the best!

Here we are on the day of Trevor's blessing. James did a great job. We had all of our California family there, around 30 people. It was great to have all the cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. We were so glad to have their support and get to spend time with them!

Things that happen while I'm busy feeding the baby

2009-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tyler learns to shave with his Dad's (electric) shaver.

Tyler crushes all our tomatoes by hand.

Tyler empties out every cupboard he can reach.

Tyler is "helpful" by throwing away a diaper for me...in the toilet.

And when I think everything is going smoothly...

I open the dishwasher to find...

A potato in the dishwasher.

Thoughts of the day...

2009-11-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

One of the things on my list today was to update the blog. I have pictures on the camera, and a whole month worth of things to write about, but instead I think I'll just blog my thoughts today.
1. The maxi dress has saved my self esteem. I usually spend too much time after having a baby thinking about getting back in shape, worrying about what to wear and that nothing fits. This time around, I have a secret weapon--the maxi dress. If you have seen me since I had Trevor, I was wearing one. They are cute enough to wear in public, totally comfortable and hide what I want to hide. It has saved me from thinking too much about my size. Yay for the maxi dress!
2. I really like living in Beaumont. Isn't it a great mountain view? And hasn't the weather been gorgeous? I love it when it's warm fall weather. The co-op where I get my organic produce is hopefully coming to Beaumont (now it's in Redlands) and adding raw milk and grass fed beef. Another new thing to love in Beaumont (at least, new to me) is the Sandwich Stoppe on 6th St. If you haven't been there, go! and try the chicken salad sandwich, it's so good!
3. Sometimes it's good to be the one being served. This last month has been hard for me, recovering and getting used to having four kids. But I have felt so loved! So many friends, family and ward members brought over food and gifts, people called and emailed, volunteered to take the other kids for playdates. I guess I knew all along that you all cared, but it felt great to be reminded!

Trevor Thomas Neilson

2009-10-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 6th, Trevor Thomas Neilson came into the world. It didn't go quite like expected, but he is here and I am recovering well.

After much of the day Tuesday slowly getting labor started, the second nurse to come on for the day checked me and realized that our baby was breach. I had to be rushed down to the operating room for a c-section. Trevor came out healthy, happy and beautiful at 7:43 pm.
My body didn't react well to the c-section, or the epidural, or both, and it was really scary for James for a while. Luckily, I am fine now and home with our family.

The kids are absolutely loving their new baby brother. James has been a wonderful help getting up at night to put Trevor back in his bed after every feeding (I can't get both a baby and myself out of a chair yet), and taking care of everything around here during the day. My Mom and little sister stayed an extra day to care for the kids, so that James could be with me at the hospital.

Through this whole experience, my feelings are those of gratitude for all that went right. Things could have been much worse. I know that I was protected, and I know that is in a large part because of the many prayers that were said in my behalf, the preisthood blessings I was given, and the faith that family and friends exercised for Trevor and me.

No room at the inn

2009-10-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a little frustrating. Okay, that is an understatement! I spent all day calling the hospital, only to be told every time that ALL the beds were full, and to try again later. Then, 12 hours after I was supposed to go in, I talked to someone who said that the beds were still full and we'd have to reschedule. My doctor's next on call day is October 6th, so unless labor just starts, I won't be having this little guy until Tuesday! My mom and sister have been here waiting too. Mom babysat for us so that we could go out on a date. That was fun, and at Macaroni Grill they sang a "Congratulations on your new baby song" that sounded an awfully lot like "Happy Birthday."
So, now we're all just waiting...

View from the pantry

2009-09-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time canning lately. Here's the view when you walk into the pantry....

I don't know if that excites you like it does me, but I like to just walk in there and look at it! This year, I canned peaches, applesauce (with James' help), peach jam, peach salsa, apple pie filling, kidney beans and garbanzo beans. I was going to do spaghetti sauce, but I got a great deal on Ragu (see my other blog : http://savingthosepennies.blogspot.com ), so I bought that instead.

I forgot to take pictures from my baby "celebration", but it was great. We had a lot of fun just talking (and eating ice cream). I'm so thankful for friends and a ward who celebrate every baby and every mom! It's great to know you are loved! Thanks everyone!

15 days to go!

2009-09-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

I removed my little baby box, because it's no longer accurate. The doctor is inducing on October 2nd. I'm so excited! Two weeks and one day....

I ate so much...

2009-09-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

How is it that saying goes? "I ate so much they're gonna have to roll me outta here?" Sadly, that was my situation at Ruby's last weekend. I ate a little bit too much, and somehow the combination of the food and all the baby weight was too much for me to handle. I slid over to get out of the booth...and just kept sliding. Next thing you know, I was on the floor. James (when he stopped laughing enough to speak), asked "Did you trip on something?" No. No, I didn't. I literally just rolled out of the booth onto the floor. As we left the waitress said, "Try to stay on your feet!" Thanks, I'll do that.

Preschool!

2009-09-10T13:41:00.001-07:00

Kyle started preschool and has just finished his second week. It's a co-op this year, so we are taking turns teaching. Each of the teachers/ moms has 6 weeks to teach. Kyle is loving it! On the first day, when I picked him up, I asked him if he missed me. He said in an excited voice, "No, Mom! I didn't miss you at all, not even a little bit!" I'm glad he's adjusting so well.

His teacher for the first six weeks is Miss Heidi. This is the same Miss Heidi who worked with me last year teaching preschool, so you would think it would be old news, but Kyle keeps referring to her as "my teacher" , as in"My teacher let me have ice in my drink since it was a hot day" and "My teacher told me you have to dribble a basketball with one hand." I think it feels much more official to him to go somewhere for preschool instead of have preschool here with his mom.

Kyle has had a few other firsts in the past week or two. He went to a ballet/ tap dance class to try it out. It was a very mixed review. He couldn't decide if he liked it or didn't like it, but ultimately decided he didn't want to go back. He was the only boy in the class with 5 little girls, and he was really cute trying to do all of the dance moves.

Kyle also gave his first talk on Sunday. He talked about prophets and he did a great job. James was there to whisper in his ear. The two of them worked hard to prepare his talk together.

James' new calling

2009-08-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

James just started his new calling last week--teaching seminary.

It's early morning seminary, so he gets to the church at 5:45. He's teaching the freshman and sophomores and I think he will be great!

Tyler is official!!

2009-08-30T16:44:00.001-07:00

Tyler is 18 months old now and officially in nursery!!!! It's nice to get to stay at church and listen in class without chasing him in the halls! He's been doing pretty well in there. He does cry a little when we leave, but is calm most of the time from what we hear.

These pictures are from this morning, while we were getting ready for church. After getting Tyler dressed in his church clothes, I had a turn to take my shower. James was occupied giving Kyle a haircut, and next thing I know, Tyler is in the shower with me, fully clothed. I turned off the water as fast as I could, but he still got a little bit wet. Not too long after, he went back in the shower and washed himself (and his clothes) with soap.

First Grader

2009-08-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Karissa started first grade on August 24th. Kindergarten was half day, so it's an adjustment for all of us, but she has a good teacher who is really nice and "never yells." She has a lot of friends in her class and has made new friends already. Another change is that they now have what Karissa calls "PG," but she usually corrects herself by saying, "Or is it PE? That thing where you exercise?" She likes PE, even though it's been very hot!

Mini- vacation

2009-08-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

James had last Friday off, so we headed down to Carlsbad to go to my grandpa's time share down there. It's the best way to go to the beach for our family! We got there around noon, changed in the dressing rooms, and headed down to the beach. The hotel is just across the street from the beach. We had a picnic lunch and played in the water. All the kids are getting a lot braver! Earlier this summer, Karissa barely wanted to get in the ocean, and Tyler didn't even like getting wet. Now we have to make sure they don't go too deep.

When we were done at the beach, we headed back up to the hotel and spent hours in the pool. It was a beautiful day and such a nice break.

This picture is of Kyle in front of the hotel, standing in a tree he had to climb.

Wilson Phillips Concert

2009-08-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we went to the Wilson Phillips concert with our neighbors, the Greenes. After a good dinner at their house, we headed over to Stewart Park. It was a really good show! They did a lot of their songs (most of which I recognized, since wilson phillips was one of the few tapes I owned when I was younger), plus a lot of their parents songs (Beach Boys). It's a lot more fun when you know the songs and can sing along. The kids didn't alst until the end, so we had to leave before we got to hear "Hold On for one more day," an old favorite for both James and me.

My husband Bigfoot

2009-07-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

James got a call from an agent asking him to appear in his show...as Bigfoot. My sister (Heatho) is going to be on a show on the Sci-fi channel, and heard they were looking for someone 7 ft. or taller. She said "Well, my brother in law is almost 7 ft. tall." They saw pictures and gave him a call. He could have had the job if only he could have taken off work the next day and gone to LA, but it was too little notice. So, he missed his big TV debut! But maybe next time!

Santa Barbara vacation

2009-07-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

We had a great family vacation to Santa Barbara last week! We spent a lot of time at the beach. The kids loved collecting seashells and splashing in the waves. We also swam a lot in the hotel pool.

We tried to see all the sights while we were there...the Santa barbara mission, the Chumash painted indian cave, Stearns wharf. We took a harbor cruise and saw sea lions and pelicans. We also rode a surrey together on the beach. It was great because all 5 1/2 of us could fit in there at once.

This is Karissa in front of the Indian cave.

Kyle was trying to pretend to be a seagull so that he could trick them and catch one...it didn't work.

4th of July!

2009-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

This year, Air Supply came to Beaumont for the annual concert. We recognized a lot of their songs "Making Love out of nothing at all", "Here I am (the one that you love)", "The Power of Love" and the one that says "Two less lonely people in the world." My family came up to see the show also, and I don't think my brothers and sisters knew any of the songs.

The fireworks show was great. The kids were really into it. At first Tyler didn't know what to think, but by the end, he would laugh every time he saw another firework. Karissa snuggled up with James and they picked out their favorites together. They had the same favorite that looked "like glitter."

A day in the life...

2009-07-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Where do I start? While getting ready for a visit to the baby doctor, the kids went out in the garage. Somehow Kyle's finger got smashed in the weight bench (under the seat, not the weights). It pinched his finger really bad and I put some ice on it and sat with him until he had calmed down enough for me to finish getting ready. Then we went to the doctors office, where a half hour wait seemed 3 times that long due to the fact that Tyler was yelling to get out of the stroller, and Karissa and Kyle were crying that this was the worst day of their lives. (Kyle because his finger hurt and Karissa because she felt guilty for her part in hurting Kyle's finger, even though it was an accident).

Later, while putting away Tyler's laundry in the boys room, I find a skid mark (yes, it's poop) on Kyle's carpet. Did I mention that the carpet cleaners were here YESTERDAY? So, I busted Kyle, and he cried again, and then cleaned it up. As I was leaving Kyle's room, Tyler got tired of the tea cup he was holding, and threw it down on the tile where it shattered all over the floor.

Tyler had a snack at the table later, and I left the room. I was called back by him yelling, "MOM! MOM! MOM!!" It sounded serious, so I went in to check. At first glance, nothing looked wrong. But as I got up closer, I could see that he had dumped a bunch of pepper on the table, and somehow gotten it on the tortilla he was eating. Pepper was all over his hands and mouth.
Other than that there were just a few more emotional outbursts (the kids, not me), missing a Presidency meeting (that one was me), and some quiet afternoon time with Karissa and Kyle while Tyler layed in his crib and played while he was supposed to be napping.

At the Lake

2009-06-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

My family just got a membership to Lake Mission Viejo, so we were able to rent a party boat last Saturday and go out.

Unfortunately, it was freezing cold and Tyler was NOT HAPPY about wearing a life jacket. All he wanted to do was tear that thing off, and when I wouldn't do it, he layed face down on the floor and cried. I finally gave in!

We had lunch on the boat, and after, it had warmed up a little and the kids were able to swim.

We will definitely go again on a warmer day, and next time James can come with us too! (He was at a work meeting all day.)

Life with Tyler

2009-06-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Tyler is so advanced, he is hitting his terrible twos at the age of 16 months. This is him after finding a crayon on the floor and being left alone for literally 30 seconds while I put something away in another room. This wall is in the front entry to our house. Thank goodness for the magic eraser!!

You may also notice the strawberry marks down the front of his shirt. From about 15 feet away at the park, he noticed a friend pull out a container of strawberries. He hurried over, pointed at the container and held out his hand. She was nice enough to share until they were gone, with Tyler eating most of them. (Thanks, Kristen!) When she didn't share a graham cracker soon enough, he threw his head back and banged it against my leg.

On Sunday, I had to take him out during sacrament meeting. He was mad about something else, and banged his forehead on the floor until he got a big welt.

This is the same boy who hugs me so tight every morning when I get him out of bed. If he sees Kyle sitting down, he'll sit next to him and put his arm around him. He loves to give everyone kisses before bed, and he hurries over whenever we're reading a book so that he can snuggle. We love our little Tyler, even when he's acting like he's 2!

Mallo

2009-06-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Mallorie (my sister) and Brian (my future brother in law, even though that's not official) came for a visit this weekend. The kids were thrilled to have them here and begged them to stay longer. Mallo came back on Tuesday before heading to the Redlands temple to do baptisms, so we got a little extra time with her. Kyle really wants Brian to become his Uncle Bob. I told him that Brian could be his uncle, but not his Uncle Bob, but Kyle would really like him to be Uncle Bob. We'll see what can be done about that.

Karissa was in the Cherry Festival Parade this weekend with her Daisy troop. Brian and Mallo sat with us and cheered her on. We also saw the movie "UP". I totally recommend it! I cried a few times, it was so good. Okay, I am pregnant, but still, it had a good message. Mallorie and Brian also babysat while James and I got a spa treatment. My 45 minute pregnancy massage was wonderful!

Our Baby BOY!

2009-06-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, the results are in, and it looks like we're having a boy. The ultrasound tech seemed pretty sure at first, but on the picture we took home she wrote "BOY?" But it looks like a little boy part to me.

The kids took a few minutes to adjust, because they had been hoping for a sister, but we are all excited now.

Bunny Rescue!

2009-06-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

The boys and I were out for a walk on Brookside. We saw what I thought was a dead bunny, and got a little closer to take a look. When we were inches away, it got startled and started moving around in a circle. Only the front legs could move. He didn't look too bad (no blood), but something was obviously wrong, so we decided to save him. We got a box at home and went back to pick him up. He is still breathing, but he's just laying down and won't eat, so we aren't sure if he's going to make it. We'll wait until Karissa gets home to call Animal Control so she can see the bunny too.