Summertime adventures with friends!

We just got back from visiting our good friends for a few days in Visalia, CA. That is in the Central valley of CA and very hot! We made the most of having 5 little kids and being in the throes of summertime and had lots of fun! It was good to catch up and Shayla loved reuniting with her best friend Hank who moved out of Fillmore last year.

Shayla, Annie, dog Clyde and Hank enjoying ice cream!

Backyard play included chasing around their "pet" turkey named "Four O Clock"

A real sleepover on the couch...

We went to Lake Kameweah and enjoyed the water and sun!

Mitchell, Lucy, Shayla, Annie and Hank

Shayla and Mitchell

Mitchell and Mom

Shayla and Hank Best Buddies Forever!

We went to Bravo Farms to watch cheese being made, see the animals, and enjoy more treats!

We spent a lot of time in the backyard eating watermelon, playing on the slip and slide, and enjoying each other!

The best kids backyard - playhouse, swing, dog and turkey, tons of bikes, garden, etc... AND MORE PHOTOS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW...

In one of the stars, she is living...

In one of the stars, I shall be living.
In one of them, I shall be laughing.
And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing
When you look at the sky at night.
-The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Two years ago this day, our sweet niece Charlotte returned home to her Heavenly Father! We miss her and love her so! Our prayers and thoughts are with Molly and her family! We know she is in good hands and we look forward to a happy reunion one day!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day last weekend with FOUR generation of Nelsons and THREE fathers! Love these guys!

The Silly pic (:

The best dad with his kiddos!

Papa and Shayla

Nana and Mitchell

Mitchell's Baby Signing

This video is over a month old but it shows some of Mitchell and his baby signing (although a bit distracted with Shayla). He knows over 30 signs but pretty much will only do them for me or Shayla! It is so cute as he has been actually starting to use them rather than just repeat them!

Video: Angry Bird Playing

The kids had fun playing Angry Birds together - we had 2 ipods and an ipad so they would all play the same level together. Also it was the first time I really played it before and it is fun and addicting (:

On that note, if you are an Angry Birds fan, check out this ADORABLE CRAFT to make your own Angry Birds out of yarn!

Nauvoo Brass Band Performance

This was fun to have the Nauvoo Brass Band show up while we were eating lunch and perform for us. My video is a bit jerky as I was taking creative license with the beat (:

Video: Rough Housing with David in St.Louis

A few videos from our St Louis trip - wish I got more of the kids but had Mitchell in one arm half the time!

Peter, St.Louis, Nauvoo and Family Time!

Last week I took Shayla and Mitchell (his first airplane trip) to St.Louis to visit my sister Molly and her family, to meet up with my brother David and his wife Amber, and to meet my newest nephew - Peter! He is so adorable and such a precious little guy - even Mitchell was enthralled with him and so gentle with him.

Despite a rocky plane ride with Mitchell wanting to push every button in sight (including the flight attendants call button over and over), lack of sleep, the 95 degree heat and 80+ degree humidity (whew), and the invasion of Cicadas, we had an awesome time and I would go again in a heart beat! It was so great to spend time with my family and it was so precious to see the kids together. Shayla had so much fun playing with her cousins and rough housing with her uncle and aunt! We visited many of the St. Louis sites - the Arch, Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Ted Drews Custard, City Museum. The City museum was the neatest museum I have ever been to with three stories of tunnels, caves, slides for the kids to run and play in and random things like a room full of sponges for the kids to play with and the worlds largest pencil.

We also took a little trip to Nauvoo Illinois, a restored historical town with significance to Mormons, and lots of neat history! Despite the humidity there too, it was so neat to see a piece of history and see where the saints lived and built the temple. If you are ever in the area you should go there! Everything is free and there are so many wonderful performances and pieces of history lived out for you to learn from. It was such a great experience. But the best part was spending time with all my adorable nephews and nieces and sister and brother! Here are some of my favorite photos of the trip and a slideshow of may more!

Shayla and Peter Anna, Paul, Christian and Shayla
Shayla at City Museum

Celebrating Memorial Day!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SERVE AND HAVE SERVED to allow us to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave...including my grandpas and my grandpa who was at Iwo Jima and watched them raise the flag we honor so much!

What a better way to honor those who have given time and life for our country - than to enjoy our freedoms! We kicked off the summer season with a fun church picnic including watermelon, hot dogs, sack races, and even stilts! Fun times for all!

Mitchell and his watermelon

Shayla loving the sack races

Mitchell and Mom

Shayla trying to learn stilts

Shayla's Birthday Weekend!

Shayla's fourth birthday weekend was lots of fun! I loved being able to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of my first born! She is so special and we had a blast celebrating her with friends and family!

We started with a celebration at her preschool - we got to bring in treats for her class and she got to wear her birthday hat and feel special! We had a family birthday party for her on Sunday!
We played musical chairs and daddy seemed to always win (:
Shayla in her annual birthday hat with mom The Nelson Family with our FOUR year old! The we celebrated on her actual birthday with a few friends! She got to choose her FOUR favorite friends to join us at the Ventura Harbor for Carousel rides, arcade games, lunch and cupcakes!
Mitchell loved the carousel too!
Shayla with her blue frosting mouth (thats all she eats of cupcakes)

Shayla received many fun gifts from all - here is an electronic drum set from us (which of course comes with headphones!) Many more photos of birthday fun and loved ones in the slideshow below or at: https://picasaweb.google.com/Larissamay123/Shaylas4thBday#