My kids LOVE the Denver Children's Museum. Its funny to watch Jeffrey especially because he is SO serious about his play there. He likes to be the chief fireman on the real fire truck they have and the head cashier at the pretend grocery store (yes, he likes to be in charge, he's my little leader!). We brought some friends along during spring break this year.
This is from April...I'm a little slow this year at posting!
Sammy got to have his first friend party this year. He was all giggles. We had about 20 four year olds in our house. It was chaos!! John wasn't home until half way through the party but luckily I have some great friends who volunteered to help out.
Sammy and I were so excited about a pinata! But it didn't turn out so great. It fell and then it was hard for those little kids to break it open. And then I didn't let them mad dash for the candy because I wanted everyone to have equal shares-in theory a good idea, in practice a terrible let down.
Jeffrey and Sammy were very excited this year to do an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. Trenton had no comment. Isabella came to celebrate as well and found her fill or eggs.
The day before Easter we got to ride in an old fire truck that a friend of a friend owns for his real estate business.
I know he's only in Kindergarten but Jeffrey wanted to do Science Fair this year. Normally, I love science fair but I felt like it was too much for him. However, John stepped in and did the experiment with him. I helped with the poster. The project was "Who has the most air in their lungs". We measured lung capacity with a soda bottle, tube, and water. John, no surprise, won. Jeffrey was too scared to speak to the judge, but he got a medal anyways which he has been wearing to bed.
Jeff turned 6 last week, wow! He was super excited about his birthday. We opened some presents in the morning. We got him a new bike. Its a little too big and is hard for him to mount-but I'm hoping he grows before summer. (And just FYI, I got that bike for $30 from a black Friday sale-yea baby!) Later, we went to Chuck e Cheese. Jeffrey's buddy Nathan got to come along. Since we HATE the pizza there, we came home to eat and have cake.
John took Jeffrey to the rock climbing gym for "Dadurday". Its a new thing John has started with the boys. Right now Jeffrey and Sammy switch off, each Saturday John takes one of them for an outing. Jeffrey did well climbing. He got scared if he got too high but wants to do it again.
Most of these are from John's i-phone. The first one I think was taken while I was at women's conference at BYU.
Trenton-6months. He started army crawling before Christmas. He is fast now! Man he loves to move-he's going to be a handful as a toddler. Its right around the corner!
I'm guessing he's about 4 months in this photo.
Sammy took a self portrait-look at those green eyes!
Pappy Earl, Grandma Janice, and Spencer were able to come to CO for Christmas this year. It was fun to have them and catch up.
Mornin' boys!
The grandparents helping to open all those darn toys-the manufacturers don't make it easy!
Sammy with the Swim to Me Puppy that Santa brought.
John and Spencer played with Sammy's new marble tracks most of the day.
Jeffrey and his Lego City Police Station-it took all day to build.
Patrick, John, Spencer, and I went skiing the day after Christmas. On our second run Spencer was practicing his stopping but took a bad fall instead, right on his shoulder. The ski patrol took him down to the clinic and X-Rays showed a bad clavicle break. I can't believe he is smiling in this picture, he's hurting, but he was a great patient. I didn't hear one moan.
Jeffrey played soccer for the first time this fall. He had fun with his teammates and his coach was great. Jeffrey is learning to be more aggressive, most of the time on the field he'd be pretending to take pictures of the other team or barely attempting to kick the ball. He had at least one good play per game-so its progress!
My brother Paul didn't think Trenton ever smiled but I just had a hard time catching him on camera. He is a smiley guy. He loves laughing with his brothers. His happiest moments are getting his diaper or clothes changed-he loves being nude.
Sammy is often found past out on the floor somewhere. If he's tired, he just lays down anywhere with his dog Scout, sucks his fingers, and smells his "dee-dee", then he's out!
Back at the end of August Jeffrey asked me to take the training wheels off his bike and he figured out how to ride his two wheeler in 30 minutes!
My last living grandparent, Grandpa Nelson, died September 14th at the age of 92. I was able to fly to Yuma for his funeral last weekend. Funerals are funny things sometimes because its the one event that will bring the whole family together. People make special efforts to go to funerals. Grandpa's funeral was one of the best I've been to. That may sound insensitive but there were funny stories given, his best qualities exemplified, and a wonderful spirit. He was a great student and athlete. I always knew he was an outstanding track runner but I never knew he played quarterback in football, center in basketball, and I believe baseball. And he wasn't more than 5 foot 7 in tall (that's being generous). He was described as being loving, giving, humble, and a hard worker. Early in his life he worked at a hardware store and decided he didn't like retail. He and my Grandma ended up moving to Bard, CA (near Yuma) to run the Bard Store for 38 years. They worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Here's Paul and Audra-maybe a wedding picture.
They had three boys: David (my dad), Denny, and Jerry
My Gramps and me. My brothers and I have some fun memories in that Model T go cart. The first time I drove it, I ran it into a tree. We would play "tag" by driving around the orchards too fast throwing lemons and oranges at those running on the ground. My memories of Grandpa are seeing him flipping burgers (that he ground himself) at every family gathering, juicing oranges, cracking pecans, playing with his dogs, that blue jumpsuit he always wore and his quiet, relaxed, patient demeanor.
Hunter Nelson's blessing, the first great grandchild. Hunter turns 8 tomorrow. This is the "4 generations" picture with my dad, brother Paul, Hunter and Grandpa. He had 9 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren at the time of his death.
My family at the funeral: me, Brent, Dave, Betty, Lindsey, Paul, and Mark. We haven't all been together for several years due to school and babies. My dad gave part of the eulogy and Paul talked about the grandchildren's memories at the funeral.
My dad told a story about the time when he was buying his first car from Bill Alexander in Yuma. Bill and my Grandpa were friends before Bill had a car dealorship. Bill would buy things on credit from the Bard Store. When my dad's car was ready, Bill called him up and told him to come sign the loan papers and pick up the car. Well, Grandpa was out of town and was suppose to be the co-signer on the loan but Bill told my Dad it would be OK that he could pick up the car and sign the papers when Grandpa got back. Then he said "If you can't trust Paul Nelson, you can't trust anybody".
I'll miss Grandpa just like I miss Grandma. They were a big part of my childhood and it almost feels like that part has died along with them. But what a happy reunion they must have had last Monday! Although we miss their company, I'm sure if we knew what it was like in the after life we may not mourn as much as we do when a loved one passes away.
Trenton had his two month check up two weeks ago. He was 10lb, 10oz and 23 inches long. He is smiling and almost laughing. His newest thing is staring at and chewing on his hands. He'll open and close his hands and grab at his clothes. He has great neck control and will sometimes get his knees up under him when he is on his stomach. Here are some photos from the last month and a half.
Jeffrey started kindergarten on August 7th. It seems like such an early start date! I remember starting school after Labor Day. They are on a modified traditional schedule where they get two weeks off in fall, two weeks at Christmas, and two weeks in the spring. He goes to school every morning. Jeffrey was very excited on the first day of school. He saw his teacher Mrs. DeWolf come out to get her class and he ran to the front of the line and didn't look back. I didn't even get a wave goodbye. I'm glad he is so confident and comfortable already. I love his teacher. She has everything very structured which fits Jeffrey's personality perfectly. Sammy has been a bit lonely without Jeffrey in the mornings. Hopefully he will adjust and learn to play on his own.
