Bad Mom

Austin was recalling his childhood and told his sisters, "When I was younger I was being bad, so mom froze one of my toys and wouldn't let me play with it."

What really happened was Cynthia thought of a fun, cooling activity for a hot day: She froze one of his Star Wars action figures and let him use the hammer and screwdriver and go on an ice archeological dig.

We were amazed at how wrong he got it. How he mistook what should have been a nice memory as a punishment and an intricate one to boot.

Scrapbook

It is fun to show off a little. I am ready to get back into scrapping. I have always wanted to know what a "rhea" was (I use this word when I play word games). When I saw the bird I had to take a picture and add it to my scrapbook.

Sad News in the Nelson House

Austin has the whine flu—poor Mom.

Poor Austin

My poor boy. Starting in July something was always wrong with Austin. He popped his knee cap out at Timberline Scout Camp. He came down with Shingles. He finally got rid of the brace and then he got the flu. We got the shingles taken care of and he got a horrible cold that his body was too worn out to shake.He is finally all better, now if we can do something about his mouth-y-ness ☺

Locks of Love

Alexa has always looked up to Kellie, so ever since Kellie donated her hair to Locks of Love Alexa has wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love.
They cut 12" off and I was more worried about the short hair then Alexa was. I kept asking her if she was sure she wanted to do this now (the day before school started) and she said, "Don't worry mom, it is so in the now."

It turned out very cute and she is very sassy with this hair cut. I am proud of both my girls and their willingness to donate to Locks of Love.

Nelson Reunion

Heise Hot Springs has 3 pools and a slide. The slide was freezing (we made the kids go down the slide at least 10 times to balance the price of the ticket). The main pool was very cold, but that didn’t stop Alan (not pictured) from doing the most awesome cannonball I have ever seen. There had to be at least a 20’ splash.

The warm pool was warm, but gross. There was code upchuck, code red and code brown all on the day we were there. I feel like gagging just thinking about it. The hot pool was awesome, but it was so hot it was hard to stay in for very long. About 9:00p.m. the life guards said they were closing the slide soon, so the kids all ran over and for the next hour and a half went down the slide as fast as they could. All in all we had a really great time at the pool.

We took all three kids golfing this year at Heise. They did awesome! I think the par 3 course was perfect for them to begin their golfing experience. Austin got to golf with grandma and grandpa and Alan and I took the girls. We played best ball and Kellie had a few of those and Alexa had a couple. It was fun.

Obviously we forgot our camera, but we had a really fun time with the kids and Dean and Carma. It was nice to get away and visit with family. Once again it was great to go camping because of Dean and Carma letting us stay with them in their trailer.

Tennis Lessons

This year we really cut back on activities, but I let the kids choose one thing they really wanted to do. The girls wanted to learn how to play tennis. They had class at 7a.m. 7a.m.! It was super early for me, but they seemed to be able to get going in the morning.I had to tell Alexa to let the teacher teach. The girl does like to talk. She had some good swings and had a great time learning how to play.
Kellie has a wonderful backhand. If all of tennis was backhand she would play a pretty mean game.

Pretty Day

These were some great shots of the Arts Park where the girls took their tennis lessons. Alan and Austin went exploring and this horse got very friendly. It is a beautiful area in Springville and we enjoyed the time we got to spend there.

Timberline

Being from a very active scouting family, it seemed natural for us to send the boy to Timberline. He fought us (probably because we told him he was in charge of paying for it). The more he fought us the more convinced I was that it was a good thing for him to go. First day there he was playing Scalp the Scout and fell down hitting his knee on a rock. Then that night while squatting down his knee cap popped out and then popped back in.We got a call at 10:45 p.m. from the emergency room, “Mom, I may have to have you come and get me tonight, I popped my knee out, and they think I tore it.” The knee was too swollen to really tell what was wrong and they (Austin and the Scout Leader) decided to wait until morning to decide if he should stay for the rest of camp or not.

The next morning Austin called and said he would be fine there with a brace, and that he really didn’t want to come home. However, he did call every day “just to check in” and let us know how he was doing. We had no chance to really miss the guy, but it was thoughtful of him to think of us.At closing ceremonies Austin challenged a staffer to a light saber fight. He was really into it, hopping around on one leg, then Alan yelled out, “Sweep the knee!” I laughed all through the videoing of the fight, but missed what Alan yelled, so I am laughing on tape and no one knows why.

Swimming Lessons

One of the reasons I love having swim lessons at 7 Peaks, besides the small classes, being outside, and giving the kids a day pass for the park, is the last day I get to take pictures of them playing on the slides. I don’t get to do that when we go to 7 Peaks for the day, I don’t want to get the camera wet. Not pictured: Austin-he sprained his knee at scout camp and didn’t get to have swimming lessons this year.

1st Day of School

We made it through the first day of school! We found out that Reagan Academy will take the 7th graders to Bryce Canyon every year (Kellie was the 1st class to get to go). They offer German (Austin), ASL(Kellie) and electives where Kellie can take drama and learn to play guitar and Austin can play sports and board games (I know it is a weird elective, but with his health lately . . .) I love this school, and the kids love the school, can't ask for more than that.

A "Dying" Art

This will probably be the last year we dye easter eggs. Carma always has 1/2 dozen eggs for each kid to find during the hunt. They are fun to dye, but nobody eats them after the hunt, and nobody does the Roll the Eggs game anymore.

Spirit Week

Our wonderful school had a spirit week and Lex decided she was going "goth". I don't know where she gets such ideas, but her mind was set. Kellie likes the poodle skirt we have and Austin just wanted to wear jeans and a t-shirt to school (they usually wear uniforms).

Fun with Hair

We have had a lot of fun this year with the girl's hair. I found these fun curlers and after a huge trial and some error I finally figured out how to put them in the girl's hair without hurting them. I also found the clip on colored hair that the girl's have worn maybe twice.

School Play

Austin was in the play Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. He did an excellent job of saying his lines clearly and of dying when it was his turn to be killed. I love that after the play, when all the other kids were running around and playing, Austin went and helped his teacher clean up the set.

Hospital

We were all packed to go to Idaho, we were just waiting on Alan to get home from his doctor appointment. He got home and told us he had to go to the hospital within the next few hours. Alan’s (Dave’s) kidney was failing. We were worried, until Alan was given a blessing and told that he had done everything he could to keep the kidney, now it was in the Lord’s hands if we had the faith. We were fine after that (well, as fine as you can be while being admitted to the hospital). Alan was in the hospital for four days and even though it was tiring and stressful not knowing exactly what was going to happen we had a great time.Kellie and Alexa found ways to amuse themselves with fake nails.The kids had 2 modes: Heelying and waiting to Heely.

He Said | She Said

Back in 1992ish, I watched a few episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation and Cynthia mocked me relentlessly. I told her the shows were pretty good and convinced her to watch an episode (which was a bit of a mistake) she then became quite a Star Trek fan . . . not a trekkie but a fan. Last night we saw the new Star Trek movie. Friends and critics alike seemed to love it, so (admittedly) my expectations were probably set too high. I wasn't too interested in seeing it—I went for Cynthia. Over all, the movie was good. I was irritated by the many cheesy scenes of bringing together a real rag-tag bunch of misfits to make up the crew of the Enterprise. The scenes came across as hooky, trite, and trying too hard to be clever. Often times I caught myself rolling my eyes at the actors attempting to pull off imitations of the original cast. One example is when the doctor says, “Damn it man! I'm a doctor, [weird pause] not a physicist!” it just didn’t quite work. Spoiler Alert: You may want to skip this paragraph if you haven't seen the movie. In the end I was dismayed being left in an alternate reality. Kirk asked future Spock if he (Kirk) knew his father in an alternate reality to which future Spock says yes. When it's done we are left in a reality where Kirk doesn't know his father so I'm left wondering if the TV shows all follow the alternate reality or the original timeline where Kirk knew his father. If movies are going to deal with time travel I expect them to do it well or at least wrap up loose ends. The story is a little convoluted and confusing. The movie seems to focus on the action rather than telling a great story. In the end, I liked it.

When Alan and I were first married, Alan had me watch some of the Star Trek movies. I watched them and thought they were o.k. I watched a few of the original episodes and thought they were pretty bad. Then Alan started watching Next Generation. I gave him a hard time for watching a geeky show. Alan said they were pretty good, I didn’t believe him and continued to give him crap. Alan was sick of me making fun of him so he made me sit down and watch one with him—I loved it. I have been Trekkie-ish ever since. (I couldn’t get into Voyager and Enterprise though.) I think the new Star Trek movie is awesome! From start to finish I was enthralled. I wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the preview, but I didn’t know who would want to see it with me. Luckily, I have a nice husband who sacrificed. Spoiler Alert: I love that they have wiped the slate clean and now they can have they can start over possibly having close to the same missions, but failing at some and working things out differently in others. I think it was fun how they brought most of the characters on. Scotty was my favorite introduction. I think his line, “I don’t want to take sides,” was hilarious. I didn’t like McCoy. He crapped all over the one line he is famous for. I didn’t like Chekov, it took me forever to place who he was trying to portray and he was a little forgettable. Except for the one sex scene that wasn’t necessary, because we already knew that Kirk was a dirt bag, I loved the show.

Star Trek is rated PG-13 for strong violent action and imagery (space battles, including phaser fire, stabbings and brawling, planetary upheaval, explosive, and vehicular mayhem); some suggestive language, scattered strong profanity, sexual comments, derogatory slurs, and language; a brief sex scene; a brief scene depicting torture; and some brief gore.

With a rating of PG-13, we were shocked to see small children in the theater; one boy looked to be about three years old. We are appalled that parents don't seem to understand that PG stands for Parental Guidance, meaning “Hey parents uses some judgment and remember your kids are kids!”

Art City Days - Carnival

The carnival has never been my favorite part of Art City Days. It brings out the worst in Springville and is ridiculously expensive. My dad generously provides the grandkids with ticket money and so my kids get to go on the rides.

The first ride the kids looked for was The Scrambler. That is the ride that goes around and around and spins at the same time. They decided to go to the next spiny ride and went on the Spaceship ride. This one has you stand and while it spins it will lift you up so you are no longer touching the floor. They loved it.


Austin is scared to death to ride the Ferris wheel as he is scared of heights, but he went on so his sister, Alexa wouldn’t have to go by herself. As he rides the ride he realizes it isn’t so bad and actually went on the ride 2 more times.


Kellie rode this ride with her cousin that I have dubbed The Ride from Hell. When she got off the ride she was shaky and sick to her stomach and was done with the carnival.

Alexa saw that the ride was spiny and fast and wanted to go on it too. She was too short. Immediately she handed me 3 of her tickets for me to ride with her. I was hesitant and wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but she really wanted to and the carnie said all I had to do was hold her and she would be fine. Problem: He didn’t tell me how to hold her. I thought to hold her against the seat when really I was supposed to hold her head up. Half way through the ride her head was bent over and I couldn’t move to put it right. Hence the name Ride from Hell.

After the scary ride she went on the train with her cousins got her nerve back and went the first fast, spiny she rode and claimed it was “relaxing,” so I knew she would be ok.


We saw a storm coming and most of the rides were shutting down. Alexa still had tickets so she ran to the only rides that were open, the Jungle and the Merry-Go-Round. Then it poured. We rushed to the car and then to grandma’s. For the rest of the day we played games and had a bbq and watched the firework’s from the balcony. (We were not going to brave another storm.)

All in all a great Art City Days.