Pioneer Day

So it's taking me a week, but I will get this post done! We had a filled weekend in Panguitch for the 24th Celebrations. It's a weekend we look forward to every year and it was filled with food, family, and of course rodeo's. Friday morning started off with the wonderful parade down Main and Center Street. Panguitch does it right and once you see the parade it turns around and comes back, so you get to see it twice. What could be better than watching a great parade two times! We spent the next little while visiting with family and running into old friends. My Mom and Dad didn't disappoint and provided a yummy dinner of roast, watermelon, and beans. Then it was off to the Kiddie races at the park. The kids had fun and enjoyed the otter pop as a prize. It was a little warm for me, but WAY better than being in Vegas. That evening we had fun taking money at the rodeo. We usually get a lot more rodeo fun, but we only made it to one this year. The kids enjoyed watching inside with Grandma while Michael and I were parked at the door collecting money. I didn't get a single picture of the kids in their cowboy gear, but they looked cute. Haley and Hunter have outgrown their boots and Haley can't fit into her wranglers anymore, so Hunter gets her hand me downs and Harmon even wore Hunt's old wranglers and some WAY cute boots we found at Wal-mart of all places. I wish I had some pictures, but believe me they were the cutest cowboys there. Hunter would live in his boots and wranglers if I'd let him, but it's to hot for them right now.
It was a fun weekend celebrating our pioneer heritage, I'm so thankful to be from such a fun little town and have such a great family to go play with during holidays. I'm glad the traveling is over for the summer though and we'll just enjoy being home for the next few weeks until new baby gets here. (I have soooo much to do!)

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My run in with the "Law"

Yes I had a minor situation with a member of the "Law enforcement." Okay, so it was just a security guard on a power trip, but he really ticked me off! The other night I had to go to the airport to pick up my cousin. I followed the signs to where she said the shuttle would drop her off, but I couldn't see her so I pulled into a spot to call her. The Security guard rolled over on his bike and asked what I was doing. I explained and he just said very nicely that the area was only for shuttles and buses. He told me where I needed to go and how to get there. I thanked him and pulled out. I went a little ways and saw her sitting there so she ran over to jump in. The same guy rode over and just started chewing me out. I assured him I didn't feel as if I were above the law like he stated and that I was not trying to disrespect him like he accused, I just didn't think it was that big of a deal. If I knew that this going to cause such a problem I would have gone to the other level. I know that in the end I guess I was wrong and should have gone where he told me, but I didn't feel that the situation called for him to tear into me like he did. He kept threatening to give me a ticket and I wanted to just tell him that I'd take a ticket if it would shut him up. I'm not against being told that I'm wrong, but I didn't need to be torn into like he did. I think in the end he really wanted me to get upset and react and in one hand I wish I would have, but I know it wouldn't have helped the situation. I could go more into what he got mad at me for, but I won't bore you. Just a warning to watch out for security guards on a power trip.

Milestones . . .

So we've hit a few milestone in our family.

Haley----

A few weeks ago I got her kindergarten information, I admit I almost cried when I read it, my baby girl is growing up! She got track 4, which I guess is an okay track (I"m clueless to this year round school thing!). We've done most of her school shopping and I must say she got spoiled rotten, but it's really fun to buy clothes for her--she looks cute in everything! Next milestone for her is she has a loose tooth. I gave her an apple yesterday, but she wouldn't bite it because she said it made her tooth hurt. I noticed her loose tooth and she was soooo excited and ready for the tooth fairy to come. It's not ready to come out quite yet, but it's on its way. Haley has also learned to hold her breath and swim under water, she is still really timid, but loves the water way more than years past!

Hunter---

He's getting ready to start pre-school and is way more excited than I thought he'd be. We let him pick out a backpack and boy was he excited. I think he'd sleep with it if I let him. Another biggie for Hunter is that he's been staying in his bed lately. For the longest time I found him on the couch every morning. He learned that he got in trouble for waking me up, so he'd just come lay on the couch and fall asleep. Also this year he gained some confidence in the water and will swim with floatee's on. In years past he has been attached to Michael or I and wouldn't even come near the water unless we were holding him.

Harmon---

Oh boy is this little boy growing up! He has his legs and runs everywhere. If he sees an open door he darts for it, he wants to be outside all the time! He is a huge copycat and will TRY to do whatever his big brother and sister do. He has learned to eat with a spoon, which means less mess for me to clean up although he'd be happy with a bath after every meal. The biggest thing for me with Harmon is that we haven't had a eczema break out for about a week now. I think the pillow I had in his crib was making it way worse. It's not gone completely, but it is a TON better. My favorite thing he does is the cracker dance. Every time you give him a cracker he cocks his head from side to side and says cracker in a funny excited way. I laugh every time he does it! He still likes to be rocked to sleep, but he'll go to bed great just by giving him his blanket. He is a character and keeps us laughing all the time. He seems to grow up more and more everyday.



My milestone is basically this pregnancy coming to an end. It has gone pretty fast and I'm realizing that I am so not ready for this baby to get here, I better get in gear because it's only 4 weeks away. If I can get thru those 4 weeks without melting or complaining about the heat it will be a miracle! I'll try to keep my whining to a minimum.

Strange Sunday

Yesterday was kind of a weird day for me. It started out okay--I got up way to early because I just couldn't sleep, but it gave me time to read and have a little me time. By the time I got everyone up bathed, fed, and dressed my patience was gone. We went to church with me having a bad attitude. Harmon was horrible in Sacrament meeting because he was so ready for a nap. I stuck it out (even though I really wanted to go home and let him nap) and half way thru relief society he was asleep. That is of course after he ran to hit the piano and while I was trying to catch him I knocked him over causing him to bump his head on the piano bench. I took him out screaming, but it wore him down and asleep. I got to listen to 20 minutes of the lesson, which I really enjoyed. After church Harmon actually came home and went down for a nap and I started the dilemma of what to make for dinner (no I didn't plan ahead). Michael sensed I was getting angry again and sent me off for a nap (Thank You, Thank You, Thank You). When he got me up dinner was on the table waiting. It was heavenly! I actually felt like I could survive the rest of the day and the best part was Michael didn't have to go to work until 11:00 so we got to cuddle and watch a movie after the kids went to bed. This may not sound strange to anyone else, but these things never happen to us, especially on Sundays. I think I can face the week now.

Special Saturday

We had a great day yesterday! We had the opportunity to go to the St. George Temple and witness some very special sealings. First Michael's brother Eric was sealed to his cute wife Jenny, then Michael's parents were sealed to each other, followed by Michael and his 3 brothers getting sealed to their parents. The finale was Michael's brother Ryan and wife Ronni getting sealed to their adopted son Connor. It was a very touching time in the temple and I feel blessed to have been able to share this special day with the Nelson family. It has been a long road to get everyone there and I could feel the spirit so strong and know that Michael's parents are happy. Our lesson in relief society today was so great and it seemed to have special meaning after all the work that was done yesterday. I am so thankful for the temple and the knowledge that my family is going to be together forever. I wish I had some pictures of the special day, but I forgot my camera. Hopefully I can get copies and share them with everyone.

To be like Ruby

There is a very annoying show that my kids love to watch called Max and Ruby. It's on Noggin and is about a brother and sister bunny. Ruby is the big sister and is usually in charge of her brother Max who gets something on his mind and won't change his mind for anything. Yesterday's episode the only words that Max spoke were "Tow Truck". So Ruby made it her mission to find his tow truck and put off what she wanted to do to help him. In the end helping Max is how she accomplished what she was trying to do for herself. Anyway, I'm not sure if this even makes sense, but I think I need to be more like Ruby. She is the most patient person in the world (okay-yes-she is a cartoon), she never looses it even though all she hears all day is "Tow Truck, Tow Truck."

The reason I bring this up is because my patience has been INCREDIBLY short lately. I feel like all I do all day long is yell at my kids to be quiet, to clean up, and to quit fighting. In the end it is exhausting just to get the basics done. I blame some of it on the pregnancy and the fact that I'm a little tired, but I'm trying to teach them especially Haley that even though you are tired you can't act like a snot. I guess maybe I should listen to my own advice. Anyway, my goal is to be more like Ruby and be more patient with my three little monsters that I LOVE so much.

One thing my kids have picked up from this show is a name for our new addition. There is a baby on the show named "Huffington." What do you think--it is an "H" name?

Attached?

I think we've got a problem . . . Harmon REALLY likes his binkies.

He thought he was so tricky.

Happy 4th of July

So our 4th didn't go quite as planned. We were planning on heading to Utah for a Christensen Family Reunion, but after a week of the whole family being sick we decided to stay close to home. Harmon started us off and totally emptied his stomach on me right as we got to my sister-in-law's baby shower. I loved the 45 minute drive home covered in puke. I guess I should feel more bad for him than me, but he slept the whole way home. A few days later I woke up at 1:00 am sick, then Haley was up at 1:30, and Hunter started at 3:30. Needless to say I called Michael at work at 4:00 in the morning and begged him to come home and help me. The illness continued the next day and by about 6:00 in the evening the kids finally got dressed. It took me a few days to get back on my feet, but by Saturday we were all recovered.

Since we were stuck at home we wanted to make it a fun day for the kids so we went to Ice Age 3 that morning then headed to a BBQ with some friends at their parents house. We showed up expecting hot dogs and a little swimming, but got ribs, steak, swimming, and a slip n slide. (Thanks for the invite Mike and Jaunita--it was a blast!) We made it home for fireworks with our neighbors and our neighborhood didn't disappoint! The illegal stuff was EVERYWHERE! I was glad we didn't fight the crowds to watch at one of the casinos. The kids had a blast with the fireworks, Hunter usually cries thru all of them, but he just sat and watched. As we sat and visited with good friends and I watched my cute family have fun I was so full of gratitude. I had been in a "poor me" state for a few days, but I feel blessed just to have my family healthy and by my side. Hopefully everyone else had a great 4th of July to!

Haley enjoying the Slip n SlidePool Fun!Hunter with his MusclesThis was the funnest part of the day--watching Mike and Mike on the Slip n Slide. What kids!

Balloon Festival and Family Reunion

Every year we look forward to this weekend. It has been a tradition to go see the hot air balloons and spend time with family. My family has had a reunion at the ranch at the same time for the last few years so it's great to see everyone and have a great time. We headed to Panguitch early because Michael had a few days off and took advantage of a free babysitter. We headed to Cedar with my brother Cameron and his wife Jessica for dinner and a movie. We saw Transformers--it was entertaining, but the language was terrible (Don't see if you are easily offended). It was fun to spend time with adults and have a little break from the kids.

Friday we hung out with cousins and went to the ranch for dinner. I got to visit with some of my cousins that I don't see very often and it was a lot of fun. Saturday we got up early (6:30 am--ouch!) to go watch the balloons take off. It was amazing to watch 30+ balloons take off over the beautiful scenery. Michael played with our camera and got some fun pictures. It was off to the Lions Club breakfast at the bank for some good pancakes, I had to head back to the house after that to change a dirty diaper and Michael and the kids stayed downtown to watch the Motorcycle parade. Each year they have a Hog Rally at the same time as the balloon festival so there are motorcycles everywhere. Hunter was in HEAVEN! We spent the rest of day at the ranch playing with cousins and eating way to much yummy food. Hunter went fishing and caught his first fish. He was so excited, I almost couldn't get him to put it down. He wanted to carry it everywhere with him. Haley was just in heaven riding the horses and went for a long 4-wheeler ride with Grandma and Grandpa to change the water. Harmon just loved having the freedom to run around and get dirty.

That evening was the "Glow". They line up the balloons down main street and Center street and everyone lights up at the same time. There were tons of people there and it's fun to run into friends that I don't get to see very often. I saw my good friend Sally and we were able to catch up for a minute. Overall it was a great weekend full of family and fun. I feel so lucky to call Panguitch home and have these fun events to go to. Can't wait until next year!

Birthday Disaster

So last week was Michael's birthday. I was determined to make it a special day for him, but of course everything went completely WRONG. He had to work the night before so the kids decorated the house and made him a huge birthday card for him to come home to the next morning. They were so excited!

After the kids went to bed I decided to break out the cookie dough ice cream, as I was enjoying a little bowl a little chocolate chip hit a tooth and pretty much shattered it. Yeah, now I get to go to the dentist (NOT my favorite thing to do). So the next morning as I'm trying to get into the dentist I got completely overheated (our bathroom is like an OVEN) and ended up sick on the couch for almost 2 hours. I don't recommend being pregnant in the summer to anyone! I finally got an appointment for 6:30 that evening, which of course ruins Michaels birthday dinner and the fact that I had to be at Cub Scouts at 6:00. We also had to pick up Michael's truck from the dealership where it was having some work done. I won't even mention how much it cost, as I was leaving I backed into another truck, placing a large dent in his door and a large ding on our bumper. I'd like to blame the accident on the dumb dealership for parking the truck in the worst possible location, or blame the kids for fighting and Harmon for crying which was all a huge distraction, or the fact that I was trying to hurry so I could finish the treats for scouts and get them delivered, but it all comes down to me not paying attention and going to fast. Nobody to blame but myself. The guy I hit was the nicest guy and was completely understanding, he's LDS and we knew a lot of the same people (I think that makes it worse).

I did manage to get home, to scouts, and to the dentist (where I found out I broke 2 teeth and one of them will have to be removed and have an implant put in :( $$$$). Michael had to cook his own birthday dinner with 3 very tired and ornery kids at his feet. We didn't get to eat until 9:00 and I was numb for the whole thing. I felt so bad for him, I felt like I totally ruined the entire day. He was very understanding and said he had a Happy Birthday anyway. He did have fun opening his gifts. Hunter gave him a superhero look and find book that he picked out special, Haley gave him a Wii Star Wars game, and I got him an IPod Nano for his truck. We finished the night with some homemade cake that the kids helped decorate (can you say sprinkles!) So at least the day ended on a good note. I made it up to Michael by taking him to dinner and a movie a few days later. So sorry for this long whining post, it's a good thing it took me a week to write about it otherwise it would have been a lot long and had a lot more anger and bitterness involved. Next year I guarantee will be a MUCH better Birthday! Love you Michael!