The Nielson Family

Christmas in AZ 2011

2012-01-12T14:36:00.001-08:00

We started out our Christmas with a visit to Santa. The girls loved seeing him and telling him what they wanted :)

Uncle Lan (aka coolest uncle) brought snow down from Show Low for the kids to play in. Lets just say it was a huge hit!
They had so much fun playing in the snow even though they were freezing!

Everyone got in on the snow ball fight action!

Mayli even built a little snow man :)

The kids love their Uncle Lan! A little too much maybe :)

Uncle Lan introduced the famous art of Leg Wrestling! Here is Tori vs Jax :)

Mayli vs Tori

Papa Nik and Jennifer came over and got some lovin too! The girls loved the gifts from them :)

The Nielson Family got together on Christmas eve to take a family shot. This is the best one on my camera, hopefully Auntie Anne got some good ones too.

After the annual Nielson Christmas eve party we got to go see the temple lights! They were so beautiful and I love going and being reminded what Christmas is really all about.

Christmas Eve all ready for bed in our new Christmas PJ's!

I love Christmas morning! The girls were so excited to see that they got what they wanted from Santa and some other fun stuff from mom and dad and grammies and papas. Here is Mayli with her Princess musical alarm clock!

Here is Tori with her Alphie robot!

Zoe with her My Pal Violet!

Daddy spoiled Mommy this year with lots of goodies! Here is my beautiful new watch :)

Daddy got some fun stuff too including this movie he has wanted for a long time! He also got a new Raiders hat after a little joke from Barry and my mom of wrapping a Broncos Hat. You should have seen his face!

Grammie Lori made all the grand kids a blanket with their names on them! They love them so much and are so cute!

We had a wonderful Christmas thanks to both our families! We love you all and are so greatful for all you do for us! Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!

Surprise!

2012-01-12T14:22:00.001-08:00

Since we live in TX away from both families when we found out we were having baby #4 we decided to try to keep it a secret. It was SO hard but really fun to surprise everyone at Christmas time! Here is the 1st time my mom saw me when she picked us up at the airport :)

Happy Grammie!
I had alot of explaining to do ;)

We went on to surprise Aj's family and the rest of mine while we were in AZ. It was fun and we are so so excited for another sweet little girl to be joining our family in March!

Tori's 5th Birthday!

2012-01-12T12:22:00.001-08:00

My sweet Tori turned 5! I can't believe how big she is getting. The Friday before her birthday they celebrated it at her preschool and she wanted popsicles for her treat. We woke her up Saturday morning by singing to her and then she got to open one present.

Her new outfit was her present. Every girl needs something new to wear on her birthday!
Then off to Chuck E Cheese we went to have her party! She wanted a Rapunzel party but since there were so many boys coming she decided on Toy Story :)

Some of the party goers getting their party hats on!

Zoe had been begging for a cupcake all morning so I finally gave in :) She love it!

Tori blowing out her candle!

Thumbs up from the birthday girl :)

There were 15 kids there, pretty crazy but lots of fun!

Opening presents was fun but all the kids were more interested in playing the games so we made it quick! She is pretty excited about this one :)

After her party we went to her choice of lunch at Olive Garden then went home where everyone took a much needed nap! Then more presents from Grammies and Papas and us at home where she got her beautiful Rapunzel dress and dress up shoes. All the girls had to get in on the fun :)

Love you Tori Lynn!

Playing together!

2012-01-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

Of all the places my girls have to play this is were Tori and Zoe can be found most of the time! I just love that my girls all play so well together :)

Zoe's 2nd Birthday!

2012-01-12T11:52:00.001-08:00

My sweet Zoe gets to be in a big girl bed and she loves it! It has been a very easy transition and I am so greatful. Look at that hair! Here she is smiling after we sang her awake :)

She loves her little car we got her, she calls it a choo choo :)
A little Lion King book from Tori!

An angry bird stuffed animal from Mayli!

Her friends Brynn and Bo came over and gave her balloons. She loved them!

Playing with her little people car she got from Grammie Lori!

Such a sweet little 2 year old (most of the time!)

Papa Nik sent a giant cookie that was perfect to celebrate with that night. Cookies and ice cream, doesn't get much better than that!

Love you sweet Zoe Jane!

Melting Pot!

2012-01-12T11:42:00.001-08:00

Aj and I LOVE the Melting Pot and we had a gift card that we needed to use before the end of the year so to celebrate my birthday we decided to take the girls. We didn't do all 4 courses but they loved the cheese and the chocolate of course!

Mayli and Tori enjoying the chocolate covered goodies! The staff was so nice they gave me some sparkling cider to celebrate and gave the girls extra strawberries for dipping :)
Zoe and Mommy enjoying the goodies too! It was lots of fun to let them try it but since Mayli's statement on the way out was "it was good but not as good as McDonalds" I think we will keep it to just Aj and I :)

Halloween 2011

2012-01-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Halloween this year! We got out our decorations as soon as Oct came and the girls could hardly wait to decorate pumpkins. They wanted to paint theirs, here they are being very focused on their job :)

Silly Zoe loved getting to paint her pumpkin too! I think there was more paint on her and the table but oh well!
Daddy loves carving pumpkins, here he is being very thoughtful about what to make his look like.

The finished products!

Mayli and Tori knew exactly what they wanted to be so we got their costumes early so they wouldn't sell out and it just about killed them having to wait to wear them! Zoe didn't care so she got to wear something we already had :)

My cute little witch Mayli

My pretty little Jesse/Tori

My sweet little fairy princess Zoe

They had so much fun at the ward trunk or treat (best idea ever) we were there for about a half hour and they got way more candy then they could ever need! Here is Mayli looking over her loot!

Tori inspecting her goods!

Zoe couldn't have been more excited! She would have eaten it all that night if I would have let her :)

Gotta love Halloween!

First Day of School!

2012-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

After all our fun in the summer it was time to go back to TX to start school. Here is my sweet Mayli on her 1st day of 2nd grade!

Cute little Tori got to start going to a preschool in Mckinney this year. Here she is on her 1st day!
Silly little Zoe didn't want to be left out so here she is on her 1st day with some 1 on 1 mom time!

Love my girls!

Visit to AZ!

2012-01-11T15:35:00.001-08:00

After 2 weeks at the beach we headed back to AZ to help Cath get ready for her wedding and do lots of this! Playing with cousins in Grammies back yard! You would think it was a full size pool the way they love it ;)

Cousins from the other side even came to join in the fun!
Catherine and Jake's pre-wedding dinner! Look at all those cute kids!

Beautiful Aunt Catherine with all the cute little kids :)

So happy for Catherine and Jake! They are a wonderful couple and their wedding turned out so cute and fun!

I was so fun getting to spend the summer with our families!

Beach! Week 2 w/ The Platts

2012-01-11T15:04:00.001-08:00

You would think after one week at the beach we would be tired of it but NO! We met up with my family and actually camped at the beach. It was hard getting used to the fact that my kids would never fully be clean but we sure had fun! Grammie dug a little pool for the girls, this is where they spent most of their time. Zoe loved it!

Tori in the sand :)
Mayli in the Sand :)

Uncle Lan was so much fun! The girls loved to go into water with him to boogy board.

Aunt Cath would take them out to play too!

Zoe getting some lovin from Grammie :)

Mayli's actual birthday was at the beach. She got LOTS of presents and had a fun day!

That night we had princess cupcakes, she loved them :)

It was so much fun haning out with my family, I look forward to the years to come!

Beach! Week 1 w/ The Nielsons

2012-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

The 1st week in July we got to go to the beach with the Nielson family and stay in Grammie and Papa's condo! It was so much fun, the girls loved playing with Abby, Lyla and Max.

Monday was the 4th of July and the beach was crazy busy so we went to the Fair instead. It was fun tasting all kinds of yummy treats and the girls all got their faces painted :)
We also took a day and went to Knotts Berry Farm! The girls and the adults had so much fun on all the rides!

Mayli and Tori playing in the ocean.

It is so wonderful to get to go and spend time with family in the beautiful sunshine!

Smiley little Mayli playing in the sand.

A sand covered little Tori :)

Cute little Zoe wasn't too sure she liked the sand but she got used to it :)

Thanks Nielson's for another wonderful time!

Mayli's 7th Birthday & End of 1st Grade

2012-01-11T14:24:00.001-08:00

Mayli got to celebrate her birthday early so she could invite some Tx friends! Here they all are at McDonalds enjoying the fun :)

I can't believe she is 7! She is the sweetest girl!
She also got to bring cupcakes to her 1st grade class one day since she has a summer birthday.

Last day of 1st grade, you will be missed Mrs. Cummings!

Stylin

2011-06-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Just being silly this summer! Zoe wanted everyone to try on these glasses and then she would say "stylin!" So everyone wanted a picture. Here is stylin Mayli!

Stylin Tori!
Stylin Zoe!

All I was trying to get was a video of her saying stylin and got this instead, priceless!

Butterfly Festival!

2011-05-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Butterfly Festival. It was a big screen tent set up in one of the malls here that had 1,600 butterflies in it. It was AMAZING! It was so much fun seeing the girls faces come alive, I loved every minute of it and as you will see by the girls faces so did they!

It has been a wish of Mayli's to have a butterfly land on her finger so this is pretty much a dream come true! She kept saying "oh my goodness" over and over :)

The butterlies loved the flowers in the girls hair and kept landing on them.
I love this one of Mayli :)

My sweet Tori was so soft with them and had a big grin on her face the whole time! This is my favorite one of her :)

One on Tori's flower

Showing me her butterfly, it was very hard to get her to look at the camera for a picture, she was way to involved :)

Zoe was in complete aw. I love the wonder in her eyes :)

She was funny because she wanted to see them so bad but when they got too close she did not like it!

Her cheesy little grin and a butterfly on her head :)

It was fun to hear the girls talk to each other about the butterflies and show each other when they had one. They are such good sisters!

Even Daddy joined in the fun! They loved his bald head for some reason :) The girls thought it was so funny

Mommy got to help Zoe get one to hold (but not too close)

It was a very fun family outing!

(Tori says she is a butterfly pirate in this picture)

Finally!

2011-05-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

My laptop got a virus so I haven't been able to upload pictures to blog! I had ALOT to catch up on so hopefully you enjoy all the new pictures :)

Farm Field Trip

2011-05-08T20:31:00.001-07:00

Our latest preschool field trip was to a farm. The kids loved it! They had bread to feed the animals and they fed them for 45 mins. They had lots of different animal for the kids to see and feed. Here is Tori feeding a goat.

Zoe liked the animals until they got to close and then she was running to me :)
Tori really liked this pig, it followed her around the whole time.

They had a cute play ground for the kids to play on too. Tori and Luke took turns pushing each other on this swing, too cute!

After we ate lunch the goats got on the table and finished the left overs. Once again Zoe was outathere!

It has been so fun having our little field trips. I love seeing the kids get so excited :)

Easter!

2011-05-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun Easter this year. The girls couldn't wait to dye the eggs so on the Monday before Easter we did it for FHE!

On Friday we went and did an egg hunt with a bunch of friends and then had a pot luck picnic for lunch. It was so fun, the girls loved it! Here is Mayli searching for some eggs.
Tori got a little carried away and got way more than she was suppose to. We had to got rehide some :)

Zoe had fun picking up one egg until she got to the next and then she would drop the 1st and pick the next one up, again and again. She didn't want me to put them in her basket for some reason :)

My 3 sweet egg hunters with their spoils! (Don't really know why Zoe has a pirate face in this picture)

My dad sent the girls this huge cookie. They were so excited to get it and it was really yummy!

Easter morning the girls came out to find that the Easter Bunny had went a little crazy with the jelly beans. Zoe thought this was the coolest thing ever. She was double fisting mouthfuls of them!

Tori's so excited about her Sour Patch egg :)

Here is Mayli showing off her Easter basket. We had an egg hunt in the house that morning and the girls had lots of fun.

Daddy and his Easter girls all ready to go to church! I love Easter! I am thankful to my Savior for all he did for me :)

Mayli's 1st Grade Program

2011-05-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have really loved Mayli's school. They did a 1st grade program called Over in the Ocean. Mayli was the mother otter. She did a wonderful job and many people told me after that she needs to be in drama, don't I know it!

They all did such a good job, alot of work went into it and they had so much fun :)
Of course something happened to my camera right in the middle of her part so I only got the first of it but at least I got some, right? Enjoy!

Dallas Temple

2011-05-08T19:37:00.001-07:00

For the Stake Primary Activity Day they asked the kids to do a project of something they did with their family. We decided to visit the Dallas Temple. It is a very pretty temple and the girls had a wonderful time walking around, smelling all the beautiful flowers and singing "I love to see the temple".

Here is my sweet Mayli she took lots of pictures while we were there and loved all the flowers.
My sweet little Tori :) Such a sweetie.

Zoe wouldn't hold still for very long, she was all over the place!

My 3 sweet girls. I am so thankful to have had the chance to share this time with them. They are so smart and love the gosple with such pure hearts :)

So NOT into sharing!!!

2011-05-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Haha! I love this picture of Zoe! One day we went to Jamba Juice and got 2 cups, one for the girls and one for AJ and I. Once Zoe got it she DID NOT want to share. We would ask her if we could have a drink and this is the response we got! I laugh every time I see it. I will have to work on that with her :)

Firehouse Field Trip

2011-05-08T19:21:00.001-07:00

Our preschool did another field trip and this time it was to the fire station. It was really neat! They showed us where they eat, sleep, hangout, and even let the kids get inside the fire truck! One of our kids couldn't make it to this one so here is the 3 from our co-op. It was really sunny :)

Tori and Owen thought the wheel was the coolest part. Tori got all black on her hands and clothes from it but oh well :)
Waiting for their turn to get inside :)

They handed out these fire hats at the end, a huge hit with the kids. Tori still sports her when she plays dress up :)

Zoe got one too!

It was such a great field trip, they guys were very nice and the kids just loved it!

Spring Break Zoo Visit

2011-05-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

During Mayli's Spring break we went to the Dallas Zoo with some friends. It was really busy but the girls loved seeing all the animals and having fun with Cameron and Luke.

Here they are all trying to get a peek at the elephants, so cute :)
Now you can see the elephant as Mayli and Tori pose for a picture, they are such sweet sisters :)

Here they are looking at the penguins. They loved how close they got to be to them. It was a really fun day!

Soccer!

2011-05-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

I signed the girls up for soccer this spring and it has been so much fun to watch them learn and grow. Here is Mayli at one of her games. Mayli was a real go getter, she loved playing and was right in there with all the boys kicking that ball!

Here is Tori at one of her games. She was so funny. If you know Tori you know she is pretty much in her own little world so she was more impressed by the flowers and butterflys than with the ball :) She did really well though and had fun while she ran after everyone else!
Zoe loved being outside and watching her sisters play. She even does pretty good at kicking the ball :)

They played 8 games and then had an awards ceremony. Here is Tori's team the Lil Shooters, so cute!

Here is Mayli's team the Power Rangers. They were very good and placed 2nd in the tournament!

It was a really fun season and they both want to play next year so it was a success in my book!

Jen's Fun Give Away!

2011-02-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

I love cute wrapping paper! Jen is doing a give away on her blog and I would love to win :) Click the link if you want to enter!

http://writinglikeiampopular.blogspot.com/

I want this!

2011-02-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.burbbeauty.com/2011/01/giveaway-opi-katy-perry-collection.html So I hardly ever do this but Natalie has a nailpolish bolg and she posted about a giveaway. And I have to comment about it to enter. I really want the black shatter nail polish so why not try to win it right??? Anyway the link is on top if you want to enter :)

Silly Zoe!

2011-02-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is what I get lately when I ask her to smile. Cheesy little grin :)

I have been meaning to record Zoe's silly scoot/crawl that she does. It is so funny and I hope I will never forget it. She also makes the mmmwha noise when I ask for a kiss. So stinking cute!
(you have to turn on your sound and scroll down and turn off my music if you want to hear it)

Preschool fun :)

2011-02-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here are all Tori's little preschool friends when I had preschool at my house for the letter N. They had just made their beautiful necklaces :) They are too cute and have lots of fun together.

For January's theme it was Dinosaurs so we went to the Heard Museum to see their display. It was alot of fun.
Tori wanted to ride all of them :)
Something I totally didn't expect was my sweet little Zoe being scared. I felt so bad. Look at those tears :( So not a dino fan.

This is the first one we came to that actually moved and roared. It was crazy because the boys both did not like it at all and Tori still wanted to ride it :)

Tori doing a dino roar!

She is kinda mad in this one because I wouldn't let her throw rocks at it, such a mean mom ;)

This one didn't move or roar so they all got on for a ride, so cute :)

Me and my 2 sweeties and a giant T-rex!

It was kinda crazy how they had them in the trees on the nature walk, they looked pretty real. I don't blame Zoe for being scared. Anyway it was a really fun day and beautiful weather, so glad we got to go :)

Snow in Texas

2011-01-10T21:11:00.001-08:00

What the heck! I moved from Utah to get away from this! It snowed this Sunday (of course while we were in church) so the girls were dying to play in it when we got home. It was suppose to freeze over the night so I finally gave in :) Are they cute or what....

I LOVE this picture of Tori! What a crack up she is!
They dont really have snow clothes so we just doubled up on the clothes and gloves and went at it!

We made a snow man, isn't he a cute little guy? As you can tell by their faces by now they were pretty cold and ready to go in. It was fun while it lasted though!

Christmas time!

2011-01-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

We got to go to Az for Christmas and spend some quality time with family. It was lots of fun and so good to see everyone! Here is Mayli Christmas morning with her favorite movie :)

Tori got a movie too! This wasn't their presents from Santa (they both got Bouncing Babbles Babies) but these are my favorite pictures of them :)
Zoe got a fun leap frog toy. She loves to stand up next to it and play with it. It was a hit with all the kids really :)
Christmas PJs! My mom got all the kids matching pjs. We never got a picture with Cash in them due to the stinkin weather but oh well!
Jessica and Cash came down before Christmas to play for a few days. I am so glad we got to spend that time together! Grammie has some fun toys and the kids all got along really well :)

We had so much fun on New Years Eve playing game after game and we even did some fireworks that were a big hit with the kids! Mayli with her sparkler :)

Grammie trying to tell Tori to hold it away from herself, Tori was a little nervous :)

Sweet Aunt Catherine with a shocked looking Zoe. I don't think she knew what to think about all the lights and noise :)

Amy and her family came to Az too! Our girls got along so well and had so much fun playing together. We miss you guys!

We did a little party for Abby and Tori since they both had just turned 4! They loved it and loved the new round of toys from Grammie Lynette and Papa Danny :)

I love Christmas time and I love my family! So much fun and laughter was had over the two weeks, thanks so much all of you!

Gingerbread House and Student of the Month!

2011-01-10T09:20:00.000-08:00

Look at our sweet gingerbread house! The girls were so proud of how it turned out :) We did a service gift exchange for enrichment and I got Mesha's wonderful gingerbread house. She put it together and brought over all the stuff to decorate it, thanks Mesha what a wonderful FHE!

Zoe had a blast catching all the yummy candy that got dropped on the floor :)
Our sweet Mayli was chosen to be October's student of the month! Only one child out of every class gets picked for this each month so it is pretty special. She got to be recognized at the spirit assembly for being a respectful, responsible, life long learner :) Any one who joined us for Christmas knows what song she is singing here :) Just love that girl!

Such a sweetie. Getting ready to go into the assembly.

After the assembly I went to Mayli's classroom to help with the winter party. The kids all had so much fun and were really sweet including Tori in everything. Mayli loves her 1st grade class and it makes me so happy :)

Tori's 4th Birthday!

2011-01-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Tori turned 4 on December 10th. I just cant believe what a big girl she is turning into! She is my little love bug and such a sweety! Here she is after we woke her up singing happy birthday. She got to open a couple presents in the morning and the rest at her party :)

We had Tori's party at McDonalds and it was great! They provided the decorations, party hats, party favors, happy meal for each kid and cake and ice cream. Plus I didn't have to clean up after! She got to invite some friends and of course her best pal Mayli :)
Kids are so funny about "helping" each other open their presents :) Tori loved every minute of it and was so happy with all her toys.

Tinkerbell was the theme of the night, she got all of the fairies!

Here she is blowing out her candles, with Mayli holding her hair back :) We love you Tori and are so happy you are part of our family!

A few fun things :)

2011-01-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year was very fun! I know this picture doesn't look like Thanksgiving but we had dinner with our friends the Wankiers and our girls had so much fun together playing dress-up. Thanks guys for the fun time!

For Tori's preschool December field trip we went to a mall in Dallas where they had a Santa story time, Scrooge puppet show and a cool train exibit. The kids had a great time and it was fun for the moms too :)
Here the kids are looking at the trains, they liked it so much I couldn't get them to all turn around at the same time for a picture :)

A little something for everyone!

2010-11-23T15:52:00.001-08:00

We have been having lots of fun and staying very busy, here is some fun pictures of what we have been up to :)

For Tori's 2nd preschool fieldtrip we got to go to Papa Murphy's Pizza Place! It was alot of fun, they showed the kids how to make the dough and then let them each make their own pizza to take home a bake! They loved it and it was yummy too :)

Mayli got invited to the party of all parties (for a 7 year old!) They went to a place called Sugar and Spice and got to pick a dress and shoes to dress up in, they did their hair, make-up and nails and then had a fashon show! Then they had pizza and cupcakes and then got to sing like the little divas they are. Amazing! I don't know if Chuck-E-Cheese will even compair now. She had a blast though and we are so happy she is so friendly and has made so many friends.

Our little Zoe turned 1 on Wed 11-17-10. We had a little party for her the Saturday after and it was lots of fun. She got lots of fun gifts but wanted nothing to do with her giant cupcake :) She is such a sweet little baby and once all the commotion died down she loved playing with all her new toys! Thanks to everyone who came and sent presents!

This is my 1st time trying my pictures like this so tell me if you like it or not :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have the cutest little Disney characters on the planet!

My beautiful girls! They are such sweet sisters, and just love to pose for pictures together :)
My cute little Minnie Mouse! Zoe is so sweet, she loved getting all dressed up and really didn't even mind the ears on her head.

This is a BIG improvement from last year with Tori, I had to beg her to wear a little witch had last year but this year she picked out her Tinkerbell costume and just loved it! She was Tink to a T, sweet but kinda a little stinker!

Could there be a better Cinderella??? I mean lets be honest, she loves Cinderella but she also makes such a good one! She loved it!

The weekend before Halloween we got invited to a little Halloween party with some of our friends. It was really fun and the kids (and adults) got to play some fun games. Here is Mayli trying to eat the powdered donut off a string with her hands behind her back, so funny!

Cheater cheater pumkin eater! Tori couldn't keep her hands down to save her life. It was really funny.

Zoe had a great time with this ball, very easily entertained!

They also did bobbing for apples, which is really hard!

Mayli finally got one and was so happy! She ate the apple in stead of the candy they passed out next :)

Our Stake did a trunk or treat the Saturday before Halloween and it was perfect. Short and sweet, the girls had lots of fun with their friends from church, got lots of candy and it only took about a half an hour. Thats my kind of Halloween!

Grammie Lori came to visit!

2010-10-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

My mom got to come and visit us a couple weekends ago and we had so much fun! One of the fun things we did was visit the Dallas Zoo. It was a great day and here is the sweetest picture ever of my mom and the girls, I just love it!

Cutest faces ever...and if you look close you can see a tiger in between them :)
At the petting Zoo Tori just couldn't get enough of the goats, she is so sweet.

Mayli liked it too but didn't think the goats needed any hugs :)

And we just had to ride the animal carousel! I know this picture is blurry but I like it that way, it shows how much fun they were having :)

I was so wonderful to have you here mom! My girls love you so much, and me too!

Preschool Field Trip

2010-10-30T20:49:00.001-07:00

I am doing a co-op Preschool with 3 other moms and we do a field trip once a month. For out 1st one we went to the Dallas Aboretum where they had a pumkin festival. It was great! There were so many pumpkins everywhere and the kids loved it.

The kids got their faces painted! Tori loved it so much she wouldn't let me wash it off that night :)
They even had a little petting zoo, Tori was in heaven!

Here is Tori showing off they sweet houses that they had made out of pumpkins.

Zoe had a good time tagging along! She was pretty much in awe of all the pumpkins :)

Such a fun day!

Max Keddington!

2010-10-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

I love being an Aunt and on September 24th Amy and Spencer got this little guy to join thier family. He had to stay in the hospital for a while but is now home doing great. We are so greatful that all our prayers were answered for this sweet little boy. He is such a cutie and I can't wait to hold him at Christmas time!

Fun Stuff!

2010-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tea Party! My girls love to have little tea parties with their dolls but usually they aren't this fancy :) They have so much fun together, I just love it!

Plano Balloon Festival! Ya those are the pictures that would have gone here had we actually gone :( We were all ready to go on Friday night and when we got in the car it started pouring down rain and thundering and lightening. Such a bummer, so... Saturday night we got ready to go AGAIN and we were on our way and it took us 45 minutes to get from one stop light to the next. The hubby was not happy about this as he was already hungry :( So we didn't make it there again but at least this time we saw about 20 hot air balloons in the sky, the girls loved it. Then we took them to the mall to take a ride and to Build-a-Bear as a consolation prize. I think they still had a fun night but I was really bummed.
Crazy hair! When this little one wakes up from her naps her hair is crazy! It is the funniest thing, and that face, too funny!

Zoe is crawling! She is so happy about this, she follows the girls and I where ever we go. She is such a mess though and is into everything!

Clap Clap Clap!

2010-09-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Zoe has learned to clap her hands and I just can't get enough!

First Day of School!

2010-09-09T10:53:00.001-07:00

Mayli's first day of first grade! She was so excited to go and be there all day. She also couldn't wait to make some new friends. She is so cute and really is obsessed with princesses right now. She is complete with princess shirt, shoes, backpack, lunchbox, and even panties! She has really liked school so far and is so smart :)

Tori also started her little preschool class the next week and was so excited too! She loves having school like Mayli and can't wait until Mayli gets home to show her what she has done at school.

Buds :)

2010-09-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

With Mayli being gone all day long for school Tori just can't get enough of her when she is home. I think this picture of how I found them one night proves just that :) That is a toddler bed that they are both in by the way.

It has been really neat to see Tori taking on her big sister role with Zoe when Mayli is gone. Here she is snuggling Zoe up and making her laugh.
They are good little buds even though Zoe is so little. I can't wait to see them play together as Zoe grows up.

Zoe is getting so big!

2010-08-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby Zoe is growing up way too fast! She has such a cute and happy personality. She is now sitting up by herself and has those cute 2 front bottom teeth.

With sitting up she has learned that she can bee bop to the music and it is the stinkin cutest thing ever! You need to scroll to the bottom and mute my music if you want to hear the sweet tunes she is dancing to :)

I don't think I could love this girl any more than I do!

Summer fun in Az!

2010-08-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of July the girls and I got to go to Az to spend some time with family. It was really fun and we got to see so many people in our family :) We got to do lots of fun things but by far the thing my girls loved the most was playing outside in my mom's backyard. They love her little blow up pool and Aunt Megan even bought a slip and slide. All the kids liked it but Mayli just couldn't get enough, she love it! Here she is sliding along :)

Here is Jax! With Tori and Jax we would have to slide them down it but they really had fun too :)

Here goes Tori! She really did like it dispite her face :) She just didn't like the little sprouting water that would hit her face.
My sweet little Zoe, I just can't get enough of that face! She loved the water and Mayli would slide down to her and she would crack up laughing, so cute!

My 3 little sun beauties!

Thanks Grammie and Barry and Aunt Catherine for letting us stay with you! We had a blast!

Mayli's birthday month!

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

Our sweet little Mayli turned 6 on July 14th and since we were in Az the week before that we just had to have a little party for her. It was really fun and Mayli even made party hats! Thanks to everyone who came and got Mayli her fun presents.

Sadly when it's your sister's birthday it really isn't the best day for you (trust me I know!) Poor little Tori was so sad with each present that Mayli opened but this face was too priceless to not get on camera :)
Mayli at Chuck E Cheese blowing out her birthday candle. She is so stinkin cute!

On Mayli's birthday she got to pick where to go to dinner. Here she is enjoying her Five Guys burger, yum!

The Saturday after her birthday we had some friends here in Tx come over for pizza, cake and ice cream. It was lots of fun complete with a princess cake that Mayli LOVED.

That was way too much birthday fun for one little girl. Hopefully all birthdays from now on are not a dissapointment :) We love you Mayli!

See ya Provo, Hello Plano!

2010-08-05T09:26:00.001-07:00

I have really slacked on posts lately so here goes. Look at all those cute little girls! Before we left Provo we got to have Amy and Spencer and their girls over one last time. My girls miss their Wednesday visits for sure :(

This is the girls with my friend Rachelle's little boys. We just had to get their pictures together in front of our apartments since we both were moving out at the same time. I miss them being right above us whenever I need something!
Here is Mayli at her Kindergarden Program. She did such a good job and is such a ham. After every song she would do a little curtsy, it was great :)
Mayli and Mrs. Clark. Mayli loved her kindergarden teacher and she really liked Mayli too! Hopefully she will get a good 1st grade teacher too!
We left for Az right after Mayli's program and had a nice time with family before heading to Tx. Once we finally got to Tx we did alot of this, sleeping on the floor! Our stuff was 15 days late! Thank Heavens for Brittney and Reid and her family helping us out and letting us stay with them and barrow a ton of stuff. I don't know what we would have done with out them :)

Not the best picture I know but I love how much Mayli, Tori, Cameron and Luke get alot. They were instant friends and just love doing things together.

This is one of the things my girls were SO excited to see when we moved to Tx. The McDonals that is shaped like a Happy Meal! It really was pretty cool and my girls were so happy.

Life in Tx is really nice. We have a nice apartment, a wonderful ward and are making some new friends and getting to know old ones better. We are very greatful for Aj's job and the life we get to have because of it :) We are now officially Texans!

Photo Shoot!

2010-06-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just before we left Provo my wonderful upstairs neighbor and friend Rachelle took some pictures of my girls for me. She did such a great job and I can't wait to get some made to hang in our new apartment. Here are just a few of my favorites!

Sweet sisters!

She did these neat collages of the girls and I just love them!

Here is my sweet Mayli Ann, She is just so pretty and such a ham for the camera!
Silly little Tori! I love how she got some of Tori's little silly attitude it these pictures :)

My little angel baby Zoe! I just love her sweet little face so much!

Such happy little sisters, we are so blessed to have such wonderful little girls!

Thanks Rachelle!

P is for . . .

2010-05-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last night AJ was working with Mayli on her letters and their sounds. She would say A apple, B bear, C cat and so on like she has learned in school. Then he made her think of new words to go with each letter. When she got to P she thought for a second and then said P pissed, like sometimes mom gets pissed :) I guess I need to watch what I say around my children and work on my temper! It was classic, what a funny girl!

Disneyland!

2010-05-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

The happiest place on earth! We have been telling our girls we have a big surprise for them for months now and last week we took them to Disneyland! It was so much fun, they were so surprised and couldn't believe we were really there. Mayli kept saying "this is the funnest place I have ever been in my whole life!" We went to California Adventure the 1st day and had a blast but for some reason I didn't get my camera out all day, what a bad mom :( oh well I did better the next day at Disneyland, enjoy!

Here are the girls waiting for daddy to get our tickets to the park! Tori wouldn't look at the camera so this was the best I could get :)

This was after we walked through Mickey's house in Toon Town. We got to meet Mickey and the girls were so exited, he even gave them a kiss and although it doesn't look like it Tori loved it!
Daddy and the girls after we got Tori and Zoe their Mickey ears with their names on them. Of course Tori had to be different and get the ears with the star hat, it is so like her though so I didn't fight her on it :) Mayli and Tori wore theirs most of the day but Zoe's was really big as you can see.
We rented a stroller at Disneyland for Mayli and Tori to share, we had brought one for Tori but by the end of the day at California Adventure Mayli was done walking :) They both fit on this one though so it worked out perfect.

Mayli, Tori and Daddy on the Dumbo ride! They loved this one and both girls said that it was one of their favorite rides.

Mayli and Tori wanted to get on this big machine thing that was in Mickey's house, they are so stinkin cute!

All the girls! There were a bunch of these cars all over Toon Town so we got in one for a quick photo op! I love my sweet little girlys!

We found Goofy in Toon Town also, so fun!

The Lemmon family was there too! We had so much fun meeting up with them and riding rides together. Our girls love their girls so much and we all had so much fun.

My sweet Mayli! We told the girls that they could pick a toy since we took the money out of their piggy bank. Mayli told me she wanted to find a soft Bambi doll so she could sleep with it. I was really worried that we wouldn't be able to find one but it is Disneyland after all and we did! She loves it and sleeps with it every night :)

Tori on the other hand saw a Jessie doll in a show that we saw at California Adventure and that was what she wanted right then! At first we couldn't find one but we finally did and as you can see she is very happy!

We had such a fun trip and all the girls were really good. I am so glad that we got to go when we did, the lines were really short and it wasn't too hot. We got to ride all the rides that we wanted to and it was so much fun to see the girls faces on every ride we went on. It is totally different to go to Disneyland as a parent that is for sure!

Zoe's 1st solid food :)

2010-04-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

WHAT?!? Thats right its time to try your first solids :)

Her first bite, she did really well and seemed to like her rice cereal.
She made a huge mess and Mayli and Tori thought it was the funniest thing ever to watch her. I don't think she actually got much in her belly but we had fun trying :)

MBA Grad!

2010-04-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

AJ graduated with his MBA from BYU on Friday April 23rd! We are so proud of him and all his hard work. We are so thankful that he has a job, Texas here we come!

Potty Trained!

2010-04-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

This post has been a LONG time coming! My sweet little Tori is finally potty trained, after all the things I tried it really just took her to finally decide that she was ready. She is doing so good now and got to open her Ariel doll that has been sitting on top of our fridge for 2 months :)

She hasn't had any accidents for a week and even sleeps with pantys on!

Open mouth insert foot :)

2010-04-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Zoe's new favorite thing to chew on :)

Gross I know but it keeps her busy for a while :)

Goofy Golfing!

2010-04-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

It has been so much fun to have AJ around more with him done with school now. We have been doing lots of fun things with the girls and one of their favorites is goofy golfing. Here is Mayli showing off her skills, she is actually really good!

Here daddy is helping Tori, she has lots of fun but would rather roll the ball than hit it :)
Here is Zoe in her stroller while we goofy golfed. She really is such a good baby she just chilled until she fell asleep.
Such a fun day :)

Our Easter Morning, and the next Sunday :)

2010-04-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Easter morning! The girls have to wait in the hallway so I can make sure the Easter bunny came :) They are always so excited!

Mayli with her Easter basket :)
Little Tori couldn't take her eyes off this cool spinning light thing they got :)
Zoe wasn't quite sure what to think but she liked watching the girls play with their stuff :)

I love to get my sweet little girls matching Easter dresses and it was so fun this year to add a 3rd to the mix! This is the next Sunday since Easter Sunday was conference. Are they cute or what!

Happy Easter! We hope everyone had a good one and that you had time to remember the real reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday.

Fun with Eggs!

2010-04-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is a little late but better late than never! Here the girls are dying eggs with Abby, they LOVED it.

Grammie and Papa Nielson came up Easter weekend and we did an egg hunt at the park with Natalie and her family.The girls had lots of fun and we have WAY too much candy.
Mayli with her loot! She was by far the most aggressive egg hunter :)

Here is my sweet little Tori with her eggs, she is in that phase when they don't know what to do when you get the camera out :) She had lots of fun though!

I LOVE this picture of Zoe! It is so classic her, those big eyes and the tongue out :) She sat in her stroller during the egg hunt and was as happy as could be.

Thanks for the fun Grammie and Papa!

In Loving Memory

2010-04-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Elena Marie Knight

November 14th 2009-April 14th 2010

Our good friends Joe and Candida Knight lost their sweet little baby girl on the 14th. This sweet little one was born just 3 days before our little Zoe. Our love and prayers go out to them.

Silly One Word Quiz

2010-04-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

My sister Jessica tagged me to do this quiz so here goes. . .

Answer the questions with ONE word.

1.Where is your cell phone? floor
2.Your hair? crazy
3.Your Mother? best
4.Your Father? strong
5.Your favorite food? candy
6.Your dream last night? nope
7.Your favorite drink? drpepper
8.Your dream/goal? happy
9.What room are you in? living room
10.Your hobby? reading
11.Your fear? loss
12.Where do you want to be in 6 years? skinny
13.Where were you last night? home
14.Something you aren't? tall
15.Muffins? please
16.Wish list item? wardrobe
17.Where did you grow up? Arizona
18.Last thing you did? Aj ;) (Aj made me write this)
19.What are you wearing? jammies
20.TV? watching
21.Your pets? NO
22.Your friends? good
23.Your life? blessed
24.Your mood? happy
25.Missing someone? mommy
26.Vehicle? snug
27.Something you're not wearing? socks
28.Your favorite store? none (no stores are fun when you have no money!)
29.Your favorite color? blue
30.When was the last time you laughed? #18
31.When was the last time you cried? days
32.Your best friend? far
33.One place you go over and over? Walmart
34.One person who e-mails you regularly? match.com
35.Favorite place to eat? MeltingPot

This was actually pretty fun, thanks Jes!

TROUBLE!!!

2010-03-29T21:43:00.001-07:00

We were board on Sunday night so I played beauty shop with the girls and put make up on them and did their hair and got them all dressed up. It was really fun and all I can say is we are in trouble! They are way too beautiful, Aj has now raised the age that they can wear make up to 25 :)

Fun with Zoe

2010-03-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

My little Zoe is getting so big already :( She is such a fun little baby though and I love having her in our family. I don't know what we did without her! She likes to sit in the corner of the couch and watch her sisters.

Here my 3 sweet little girls are all laying on the love sack watching UP. They are so sweet!
Zoe's new favorite thing is her feet :) She loves to grab them when she is laying down. She loves it even more when her feet aren't all covered up, if only it wasn't so cold!

Zoe loves to be around her sisters and just watch whatever they are doing. It is so cute to see her just look at them in amazement.

We got this cute little outfit in the mail from some ladies that used to babysit Aj when he was little. Gotta love that bow!

MBA Easter Egg Hunt

2010-03-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the MBA Easter egg hunt and since it was raining we had to do it inside the church gym. Here are the girls with the Lemmon girls, they are friends that we have made through the MBA program. The girls have so much fun together.

Here all the kids are hopping like bunnies, at least that was the idea :)

This is Landon, Mayli thinks that he is her boyfriend and he thinks she is his girlfriend. It is WAY to early for me to have to deal with this! I must say though he is the life of the party when ever all the kids get together :)
Mayli wanted to get her picture with the Easter bunny (who I think is a little scary) but they loved him. They know who brings them stuff in their Easter baskets thats for sure :)

This is just when we were leaving and I couldn't resist. They are so sweet to each other, I just love it!

Bath time is fun time!

2010-03-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

My girls LOVE bathtime. It is so fun for them, they get to splash and make everything wet (not so fun for me). My friend upstairs gave me this little tub and I just put it right in the tub with the other girls. She loves to watch her sisters play and they love to make her smile. The only problem is when its time to get out, Zoe has really bad startle reflexes and she gets really upset when I get her out to get dressed. For the most part though bath time is so fun.

My sweet Tori with her big blue eyes. Her cheek always gets red when she gets a cold, its like our little warning sign that she is getting sick :)
My pretty little Mayli Ann is such a big helper to me with Zoe, she always wants to wash her hair and make sure she stays warm with a wash cloth on her belly.

I love these sweet little girls so much!

Happy Kids!

2010-02-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Look at those sweet faces! Mayli and Tori are such good buddies and I am so greatful for that. I don't know how I was blessed with such happy little kids but they really are. Don't be fooled though, they have their rotten moments too!

Our little sunshine baby Zoe is just the happiest baby ever! As long as someone is paying attention to her she will give you a big gummy grin.
We love you are sweet little girls!

Fat Cats!

2010-02-06T13:53:00.001-08:00

One Saturday Aj had the idea to take the girls bowling. So we went to Fat Cats and let them bowl. It was really fun and both girls did pretty good for their 1st time :)

Our sweet little Mayli always has to do everything on her own. I told her to make a happy face after she got a spare and this is what she gave me, such a ham!

Daddy helped Tori and she loved it!

This shows how happy she was with her performance :)

Thanks Daddy for the fun day!

Jen and Ed's Wedding!

2010-01-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Friday January 15th Barry's daughter Jen got married to Ed Parker in the Bountiful Temple. It was a beautiful sealing and I am so happy that I live in Ut and was able to go. They looked so great together and I just love Jen's dress, it is so her!

Mayli and Tori along with Jen's cousnin's daughter and Ed's niece got to be part of the wedding. They all looked so cute! Look at that candy table, every kid (and adults) dream! It was a really fun reception with a hot dog stand, cotton candy stand, popcorn stand and lots of different sodas in the old fashon bottles. Lets just say that even AJ had a good time :)
The girls were so excited to have their Grammie Lori up for the wedding, they love her and Grandpa Barry so much!
Catherine was one of Jen's bride's maids and looked so cute in her sassy red dress. She came up a week early to help Jen and to play with me and my girls, they love her so much too!

Mayli, Bo and Tori These three girls were together nonstop the whole night and had SO much fun. They loved Bo so much that when I put Tori's dress on Sunday to go to church she said I want to play with Bo :)

Thanks Jen and Ed for letting us be part of your special day!

Zoe's Blessing

2010-01-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

Our sweet little Zoe was blessed on Sunday the 27th of December. Since we were in AZ it worked perfect to do it right after Christmas since most of our families were able to be there. I am so greatful to have a worthy husband who can bless our children, it is always such a wonderful thing.Thanks AJ and thanks to everyone else who came!

AJ's Grandma Nielson made Mayli and Tori Christmas dresses and so we had to get the classic family picture. Its not the greatest because it was sunny and after Church so the girls just wanted to be done but oh well :)

Christmas 2009!

2010-01-21T09:31:00.001-08:00

We had a very merry Christmas this year! We stayed at my moms house and Jessica and Shane came down so all the Nikolaus cousins got to be together, they are the cutest little bunch! Grammie Lori bought them all matching pjs so we just had to get a picture. Thanks mom for everything, we love you!

It was a Nielson Christmas this year and so all the Nielson cousnins got to be together on Christmas eve and Christmas day (and more!) Grammie and Papa got them matching pjs so again it was time for a picture, this was a more rambunktious group! We had lots of fun and got way to much, thanks Grammie and Papa, we love you!

Mayli with her stash! She got her furr real friend cat that she asked for :)

Tori didn't realy ask for anything but was way happy with what she got!

Sweet little Zoe not really having a clue what is going on but still just happy to be included!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!

Our little Tori Tee turns 3!

2009-12-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that Tori is 3, she is such a sweet little girl and always has something to say to make my day.

We sang Happy Birthday to wake Tori up and she was so happy to get her Tinkerbell Chair to watch movies in. She also got some Strawberry Shortcake stuff from my mom that she loves!
We went to Red Robin at the Mall for Tori's birthday dinner and got to go visit Santa! The girls had a LONG conversation with him about what they wanted, it was very cute. Zoe as usual was snoozing away in her carrier so she didn't get to visit with Santa but I am sure he will bring her something anyway :)

We had a birthday party for Tori and Abby on Saturday with pizza and cupcakes at our place. The girls both got lots of presents. Tori loves this stick horse she got from her Grammie Lynette and Papa Danny. Now her and Mayli gallop all over the apartment saying yee ha yee ha ride um cowgirl!

Tori enjoyed the cupcake that Amy made for her. As you can tell the frosting was her favorite part!

Thanks everyone for all the fun and the presents. We love you sweet little Tori!

Zoe Jane Nielson

2009-11-26T10:52:00.001-08:00

Our sweet little baby Zoe was born November 17th at 7:43 am. She was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 in long. She is such a good little baby, she eats and sleeps really well and we fell in love with her the minute we saw her. I got a repeat c-section and when Aj brought her over so I could see her she was crying until she heard my voice, it was the sweetest thing ever!

Mama loving on the new little baby. She is such a cuddle bug and I love to hold her and love on her.
Daddy loving on her :) He was such a trooper and stayed the nights at the hospital with us on that very uncomfortable chair/bed. Love you babe!

This is her very own going home outfit. We have so many baby girl clothes but I wanted her to have at least one thing of her own. She looked so cute!

At home with the new big sisters! They love her so much and are such good helpers to me. They helped me and my mom give her a bath and she was so happy after it. I love you all my sweet little girls!

A huge thanks to Lynette, Catherine and my mom for coming up and helping out with my girls! I really don't know what I would have done without all of your help :)

Thanks!

Worst blogger in the world!

2009-11-09T22:05:00.000-08:00

Ok read on if you dare! I have been a horrible blogger and really wanted to get updated before little Zoe comes, only one more week!

Halloween!

2009-11-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

Halloween was BUSY this year we had an MBA Halloween party, Mayli's class party and then Halloween day. Here is my sweet Dorithy with her Toto and basket to complete the outfit. Mayli loved dressing up is so stinkin cute all the way down to her red ruby slippers!

Oh my sweet Tori. We found out on the Wednesday before Halloween when the kids were suppose to wear their costumes to story time at the library that she DID NOT want to wear her costume. She was going to be Glinda the good witch but would have none of it, or any other costume for that matter. It took everything I had to just get her to wear this little witch hat head band and her Halloween t-shirt. Oh well pick your battles right!
They both looked pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

On Halloween Danny and Lynette came up and we went to Spencer's parents house to go to their ward party and to trick-or-treat around their neighborhood. It was awesome and the girls got SO much candy, we will be eating it until Easter! All the girls looked so cute in their costumes and had so much fun together.

The Scarecrow Festival

2009-11-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

The place where Amy and Spencer work does a fund raiser at Thanksgiving point around Halloween time and Lynette came up and all the grandkids went together. It was so much fun! There is so much to do but right when we got there the girls did this trampoline thing where you get strapped in and bounce really high. I wish you could see Tori's face better because she was going SO high and loving it. She is going to be my dare devil for sure!

Mayli on the other hand loved it but only wanted to go as high as she could jump.
We got to go over to Farm country and get a pony ride. All the kids loved it and as you can see Mayli got her face painted like a butterfly, she loved it!

Tori loved riding the horse too and you cant see it very well but she picked a dolphin to be painted on one of her cheeks, she looked so cute :)

Thanks so much to Amy and Spencer and Grammie Lynette for such a fun day!

Oreganos with Cath in AZ!

2009-11-09T21:36:00.001-08:00

The girls and I went to AZ for Lanny and Kim's wedding (pictures to come) and got to stay for about a week since it was Mayli's fall break. Catherine and I went out on a date to Oreganos to have some yummy food and some sister time :) Love you Cath!

Pudding Painting!

2009-11-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

9/9- Natalie made these cute aprons for the kids and after story time at the library one day they got to try them out with pudding painting. The kids had lots of fun.

Of course the best part was that they could eat it! They all had their fair share of the pudding!
Thanks Aunt Natalie!

Camping & Fishing!

2009-11-09T21:15:00.001-08:00

9/5- Over the Labor Day weekend we went camping with Amanda and her family and Amy and her family. It was so much fun, the girls loved making smores and playing around the camp fire with all the other girls. As you can see Tori had a great time!

Mayli was so sweet and such a fun camper. She is really the reason we went at all, she has been asking for years to go camping.
The next morning while the adults packed up the girls got to (stay out of the way) watch Monster's Inc on the portable dvd player. We know how to camp!

This is the other reason we went, Mayli has been wanting to go fishing and she finally got to! She had alot of fun and it was so nice because there was a little lake right next to where we camped, perfect!

That day was Aj's birthday and as you can tell from this picture he was not aware that the fishing was suppose to be for the kids. :) He had a great time and did not want to leave.

Thanks everyone for such a fun camping trip!

I love to see the Temple

2009-11-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

8/29- One weekend when the Nielsons came to visit we went to Temple Square. It was beautiful and the kids had so much fun.

I love this picture of the 3 girly cousins, they just love each other so much!
I wanted a picture of our family like this from on top of the conference center because we have one of just Aj and I before we were married and one of Aj, Mayli and I. It is a beautiful view from up there.

Random Pictures from this summer!

2009-09-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

This summer Aj took my camera to Indonesia so I had to resort back a few years to the sweet disposable cameras and I just got it developed, so enjoy!

Aunt Catherine and Tori having fun at Chuck E Cheese!

The 3 grand kids in the school bus.

Megan, Catherine and I met up with Kristy and Natalie for the Harry Potter midnight premiere and Kristy gave us all the Harry scar on our foreheads. It was awesome!

My fun cousin Kristy and I. Strike a pose! It was really late!

Some of my girl friends got together and went to Oregano's for a night of pizza, pizzookie, and lots of laughs. What more could I ask for! Thanks girls!

When we got back to Utah we met up with Amy and her fam at the Dino museum for $2 Tuesdays. It was PACKED but the kids all had alot of fun.

There was lots of hands on stuff and the girls really had a great time.

We really had a fun summer but are very glad to be back in Utah with Aj!

Mayli's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

2009-08-27T15:01:00.001-07:00

My Sweet Mayli Ann had her 1st day of kindergarten today. She was so excited for this day to come and told me when she got home that she had fun and loved to play outside. She really likes her teacher and Tori keeps me busy at home so hopefully it will be a good year!

Mayli was pretty sad when she found out that Kindergarteners at her school don't get to pick out a new backpack (they have to use this sweet bag). So I told her we would decorate it. I let her color on it and we put some sparkely things on it and she is pretty happy with it now!

Such a sweet face she has (her teacher is in trouble!)

She looks so big and grown up in this picture, I have to admitt the tears where flowing when I saw this picture :(

Little Tori wanted in on the fun. Don't they look so cute in their matching shirts! (We got a teal one for Zoe when she arrives, thanks Mom!)

Here she is in her new classroom, I can't believe she is old enough to go to school. I am so proud of you Mayli and I love you so much!

Mayli's 5th Birthday Pics (finally)

2009-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mayli had her 5th birthday on July 14th and what a day it was! She wanted eggs in a bag and fruit for breakfast and was so excited to start her day! She got to open 1 present that morning with her cute new shirt and birthday princess crown in it.

We met up with Grammie Lori, Aunt Megan and Jax, and Aunt Catherine at PANDA for lunch, if she ever has her choice this is where she wants to go. Grammie gave her some presents while we were there.
That night we went to Chuck E Cheese for her party and she was so happy to play all the games. Skiball is her favorite!

Tori enjoyed all the games too but loved the things you could ride in the most!

Dancing it up with ChuckE!

So many presents and so little time!

This is her sweet cake that I made. She had lots of requirements for it, the balloons, the #5, the pink and green watermelon sprinkles and finally she wanted my mom to write "Mayli Ann loves her birthday" on it. What a silly girl!

Papa Nik rode his bike down from Show Low just so he could be there for her special day. Here is is with all the grandkids, so cute, thanks dad!

Grammie Lori and Grandpa Barry with the Birthday Girl, thanks you guys for all your help!

Grammie Lynette and Papa Danny with the Birthday Girl. Thanks for her cool puppy, she was so happy to see you got it for her!

No pictures but Aunt Catherine, Aunt Megan and Uncle Trent came too! It was a really fun night! Thanks everyone for making our sweet girls birthday so special!

The Beach!

2009-07-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach in Cali with the Nielson side of the family but my family was camping just a few miles down the beach. It works out so well for us to get to spend time with both families. We had so much fun and are so greatful we got to go.

Warning: Lots of pictures ahead!

My sweet Mayli, such a beach babe!
My sweet little Tori, having fun in the "pool" that they made.
Tori and Abby "riding" on the boogie board

Mayli and Tori playing in the freezing water.

All the kids playing in the sand with Uncle Chad, he was so nice and even let them cover him in sand. Abby, Tori, Carson and Mayli.

Same 4 kids playing in the pool of water, they loved it!

My mom giving Tori a ride on the sweet bike they had. The kids loved it and it was very helpful to get from one campsite to the other.

My girls love their Uncle Lanny and had so much fun playing with him. Tori liked to drag him all over the beach.

Mayli going for a ride! She did really well with the little waves right by the shore. Maybe next year we will actually get her out in the water.

I love this picture of Me, Cath and the girls. She joined our family since Aj wasn't there.

We did family pictures at sunset with my mom at her beach, it was fun and as you can see it got a little crazy. I wish Aj was there but it was everyone else but him so maybe we can photo shop him in!

Left to Right: Lanny & Kim (just engaged), Megan & Ivan holding Jaxen, My mom Lori and Barry, Catherine, Jen and boyfriend Ed, Jessica (Cash in the belly) & Shane, Tori, Me & Mayli.

Us just chillin on the beach, it was so nice and we have so much fun together.

Wow this is such a good picture, you can't really see my huge belly and Mayli and TORI are both smiling! I love it!

Thanks so much for the fun times everyone!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice.....

2009-07-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

Thats what my little girls are made of! Thats right folks we are having another little Nielson baby girl! My ultrasound went really well and she is looking good in there. We are very excited and Mayli just couldn't be happier since she has said it was a girl from the very beginning. We can't wait for her to get here!

My Baby is 5 today!

2009-07-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

My Sweet Mayli Ann was born 5 years ago today. She was so tiny and such a blessing to our lives. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. We love her more and more each day!

She is such a sunshine in our lives and is always making us laugh. She is a wonderful big sister and can't wait for her new brother or sister to get here. We love you Mayli and hope you have a fun fun 5th birthday!

My new Niece!

2009-06-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Emily Lyn Olsen

Was born on Tuesday June 23rd to Aj's sister Natalie and her husband Chad. They have one little boy named Carson who just turned 2 and I hear he just loves his new little sister. We are really sad to not be in Utah to get to see her but thanks to my sister in law Amy posting a picture of her sweet Abby holding her we finally got to see what she looks like! She is so sweet and we are so hoping they come to the beach so we can hold her. Mayli kissed the picture on the computer screen when she saw it (so cute!) We can't wait to meet her, congrats you guys!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! The girls were so excited to wear their I Love My Dad shirts and send their dad an e-card. It was really cute and they love him so much. We love you Aj!

My baby sister graduated!

2009-05-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

Catherine Lacy graduated from Highschool on May 20th (the same day AJ left for Indonesia) lets just say it was a rough one. She is so stinkin cute and I am so proud of her for also graduating from Semenary and Message Therapy School.

Aunt Megan made my girls these cute tutus to wear to the graduation, they are Cath's school colors (and BYU's!) We got lots of compliments on how cute they looked, thanks Meg!
Me and my sweet sister. Can you believe that there are 10 years and a week between us? Ya I have my 10 year reunion coming up, should be interesting.

My cute girlys with their Aunt Cath, they sure do love her!

We love you Aunt Catherine!

A little help from my AZ friends!

2009-05-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies! While I am in AZ this summer I have to have a couple of my check ups for my baby and my obgyn doesn't do the baby thing anymore so. . . It would really help me out if any of you in the Mesa/Gilbert area who love your obgyn could give me their name and phone #. Thanks so much to any of you who respond!

Baby #3!

2009-04-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Its True! Many of you have already heard but I am pregnant with baby #3! I went to my 1st doctors appointment today and I am 10 weeks along and am due November 22nd. The doctor said everything looks good and I even got to hear the little heart beat! We are very excited for this new little addition to our family (even if I can't keep anything down!)

I saw this on one of my friend's blogs and just love it!

Where in the World. . .???

2009-04-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jakarta Indonesia! Yes folks this is where my husband AJ will be all summer long, doing an internship for Exxon Mobil (the largest company in the world!) I am so excited for him and he is so excited about this opportunity. What does this mean for us??? Well we will be in good old AZ counting on family for company and support. This is good news and crazy news at the same time. Who knew our lives would be like this??? I will sure miss my sweet husband for 3 months this summer! Way to go babe!

Little Silly Girls!

2009-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Nielson's were here this weekend for Natalie's baby shower and Saturday night we went to a Tepanyaki place for dinner and the girls LOVED it. The cook was so funny and had the girls so involved that Mayli has already asked when we are going there again. Thanks Grammie and Papa! The girls were sharing a water and I was able to snap this shot and I LOVE IT! Priceless!

Easter Fun!

2009-04-19T18:35:00.001-07:00

We did an egg hunt outside our appartment with the Nielson cousins. It was cold and rainy but the kids couldn't care less, they had a blast!
Tori showing off her basket of eggs!

Mayli with her basket but not wanting to focus on the camera when she could see another egg!

All the kids checking out their candy!

Easter morning they found their goodies and were so happy. (We have enough Easter candy to last us until Halloween!)

My sweet girls in their cute new Easter Dresses! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and remembered the real reason for it!

Weekend with my Mom!

2009-03-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tori and I picked my mom up from the airport on Thursday morning and went back to Provo to pick Mayli up from preschool. When she saw my mom she just started screaming "My Grammie my grammie!" It was really fun to surprise her.

Of course we had to go to Panda bear for lunch and then headed to the park. The weather was so nice when she was here!

Friday Morning we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. They had this cool cow right when we walked in that the girls just had to get on.

You could buy some dried corn to feed the animals but Tori was just happy sharing her popcorn with them. She was SO funny she would say "come here goat!" and then feed them some and then ask "is that good goat?" Such a sweetie!

Mayli has been wanting to ride a horse ever since we moved here and she finally got her chance. She loved it and was such a big girl riding all by herself and not wanting me to walk by her.

Tori loved it too! In fact it was her favorite part and she was SO mad when her turn was over.

Natalie and Carson came with us and we got to go on a carriage ride that was pulled by 2 horses. We had a really fun day.

We had a great fun filled weekend. Friday night AJ and I got to go out on a date and stay out really late playing rock band with some friends. Saturday we met Jen and Ed Parker for lunch and then went swimming with Amy and her family. We kept busy and were all really sad when Sunday came and we had to take Grammie to the airport. We loved having you here and love you so much Grammie!

Shh!

2009-03-14T14:57:00.001-07:00

My mom is coming! We will go pick her up from the airport after I drop Mayli off at Preschool on Thrusday. She wants to surprise the girls so don't say anything! I am SO excited though and my girls will be so happy to have their grammie here for a visit!

Warm enough for playing at the park... sort of!

2009-03-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

So on Friday it was SUNNY (about 40 degrees) but still it was sunny! We decided to have a picnic at the park, it was really fun.

Tori LOVES to swing. She pretty much stays in the swing the whole time we are there, I would just give her something to eat and push her and she was a happy girl.

Mayli on the other hand loves to swing but likes to run around much more. She is such a happy girl and was SO happy to be at the park. Thanks Sunny Day!

Fun Museum Field Trips!

2009-03-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

Through the MBASA (MBA spouse association) there is always fun things to do. The past 2 Fridays we have gone to some fun Museums for a little culture.

This Friday we went to the BYU Museum of Art where they had a Walter Wick exhibit. He is the guy who does all the I Spy picture books. Mayli LOVES his books and so just loved going to see this. They had lots of pictures and also his little models that he makes for his pictures . He actually sets up little models of castles and things with little people and everything, amazing!

The Friday before last we went to the Museum of Cultures and People. We learned about Native Americans, listened to some books, and saw some neat pottery.

Then the kids got to try to make pottery of their own with play dough! They had lots of fun at both of these field trips, thanks MBASA!

Swimming Lessons!

2009-03-14T14:11:00.001-07:00

Mayli started swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago and DID NOT like it at first. She is so afraid of putting her face under the water but she has a really nice teacher and only one other kid in her class and she is getting more comfortable and having fun now.

This is her favorite thing to do, kicking and splashing!

Here she is with the goggles that I smarly barrowed before I would buy her some- she didn't put them on her eyes the whole time!

And there she goes facing her fear, she is doing so good!

Spring Forward!

2009-03-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

WHAT you say, ya me too! This whole changing times is crazy, we are now an hour later than all of you AZ folks. To be honest I see the point with the day light savings when it isn't even dark at 7:30pm but it still is weird to me! Nothing I can do about it though except set my clocks AGAIN, silly!

I love Mr Clean!

2009-03-02T20:16:00.001-08:00

I know that I am way behind on this but I have never used a Magic Eraser before this weekend when I had to clean my apartment after we moved (yes we moved again, just to a new apartment in Provo but that is a whole new post). This thing kicks butt! You can clean so much with this and it gets stains out that you can't get out with other cleaners, I am very impressed. Thanks Mr Clean!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law Amy called my on Thursday morning and said she had some extra tickets to the Draper Temple open house. I wasn't sure if we should go because the tickets were for 12:40 and with nap time and all it was going to be interesting, not to mention we were moving the next day! But... I really thought that it would be something neat for my girls to see and I was right.

It was so beautiful and Mayli loved all the paintings of Jesus. It is always neat to get to see inside the beautiful temples and feel the spirit that is already there.

We went with Amy, Spencer, Abby and Lyla and also Amanda and her girls Sophie and Laynie.They were all so cute together and had a really good time.

There was a bunch of paintings and pictures in a chapel after we did the tour with cookies and little water bottles. Tori was pretty much done by this point but overall it was a really neat experience.

Sad Days, No crib at our house

2009-02-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

I am a sad mama, my girls are getting so big. On Monday we set up the other toddler bed for Tori to sleep in. She is doing really well and loves being in a big girl bed, me not so much.

I am kinda sad that there isn't a crib up in my home now but we are working on that! She is such a sweet little girl and I am thankful for what good friends her and Mayli are. They lay in their beds at night and talk to each other, it is so cute!

Cute Cousins!

2009-02-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Tori and Abby have really started to become good little friends. Abby was over the other night and I found them just sitting on Mayli's bed looking at little books, so cute!

Mayli had to get in on the fun too! They all love each other so much and have so much fun together.

Aunt Catherine comes to visit!

2009-02-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

Catherine came to visit us on the weekend of Presidents day and it was so good to have her here! I love her and miss her SO much!

As much as I miss her though my girls miss her more, all they wanted her to do while she was here was for her to play in their room with them. Tori didn't want this picture taken but I promise she was having fun!

We love you Aunt Catherine and miss you already!