Memorial Day Hike

        
      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

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

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

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!

Hawaii Trip

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

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