Christmas 2010

This year we celebrated Christmas with just our little family. As much as we missed being with family we had a wonderful time. On Christmas Eve we got together with some of our friends for a lunch with lots of yummy breakfast food. Not your normal Christmas Eve food but it was so good. I wish I would of taken some pictures to remember that fun night, but I forgot to. :(

That night we spent with just our little family. We read the Christmas Story and talked about who was coming that night. Ammon got really excited about it. When I was putting Ammon to bed that night he kept saying that Santa was going to chop up the tree... I don't think he really understood what Santa was really going to do. He was so concerned. He had a really hard time going to sleep that night. I don't think he fall asleep till around 11. ha ha I remember being a kid and being so excited that night that I couldn't sleep either.

Christmas Morning

It was just your average Christmas morning... Ammon was so excited. I think he opened everyone's presents.

Christmas dinner

We had Christmas dinner with our friends, the McKameys. It was a fun night. We had tons of food. Thanks Kate and Mitch for having us over for Christmas dinner.

The happenings at the Nelsons

Matt turned 31!! He didn't get much of a birthday because I was in Utah for my Grandmas funeral at the time. But because I knew I would be gone on his b-day we tried to celebrate it a little before I left. Even then, it wasn't much of a celebration because Matt had the flu and the cold!! Poor guy.

For his birthday I got him a message chair!!

(I might of been a little more excited about this then he was!!)

I love my man sooo much. I think he is the hottest and sexiest man on the planet and I feel so lucky to have him in my life.

Happy Birthday my love!!

More pictures of when we were in Utah

Back in October I went to Ohio with the kids to see Margi and her family for a few day. They actually watched Ammon while McKay and I went to California which was so nice of them to do. I owe them big time cause they are always watching our kids, even when we don't live in the same state. We had so much fun together. I felt really bad though because I had some back problems and was on a lot of pain meds so I was a little out of it half of the time. But sweet Margi took good care of me and the kids. When McKay and I came back from California, stayed for a few more days and my good friend Kasey came from Michigan to see us. It felt like the good old days again and I loved it! Thanks Margi and Kasey for making my trip one I'll never forget!

And.....

Ammon's potty trained!!! Look at those cute little undies.

Thanksgiving

Our good friends, the Chases, were able to spend Thanksgiving with us this year. It might not seem out of the ordinary given the fact that we have spent the previous 4 years with them for Thanksgiving. But it was a very special treat for us because we no longer live by each other :(. They are doing their residency in Cleveland Ohio now so for them to come to spend it with us was wonderful!!

It was a little crazy that week because we were in Utah the previous week and were supposed to be home on Tuesday...giving me time to get ready for Jared and Margi to come on Wednesday... but due to weather our flight was cancelled and we weren't able to leave till Wednesday. We weren't able to make it home before they arrived but they were able to break in and make themselves comfortable. :) It was so fun to have them with us for the holidays. Margi and I spent all of Thursday trying to make everything for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a little crazy but we did it and had a fun time making everything together.

All of our yummy yummy food. Can you believe that we made all of that in one day!!

I kept trying to have Audrey and Ammon look at the camera but could never get them to so this is really all I have.

Margi and Jared were able to spend the rest of the weekend with us. It was so wonderful to have them with us again. We have been with each other for so long and to now not have them with us has been hard to say the least. So to have them back with us it felt like the good old days.

My little boy is 3!!

I can't believe I have a 3 year old. I love watching this little man. You just look at him and can see his little mind spinning with new knowledge. He loves to figure things out on his own and on his own time line, too. He wants to be like his dad. He wants to help fix things, make things and do things like his dad. He loves to help me with the house and to help me cook. He loves his little brother more then anything else. He's always there to to help him and to protect him and to give him the occasional sucker punch :).

At Age 3, Ammon....... Loves to go out with Daddy to shovel snow. He loves to read books, pointing out facts about characters of the book that aren't necessarily related to the story. He loves tweats (treats) and one of his most used daily phrases is, "Mommy, can I have a tweat?" to which the reply is usually go ask your dad. He loves to play catch, and will throw just about anything:). He is always after us to go play outside, even when its freezing out. He is bashful around just about anyone for at least 15 minutes, but warms up pretty quickly when he realizes they're not a threat. He really enjoys helping cook, especially getting to add ingredients like flour (the most messy ones). He is potty trained and loves sporting his cartoon studded underpants and likes to put them on by himself. He always wants to wash himself and gets frustrated when we get the spots that he missed (90% of the surface area). Duck, Duck, Goose is the favored game and it involves running throughout the entire house and would never end if mom and dad didn't get tired. Dad usually does most of the running since I'm is usually holding McKay. Ammon's mouth runs a mile a minute. He talks about anything and everything and often the train of thought is a little tangential. Fire is huge right now. Every night Dad gets a request to start a fire in the family room fireplace. The request is always granted as long as there is wood around. He loves to put logs on the fire (which involves holding them on the way from the bin to just outside of the screen) and to start the fires with the lighter. He often has great ideas about what will burn well and frequently asks "Can we burn this?" Both he and McKay will sit at the fire, mezmorized, for long periods of time. There is always a request to "make it bigger!" He loves his baths, and often wants us out of the bathroom so he can have some privacy. He continues with his lisp that he got straight from his dad that makes his language, at times, difficult to understand. Jumping, Running, twisting, rolling, or any other physical motion has been fully explored. Now he works on doing those things in more impressive ways. He is adorable. There is so much more. Just wanted to leave a sample.

On Ammon's birthday we spent the day flying home from Utah:) Because we knew we would be traveling on his birthday and would be away from friends and family we decided that we would celebrate his birthday early with everyone.

Party #1. Grandma Jones house. We had Michelle and her family with us as well as Brett and his Family. Ammon was so cute opening his gifts. He gets so excited to see what's next. We had a "Cars" theme, which is his favorite movie. We played a little duck duck goose with his cousins and lots of chasing each other around the house. We ended the night with cup cakes and ice cream. It was such a fun night with everyone. I'm so happy we were able to celebrate it with my family. They always make birthdays wroth celebrating.

Party #2. Grandma Pat's house.

More presents at Grandma and Grandpas Nelson's house. We had Sam and his family, Steve and Lauren, and Brad with us. It was a night full of opening gifts and hanging out with the family. Lucky little boy, he got spoil with gifts and more cake and ice cream that night. We were so lucky to be able to spend this time with family again.

Ammon's breakfast... scrambled eggs with sprinkles and who knows whats on top. Ammon made it himself. :)

Happy Birthday little man. We love you!!

Grandma Beck

My Grandma Beck passed away a couple of weeks ago. Even though it was a very sad thing to say good bye to her, it was also a very happy thing. For the passed who knows how many years she has had very bad health. Towards the end it got hard to see her because she was so sick.

This was the last time I saw my grandma Beck.

My grandma was quite a character. She was a comedian and a social butterfly. No matter where she was or who she was with she could make people laugh with her jokes.

I was able to go to Oregon with my family for the funeral. I don't think I have ever been to such a unique funeral in my life. All of the speakers had everyone laughing their heads off by telling us stories about my grandma. They told about how she would play pranks on the neighbors at night to scare them, this was after all of her kids were grown up. She was very good at it and I bet she had a lot of people call the cops on her because they got so scared. She loved to tell stories and most of them were scary stories too. I remember as a child always being so afraid of her stories that at night I would have a hard time sleeping. I don't think she really ever grew up. She truly was a kid at heart.

Even though this trip was for a sad reason it was a lot of fun to see cousins I haven't seen for a long time and to see the farm where my mom grew up and where I spent a lot of my time as a child growing up. This place is a child's dream. It's next to a railroad track and the Snake River. They had an island next to their house which was part of the farm but in order to get there you had to cross the river. My grandpa, who was a inventor, built a fairy to get a cross. That same fairy is the one that they still use. My Uncle Richard, who lives there now, took us and all of my cousins to the island. It was so cold but still so beautiful.

This is a picture I took of the Snake River and the island. This was when I was on the fairy.

Poor little boy.. he was so cold.

I loved my grandma very much and she will be missed. At least we have her stories to always remember what a fun crazy woman she was. :)

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween it was a very quite and simple. On Saturday night we got our kids all dressed in their costumes and went to our wards Trunk or Treat. Ammon was a pirate and I don't think I have ever seen such a cute little pirate in my life!! McKay was a cute little puppy dog.

California

Last year my parents celebrated their 40th Anniversary. As siblings we wanted to do something special for them to celebrate their marriage. We decided to surprise them with a trip to where it all began on Balboa Island, California. All of us met them there without any spouses or children (with the exception of McKay because he is attach to me) and we spent a week seeing where they fell in love. This was the first time in who knows how long I was able to be with just my siblings (all of them), with no added stress from spouses and kids (no offense in-laws). It was absolutely wonderful in every way. We rented two condos in New Port Beach that were stunning. Oh, how I wish my house looked the way these condos looked. Anyway, we started the trip off by going to Disneyland. Who knew adults could have so much fun there. McKay did amazingly well. I think he might of let out a little cry once or twice but other than that he was just happy going on rides with us and cruising in the stroller.

That night we ate at the Pirates of the Caribbean Restaurant and it was AMAZING. Who knew Disneyland would have that good of food?!!

On Friday we went over to Balboa Island. My mom and dad lived there for a summer in a little house. At the time they thought about buying it but they thought that they would never be able to afford it. Now it's worth millions!! Oh how I wish they would of bought it. It was such a pretty little town and would of been great for a beach house.!
Playing at the beach. We had so much fun having races on the beach and getting wet :)

When my parents lived in California they loved to go to the Crab Cooker. It was their favorite restaurant and I remember them telling us about it growing up. We finally were able to go there. I would say it was everything they said it was but the fact that I don't like seafood I can't say it's my favorite.

That night we had a little program for my parents to celebrate their life and marriage. My sister Michelle made a slide show of their lives. It was so fun to see them when they were babies, kids, teenagers and then when they dated and fell in love. Most of the pictures I had never seen before so it was really fun to watch. It then showed the time line of having their kids. It was crazy to watch it all and see those pictures from a more mature perspective. Now that I'm married and have kids of my own, I could really relate to their experiences, more than I thought I would. They have lived a wonderful life and have had wonderful experiences. I can only hope that I am as lucky as they were with their lives.

After the movie my sister Kimberly gave us all books that had memories from all of us about my mom and dad. We sat there and laughed as we read our memories out loud. So many funny memories that I had forgotten over the years. I loved this night so much! I felt like a little kid again hanging out with my family and laughing and crying together. I love my family and I truly feel like the luckiest girl alive to be apart of it. Each one of my siblings are amazing. Each of us are so different and yet so similar in many ways. I guess that is why we get along so well. We make up for each others differences and make it so we make the perfect family :) That is exactly what I believe!!

Saturday was our last day together. My mom knew someone from her home ward that now lived out there that was able to babysit McKay so that all of us could go to the Temple. This was an amazing experience. To have every one of my siblings and my parents with me in the celestial room was something I will never forget. As we were in there I looked at my parents and kept thinking how lucky they are to have all of their children in the temple with them. To have all of their children be strong in the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I stood there and prayed that one day I could be as lucky as they are to have all of my children with me in the Celestial room. To know that we will All be together forever.

After going to the Temple we went to the beach and attempted taking a family picture. This is what we got. I love it. Don't I have a beautiful family!!

For our last night there we all sat around ate yummy food and talked about life. It was a very simple night together but it was perfect in every way. It was the cherry on top of a perfect vacation.

I couldn't of asked for a more perfect trip with my family. I loved every moment that I had with them and wish we could do it again next year. :)

Happy anniversary mom and dad, I love you!!