The Mormon Battalion

On Sunday we went to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center in Old San Diego. It was absolutely amazing! It was recently redone and has only been newly opened for a few months. They did not cut any corners. They have an outside area for old west activities and chores.



Seth is panning for gold with Grandma.


Violet and Jonah are watching one of the films. They were so well done. We were surprised to see John Hanks from our old Green Valley ward as a main character in a film. In one room the seats vibrate with the action in the film.



Violet is pumping water for her tough day ahead as pioneer girl.



Our sister missionary was so cute. Made me want to go on a mission.



Seth worked hard to bring the bucket up to the surface.



A little wagon ride.



Seth is strong and valiant like this soldier.

Belmont Amusement Park

We found this small amusement park near the condo and right along the shoreline. The rides are 1/2 off on Tuesday nights.


Kyle was brave enough to ride the roller coaster.










We were watching the kids go around and Kyle told me to look at the expression on this horse's face. We laughed because she happened to choose this horse among all the animals.



Here's the close-up. What a crack-up to see that tongue.

Toy Story 3

On the drive home from San Diego we pulled off I-15 as we entered Vegas and saw Toy Story 3. The timing was perfect. We missed the previews, but I don't like my kids to see all the previews. Seth and Jonah were familiar with the new characters and the story because I bought a Toy Story 3 book from Smiths. They read it on the drive up to CA. They also have a Toy Story 3 comic book that kept them busy for a good chunk of the drive.



This picture proves that I was on the trip.

brown hair

I colored my hair before we left for San Diego. It took me a few days to get used to the new look...but I think I like it. I've had highlights for so long so it feels like a big change. The big plus is that I had a friend help me with the color, so I'll be saving some big bucks (at least until I go back to the highlights).

my girl

Violet found this hat in my closet.

kindergarten graduation

I am emotional about Jonah finishing kindergaten. His kindergarten year flashed by so fast and now I can see him as a big 1st grader. He is so independent and wide eyed and a joy to have in our family.



Here is Jonah in a slide show. He wants to be a gardener when he grows up. I believe this is exactly what Seth said when he was in kindergarten. They love mowing the grass with Dad and working outside - like all boys. With Kyle's landscape business, Seth and Jonah should have plenty of opportunities to live out their career dreams as gardeners :).



Jonah bought this gumball machine this weekend with his own money. He gave the store clerk his cash and then Kyle slyly switched the clerk for his Discover card. Kyle pulled out the card ony because we had several purchases paid with pennies and nickels and it was beginning to be a mess. Yesterday we were handed all of Jonah's school work from the year. I was reading in his journal and found a recent entry about his gumball machine that he bought with a "credit card." I had to laugh because he didn't miss a beat. Kyle and I remember when we had gumball machines around the same age. I know that I loved mine!

Seth wanted to save his money so he did not buy a toy. Violet really, really wants a pillow pet, especially the unicorn, but Target didn't have pillow pets so she found a jack-in-the box. The next day she was crying over how much she wants a pillow pet, and I told her she could get one for her birthday. I couldn't believe it when I heard seth trying to comfort her. He told her he would use his own money to buy her a pillow pet. How sweet! Another time he used his money to buy her furniture for her Dora house. There's something not normal about this :) but I don't want to stop him from being generous.

warm springs

We enjoyed a ward camp out at Warm Springs. Next time, I want to let the kids explore the streams. I noticed there were families exploring all over the place. I followed some voices and found a pocket where a stream widened into a little pool. What could be more fun for boys...and girls too? The warm water makes for great swimming!



This is the main spring. The whole place is owned by the church. The kids swam with fish, and they were entertained all afternoon swimming down to touch rocks and bringing them up to the surface. Back in the day when Kyle and I came with our own families, they had a rope swing and they allowed cliff jumping. I am so sad the rope swing is gone.



The kids enjoyed sleeping in a tent and playing with ward friends. We should buy a family tent and do more camping.

mini vacation...only in vegas

I have not been into taking pictures lately, but I thought it would be fun to do a post about our mini vacation to the Golden Nugget. The kids loved staying overnight in a hotel and swimming in this vegas style pool. The water slide goes through the shark tank. Only in Vegas! We have the biggest, brightest, tallest, shiniest, out of this world, unlike anything you can imagine. Once in a blue moon a creation will be classy. The Bellagio fountains are so beautiful, but most attention grabbers here make me laugh and think "only in Vegas". That being said, the boys LOVED the shark tank slide. We'll have to do another mini-vacation this summer.



I liked how we could swim right up to the tank and watch the sharks.

Jonah: big 6 year old

I made treats and took them into Jonah's kindergarten class to celebrate his birthday. Jonah held the globe and walked around the candle (the sun) 6 times to show his 6 years of growing. These kindergartners really understand what a year means!



They are giving Jonah a birthday wish. Violet is in the background in pink and she's not about to hold hands with these strangers.



Jonah had a big family/cousin birthday party at the park. We enjoyed games, water balloons and a Star Wars cake. Cody and Jana won the water balloon toss and Granny and Grandpa Lewis were the runners up! The kids had fun with their games too :). The highlight for Jonah was getting a 10 dollar bill from Grandma and Grandpa Nielson. We were all surprised with how excited he was. He did a dance (literally) and shouted for joy. The next day he told everyone in primary and the home teachers about his 10 dollars. He also told his school class (when I went in for his treat) about his AMAZING 10 dollars.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Nielsons

Kyle and my brother, Eric, had birthdays so my parents took us out to eat at Memphis Barbecue. Usually for b-days we have dinner at their place (which I love), but this time we found babysitters and enjoyed some adult conversation. We had some yummy ribs doused with BBQ sauce and the yams were something special. I recently found a really good (but young) babysitter and the kids love her. She lives in our neighborhood and she brings over crafts and a bag of fun things to do. She is MINE and no one else can have her. I could get used to going out on dates now and again!

I think it will be fun to have Eric and Melissa in Vegas now. He is going to UNLV and finishing up his degree in political science. I think he missed his calling...he should have been an actor in "New Moon".

helicopter date night

We had a date night with Cody and Jana! (Kyle's brother and wife) We enjoyed a helicopter ride over the strip and then dinner and a movie. It was so fun! Too bad the copter didn't keep flying all the way to Rome or Paris...but the whole night really was dreamy.



Here's Kyle right after we stepped off the helicopter. I loved feeling the power of the blades whip my hair around. Kyle and I laughed later because he remembers ducking under the blades. As if they are going to get us! It seemed natural to duck -just to be sure. Isn't that what you see in the movies? The weather was beautiful for flying, not a gush of wind or a rustle of leaves. A calm, calm night.





Here's Cody and Jana on the runway. We had great company! What a classy, classy couple. We're glad Jana made it through without any motion sickness. Just to be safe, we made sure they had front row seats far away from OUR LAPS :). This helicopter ride was a surprise for them - they didn't know what we were going to do until we pulled into the airport.











I had a blast getting glammed up for the date. Kyle took this picture of me outside of Cody and Jana's house before we took off.








My amazing friend, Sloan Hadfield helped me with EVERYTHING. She was Miss Nevada several years ago. She does make-up for weddings, she models, she's gorgeous. She knew what she was doing! Our kids played nicely together at her house while she helped me get dressed-up and did my make-up. I absolutely LOVED it!!!! It was fun to be brave and do something different.



It was a fabulous night OUT ON THE TOWN. Later we ate at Bahama Breeze and saw the movie New Moon.

blogging

I hope to print my blog to keep for family memories. Look at this one here. So sometimes posts are all about that record. Only Kyle is mandated to read this post and look at EVERY picture :). You have some cute kids Kyle, and when you're done looking at these we can go over how cute they are. I'm glad I'm their Mom.


They get $1.00 a bag.



I don't tell them Kyle owns a leaf blower.



Jonah's school Christmas party.



When Jonha's teacher started reading a story, Jonah zipped off to get a good seat. The rest of us found a seat where we could. But then when we sang Christmas songs together, Jonah looked around the room, found us and came and sat on my lap. I loved it.



Play the drum, drum, play the drum



The kids got Tinker Toys for Christmas. It makes me smile to see them play with building toys. Building toys are so expensive! I think for Jonah's birthday we'll add on to the tinker toys. They also like train sets, legos, and...



dominos



lincoln logs



lincoln logs



Michael, Seth and Jonah sledding at the cabin.



Kyle and Jonah sledding at the cabin.



Violet is geared up at the cabin.



Christmas morning



Christmas morning.