{NeiLSoN}

Bed {Head}

2010-11-28T22:28:00.000-08:00

Miley is sure to hate me later for these pictures but I think they're adorable!

Banana Cream {Pie}

2010-11-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

If mom won't let you and your sister have left-over Thanksgiving Banana Cream Pie then get it yourself and eat right out of the pie tin on a make-shift table.

Decorating the Christmas Tree {and a lot of silly!}

2010-11-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

Before we had kids I had a 'pretty' tree. Now it's a hodge-podge of ornaments from my own childhood and now my own kids' ornaments. My dad's side of the family used to do an ornament exchange on Christmas Eve. We'd go home with about a dozen new ornaments. I love the randomness of it and would prefer it over my 'pretty' tree anyday.

The girls' little tree in their room.

{Christmas Card} Photos

2010-11-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

We took our own photos at a nearby park...It was hard to chose my favorite because my girls are soooo cute but this top one was the winner!

Mommy {Jean}

2010-11-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love her! She is my most favorite person in the whole world!

Halloween with lots of {Sugar}!

2010-11-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

For Hailey's school party and for our ward's trunk-or-treat the girls {my Sugars} were bakers. We went the cheap route this year because we already had everything in their dress-up stuff. I think they turned out adorable!

{ Hailey and her best friend from school, Larissa.}

{For our ward's trunk-or-treat party Hailey, with a little help, made little cupcakes and passed them out to everyone}

{I want some cupcakes from this little red-head!}

{Halloween night the girls wanted to put some of their princess dresses on to go door to door}

Primary Program 2010

2010-11-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

At some point I'll find Hailey's part and add it to this post. She did a great job! She loves Primary and I hope that love for church will always stay with her.

Weeee

2010-11-07T23:21:00.000-08:00

Simple Moments...

Kindergarten Moments...So Far

2010-11-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Miss Hailey's First Fieldtrip

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

Miley and I drove up ourselves and met Sissy and her class at the pumpkin farm. The kids had a blast at 'Our' favorite spot.

{Miss Miley, Miss Hailey & our new best friend Miss Larissa}

{A swarm of Busy Bees!}

{Trainride...I don't remember dads coming on fieldtrips when I was younger but there were several that came along}

Jog-A-Thon

Each year Hailey's school does a jog-a-thon fundraiser where you can collect per-lap sponsors. Miss Miley and I went to the school to cheer her on. It was 95 degrees at 10 am! Everytime they completed a lap, they would get a mark checked off on the back of their shirt. Hailey did 23 laps. She ran for 15 minutes straight. I knew she needed some water and kept hollering at her to stop and get a drink at the water station but she kept telling me she was okay...

{...now we're not feeling so well. Puke is mid-way up at this poi nt but she managed to keep it down. She fought hard - to avoid the embarrassment of spewing in front of her class. I really thought I was going to have to take her home with me. She toughed it out! We may have a track career in our future, along with being a country star of course!}

{Meet our friend and next door neighbor Jase}

Mrs. Anderson's Busy Bee

2010-08-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's true. Hailey started kindergarten today. She woke up at 6:45 am ready to go to school (yes, I realize this phaze will end soon) and just had to get her new outfit on as soon as possible. She will go to school each day from 9:20 to 12:45 and hopefully I'll be able to get loads and loads of stuff done.

We're off to a good start! After dropping Hailey Bug off, Miley and I went to get the van washed (Austin would be sooo proud!) and then we went to Baker Ben's Donuts (YUM!). We were back home before we're normally done with breakfast...And not to mention the fact that I'm getting a blog post done. Here's some cute pics of my girl...

{Each morning we'll take her to the fence and wait with her until her teacher comes. The school campus is so much different than my elementary. Everything here in CA is outside. All the entrances to the classrooms are outside. No inner halls to walk down...it's just so weird to me! The boy right in front of her in line is Brody - a little boy in Hailey's primary class so at least there's a familiar face.}

I just can't help but go back to the days of elementary school. I remember certain things so vividly! Come on all you Huskerdoos...sing along (dorky - I know!)

As you walk down the halls of Horizon
You will feel the warm spirit of our school
We always stand for the right
Using courage and might
We want to practice and live the golden rule

We come from North South East West
All 'round the town
We've got the best school anywhere
So come on Huskies Stand UP
Let's give a cheer
Horizon school you're the best we do declare - Yeah!

(I know some of you know this song!)

Miley turns the big {terrible} 2!

2010-08-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

Oh how the time flies! My baby is 2 already and embracing it in true red-headed style! Austin didn't get home until late on her birthday and so our party plans had to be put to another day. So we did the whole cake and ice cream thing and that's about it.

She's in panties almost full-time now and talking up a storm. She has this funny thing she does when she talks - she adds an 'a' to the end of words. She'll say 'hold-a me-a' or 'I-a want-a pop'. She also says a 't' sound for her 'c''s so 'Be Careful K' sounds more like 'Be-a Tareful Tay'.

She counts to 5 and loves to sing and dance with her big sister. She is NOT a fan of nursery (without me in there). She loves fruit and ahme (ice cream). She could eat corn on the cob every night and loves her eggs with Papo in the mornings. Her skin is so soft she still feels like a baby and her bum is the cutest thing ever! She loves to have her toes painted and has her favorite 'Purple BB' which translates to Pretty Blanket. She's just starting to love movies and will sit there with her eyes glued to the screen. Her prayers are the cutest and sweetest things you've ever heard. Tonight at dinner she said 'Tank you num-nums, tank you torn, Amen.'

I'm so thankful to have a mommy's girl. She's such a cutie!

{This was our impromptu birthday cake. We used cupcakes and decorated them to look like Tinkerbell's garden.}

{Hailey wrapped Miley's presents}

{Slap} Bracelets, Pogs & Bubble Necklaces...

2010-08-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Slap Bracelets, Pogs & Bubble Necklaces...

These are a few just gotta have items that I remember from elementary school.

But now there's a new kid in town. Meet the newest and coolest bracelets. They come in all different shapes and look completely ridiculous when worn, however, I understand the 'importance' of them at this time in Hailey's life:) I'm sure this simple worldy possession will sooner or later be a fun memory of her childhood.

And the best place to buy them is Dollar Tree!

{Sweet!} {Hailey bought these for daddy} {It's sooo cool to wear a million of them at one time so you have some to trade with friends}

Don't let the bed bugs {bite}

2010-08-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, the sight of sleeping kids. Enough said.

Ward {Picnic}

2010-08-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

Our ward building has a huge grassy area and pavilion behind it. We had our end of summer ward picnic there with a huge slip 'n slide, dunk tank, water balloons, etc. We all brought our own picnic dinners and the ward provided banana splits. Hailey ran off with her primary friends and Miley loved the slide. Here's some funny photos of our night...

{C-R-A-S-H}

Not your Grandmother's {Wallpaper}

2010-08-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

So a recent client of ours decided to do a whole wall in zebra print (more details on our business blog: vinylwordsblog.blogpost.com). It turned out awesome! It was actually really easy to put up. There are so many cool graphics and patterns out there that would be so fun on a wall. Anyways, the pictures speak for themselves!

{Custom Logo - almost 6 feet long}

We were {Flocked}

2010-08-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share a fun fundraising idea from one of our local high schools. How it works: The birds are put in your yard late at night. You don't want this beautiful yard art any longer and you wish for your friends to receive the flock. So...you 'pay' to have them removed and soar to another home for a night and the process continues. Kinda fun!

Lake {Amador}

2010-07-27T13:40:00.001-07:00

As a final hurrah to the summer, we took a small trip to Lake Amador and went camping. We only went Saturday night to Monday and good gravy...it is so much work. The van was packed from front to back with camping crud and the thing is - is that we needed every bit of what we took. The set-up and clean-up are such party spoilers but it's the memories in between that make it all worth it.

Somebody told us before we went that this place was really 'dusty'. We thought 'Come on, we're caming...what do you expect?". Well...we found out soon enough that this dirt was 'special'. It stuck to EvErYtHiNg! The first few pictures are literally the first few minutes after we arrived. It's a good thing we had the lake to rinse off in!

{We had a special visitor during the night that scared the jeepers out of us. It ended up being a harmless deer eating our garbage but for all we knew it could have been a bear.}

Score:

Tiffany = 3

Austin = SKUNK!

That's right...who's the fisherman now?

{This is how close our campsite was to the water}

I ended up with about 5 baskets of laundry for less than 2 days of vacation. The stuff we do for our kids!

Family Pictures

2010-07-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Hailey!

Miley is almost 2 and these are our first 'official' family pictures with the 4 of us. Neilson Sisters

Austin's sisters and brother

Aaron, Austin, Ashley, Angie & Amanda

All of the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa Neilson

The whole gang The 'Adult' Kids

Station 70

2010-07-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here's Austin's home away from home on the weekends. They just moved into this station a couple of months ago. After 30 years in a double-wide this place looks like a mansion! There's lots of yard work and maintenance but it's worth having such a nice place.

Out in the country

Austin's Captain is going to do a memory wall so we put up a vinyl 70 for them in the office.

Here comes the {Bride}...

2010-06-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Chris & Athina got married in June. Another happy RC Willey couple. Tata (my mom in kid language) was the unoffical wedding planner and Hailey was the flower girl. Ash flew in from Utah. Our special project was the cupcakes. I'll let Athina share all of the special details of the day in her own words but here's some pictures of the beautiful day.

The beautiful bride...

My girls

The most beautiful flower girl!

The headband we made to match Hailey's flower dress. We can thank Amanda and her girls for the cute idea!

{Cupcakes!} LOTS OF CUPCAKES

Ash found this really cool icing tip then added some ivory sprinkles...they were yummy!

Such a cute idea...{Candy Table}

Athina ordered blue candy to match the colors of her wedding. I'm definitely going to use this idea for something someday...Maybe Hailey's Sweet 16

There were little plastic bags so that everybody could take some goodies home.

We love Addie - such a good babysitter for the ceremony!

Custom vinyl monogram labels. I'm pretty sure you can get them at BloomingWords.com:)

Cuttin' a rug on the dance floor

Roadtrip!

2010-06-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

So our journey began with a very long car ride. Both girls did really well. Hailey watched movies on Austin's IPod and Miley had her own dvd player. We left at about 4 am and made it to SLC at 1:30.

{Our Car Ride - Day 1}

This was a fun moment! Miley screaming "All Done!" a couple hours into the trip.

And finally! Our favorite place to eat was waiting for us with open arms...

La Puente

Killing time in Lehi waiting for Ashley to get off work.

We spent a day and a half at Ash and Kev's house just hangin' out!

{Hogle Zoo - Day 3}

We thought this would be a fun place for Hailey & Miley to hang out with their cousins (and meet a few new ones!) The weather was great and we all got to catch up. Thanks Grandma Vickie and Papa Frank for our picnic lunch! Thanks everyone for taking the time to come with us!

Hailey & Ayrion

Checkin' out la cucaracha (forgive my espanol if it's mispelled)

Austin & Papa Frank

Maceton & Hailey

The new baby elephant

Miley, Mally Mo, Hailey & Kenna Benna

Dax & Hailey

Austin & Jaxon

Train Ride

Macers

The whole gang with one on the way.
There's 7 kids 2 and under. We were pretty much the main event.

Later that night we went to El Matador in Bountiful for dinner. KFAN radio happened to be there with the Jazz Bear. I'm bummed this picture turned out so blurry! The Bear tormented Hailey by rubbing paws all over her head and making her hair a mess! She and Miley both got a signed basketball. Go Jazz - well, next season.

Ashley, Preston, Presley & Evvah came to our hotel to swim. We swam for over 3 hours and figured the kids would be wiped out after a day of the zoo. Nope! Midnight comes and goes and the girls were still going strong playing on the bed. A huge thunderstorm rolled in and the power went out. We hung out in the dark for a while. Then Hailey said 'Mom, I wonder if anybody was in the elevators.' Yeah, that would have been scary!

{Day 4 - A little bit of EVERYTHING!}

But somehow managed to take a big goose egg in the picture department.

Amanda did my hair and my kids got to play with the Borchert kids. Then we went to grandma Vickie's and we hung out with Angie and her kids. Then we met up with Aaron and Brooke at LUCKY CHINA and headed out to see their new house. The triplets are adorable and doing really good. It was really fun to hang out with everybody one on one!

{Day 5 - Temple, Horses and Toy Story}

We went to Sconecutter for lunch and Hailey got herself this awesome 25 cent mustache. After lunch we went to Schmidt's Pastry for some eclair therapy. It makes me hungry just thinking about it! If you've never been, it's on 21st South heading up towards Sugar House. You gotta check it out!

We took a ride on a horse carriage around temple square. Not really worth the 50 bucks but oh well - the kids had fun.

I feel bad for whoever has to dump the poop sack at the end of the day. I'm just sayin'.

Temple Square

Families are Forever

The whole gang met up at Gateway to watch Toy Story 3...

Jacee & Mikabree

Best of Friends

We ate at Rumbi's and did a little shopping at Gateway before heading back to the hotel.

{Day 6 - Pictures, Dinner, Park & Goodbye}

We had much needed family pictures bright and early. There were 9 more grandkids (and do I need to mention one less adult?) than the last family picture so it was very much overdue. These pictures are the real ones - just a few we took while waiting for everyone to get there. Our colors were navy, yellow and white. It turned out really good.

Daddy's shirt was a joke so please don't think I really let him wear that for our pictures.

We met up at Boston's Pizza in Layton for dinner. We got to see EXTRA family which was fun! Karen & Craig and Cheryl & Megan were nice enough to come say hi. Afterwards we went to the park and hung out until it got dark. Then we had to say our goodbyes which is never fun. Miley still misses her Mally Mo!

{Day 7 - Headin' Home with a stop in Reno}

We decided to take the trip home in 2 days. We made it to Reno at about 4pm and checked in to the Grand Summit Sierra Hotel. Our room was really big and fancy. But once again I forgot the camera among other things (diapers). The parking lot is so big that it's worth the money to valet your car - which made it very difficult to go back to the car and get the things we needed. So needless to say, we did without the camera and we bought some REALLY expensive diapers at the gift shop. We tried to stay out of the smokey casino and headed off to the arcade. Then after dinner we went to the pool that was freezing cold and then ordered in desert to our room. It was a fun Father's Day! The next morning we slept in and took our time getting home and back to real life which ended up including boogers, puke and other unmentionables. It was really good to visit 'home' but California is HOME. It's hard to see what we're missing in Utah but it's also fun to be on our adventure. One more thing...I hate Utah drivers!

Utah Visit {June 16-20}

2010-05-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Neilson Fam...I'll post this info on Austin's facebook too but here's some of the stuff planned for while we're there. Everyone's invited...it'll be fun to see all the cousins together!

Wednesday, June 16th = ZOO

Friday, June 18th = TOY STORY 3 ( I was thinking a PM showing so that all the boys could come too??? But not too late because we have pictures bright and early the next morning.)

Saturday, June 19th = Happy Birthday Brooke!!! Family Pictures in the morning and dinner at Boston's Pizza in Layton at 4:30. Reservations have been made. Then we can go back to mama Vick's house after.

We want to be able to come and visit everyone at their house too so I'll make specific plans with each of you...

We're EXCITED! And yes Ang - I remember what you look like:)

{Catchin' UP}

2010-05-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Easter feels like a lifetime ago and it's been that long since I've posted - so here goes a lengthy post. This year we went with our friends Kaylee and Jen to a golf course for an Easter egg hunt. It ended up being kind of lame because there were so many kids and not enough eggs. So a little disappointing...we're going to do our own egg hunt next year with only a few kids.

{My cute little bunnies}

{They had cages with a bunch of bunnies that the girls got to pet. There were white bunnies with reddish-pink eyes - FREAKY!}

We also did the offical egg decorating. We used a glitter kit this year. Note to self: you can't peel the shell off without getting glitter on the egg. We used some of the eggs for 7 layer salad for Sunday dinner and Tata gets so grossed out by the dyed eggs. You know how the color can stain the egg - she thinks they look rotten. What a dork!

Austin had Easter Sunday off and got to spend the day with us. The Easter Bunny hid most of the eggs outside and the girls had a blast finding them. Miley wanted to find an egg and eat whatever treat was inside before moving on. I don't know about anybody else but after a week of baskets hanging around collecting all sorts of junk they mysteriously have a way of disappearing. I'm not one who has a problem getting rid of stuff. I can buy a $2 basket again next year and then throw that one away. It works well for us.

{The tie-dye version}

{As Miley would say "Mmmm, dat's dood!}

{I wonder what it must feel like to be 18 months old, have no idea of who or what the Easter Bunny is and wake up to a yard full of candy filled eggs. This is the life!}

Hailey started ballet. It was a 6 week program with the city (they offer lots of these classes - they're great because we're not committed to something...we can test it out and sign up for more if we want...or in the case of gymnastics we learn that not all gifts are given to everyone:)

Life has gotten crazier because after a few months off, I started work again. I'm back at the LOFT. It's nice because I already know everything and most everybody I worked with before is still there so I came back to lots of friends that I missed a lot. I work about 4 nights a week so it really chops my days up. I like the fact that it makes me get ready and gives me an excuse to leave the house for a while but I'd rather be home...maybe someday.

Austin is still in the residency program for Placer County Fire. We're keeping the faith that something will pay off in the near future. (Near meaning within the next year or so). He works a 24 hour shift nearly every Sunday so the girls and I are usually late for church every week. We go and visit him sometimes and the girls love it. Hailey gets to sit in the Engine. The station that Austin has been working out of was a double-wide trailer that the county has had for 30 years. He wouldn't care if they worked out of a tent as long as he was a paid firefighter. The county bought a new property with an existing house on it. They've done lots of improvements and it turned out really great. Next time the girls and I go for a visit, we'll try to remember to take the camera with us. The area that the station covers it pretty much out in the country. This should mean a lot of grass fires this summer and a lot of experience for Austin so we're really grateful that he has an opportunity to be involved with this program. Keep your fingers crossed for him!

Hailey had her kindergarten assessment yesterday which helps the staff determine what teacher they assign to the student. I'm kind of freaked out about her starting school - let me explain...They have 2 different start times = 9:20 and 8:00 am. What?!? I didn't think I'd have to deal with 8 am start time until Jr. High. They do not allow you to chose or give preference to what start time you have. I am so scared we're going to end up with the 8 am start time. School in general is going to take some adjustments getting used to but this will be a trial for us if we have to start that early. So when I say I'm freakEd out about her starting school I don't mean the extra 3 hours I'll have with only 1 kid instead of 2 - I'm actually really EXCITED about that part. So we won't know until August.

We finally get to take a trip back to Utah in June. It will have been over 2 years since we've last had a visit. We have lots of new cousins to meet. We're going to have family pictures done and there will be 9 (I think) more grandkids this picture with one more baking in the oven - no not me! I'm going to do a separate post with a schedule of things we're doing so everyone can come along!

Miley says all sorts of stuff now. Some of her ramblings...

'Sowwy mommy' = sorry mommy

mmm, dat's dood! = mmm, that's good

tute! = cute

bawbie = barbie

dat's mine = that's mine

ahme = ice cream

Pepa = pizza

wice = rice

TOP! = STOP

da-y = daddy

And for every nap she has to have her BB, Ba Ba and Bo Bo which translates to blanket, sippie and pillow.

{Sisters} A moment worth Posting!

2010-04-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'm not along in my frustration with parenting...it's just hard. I want my girls to be the best of friends and play together all day long but it's just not the case in our house. There's a lot of screaming and fighting BUT then I get these moments that make me smile. They do like each other...sometimes.

{I caught them in the back yard sitting on the bird poop covered bench. Hailey was reading Miley the Friend magazine.}

{Notice the swimsuit and t-shirt in March. The weather here is FABULOUS!}

Wall {ART}

2010-04-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

So seeing as though we run a vinyl lettering business and all, I thought it would be appropriate to finally get some on the wall for the girls' room. I've been meaning to do it for about 8 months now and with Hailey's design approval, we got it done. Here's the proof--> {The pictures uploaded out of order, sometimes blogger really bugs me!}

{Let's explain this photo...Hailey decided she wanted to 'organize' her closet. Wish me LUCK!}

Here comes the plug...

Vinyl lettering makes a great gift. Especially for Mother's Day which is right around the corner! It is really easy to apply and we've got some great new designs. We're happy to custom design wall art at no extra charge! I don't know if you can see from the pictures but our walls are pretty heavily textured and I was able to get the vinyl to stick with no problem. You can visit our website at http://www.bloomingwords.com/. Contact me for a Friends & Family discount!

And Oh yeah...We now carry vinyl and transfer tape for Personal Craft Cutters!

Chocolate {Mint} Cookies

2010-03-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

These cookies are so good we've made them twice in the last couple of weeks. They're like a soft thin mint cookie. It makes a ton so make sure to have reasons to give them away. It makes about 60 cookies. ENJOY!

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate one time and it worked great too!)
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 package Andes Mints
Parchment Paper

In a large suace pan over low heat, cook butter, brown sugar and water until melted. Add chocolate chips. Stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and stir until all melted. Cool for 10 min. With mixer, add one egg at a time. Then add dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Chill dough about 2 hrs. Roll teaspoons of dough into balls. {I used a small cookie scoop and it was perfect!} Bake for 12-13 minutes at 350 on PARCHMENT PAPER. Remove from oven and immediately place 1/2 mint on each cookie. Allow to melt and swirl with the bottom of a spoon. Cool completely. Makes about 60 cookies.

My baby is 5

2010-03-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

My little girl is now 5. I can hardly believe it. She has such a bright personality and is such a spawn of her dad. Her daddy is her world and she's learning how to be a sweet big sissy. We registered her for kindergarten a few days after her birthday which is so exciting for her. She is so excited to learn and meet new friends. For her birthday this year, she wanted to be with her best friend Kaylee. The two hung out and played until they passed out in the car driving Kaylee home. It was a fun day!

{At lunch @ Noodles & Co.}

If I had to have Mac & Cheese for lunch it was not going to be from a box!

{Hailey's contribution to the cake decorating. She got the back half of the cake}

{This Ariel cake was actually really easy! We used a bundt pan and left the cake on the inside of

the pan and it held Ariel perfectly. The icing was easy because it didn't have to be perfect and smooth. We used graham crackers for the sand}

{Goofin'} Off

2010-03-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

I never have my camera with me when I need it but this night I did. We were at the party store searching for some goodies for Hailey's b-day party and came across these goofy glasses. Here's our family with some cheap entertainment.

Disney On Ice

2010-02-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Meet our friends Jen and Kaylee. We don't get to hang out often but we really enjoy getting together. Kaylee and Hailey became the best of friends almost immediately so I'm really glad their friendship gave me a new buddy too. Jen's fiancee went through a fire academy at the same time as Austin and so they're going through the exact same process as us right now.

Disney on Ice was in town so we decided it would be fun for the girls. They got all dressed up and we headed out. There are looks of pure joy on Hailey's face in some of these pictures. She loved it! Miley also loved the first half. Second half felt a little like church with all the squirming and wiggling but overall she did good. It was a fun day!

Austin spent the day doing Fill the Boot so he didn't get to come along. We were going to visit him after the show but we didn't quite make it there before he was done. Oh well...hopefully there will be many more opportunities in the future (keep your fingers crossed!).

Happy {LOVE} Day!

2010-02-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

To my girls and my hubby...I Love Ya!

It's kind of a bummer that Austin had to work at the fire station today but because Valentine's fell on a Sunday, we wouldn't have gone out anyways. So what do ya do? We manage. We gave the girls their gift last night and Austin left a fun surprise for the girls this morning. He was gone before they woke up. I got up early with him and fixed him breakfast and got the kids' breakfast ready to go. Hailey painted and decorated a picture frame and hid it in daddy's work bag. It had a cute picture of them from Disneyland. I gave Austin a card with a pair of 'Boo' Bees on it. Get it? There were two bzzzz bees saying boo. I thought it would embarrass him a little. The kids ate a 'love'ly breakfast and off to church we went. We had a relaxing Sunday afternoon in our 65 degree weather (sorry to brag Utah & Colorado peeps!). Here's some pics from our day...

Is this swimsuit not the cutest thing ever?! Miley got a pink one just like it but the stinker already sent hers to the laundry before I got a picture of her cute bum. I tried it on her on Saturday night and she pee'd in it 30 seconds into our fashion show. I'll have to take a picture and post it too.

Magic Kingdom 2010

2010-02-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

I apologize if this post gets a little wordy, it's not to turn away those few people who actually look at this blog - it's more for me. I am terrible (can you really be terrible at something you've never done?) at writing in a journal or writing stuff down. So here it goes...our trip to DISNEYLAND ---

The trip was a Christmas present from mom and dad (THANKS!) and we decided to keep it a secret from Hailey. Well, one part of me wanted to tell her because I knew the anticipation of it all would be fun for HER - I think I was saving the rest of us from the torturous assignment of counting down the days. Come on, we just got done doing that with Christmas. So we had decided we would tell her the day of but we weren't quite sure how we were going to do it.

The day came to leave and we really hadn't devised much of a plan. We decided to wing it. I had the pleasure of packing in secret the week before which was really a treat. I wanted to take some of the girls' new Christmas clothes but it was really hard to take new clothes out of Hailey's drawer without noticing so that was an accomplishment in itself. We headed off to the airport but we told Hailey we were dropping daddy off at the fire station. As we pulled into the airport we still didn't know exactly how we were going to tell her and just decided to see how far we could get without her catching on.

So we get there and she asks why we're at the airport. We tell her that daddy is going to a fire station far away and he has to fly there (that's why we were driving him, duh!). Okay - first white lie went off without a hitch. So we pulled up to the sky cab and checked "daddy's" luggage. We asked Hailey if she just wanted to drop daddy off at the curb or if she wanted to park the car and go inside with him until his plane left. Luckily she wanted to go inside (otherwise this story -keep reading- wouldn't have been as fun). We told her that we could wait inside at the gate - she had no clue that you can't go through security without a boarding pass. Aftering playing around for a while waiting at the gate it was time to board. Here's the fun part: {Playing around at the gate}

She gave daddy kisses and hugs goodbye and then daddy suddenly asked "Do you want to help find me a seat on the plane?" She was super excited but understood that after we found daddy a seat and we waited for all the people to board the plane, we would have to get off. We 'pretended' to put on our seat belts as if we were really going to go with daddy and without warning, the doors shut. Hailey looked sick like someone was going to haul her off to jail. Her eyes got all big and she was really nervous. She asked if the lady was going to kick us off the plane. I told her that if we stayed really quiet that she might not notice. She couldn't believe that we actually were going to fly on a plane. Just then, the flight attendant came our way and I told Hailey she was probably coming to make us get off before the plane backed away from the airport (I think I about broke her heart) - but she kept on walking. Before long we were in the air and the story continues...

Yeah, we pulled a fast one on her up to the point but she's not dumb. Where are we going to stay? What are we going to wear? We decided that we'd have to find a hotel and maybe buy some clothes and toothpaste. But how fun would it be if daddy could spend some time with us on our little adventure. Too bad he had to work. But maybe he didn't. I told Hailey to ask daddy if we would go somewhere different. He said he could call his boss and get permission to miss work. Well, if daddy didn't have to work couldn't the pilot fly us somewhere fun? "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?", said mommy, "Disneyland", said Hailey. When the flight attendant brought our drinks we WINK-WINK asked her if she could ask the pilot to Disneyland. She said she's ask him. Later, with another WINK-WINK the flight attendant told Hailey to listen extra careful upon final descent to hear a special message from the pilot. He came on overhead and said "The little girl who's going to Disneyland, have fun!" Up until that time Hailey still wasn't sure if we got to go or not. It was official, we were off to Disneyland.

But wait, there was a 2nd secret. We got to the hotel and took the elevator to our floor. We walked around the corner and Tata, Papo, Ashley and Kevin were waiting for us. Hailey was very surprised. They had all flown in the day before.

The first two days were mostly Disneyland with a little time spent at California Adventure. The kids played in A Bug's Life while the big kids went on The Tower of Terror. This was probably the best/scariest ride EVER! Holy crud! DEFINITELY not a Hailey ride. We thought it would traumatize her for life. We did sneak her on to Splash Mountain and she loved it. The drop didn't scare her a bit. Dumbo, tea-cups, and the carousel were Miley's favorite. Most days we went to the park first thing and headed back to the hotel early afternoon for some lunch and naps. We'd head back to the park about 5 ish. The rest of the crew had to leave a day before us so we spent our 3rd day at California Adventure.

After Hailey did so well with Splash Mountain we asked her if she wanted to go on a really scary ride that she might cry on. She really wanted to go. So, Austin took her on Tower of Terror. Miley and I waited very impatiently for them to come out because I was so frightened that she would hate us for life. I saw her and Austin come running around the corner with huge SMILES. She insisted that she go on again and...again. It was a Tuesday and there were NO lines so we walked right on. She went two times with Austin and once with me. Brave kid!

It was time to head home. Bummer! But we had so much fun! We'll remember this trip for a long time.

{Buggin' Out!}

{Miley on our first day at Disneyland - it was still mid morning and we didn't even need jackets. It was 75-80 each day...I love California}

{Flicker's ride in Bug's Life}

{Finally! No fear when it comes to characters. This is a milestone!}

{Waiting for our afternoon shuttle}

{All wiped out! Meet 'Tink' - she's a new part of our family}

{Take a second look, how many straws can 1 baby possible force into that cup?}

{Breakfast fun!}

{Disneyland Fire Dept.}

{Ash & Vuvvy - or Puppy or Kevin}

My Girls

2010-01-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

I was so behind getting our Christmas cards done this year so the pictures was very last minute but they turned out great. We couldn't fit very many pictures on the card so here's a few that I thought were fun.

Christmas Eve Happenings

2010-01-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

Babies went to bed early tonight and I thought it was about time to get caught up. Christmas was a lot of fun this year. These are the {Prime} jingle bell singing, nice to naughty list and back again, Santa's watching you!, Is it Christmas yet?, How many days 'till Christmas?, cookie making, Is it Christmas yet? YEARS. Miley really didn't get it but Hailey was a hoot to watch.
One of our favorite family traditions is to make cookies for Santa. This year I decided to start a few days ahead of time. I made the dough one day. The next day I baked the cookies and got all of the frosting colors ready. We made Christmas trees and candy canes.So I'm not quite sure how it happened but I didn't get a single picture on Christmas Day. We started a new tradition this year. Because we're two states away from most of our family, we don't have much to do. The whole present who-ha is done in an hour or so and we have the rest of the day without much to do. So this year we went to a hotel. It was perfect. We had Christmas lunch and put Miley down for her nap. When she woke up we packed our bags and headed to the hotel (just a couple miles down the road.) We went swimming and were the only ones in there. Once the girls got nice and hungry we found a restaurant open for dinner. We went back to the hotel and the girls played and played with some of their new toys we let them pack along with us. Austin and I were able to watch some movies. It was really a ton of fun!

Soap

2010-01-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

You know you've raised a California girl when...
About a month ago Hailey came running into my room one morning saying 'mom, mom you have to come see this'. Well I thought the worst. I heard her and Miley playing and used some of that playtime to just lay in bed for a few extra minutes. I thought for sure Miley had done something unspeakable with her diaper but to my surprise, everything was intact when I walked into the room. Hailey was standing on a chair with the blinds pulled up and asked...
"Why is there soap on the ground?" So what was this mystery 'soap' on the ground? It would be SNOW! We've lived here for over 3 years and it has never snowed at our elevation. We can drive about 20 minutes up the pass towards Tahoe and there's feet of snow but never have we had snow on the ground here before. Hailey has been in snow before but I can understand why she was so confused. Of all things, she thought there were soap bubbles all over the back yard. We bundled up and went outside to play.

Snip Snip

2010-01-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

We got Hailey's hair cut into an A-line. It looks so cute!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

So in an attempt to post something to make up for not posting in a while, we'll start with something easy. I really need to catch up on quite a bit but here's a {MERRY CHRISTMAS} to all of our friends and family! We love ya!

Resident Firefighter Neilson

2009-11-01T14:58:00.001-08:00

We sent Austin off this morning for his first 24 hour shift at Station 70 in Lincoln, CA. Keep your fingers crossed for him. Here's his 'first day of school' pictures I made him pose for.

GAP 30% off

2009-11-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

So I ran like the wind from the hotel business and I work for Gap.com now. They do this friends and family promotion each year. This year they're doing a 30% off Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. The coupon is valid Nov. 12-15 and can be used multiple times in store and (1) time online. Each coupon has a unique discount code and I have a total of 25 paper coupons and 25 more coupons I can send by email. First come first serve. If you want one (or a few) let me know and I'll get them sent out right away.

{Cupcake & Ladybug}

2009-11-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

THANKS ASH! The costumes turned out so great! We had to start while there was still daylight because I had to go to work (bummer!!!) but at least I got to be with them for a little bit. We started out in our old neighborhood so that Hailey could visit a few friends and I'd be close to work so I could stay with the kids a bit longer. It didn't take long for Miley to catch on. The video cracks me up. The girls ended up with so much candy. Our teeth are going to rot out for sure. Big Sissie showing Miley the ropes. This cupcake is super sweet! Anybody seen my antennas? I think this won best costume in the neighborhood!

Hot Chili Booth

2009-10-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

This year we participated in the Hot Chili Cool Cars event for the Chamber of Commerce. We set up a booth for Blooming Words. The booth turned out so cute that I wanted to post some pics. Anybody needing gifts...contact us for a friends and family discount!

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

2009-10-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite fall traditions. This place is so great. Admission is free and there's so much to do. And the bakery is amazing!

Sharing the {Good NEWS!}

2009-09-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

#1.) Paul Cardall received his heart transplant today! Read more about him at mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com. I don't personally know him but he and his family are such an inspiration. !Fair warning! You may need a box of tissues as you read his posts.

#2.) Austin just received the call that he was accepted into the Placer County Fire residency program. It's different than a volunteer. They are issued uniforms and badges and when they are on duty, they are treated as any other fireman at the scene. Volunteers aren't allowed to go into the fire and do many of the things that a 'normal' firefighter would do and that's why this program is so cool. So he'll work several 24 hour shifts per month and get really good on-th-job training.

It's a good day.

Lucky Girl - She takes after her {DAD}

2009-08-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

Miley went in last week for her 12 month check-up. Here's the stats...

31.5" Tall (Off the charts meaning her dot is above the 95th percentile curve. Hailey is 38" tall so it's kinda funny - she is so going to be taller than her sister by next year!

19.9 lbs. (40%)

I can't remember what her head measured but it was at 75%

The doctor was totally surprised to see her walking {running} around the office and said the most a 12 month is expected to do developmentally is crawl really well or maybe start standing up next to a sofa. He also said that she should start saying 'mama' and 'dada' by 18 months. OK...She's had that mastered for a while now and her new word is 'happy'. But you can't say it just once - you have to say it over and over again really stressing the 'y' sound. She also just started nodding her head yes and no. She tries to nod while she's walking and throws herself off balance - it's so funny to watch. I know, I know - I'll be hating the word 'no' pretty dang soon but for right now, it's super cute!

UNO!

2009-08-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

My baby just turned 1 on August 12th. I can't believe it! She's a professional walker and finally has some teeth. She has 5 that pretty much all came in at once. She makes the cutest little sounds. Her kisses are my favorite! She doesn't give them out freely but when she does, I wish I could somehow bottle it up and save it forever! She really loves to play now. I remember Hailey loved bags. She would gather stuff from all over and collect it in bags or purses. Miley's thing is pens. She loves them! She's been coloring for a few months now. It's hilarious to watch her hold the pen and scribble on paper {or should we say Tata's stone fireplace}. Thank heavens for the internet. It shows that other moms have the same simple pleasures of removing pen. Yikes! The solution...about 8 paper towels thick - drizzle with hydrogen peroxide and squish into the surface of the stain. It magically draws it out. Whew! There was a lot of pen.

We had a little party for her. We had pizza and set her in a high chair to dig in to her cake. It took a little pursuading. She was more interested in the sprinkles on top at first. She caught on though. Messy baby by the end of the night!

Before the mess!

Thinking about it...

Picking off the sprinkles

Sweet little face

Messy girl

Immediately went into the kitchen sink for a bath!

Redhead, get it? Thanks Mommy Jean and Papa

And our cake. YUM

A year ago! Time flies!

Big sissy holding Miley for the first time.

Change of Address {Again!}

2009-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

So this is our 4th home we've lived in here in NorCal. At least this one was our choice. (#1 & #2 were not exactly pleasant experiences!) #3 was much better. Only 3 houses down from Tata and Papo. #4 One big happy family. We've moved in with my mom and dad into their new house. It's one of the few homes in all of California that has a basement. Thanks Mom and Dad for this little arrangement. It's such a gorgeous home. I'll post more pics of it later but here's a view from the backyard.

If only moving was really this much fun!

Austin's Graduation

2009-08-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's a month past due but Austin is done with the Fire Academy! Our life has been crazy since the moment he graduated - more of that madness to come:)

So Aaron, his older brother, called us a few days before the graduation and said he was coming. So fun to have him here. We went to Outback on Saturday night for a little grad party with the girls and my mom and dad.

Sunday was the big day down at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento. The place was soooo cool! It was an old theater that had been re-done. I guess I was picturing a hot auditorium with folding chairs but it was nothing like that at all. Grandma Vickie and Papa Frank drove all the way from Utah to surprise Austin for his graduation. It was the first time that Frank had seen Miley. It was fun to have them there. Since the moving truck (yeah, don't worry...we've moved again!) was showing up bright and early to pick up our furniture, Aaron got to sleep on an air mattress and G&G Neilson stayed at the hotel I work at.

Back to details about the graduation. (My mind is all scrambled. I have about 10 posts I need to do and they're all mushing together in my head!) Every class does a class present to all of the Captains and DI's. Austin's class took rusted axes and sanded them by hand to make them pretty again. They had each DI's name burned into the wooden handle. Then they got a piece of steel donated from the twin towers and had a plaque engraved with all 400+ firefighters that died that day. A class from
'07 made a bell out of an old style metal air tank. Austin's class did a tribute to a Captain that died in the last year or so and had his badge welded onto the bell. It was pretty neat! A lot of hard work went into these project aside from the fact that they were at school everyday for about 6 months straight. Their class also won the fittest class ever. It was a really special day. Austin will have memories of this Academy for a long time.
Miley had finally gone to sleep so we didn't want to chance waking her to take a pic. So here's 3/4 of our family!

This is the piece of steel from 9/11.

Class of 09-6. Started with 51 recruits and graduated 35.

Nobody is as excited as Hailey to have her daddy home!

The countdown is on!

2009-07-05T03:08:00.001-07:00

Only two more weeks from today and Austin will officially be a Fire Academy Graduate!

Hailey's Playlist

2009-07-05T02:57:00.001-07:00

So for those who don't know, Hailey can sing most any country song on the radio. She gets new favorites all the time. It's hilarious! Once I get off my retard box I'll post some video of her singing. Here's some of her favorites!
1. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
2. Anything Taylor Swift
3. Zach Brown Band - Cold Coke (It's says cold beer but we made up our own
version)
4. Keith Urban - Kiss A Girl
5. Miley Cyrus - The Climb
6. Miley Cyrus - Hoedown Throwdown (Pop-It Lock It Dance Included!)
7. Lady Antebellum - I Run
8. Kelly Pickler - The Best Days of Your Life
9. SUGARLAND - All I Want To Do
10. Blake Shelton - Home

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

2009-07-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

The Disney Store at our mall re-opened in a new location and had a Grand Opening with Mickey and Minnie. I assumed it would be like Santa at the mall. Stand in line for a few minutes and then be on your merry way. Think Again! The line wrapped around a dozen times and stretched all the way to the other end of the mall. It started at noon and we got there about quarter 'till. I coudln't believe it. These parents were crazy! They must have been there since early that morning. Kids had armfuls of stuff to have signed. Some things just aren't that worth it to me. We got a picture of Hailey with Minnie and Mickey - kind of. You can see the happy couple in the background. Good enough for me. We were in and out of there in 10 minutes.

BFF

2009-07-05T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hailey has a new BFF {Kaylee}. Kaylee is a year older than Hailey but they have so much fun. I can't believe I was younger than Hailey when I met my BFF {Joni}. To be 4 again. Here's the two hard at work...

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I last posted. Life is busy! Anyways, here's some pics of our Memorial Day Weekend in Tahoe. We had a great little condo and spent lots of time in the pool and at the beach. I've decided though that the beach is such a hassle! You pretty much have to pack your whole life in a bag...get annoyed when someone steps on your towel and gets sand all over...buy shovels and buckets to then have to bring them home...and clean out SAND for the next month. Oh yeah, try to spray sunscreen and then not have sand stick to you. It's impossible! It's as annoying as trying to keep hair from sticking to your lips after you just put chapstick on and the wind is blowing. Despite my love/hate relationship with the beach, we really did have a great time. Here's some pics of our much needed get-a-way. Did I mention I need another one any day now?
Sleeping kids are so peaceful!Our drive up the pass. Anyone seen my big yellow crane?Our poor kids have no chance of ever being tan. Neutrogena just came out with SPF 100. Yipee!
Digging for treasures...Cute summer bum cheeks. I love 'em!!Our happy girlThat's one way to learnI love this girl to pieces!Thirsty!

Recruit 81...Or in other words AUSTIN

2009-05-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

So in some ways the time has really flown and in other ways it feels like he'll never be done with the Academy. Tomorrow will start week 16 out of 24. He's still really loving it. I really don't know how he does it. He's up by 5am every single day of the week and works all day and then goes to school. It's not like he has a kick back, take it easy kind of job. It's hard work. Then he gets to go throw ladders against a building all night and their physical training is like an episode of Biggest Loser - no, not the makeover one - the one where Jillian tortures the contestants until they puke or start crying and sweat is puddling on the floor forming a new reservoir. Today they are getting into Hazmat stuff. If it's not bad enough that they have to wear the Hazmat suit over their regular turnout gear, it is supposed to be 105 degrees today.

The drill instructors and captains have given the recruits Memorial Day weekend off. I took the weekend off work too and we are getting the heck outta here for a couple days. It is a much needed break. I can't say too much because I'm keeping the destination a secret from Austin. But I'll post pictures after we get back.
Anyways, life is busy but it's good. I'm so proud of Austin. He works so hard so that hopefully in the near future, he can have a great career and I can stay home with the girls.

Their class is referred to as 09-6 so they did this cool push up thing...

Flattering Plagerism

2009-05-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

So every now and then I check up on the competition to see what they're offering. There's some really creative stuff out there and I have so many ideas in my little brain that I cannot create fast enough. So tonight I was browsing through some competitors sites and came across (wall stamp . net)--> I typed it this way on purpose - I'm not giving these guys an inbound link. I see at the top that there's a tab for their blog and I decide to click on it. Wow! They are truly original. Curious? You should first check out http://www.bloomingwords.com/Default.aspx?ID=69 then go to the site I mentioned above and click on their blog tab. Look similar? They totally took pictures from our website and made up some random story and posted it as their own. Here's the cute little story they made up...

I love to go to people’s homes and see unique decor, especially in the kitchen. I’m constantly amazed at how often vinyl lettering can be used in home decor. Aside from the traditional wall words, vinyl lettering can create some really unique home decor, even in the kitchen. Recently I was at a friends home and saw some really unique decor items in her kitchen. She had some very nice vines along the top of her kitchen cabinets with a nice home decor sign that featured a quote about hot bread (butter 25cents extra), along with some other items. However, what reallly caught my eye were some decorative plates she had next to her stove, right under her spice rack. They were simple ceramic plates that matched the decor of her kitchen, but the plates had printed on them different vegetables, such as tomato, onion, olive, etc. They were on plate stands, and the lettering and graphics were painted on. I thought, “how easy would this be to recreate using vinyl lettering?” So, I went to the store, bought a couple of colored plates that matched my decor ($2.00 each) and recreated the decorative plates using vinyl letters. When all was said and done, I had recreated the same decorative plates at a fraction (about 1/4) of the cost that my friend paid for her decorative plates.

Really!? Mom is excited because she has a friend now that she didn't know she had (those plates are in her kitchen). It's really funny that I stumbled across this the same day they posted it. Weird. Anyways, I'm not sure if I should email them or just post a comment on our vinyl blog because you know they'll be back again. It would be kinda fun to mess with them a little. I know...I should email them and say I really liked the vinyl on the plates and wanted to know how to order. Hmmm...it's going to be hard to create something you don't have. They're really good at making up stories so it could be interesting. I know, I know, I should play nice and not say anything at all but what's the fun in that!

I love this age!

2009-05-03T03:50:00.001-07:00

Miley is everywhere now. I turn my back for one second and she's up the first flight of stairs. Her favorite place (other than Hailey's closet full of goodies) is under the kitchen table. She's grown taller in the last month or so because her head used to clear the table and now she bonks it everytime. Here's Miley saying Hi to everyone from her favorite spot. She's also holding on to the couch and walking from one end to the other. As long as she's got something to hold on to, she's good as gone.

Easter Slideshow

2009-05-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

These slideshows are my new favorite thing!

Easter

2009-05-03T02:56:00.000-07:00

Above are some Easter Pics. We're already into May and I'm just getting them posted. Oh well. Both of the girls got new swimming suits and some random other goodies. Grandma Vickie got the girls the cutest matching outfits. Mom got Hailey this blue dress that has flutter sleeves and it ties in the back. Just cute and comfy. It's kind of gathered on the chest and Hailey calls it her booby dress. Kids - I wish I had a photographic memory of everything that she has said in her short 4 years of life that have had me close to peeing my pants. Anyways, a few days before Easter we colored eggs. That was a $1 well spent. Note to self...pay attention to the directions next time. I added the vinegar at the wrong time and a couple of the dyes didn't disolve but we had fun anyways.

2009-04-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

Colorado Pics

2009-04-12T00:59:00.001-07:00

Straggle muffin! We missed out on a little beauty sleep this morning.
It's hard to keep Miley contained so we fenced her in with suitcases.

20,000 feet

We had the funniest Southwest flight attendant. She said 'Are you guys flippin' excited to be

here because I'm flippin' excited and did a front flip at the front of the plane B4 take off. She said things like...'In case this flight turns into a cruise, take out your life vest from under the seat' and 'Adults, put your face mask on first and then your childrens - women put your's on and then your husband's and breathe like you've never breathed before.' She said there was a special smoking section out on the right wing and there was a feature film playing - Gone with the wind. She had us rolling the whole time!

More 4 Generation Photos

2009-04-12T00:48:00.001-07:00

4 Generation Photos

2009-04-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

So we (Hailey, Miley, Me and Tata) just got back from a trip to Colorado to visit Mommy Jean and Papa. The 4 of us left disgustingly early on a Saturday morning to make sure we had enough time to get us all through security. Good thing we did because I got the good old pat down at the airport. I had to take a bunch of food/snacks/formula in the diaper bag to keep the kids good on the airplane and that gave me a personal invitation to get to know one of the TSA's better than I'd like. Whew! We got through it and flew to Denver. Ash flew from Salt Lake and was waiting at our gate in Denver. Mommy Jean and Papa live in the southwest portion of Colorado so we rented a van and took the 5 hour drive down there.

I was so excited for Hailey to go because she hadn't been since she was about 6 months old and obviously had no memory of it. For me, it's my favorite place in the world to visit. It brings back all of the memories of when I was growing up and got to visit for a couple weeks every summer all by myself. We affectionately call the house the 'dome' because that's what it's shaped like. It has been through quite a few add-ons and changes but the front of the house still looks like a soccer ball. My room has always been the Murphy Bed room (bed that folds down from the wall) and Hailey thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. She ended up sleeping with Mom and Ash every night because there was just more room.

It was a little different for me this trip because I don't think I've ever been to the dome in the Winter. South Fork was really quiet and our frequent trips to Rainbow - the local small town grocery store - there was never anybody there. It's funny because the grocery store is the same as I remember it when I was 10. Hailey loved it because it had carts that were just her size - not plastic ones - ones that looked just like big carts.

Sunday mom's brother's Terry and Sam and their wives Sharon and Blair came up to the dome for dinner. It was so fun seeing them. My cousin Devin also came up that afternoon with his little girl Sarah. It was the first time I met her and she is darling! It wasn't so long ago that my cousins and I would drive the Napa go-cart and four wheelers down the Del Norte parade in the summer time or sell snow cones for their boy scout troops and now we all have kids. It's kind of weird. I guess that's part of growing up. You remember somebody the way you last saw them and when you see them again you almost expect them to be unchanged. So seeing Devin again was like fast forwarding from high school 'till now.

Sometimes I feel like I don't say enough about Miley. She's just so dang good all the time. She and Mommy Jean had some really special time together. I just had a whole house full of baby sitters and I don't know who loved it more...me, Mommy Jean or Miley. I don't think she cried or fussed one time because someone was always playing with her or holding her. She was a pro at army crawling before we went and had starting crawling on her hands and knees but she loved the dome and crawled all over the place. She pulls herself up on everything now-everything! The stinker always makes me so nervous because I'm always afraid she's gonna fall and get hurt. She climbs the stairs at home and I'm afraid she's gonna take a tumble. She's waiving now too. You tell her to say hi or bye and she waves. It's so stinkin' cute!

Monday we got the chance to have a 4 generation photo taken. I'll post some pictures from that.

My cousin Ryan and his wife and kids came up for a visit and then on Tuesday we went to Sam and Blair's house for dinner. It was yummy! Blair is the best cook.

While we were there Ash and Hailey hung out the whole time. Ash spent some special time with her and they did fun stuff together. They made cupcakes and decorated them with all sorts of different fun stuff. Ash got her ready, made her lunch, took her to Rainbow at least 3 times, made snow angels. We really had a good time.

Wednesday morning we headed out on our journey back to Denver. We left a few hours early because there was supposed to be a big storm move in and we wanted to get as far as we could before the snow hit. We managed to miss most of the snow and had an extra couple hours to stop and eat lunch and go the the outlet mall in Castlerock. It was really fun.

Thanks Mommy Jean and Papa for letting us come. Love you! And thanks Mom for taking us. La La Mo!

Hailey's Birthday Cakes

2009-03-17T11:44:00.001-07:00

So we took on the job of making princess cakes. We were going to make one big doll cake but the store we went to didn't have the big pan, only the little pan. We found these little dolls especially for cakes - they stop at the hip and have a pointy stick at the bottom. We searched for about a week online before deciding exactly how we wanted to decorate them. They turned out pretty cute. Next time I will make the icing differently. I used a buttercream which called for milk. It didn't set up quite the way I wanted but overall, they turned out better than expected. We just used a flat spatula for the bottom of each dress and a star tip for the top. We never did eat them.

Hailey turns 4!

2009-03-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Austin and Hailey are pros at winning this game.

Hailey turned 4 on Feb. 20th. I posted the pictures in the wrong order...oops. She was so excited for her birthday to come. She picked out this outfit a few days earlier and begged me everyday to wear it. The morning of her birthday Austin had to work. So he set everything out in the kitchen for her. He bought balloons and put them all over the stairs. She got a big girl bike with training wheels. She's a pro. I must say, it is so nice to be able to send a 4 year old outside to ride a bike in February, with NO snow. Anyways, the whole day was all about her. Thanks to Grandma Vickie and Papa Frank for the outfit and doggie set. Grandma and Grandpa Cooper - we'll get a thank you note in the mail one of these days. She still has her $2 and is saving it for something really special she says. Angie - we got the hats about a week ago. Hailey wears it everyday - even if it doesn't match. She loves it and it looks adorable on her. Ash n' Vuvvy - one of Hailey's plants is really taking off. We water it every day. I think the packet said to put about 5 seeds in...or 15. Aus and Hailey got a little carried away. Grandma and Grandpa Mason, thanks for the shirt and socks and pencil set, she loves it. Mommy Jean and Papa gave Hailey a wooden monster to paint. Hailey's favorite thing to do is tell scary stories. So the monster was very appropriate. Papo and Tata got Hailey a leotard and skirt, belts and a little laptop. That night we went to John's Incredible Pizza. It was like ChuckECheese on steroids. It's huge - we had a lot of fun. They have all sorts of rides and games. They even had a minuture bowling alley with little tiny lanes and little balls - just perfect for little kids. It was a really good day.

Valntine's Day Vinyl

2009-02-03T16:08:00.001-08:00

I'm really excited how this heart ornament design turned out!

Austin's First Day

2009-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Austin leaving for his first day.
Getting ready to leave at 5 am. I was up with him making sure that he had everything. He's wearing his sweatshirt over his uniform because they can't wear their uniform outside of the academy. It has to be covered up - even when they're driving.

Recruit Neilson

2009-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Austin started the Fire Academy yesterday YEAH! He had quite the day and quite the weekend leading up to his first day. Saturday night all the recruits had to get together and figure out everything they needed to get before Monday morning. Everything has to be uniform. They have to have the same pens, bags, notebooks, socks, water bottles EVERYTHING! We were out until midnight on Saturday night going to 3 WalMarts to find everything he needed. I was busy all weekend military pressing his Class B uniforms. I even had to iron his PT (Physical Training) uniforms - running shorts, t-shirt, sweatshirt. So prettymuch, if I don't do a perfect job creating perfect seams - he gets his face ripped off by the drill instructors. No pressure!

To add to the anxiety of Monday morning coming around, Austin went to lace up his boots (yes, this all has to be done the same - there are 5 ways to lace his type of boots and they all had to get together and figure out how to do it) and he had a size 10 and a size 12. We didn't find this out until 7:00 Saturday night and of course the place doesn't open until 9am Monday morning. He had to be there at 5:30 am Monday. He just wore two different size shoes and I get the great pleasure of trying to get him new ones today.

So on top of working full time, he'll go to the academy M-Th and all day Saturday. It's going to be interesting around here but we're so excited. I've never really had much of a schedule with Hailey as far as bed time goes but believe me - I'm starting one tonight! Otherwise, I might go nuts! I love my girls more than anything but mom has had it by the end of the night. I guess I'm a single mom M-Th (because Austin goes to work way before we ever wake up and won't get home from school until at least 11 pm) and a working mom the other 3 days of the week. This time in our lives will be interesting but very exciting.

Monday was quite interesting for Austin. This is a military style academy so they must stand at attention all the time. They have to do all those funny turns and walk in unisen. Everyone's head has to be shaved and their faces have to be smooth. I guess there was one kid who decided not to shave his head and so the drill unstructors cut his hair with regular scissors. Austin said it was all choppy...I guess he learned his lesson.

Captain House is a pretty scary guy and pretty intimidating. He would surely make me cry. Anyways, there was one point where Captain House was picking people out of line and making them come up to him and he'd be all up in their face trying to knit pick at anything he could. He called Austin up and was right in his grill. Austin said he had a smile on his face and said 'I like you. You're going to do well here.' He asked Austin if he scared him and Aus said yes. Captain House also said that Austin looked overwhelmed and then dismissed him. Well then, that couldn't have gone better. Let's keep Austin on his good side!

Well, I keep on how things are going with the Academy. We are so proud of him!

Pics of our Chunkers

2009-02-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

We cannot leave Miley alone without her being strapped in for even a second. She'll turn and roll right out of it. I've had her in her chair without being strapped in and turn my head for one second and turned back around to find her out of her chair. She's ready to crawl anyday now. She gets up on both kneeds and rocks back and forth. And rolling...sometimes she thinkgs she's a ball because she just keeps going. We'll put one of her favorite toys on the floor on the other side of the room and before you know it, she'll have it.

Don't feed babies solids until 6 months...

2009-02-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Yeah right! Miley has been eating cereal for 2 months now and I pretty much give her bites of anything soft. It would be torture to try and get her to eat just a bottle. She still takes a bottle a few times a day but loses interest pretty fast. She's mastered every kind of baby food (except green beans or peas because I just don't want to deal with that:)) and squaks at you everytime she sees you eating something. She's a begger and usually gets what she wants. Hailey and I went to Costa Vida (our semi-close version of Cafe Rio) yesterday for lunch and Miley loved the tortilla and rice. Our pediatrician said not to start solids until 6 months...okay.

Hailey is now a Sunbeam

2009-01-28T23:27:00.000-08:00

Hailey is so excited to be in Primary FINALLY! She was so done with nursery - although she really loved her teachers. It's so fun to see her so excited about church.

Christmas Pics!

2009-01-28T16:45:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning. Maybe Hailey should have asked Santa for a comb!

Miley Jo and Papo Christmas Eve

All of our hard work.

Making cookies is not all it's cracked up to be!!!

The girl cannot seem to keep it covered up!

Hailey and mommy making cookies.

Hailey's cookies for Santa.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite into the swing of this blog thing yet so my Christmas posting is a month or so late. Anyways, Christmas was really fun this year. Ashley and Kevin surprised us and drove from Utah to visit. Christmas Eve we decorated cookies for Santa and put out carrots for the reindeer. We had a really yummy Christmas Eve dinner with Prime Rib. During the day Ashley and I made 7-layer salad, Christmas Potatoes, Pasta Salad, the whole 9 yards! Of course TaTa had to work Chrismas Eve and the alarms wouldn't set. The people at the alarm company were not in the Christmas Spirit and wouldn't really help. So poor mama sat at the store by herself until Dad got there. Once they got home we were all ready to eat (and Hailey got to open a few presents). Christmas morning was good and Hailey got everything she wanted. [Even though she was threatened many times that Santa wouldn't bring her anything this year for Christmas:)] My uncle Chris says whoever came up with the terrible twos hasn't been through the threes yet. She'll be 4 next month so hopefully we're past all that. Anyways, I had to work Christmas Day. I started a new job in December at one of the new hotels by our house. We had a quick brunch after presents and all went to the movies. We saw Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and it was cute. After that, we raced home because I had to work from 3-11. It was hard leaving Austin and the girls on Christmas but they came and visited me at work that night.

Some of Hailey's favorite presents...

Princess camping cot

Grandma Vickie's blanket

Princess trunk full of dress-up clothes

Coloring Contest

2008-11-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Hailey was a winner in the Rocklin Hot Chili Cool Cars coloring contest. She got to go to McDonald's and have an ice cream cone with the other winners. She also got a goody bag full of fun stuff. She was so thrilled to take Mommy Jean along with her. She was very proud!

Visitors

2008-11-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

We were so lucky to have the Borchert family come visit us last weekend. We did so many fun things. We hadn't seen any of the kids since last February so it was fun to see how big they'd all gotten. The Friday they were here was Halloween and during the day we went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, CA. It is Hailey's favorite place! She talks about it all year long. In fact, when I was pregnant with Miley we'd tell her that the baby would come close to pumpkin time. I think she was secretly more excited for the pumpkins than the baby:) Anyways, the kids got to feed the goats. Kenna was the funniest to watch! What a girl! Baby Maggie wasn't scared at all. It was pretty cute. Just a fun thought...can you image a goat at Amanda's house - now that would make for funny tv - love ya Mand! We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and picked pumpkins. (they're rotting on the side of my house by the way) We ate some yummy pumpkin treats and headed home in time to get ready for trick-or-treating.

Hailey was a princess. Ash made the costume for her and did a great job! Miley was a ghost - her first Halloween. Check out the pics of all the kids in their cute costumes!

Saturday we picked up cupcakes at our favorite cupcake store - Icing on the Cupcake. It's Hailey's 2nd most favorite place! We brought them home, cut them up into sections and shared all of the different flavors. (As if the kids didn't already have enough sugar in them) We went bowling Saturday night and had a ton of fun.

Sunday was Miley's Blessing and ended up being a pretty cool Sunday. Austin, Ben and my dad were able to stand in the circle. Not only did Austin do a great job but to our ward's surprise, our Bishop was released and we got a whole new bishopric. We're sad we live too far away to have everybody there but maybe someday we'll be back closer.

Monday was the hard day. There were lots of tears when the kids had to leave. Hailey misses them everyday. It was really special for Hailey to have one on one time with her cousins.

Miley Jo

2008-11-11T23:30:00.001-08:00

Our beautiful baby girl Miley Jo was born August 12, 2008. She weighed 8 pounds 5 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. She was born at 6:18 am. She has the most gorgeous red hair and tons of it! Hailey confessed a few weeks after we brought the baby home that she didn't think Miley's hair was pretty at the hospital but now she loves it and thinks it's beautiful.

She is the best baby! I thought she would be the hard one to take care of - oh boy was I wrong! The first few weeks were pretty hairy with big sis! It sure must be tough for a 3 year old to wrap her head around this huge change. Thank goodness my mom is so close. She helped me step back and realize that it was going to take time to get everybody adjusted. Now Miley is 13 weeks old and life has really calmed down. Hailey loves her little sister but still wants her alone time with daddy. Miley sleeps through the night and really only cries when she's hungry or wet. She rolled over for the first time last week and keeps getting better and better at it as the days go on. Here's some pictures of when she was first born. They sure do change quickly!

Blooming Words

2008-11-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

Blooming Words is finally up and running! It's been over a year of hard work to make this happen. It's been quite the learning process and we feel we've barely scratched the surface. For those reading this that don't know what I'm talking about, we've started a vinyl lettering business. By 'we' I mean my mom, my sister and me. We've turned out to be quite the team. Learning new computer programs, learning how to work our equipment, staying up countless nights (while kids are sleeping) designing artwork just begins to tell the story of this last year.

Austin had 2 knee surgeries and a broken front tooth that needed an implant, Hailey turned 3 (now almost 4), we moved twice in 2 months - that's a fun story! ...and oh yeah, I had a baby. Beautiful Miley Jo.

I get to go back to work this week - which brings mixed feelings. It's good to be able to get out of the house a little but I still hate leaving my babies. They're in good hands so I feel very grateful I don't have to worry about them.

Check out our site at bloomingwords.com!