Happy New Year! Quick 2019 Recap

Happy New Year! Quick 2019 Recap

12.31.2019

I selfishly love putting these year at a glance collages together just to see how cohesive and colorful my photography is!  It's surprisingly gratifying.  Plus, it's of course fun to review all that has happened and all that we have done.  I can't help but feel grateful for this one crazy BEAUTIFUL life and the people I get to share it with!

2019 was a really great year overall.  My boys are getting older and more independent.  There always seems to be some mess to clean up, some fight to referee, or some unwanted behavior to redirect, but there's also always something to laugh about, something to look forward to, and most importantly, someONE to hug.  These boys of mine (yes, especially the big one!) bring so much sunshine into my life daily.  I can't wait to add one more someone in 2020!

Here are the highlights from 2019:

January:  Bron and I enjoyed an overnight ski trip to Grand Targhee and I began potty training Conrad.

February:  We enjoyed sledding and snowshoeing to Ross Falls in the snow.  Jed and Levi wrestled.  Everyone in the family caught the actual flu except Conrad.

March:  Jed and Levi participated in their first Pinewood derby and we spent a week playing in St. George, Utah over Spring break!

April:  Jed turned 9 years old.  Bron and I spent a blissful and adventurous week in Maui!  

May:  Bron and I celebrated 12 years of marriage.  I spent a special girls' weekend at Women's Conference in Utah with family.  I got to play my violin for MCO in both Boise and Orange County; it also meant I got to spend a fun weekend visiting my dad.  We got rained out during our annual Nelson Camp and Climb event at the City of Rocks.  

June:  The boys began spending all their free time in the water and at baseball.  We started our Sunday evening tradition of roasting marshmallows in the South Hills.  Bron took the young men on a four day High Adventure Campout and got snowed on!

  

July:  We celebrated Independence Day!  I visited New York City with my mom and sister and played my violin in Carnegie Hall.  Bron and I rode our bikes in a relay race called El Doce.  We went on our first mountain bike ride all together as a family of five!

August:  Levi turned 7 years old.  We took a fantastic family vacation to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Glacier National Park.  We found a camping spot with the most incredible view of the stars.  The boys started 4th and 2nd grades.  

September:  The kids and I performed in the Primary Program at church.  The big boys started swim team.  I found out I was pregnant!

October:  I took the boys to their first Haunted House, we carved pumpkins, and celebrated Halloween!  I tried not to fall apart with a calendar full of family photo shoots coupled with morning sickness.

November:  Conrad turned three years old!  We celebrated Thanksgiving and got to see our newest addition on the ultrasound screen for the first time.  

December:  We closed on five acres of land to build a new home, hosted a delicious donut party with friends, played in the snow, and celebrated Christmas!  Lastly, Levi got 13 stitches in his face.

         

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13 Stitches for Levi's Face

13 Stitches for Levi's Face

12.30.2019

 WARNING: These are some slightly real life graphic images.

Guess who got 13 stitches in his face over the weekend?!?

We had just arrived at Grandma Nelson's house and been there for maaaybe a half hour, when Levi came through the back door crying, his face and hands covered in blood.  I immediately set to work, asking for some paper towels to wipe away the blood.  (All moms know head wounds are extra bloody and always look worse than they really are, right?)  I wouldn't let Levi look in the mirror.  I didn't want him to see the gash in his face and become hysterical.

Levi had been helping his cousin Leah feed calves on the dairy farm when he slipped and fell onto a metal pipe.  (Actually, it sounds like they were playing -- not working.  Lol.)

"Bud, you are definitely going to need stitches for this one," I said matter of factly.  "Do you think he needs stitches?" I asked my sister in law, Amber.  "Yeah, he needs stitches," I answered my own question.  There were two big gashes across Levi's nose and cheek: one looked particularly deep and neither were clean and straight.

Nearly everyone had left the house to go night skiing, so Amber jumped right in to help me out.  She's such an angel!  She offered to watch the other two boys for me, warmed up her van for me to borrow, and suggested I head into the Rigby Community Care.

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Merry Christmas 2019

Merry Christmas 2019

12.26.2019

You guys, the magic of Christmas is REAL!  The lights, the treats, the anticipation.  It's all so much fun!  I can't believe another Christmas has already come and gone.  It was another happy/crazy one at the Nelson home with three little believers.  Bron and I intended to keep this Christmas simple and low key, but the boys somehow wound up spoiled rotten anyway!  The living room was littered in boxes and wrapping and more toys and games than the kids knew what to do with.  I am so grateful we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and all that He did for us in this way.

This December, we followed the study guide in the 25 Days of Christ, a gift my sister gave us last year.  I think our whole family enjoyed studying and discussing Christ's life in bits and pieces throughout the entire month.  Jed was the one who actually instigated our family devotional each evening. I know these almost nightly studies turned my thoughts more towards Christ this season and made Christmas just that much more meaningful!

Anyway, here are pictures from our messy but joyful Christmas morning.  I love capturing the looks on my boys' faces as they open up something that makes them happy!      

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December Shorts

December Shorts

12.21.2019

^^Just happy to play in a big box.^^

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Fourth Baby Bumpdate: 16 Weeks

Fourth Baby Bumpdate: 16 Weeks

12.16.2019

^^This baby bump feels so much bigger than it actually is!^^

 Alternate Title: The Happiest Reason to Feel Miserable

My goodness.  How am I already less than a month away from being halfway through this pregnancy?  And less than a month away from the big 20 week ultrasound scan?

A part of me is exhaling.  Thank goodness this pregnancy is going so fast.  Pregnancy is nooo bueno.  I'm still feeling occasionally sick during the day, but I especially feel puny at night: nausea, bloat, gas, and headaches.  Yup.  I'm still experiencing all the classic morning sickness symptoms.  It has GOT TO END SOMEDAY, right?  Well, there's a definite end date if it doesn't go away soon; it's called May.  So I'm hanging in there.  I remind myself that the aches and pains of pregnancy are always worth it.  That precious baby is worth it all!  But with that said, I never want to do this again.

I explained to Bron, "Pregnancy is like going through puberty super fast.  My body and hormones are changing so quickly, I can hardly keep up."  Bron replied, "Imagine living with that person!"  Bahaha.  Touche!

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It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Christmas!

12.15.2019

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!  Look at that beautiful winter wonderland.  

We enjoyed our first big snowfall this weekend: inches where we live and a couple of feet up in the mountains!  The best part is that it's cold enough to stick around for a while.  I love going up into the South Hills after a fresh layer of snow has fallen.  The snow hanging on the evergreen branches just feels magical.  It makes me giddy with happiness... until about February.  Haha.  But for now, I'm soaking it in for all it's worth.

After a few chores around the house yesterday, Bron and I loaded the boys up into the truck to take them sledding for the first time this season.  The hill was surprisingly uncrowded.  Bron helped the boys cut some brand new tracks in the snow and they careened down the hill over and over again.  I'm pretty sure they all got a face full of powder at one time or another!

Conrad would not keep his gloves on.  He complained that his hands were cold, so he'd take his gloves off only to stick his hands in the snow.  That routine was obviously not working for him, but a couple of cups of hot chocolate seemed to reverse the damage.  Conrad is such a happy kid.  He really had a good time overall and chatted my ear off about it.

After our snowy sledding adventure, we returned home for some dry clothes and then took the boys into town for dinner and some Christmas shopping.  We really wore them out!  Sunday morning I felt so stupid walking into their room after 8am to wake them for church.  Who wakes three sleeping boys?!?

Good memories I hope we'll get to repeat a few more times this winter.

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A Traditional Nelson Thanksgiving {Video}

A Traditional Nelson Thanksgiving {Video}

12.05.2019

We just spent yet another Thanksgiving weekend doing what I think we all prefer best: hanging out on the Nelson Family Dairy Farm!  Merri Sue does not get enough credit (nor gives herself enough credit) for all that she does to make this holiday so special.  Those Nelson boys all come flocking home for a reason -- or maybe twenty reasons.  And they're all so good.  I feel so lucky to have married into such a loving and solid family.

This year, I decided to practice my budding videography skills to make a moving video of a typical Nelson Thanksgiving.  This video really is made just for sentimental value and the learning experience.  There was low light, mixed light, color casts... all sorts of difficult and unpretty photography situations.  Plus, my weaknesses in videography are becoming pretty apparent to me, which honestly just makes more anxious to hurry and learn some more!

BUT this is what a typical Nelson Thanksgiving looks like.  It's pretty special, actually.  The house is busting at the seams with people and noise.  We chat and play games and eat until our stomachs can't stand the thought of another bite. Then the next day, we go bowling.  It's a tradition worth repeating every year.

P.S.  I love how the cabin/farm is a character all of its own!  

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