One Just for You, Shanda! :-)

I believe Guy's "oh-so-polite" words were, "Hey, Shanda! Can we borrow that basketball?" You certainly earned the "I'm Not A Camping Wimp" Award this year.

Mitchell on the Move

Mitchell ran on very little food and almost no sleep at the reunion, but run he did, most often dragging my (poor, tired) mom along with him (one can see why she is his favorite person).

Proof They Played Hard!

More Family Reunion- Trenton crashed right as dinner was starting, and Caleb hit a wall just after eating.

Nielson Family Reunion * July 4-5, 2008

Here are a few highlights from the fun family reunion at Kolob in Southern Utah over the 4th of July. My mom and her 4 siblings, and many of their kids/grandkids all camped together, and my 100-year-old grandmother even came up for an afternoon. It was great to catch up with cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. Above: Caleb, Gavin, Marcus, Kira (the 4 Musketeers) at the pot-luck.

Talia and Sheridan--a study in contrasts.

Me, Shanda and Serena singing at the "Talent Show" (no running water, but we did have a couple of PA systems--pretty telling about our family :-)

Talia, Tessa and Mitchell stay somewhat contained while we pack up camp.

My hopes for the next reunion:
1) That the water be working
2) That someone figure out how to turn down the mid-day temps a little
3) That the reunion can last a day longer so that we can get a real late-night game marathon going. Besides, we really have so many cousins, we need more time to just talk to everyone.

We had a blast, though.

Haircut Mood Swings

June, 2008
1) Mitchell was so excited for his turn to get his hair cut that he was pushing Sheridan off prematurely.
2) Then he saw the clippers/scissors and decided they were ok until they got within 6 inches of his head.
3) Resigned to his fate. There are actually lots of blurry pictures (an ear here, a cheek in another) that show the physical struggle M put up, but in the end (and this was no where near the end) we did manage to get somewhat of a decent cut.

My goal is to someday have a haircut day where no one whines--or at least where no one bursts into tears. Sigh.

Caleb's "Supai"

June 20-21, 2008 When Sheridan was 5, he and Guy went with Marenda and Sam to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon. The trip included a 10 mile hike in (I think it was 10, though it may have only been 8--I can't remember) and Guy and Sheridan trained for several months to be able to make the trek. At the time, Marcus kept asking when he could "have a Supai" himself. While that big an outing hasn't really been an option since 2003 when Sheridan went, we've kind of made a tradition of having the boys do some kind of hike with Dad before they start kindergarten. When Marcus was starting Kindergarten, we camped up near Squaw Peak and then Caleb and I droped Guy, Sheridan and Marcus at the top of Rock Canyon and they hiked down the canyon, and all the way to the house--about 5 miles. So, last month, Guy was lamenting the fact that he just hasn't had the time/opportunity to be with the younger boys like he was with Sheridan so he planned two short backpacking trips. First he took Marcus (and all the pictures from that trip are on Guy's phone and I haven't gotten them yet, so I'll have to include them later), and the next Friday he took Caleb. Both times they hiked in the Big Springs area up the South Fork of Provo Canyon. The hikes didn't really compare in length the the original Havasupai adventure but the boys (young and old) had a great time.Some of the highlights from Caleb's trip included playing games in the tent before bed, befriending many a caterpillar (in the 3rd picture he's trying to holding some so they'd be seen), and checking out the beaver dam.

Almost Camping

June 2008 We made a very uncharacteristic impulse buy of a used tent trailer and wanted to camp with it at least once to test it all out before our July family reunion in Southern Utah. We headed to Hope Campground up Squaw Peak Rd. . . and this is as far as we got before the radiator called it quits in a most spectacular way. While it's easy to see the frustration and the negative in a situation like this, I do wish to point out the positives:

* The boys had a great hillside to play on safely (mostly, anyway) while we waited

* We were close enough to town to have cell service, though we had to stand up on the rocks to avoid losing the call

* Deren and Marenda were nearby and could come to our aid (thank you very much).

* It was SO MUCH better for this to happen 15 minutes from our house than on the hill from Cedar City to Kolob Reservoir where we would have been many miles from any help.

* The evening was cool, and we had a beautiful view while we waited.

Baptism Cake

7-18-08 I'm getting out of order because I have quite the blog backlog, but I wanted to share this cake I decorated for a friend's daughter's baptism. This is the friend that let us use her family's cabin(s) for both Guy's birthday and the Sisters' Retreat (for free), so I wanted it to be a nice thank you. I probably worried more about it than I needed to, but I allowed myself lots of time to do it, so it didn't stress me out too much. The colors on the pictures are a little weird (you know, taking pictures at 9 pm, and trying to not use a flash, etc.) but it ended up being a very bright cake. The rainbow idea came from the baptism song about rainbows and the last lyrics of the song are printed around the top layer. I did "cheat" a little in that I used pre-colored fondant for most of the decor, but I did have to mix my own orange, purple and pink, and some of the yellow. Thanks to Kerali for talking the design through with me, and thanks to Mom for lending me pans, platter, etc.

Recycling

June 2008 When Mitchell found his old bath seat in the bathroom cupboard, he was determined to find a use for it. Initially he tried sitting in it to look at books, but eventually decided that he had to lay back so far that it must be for a more relaxing occupation. He hauled the thing downstairs and tried it out on both the floor and the couch to watch TV.

More Caleb

Part 1
Caleb: Mom, I gotta joke for you.

Me: OK, tell me.

Caleb: Why did the fly go to the market?

Me: I don't know, why?

Caleb: Because it's a joke, of course!

Part 2
Last night, Caleb was ill--fever, aches, miserable, with a bout of vomiting thrown in. After a rather restless night, he woke looking and feeling much better. He decided though that his stuffed animal "Baby Kinkajou" was sick, and went about doing things to help BK feel better. After making sure BK was comfortable, Caleb disappeared for a little while. When he came back in the room, he spoke to BK saying, "Baby Kinkajou, I have a wonderful surprise for you." From behind his back he produced a box he'd rescued from the recycle bin and announced to BK, "Look! It's something for you to throw up in!" I guess when you're sick, certain things do have an added appeal.