Ryker 10/15/09

Ryker rolled over for the first time tonight! Happy day. He has been trying to for about a week and he finally did it! It was from his back to belly. Pictures will come soon.

September is here!

Shane and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We decided that we would go to Silverwood theme park as a family. The kids loved it. Shane and I agree that next time we need to take a babysitter or have another family come so we could go on some rides together.

School started. Brianna and Paige are in school this year and they both got the teachers the wanted! :) I'll post some pictures soon.

Ryker just keeps growing. At three months he was 17.7 lbs. He now wears 12 month old clothes. Food is his favorite hobby! One of the happiest babies I know.

Lauren is growing up fast. Just in the last week she has given up her binki. Her favorite thing right now is Dora. We just can't get enough of it! :)

Shane came down with the flu this week and we hope that he is better for work tomorrow.

Soccer seems to take most of our time right now from running to practices and going to games. We have fun watching Paige run around in her little beehive. It's her first year and it's always fun to watch them at this age. Brianna loves being the goalie and enjoys being with her team.

I have been busy making halloween costumes cute, working on Brianna's baptism dress and thinking of Christmas lists for family. I love my family and all they do for me. Life seems crazy at times but it is all worth it when you sit back and look at what Heavenly Father has given me.

Week in Idaho cont. 8/23/09

We had fun playing in water, watching pretend concerts, painting, shopping, games and just being together. Family time doesn't come often enough. I love coming home and making memories. Thanks for letting us take over your house Steve and Rena. Mom thanks for playing with the kids and making wonderful memories. I love you all and can't wait to see you!

This is the free summer concert. Paige is on the other side singing in a mic.
Who knows a grandma that jumps into the pool like the little kids. I do it's my MOM! Your too fun.
Grandma got this water mat just for Lauren. She LOVED it. After playing with it for hours I decided that I would have to go and get one. We now have one for our house. I can't wait to pull it out for next summer when Lauren and Ryker can play with it.
Grandma wanted to celebrate Paige's birthday with her so she saved her present for when we got there. It made Paige feel special and was very happy with her roller-skates and moon sand.
On the second day Steve and I took the kids to the zoo while Rena worked and my mom was sleeping. The kids had fun but it was in the high 90's and we were all very hot.

Week in Idaho 8/23/09

Every summer I go visit my family for a week. This time we decided that we would help my mom paint her living room and kitchen. The kids and I love to do service for grandma. When we got there grandma had to work the first day so we decided to treat the kids and go swimming. We had a blast. The rest of the week was a lot of hard work but I think that we were all satisfied with the outcome of grandmas house.

Uncle Steve is a blast in the water. My kids love playing with him.

I am having some issues with the picture above. For some reason it keeps turning on me. This is Rena's BFF and the families good friend. She came with us and we were happy she could get off of work. Thanks Mel.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE OF LAUREN!!! She loves her goggles. I can often find her walking around the house with them on. :)
While I was visiting my family we went to a water park. The kids had a blast. The adults had fun to. But most of it was for the kids. The lazy river was a big hit with Maddie and Brianna because they are tall enough that they could walk or swim around. Where Paige had some spots that were to deep for her and would need some help. Lauren just froze in the lazy river and wanted to go and play at the kiddy pool.

Cousins are the BEST!

Olympic National Park 7.09

Here are some pictures of the kids at the rain forest.
The picture below is of us all looking at the fallen tree that has now become a nursery tree (we think that is what it is called!). Right after we saw this Lauren tripped on a root and fell. She got scratched up a bit and continued on. She fell many times in the rain forest but didn't want any help. One of her favorite sayings is, "I DO IT!"

Here are some pictures of us on Hurricane Ridge. The one up above is we are all looking at a cute little chipmunk. Below: we are looking at the great view on our hike.

After the family reunion we went to see the Olympic National Park with Shane's brother and his family (Heath). It was a fun trip. The kids enjoyed spending more time with their cousins and seeing some cool sites. We stayed in a motel the first night we got up there and the next day we drove around the Park. First we went to Hurricane Ridge then to the Rain Forest and the to Ruby beach. Each one of our girls had different favorites. Brianna loved the hike up the mountain because we saw some wild life. Paige loved the Rain Forest because of the cool trees and being with her cousins. Lauren liked the beach because of the stacked rocks and playing with all the sand, water and rocks. After we saw the sites we drove back to Grandma and Papa's house to spend one last day with them. It made for a long day but it was neat to see some new sites.

Nielson Family Reunion 7.09

Fun times at the beach!

The girls got to pretend like they were pilots. The buttons were their favorite part.
Taryn and I walked around the air museum together for a little while. I enjoyed having her company. This blimp was funny.

Shane's mom made us all these great marshmallow guns. It was very unexpected and FUN!
This was Paige's favorite airplane because is was so small.
Lauren loved these cows. She wanted to stay and look at them for a very long time. While we were at the cheese factory Shane's parents got us all ice-cream. :) I got huckleberry it was great!
Here is a picture of all of the grandkids except Ryker. As you can see there are a few more girls then boys!

What a view. As we were driving we would stop for Shane's dad to take pictures and there were some really great views!

We had our first Nielson Family reunion. It was held in Oregon at the beach. Shane's parents rented a beach

house and we were able to all stay together. The best part about this is we haven't all been together in two

years. The kids all played really well together and my kids were sad to leave and asked when they would see their cousins again. While we were together we did many activities. We went to the beach, saw the Tillamook cheese factory, saw a air museum, had a grandma store for doing good deeds, marshmallow gun fight, games at night after the kids all went to bed, lots of food, talent show and good old hanging out! IT WAS A BLAST!

Rodeo time 7.11.09

We really enjoy going to the rodeo. Even if it is small. It is something the kids look forward to almost as much as Christmas. This year we were lucky enough to have family with us. The rodeo seemed a bit short this year and hope that we will have more bull riders for next year.

Here is a picture of Shane and I. I thought it would be nice if there was a picture of me in this blog somewhere.
Here is some more pictures of us at the rodeo.