All I want for Christmas is . . . .

All I Want for Christmas is . . . .

Haley wants a Barbie House with an "Elebater" (Elevator)

Hunter wants a Batman Batcave

Harmon is happy with wrapping paper . . . but, he got some fun toys anyway!

Mom and Dad just want to see their kids happy--and our Christmas wish was fulfilled. It is always fun to watch their faces light up when they open something and get really excited! Michael was excited to get some clothes, equipment for T-Ball, and a few movies. I was thrilled with the clothes Michael picked out, a watch, and my hard surface floor cleaner. Yes, I couldn't wait to try it out! (It worked great on our tile--the floor actually felt clean!) My last present was a few days late--Harmon's front teeth finally came thru--he has been miserable!

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve. We decided to stay home so we could start some of our own traditions and mainly to get the kids to bed early. We started the evening with a yummy Ham dinner complete with sweet potatoes and a horrible attempt at rolls (I need major practice). We watched Mr. Krugers Christmas and The Nativity. Haley loved both and wanted to watch them again. I of course cried then cried some more when our neighbors came caroling and sang Silent Night to us--it was beautiful!

Our tradition is to always open one gift on Christmas eve which is usually PJ's and a little toy. The kids were so excited about both. Haley and Hunter got robes with their pajamas and they looked sooooo cute! We then just played for a while and had some quality family time. Oh and of course put out the cookies and carrots. Haley informed us that Santa would prefer Doughnuts, so next year we better be prepared. Michael and I got to open a present to and surprise--we got a camera. It is something we've wanted for a while now--the only problem is we don't know how to use it. So pardon the bad pictures as we learn all the functions.

The kids were in bed by 8:00 and Santa had come by 9:00--it was a magical evening and we really felt the true meaning of Christmas in the air. I love that my kids are beginning to understand what we are really celebrating!

Christmas Cards

Okay so I didn't have the best of luck with my Christmas cards this year. First I ran out of envelopes, then I ran out of paper, and we didn't get a great family picture this year so I wasn't to excited about them anyway. So I do apologize to those who didn't get our annual letter and pic, it's not because we don't love you. So here is a copy of our letter--MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Dear Friends and Family
Merry Christmas! Hopefully you are having a very happy holiday season! We thought we better send out our annual brag letter, we really enjoy hearing how all of our friends and family are doing each year so we thought we’d give you an update on our family as well.
Haley is now 4 years old going on 16. She has been going to pre-school this year and thinks she knows everything. She wants to write everything and practices her letters constantly. We like to call her our little sponge, because she can’t soak in the knowledge quick enough. It’s fun to watch her learn and grow. She has also been involved in Dance lessons and played Soccer in two leagues. We are going to try T-Ball in the spring and her Soccer coach was so disappointed because he wanted her back on his team. She made her first goal in the 2nd game and she liked that feeling so she got several every game after that. We loved being at the soccer field every Saturday watching her play. She is still all girl and loves Barbie, Polly Pockets, and dressing up in her princess gear. Haley is a huge help with her two younger brothers and Mom would be lost without her!
Hunter is a typical 2 year old. He’ll be three in January and is planning his Birthday already. His favorite thing to do is play superheroes. Batman is his favorite with Spiderman and Flash coming in a close second. He also loves his Hotwheels especially when his friend Samuel comes to play. They will play with his Hotwheels track for hours. Hunter is giving us a bit of trouble when it comes to Christmas. He changes his mind everyday about what Santa is bringing him. He is easy to please though and gets excited about everything. He is absolutely hilarious because you never know what he is going to say. He is also very loveable and loves to give kisses. He surprised us and has been great with Harmon. He is very protective of him and is very willing to share his toys and play peek a boo with him. We love it when we ask him to help out and we get a “O Tay Guys.” That has been his catch phrase lately.
Harmon joined our family on April 5th this year. He has grown so quick! We were nervous to adjust to having 3 kids, but you don’t even know he’s there most of the time. He has been a great baby! He has been sleeping through the night for quite a while and you don’t have to work very hard to make him smile. Just look at him and he’ll give you a grin that will melt your heart! He does have his moments and when he decides he’s mad then HE’S MAD! Don’t mess with his routine either, he likes his naps at the right time and to go to bed early. He’s on the verge of crawling, and we’re hoping he waits until after Christmas (for the tree’s sake). Mostly we are just happy to have him in our family!
Michael is still putting in his time at the Detention Center and loves his vacations. We always look forward to the Holidays because he gets 2-3 weeks off. It’s always nice to have him home. His one true joy is to spoil the kids and spend time with the family. I am just the busy Mom and love it most of the time. I defiantly have my breaking moments when I get frustrated and tired, but an “I love you” from one of the kids is all I need to put things back in perspective. As parents we love this time and don’t want our kids to grow up to fast. We are still working with the Cub Scouts, it’s been two years now. We did move from Den Leaders to the Committee Chair, which means just a few meetings a month. It’s fun to serve together and have really come to enjoy the Cub Scout Program.
Our lives have been truly blessed this year and we Thank You for all of your love and support! Our Christmas wish this year is that all of our friends and family have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy and healthy New Year!! Our thoughts and prayers are with you always.
With Love
Michael, Alleen, Haley, Hunter, and Harmon

More Getting ready for Christmas

We had a great weekend spending time with family and friends. My brother Cameron and his wife Jessica came down for the weekend. I didn't think the kids would let them go home, they love to smother them with love and attention. We did a little Christmas shopping and visited Bass Pro Shop to see Santa and their winter wonderland. It was a fun set up and there is always so much to see there. After that we met up with our good friends Mike and Juanita for a little Cafe Rio and our annual trip to Ethel M Chocolate Factory. We love seeing the lights in the cactus garden and it doesn't matter how cold it is, we always have a really good time. (We missed you Cori and Blades--it wasn't the same without you!) Yesterday we hit the dreaded mall for T-Ball sign ups. I don't recommend going to the mall the Saturday before Christmas. It was so crowded and I really hate crowds, but it was fun to spend time with family and Haley is really excited about T-ball. We finished the night off with a not so good BYU game and giving Hunter a haircut. So I guess it didn't end on a great note, but overall it was a fun weekend.

Snow Fun

So I'm sure everyone knows now that we had SNOW in Las Vegas. We were planning on a storm then got really excited when it started dumping at noon and continued the rest of the day! Haley was so excited and couldn't wait to get out to play. It took some convincing to get Hunter out, he prefers to be warm and cuddled in a blanket. Once he experienced making a snowman and dumping snow on Dad he loved it and was the last one to come in. The best thing about the storm is----we have NOWHERE to go tomorrow. We get to stay home and just enjoy our family time. I love that snowed in feeling and it's supposed to keep coming, so we'll just relax and put on some more hot chocolate. We had about 8 inches last time we checked.

Christmas Fun

We've had a fun December so far . . . Tonight we did a fun gingerbread house. The kids enjoyed licking the icing off their fingers more than anything. We'll have more pictures coming--we still have 2 more kits. Unfortunately Harmon was in bed already, so he missed out on the fun.

Haley has had 3 dance performances lately. A light parade in Boulder City, the Children's Parade in Henderson, and a performance at Winterfest. It was so fun watching her dance. Grandma and Grandpa got to see one parade and Haley was excited they were there to cheer for her. She did a great job at every show and loved putting her costume on. Tutu's suit her well!

Harmon is excited for Christmas to. He has rolled over to the Christmas tree a few times to play with the decorations.

We Made IT!!

Well we made it 7 whole years. Yes today is our 7th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. It hasn't always been easy, but it is definitely worth it. I feel so lucky to have Michael in my life. He provides for our family, honors his priesthood, and is the BEST Dad! He is also VERY patient when dealing with me and all my emotions and other annoying quirks. I'm glad he's not gotten sick of me yet, especially when we have eternity to go! Here's a little spotlight on him--I have to brag!

What is his name? Douglas Michael Nelson. But he goes by his middle name, Michael.

How long have you been together? Married 7 years and dated for about 10 months before that

Who eats more? Him, definitely!

Who said I Love You first? Michael did and I was so glad! I had wanted to say it for a while, but was to chicken.

Who is taller? Him of course. He is constantly teasing me about my height

Who sings better? He says me--but I bet he could sing if he tried

Who is smarter? He thinks I am, but like I've said before he is filled to the brim with information. I usually say it's useless information, but it comes in helpful whenever we play trivia games. He is very intelligent!

Who does the laundry? Me, but he tells me all the time that he'll do his own. I turn to him for all stain treatment. He can get a stain out of almost everything. (he's good at it because he spills on himself all the time :)

Who pays the bills? He used to do all the bills, then I took over to help relieve some stress from him and now we're in debt. No wonder he was always stressed!

Who mows the lawn? Fake grass is the best!

Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time, but he can make some Good Tacos and he is good on the grill.

Who drives? We take turns most of the time, but when we're traveling out of town he usually drives, because he goes way faster than I do. I usually keep it at about 5 over the limit and he likes go faster than that.

Who is more stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn when we get something stuck in our heads.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, but I really wanted him to! We were in front of my apartment on a Sunday night as he was heading back to Vegas. We did the long distance thing for a long time and it was wonderful when we were married and didn't have to do it anymore.

Who asked who out first? Blind Date. Our friends Jeremy and ShaLayne set us up and we had a nice time so he called me a few days later and asked me out again. I was excited to go out with him again and he came to Cedar City for our second date.

Who proposed? Michael did and I thought it would never happen! I was so excited--we lived 2 1/2 hours away from each other and I just wanted to be with him all the time.

Who wears the pants? He definitely wears the pants, but I steal them once in a while. He is the leader in our house, but I must say I fight him on a lot of things and he is usually right. (I do have my moments though)

I love him very much and hope we have many more happy years to come!

Time Flies!

I can't believe that Harmon is eight months already. Time has flown by so fast. I had to do a post about my cute little baby, because I feel like he gets looked over so much. He is such a good baby! He sleeps thru the night and has for a while, he's happy and it doesn't take much to make him smile. Actually all you have to do is look at him and he has a grin that stretches ear to ear. He just got his first two teeth over the last couple weeks and is so close to crawling. He just scoots backwards and rolls to get where he needs to go. His favorite toy is the wipes box, it will entertain him forever and of course he loves his brother and sister. They are both so sweet with him and he loves when they play with him. Christmas will be fun this year, I think he'll be happy with just some wrapping paper, but I'm sure Santa will get a thing or two for him. I am just so thankful to have Harmon in our family, he is truly a joy to have around!

I've been wanting to do the matching clothes for a while and I finally got the boys a few shirts, so I apologize now for all the pictures to come. I think it is so fun to dress them up the same!

Early Christmas Present

We've been trying to get our Christmas Shopping done early this year, but I got one gift I couldn't wait for until Christmas. We finally broke down and got a bigger vehicle. Yeah!! No more shoving 3 car seats into the back of our little Camry. It's a 2008 Suburban. It had a few miles on it, but it is brand new to us. Michael picked it up in Cedar City on Thursday and I admit I drove it around the block at 11:00 that night. Car pooling to pre-school on Friday was much easier and I didn't have to move a single car seat. Santa was very good to us this year--I guess I better not expect much under the tree.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We were able to go to Panguitch and spend it with my parents. We were the only ones there so my kids were spoiled rotten with attention. We are still in the detox phase of returning home. Dinner was excellent with all the fixins!

Here's Haley helping and Hunter waiting (not so patiently)

The next day was fun to because it's always nice to have a built in babysitter and take off to Cedar City for Date Night. I took Michael to see Twilight which he enjoyed and didn't even complain about seeing. Dinner at Chili's and a little Christmas shopping concluded the evening. It's nice to get away together.

Saturday my brother Marc and his family came over for our yearly Christmas Tree Hunt. There was so much snow, which made the trip so fun. We picked some gorgeous trees and froze to death, but loved every minute of it! It's a tradition we look forward to every year (even when we don't get a tree).

Hollie and I made it thru the snow carrying kids--we should be excused from working out until after the holidays!

My Husband the bank robber--hey he was warm!

The holiday continues as Michael is off this whole week--which means I get to crack the whip to get the Christmas decorations up. I love the holidays and hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I asked my kids what they were thankful for and Haley said "My family, my friends, my body, and church" Hunter being the true little boy said "My bum" as he shook his booty and made tooting noises. Oh man am I in trouble with him! I'm with Haley though I am so Thankful for my family, friends, the gospel, and everything else the Lord has blessed me with. The list could go on forever!

Congrats Mom

Just a big huge Congratulations to my Mom. She just got a new job with the County that she didn't think she'd get! I had total faith in her. She is the smartest most deserving person I know. I'm so thankful that I got my work ethic from her--although I appear VERY lazy when compared to all that she does. She is the best Mom, Grandma, and Friend. Besides her amazing work ethic I love her laugh. Everyone in my family will agree that it is the best when my Mom finds something funny and laughs until she cries and then laughs some more. She has so many talents I can't even begin to brag about all she does. I should have done this post last week when she celebrated her Birthday. I'm so grateful to have her in my life!

Twilight

So we had girls night out and did the midnight movie thing to see Twilight. We had a great time. How can you not have a great time when you include The Cheesecake Factory, a movie, no kids, and good friends. We just went with a little group of ShaLayne, Ashley, Becky, and Mindy. I was shocked at how many people we knew when we got to the theatre, it was pretty much just a party. As for the movie itself I was really excited to see it and enjoyed it. I think I wanted to be WOWed a little more, but it was still enjoyable. I wanted Edward to be a bit more good looking. What did everyone else think? I'm mainly glad that I read the books before seeing the movie--they are well written and a good escape from the world. I'd like to see the movie again without all the clapping and squeals from the crowd every time Edward and Bella would look at each other. I'm making Michael go with me again soon. Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on the movie so lots of comments from you Twilighters! (I wish I had pictures of the evening, but I never got my camera out)

Meticulous

Okay so I have to brag about Michael for a minute. He has a few quirks that make me laugh! He is very meticulous when it comes to certain projects. He takes great pride in his work and can't help but make it perfect. An example of this is Hunter's Bedroom. It is Red Sox Red and Red Sox Blue. We did stripes going around the room which were kind of hard to get straight especially with textured walls. Anyway the work he put into making sure the lines were straight and going back and filling in the places where it bled took forever, but he is a perfectionist. The end result was worth it and Hunter loves his room.

So why do you ask am I bringing this up? Last Saturday Michael spent the day cleaning out the garage and reorganizing some stuff. The floor needed to be cleaned as well. The garage floor is something he did and worked hard at so it drives him crazy to see it dirty. He finished the garage and I thought he was coming in for the evening--it was dark already. He never came in so I went to check on him and what did I find him doing? Mopping our driveway. Yes I did say Mopping the driveway. He recently stained the concrete and put a protecting topcoat on the stain. I guess it was looking a little dirty from the water in the garage so he continued his cleaning on down to the street. I can't help but laugh at him for this, but it's great that he is such a perfectionist because I am just the opposite. I guess that's why we get along so well. Opposites attract--I love him so much for his funny little quirks!

What's your song?

I was watching a show the other day that started with a guy starting his day--it was a day where he ruled the world and everything was going his way. It was put to music that just makes you want to get up and DANCE. I believe the music was some classic Huey Lewis and the News. So I ask "What's your song" you know the one that puts you in a good mood and makes you feel like you can conquer the day without a problem.
I wish I could say that I would choose "Scatter Sunshine" or "Did you think to Pray" but I need something a little more upbeat! I remember growing up in Richfield and listening to Fisher and Todd in the morning on KISN 97--that was how I always started my day. Then in college I had a roommate that listened to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" EVERY DAY! She would listen to it and dance and it worked for her, unfortunately it just made me want to move out after the first semester. Currently it's usually the sounds of Playhouse Disney that starts my day, but I'd like to change that as well. So everyone let me know what is "your Song" so I can load up my IPod and have some great days! Warning to Michael--Singing in the shower will probably occur!

Soccer, Bull Riding, and Family

Wow I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! It started on Thursday with my cousin Ryan and Becky coming to spend the night so they could fly off on their cruise the next day. It was fun to see them and I wish we had more time to visit, but I spent most of their visit kneeling to the porcelain throne. I will spare the details of that horrible night, but must say a huge THANK YOU to Michael for giving them a ride to the airport and taking the girls to pre-school so I could have the morning to recover. I really think Mom's should have special powers that keep them from ever getting sick! Friday my brother Troy and his 2 boys Ty and Konner came down for a visit. We went to the PBR--Professional Bull Riding. It was a blast! The kids loved every minute of it. Hunter laughed at the clowns even though he didn't understand most of their jokes and Haley just wanted the bulls to keep coming. "Bugger Butt" was her favorite, hey what kid wouldn't love that name! I wish I had more pictures, but we are having camera issues, so I only got a few.

Saturday was Haley's last soccer game which was very sad, we have had so much fun watching her and she has gotten better with each game. She scored 3 goals and was disappointed that she didn't get more. Luckily there was a BYU game on after soccer so we came home to watch that and chow down on some wings. I had a little rest, which I needed, I HATE being sick! We then headed to the strip to see some lights and the water show. We haven't been down there forever! After dealing with traffic it reminded me why we don't go up there much. Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen at Town Center ended the night. We had some very tired kids, but they had fun playing together. It was so fun to hang out with Troy--I have always looked up to him so much and it was nice to spend some time playing and visiting. He is a good Dad and I consider him not only my brother, but a great friend.

Ty, Haley, Konner, and Hunter at the Gardens at the Bellagio--They were all decked out for Fall.

Troy and His Cute Kids