4th OF JULY

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

-Constitution of the United States

Four score and one week ago we celebrated our day of independence. We, as a free family in this United States of America, CHOSE to first celebrate with our ward family followed by a soiree with some fab friends.

Our ward met at Warm Springs, this however is not the same Warm Springs that I remember from my youth, the location has remained the same but the experience has been lost. No longer can you flail through the air on the tattered rope, dive recklessly from the rocks or in the case of my brother in-law, tease "somebody has to save me first" when our cousin was barely treading water and he thought we were messing with him. Yep, those days are gone and new memories are now shut off by a towering black metal gate that will allow no more. We WERE allowed, on this day,to swim in the cement pool. The slide-CLOSED. Big surprise. Thank goodness for friends, that is what made it all worthwhile. The ward supplied hamburgers and hot dogs, Jason made homemade root beer. We sang a few patriotic songs and Bishop Eddie gave a short inspirational talk. Ward parties are great fun and it gives you the opportunity to get to know people outside of Sunday meetings. I give it a thumbs up!

Our next stop was the P.P.P (Pisciotta Party Palace). There we gathered for some BBQ, games and fireworks. Everyone swam and played, Donald grilled up enough meat to feed a small village and we barely made it home with the hair on our heads after a few misguided fireworks(well except for Ryan or was it already gone?). We really enjoyed a great time-thanks everyone!

Donald with 20lbs. of carne asada

A seemingly innocent game of basketball gets WAY out of hand.........


somebody's going down....

Here you CAN jump off of the rocks- Go Jace!

The tail end of Lauren's jump off the rocks

OK Leslie, this one is for you.... check out Dayne's face- it's hilarious!

Lauren and Chloe with the super sparklers

Lauren and Megan shooting Roman Candles

Don't worry, they're underage- no jail time

Jace

Jace and Dayne

So you see we as a people were able to succeed in choosing a great way to spend our day of honoring and remembering this great country. We hope to continue to exercise these rights and privileges that we have been so abundantly blessed with.

Jace's Baptism

GETTING READY.........

Preparations for Jace's baptism consisted of having these handsome photos taken for the invitation. My friend Heather so graciously took time out to capture Jace.........

Pulling off an ad for GQ

getting up close and personal

and oh so smooth!

JUNE 27th, 2009........

Our little Jace is getting baptized today. I can hardly believe that 8 years has passed so quickly. Next time I turn around I'll be crying my eyes out sending him out for 2 whole years on a mission. So far the day has gone smoothly. Dinner preparations are well underway(started yesterday), Jace got a haircut and everyone is preparing to head down to the church.

Jason and Jace- ready for the big moment

After the baptism and confirmation our friends and family joined us for our version of Cafe Rio pork salads and tacos with Texas sheet cake and ice cream cones for dessert.

Jace's best friend Brett was able to join him on this special day

Jace with mom and dad

Brother & sister- HOW SWEET!

Grandma & Grandpa & Jace

Grandma & Grandpa & Jace


My cousin Marissa made this cute brownie for Jace

We had around 60 people with all of our friends and family so we opened up the backyard for swimming and eating.



Relaxing on the grass

Jace ready for church on Sunday

Thank-you again to all of our family and friends who came and supported Jace on his baptism day. He really felt special. Thank-you to all who know him for being a good example and having children that are a good example to him. We all had a great day and I know Jace will always remember his special baptism day.

THREE IN ONE

Friday, June 12th-

The Nelson family reunion is scheduled for tonight at Mt. Charleston. After loading way too much stuff in the truck we are on our way. We arrive to cooler than expected temperatures which become quite chilly as the sun bids farewell. So with a plan in place, I am resolved to become friendly with a warm glowing fire. We hit it off and were inseparable for the rest of the evening. Dinner was a make your own tin foil meal. Lauren and Jace were hesitant with their choices of just meat and veggies, but when the final project was revealed and they ate every bite. The best part for them soon followed....... DESSERT! Big surprise on a camp out- it was s'mores. I eventually had to cut them off, especially the roasting of marshmallows. So Jace resorted to just burning sticks in the fire. What is it with boys and fire?

Then it was time for bed. For me this is probably the worst part of camping. Forget being dirty or dealing with bugs, that's easy compared to trying to get a good nights sleep. Sleep is very important to me, I love it and it loves me. We work well together. As suspected I tossed and turned all night even with the comfy sleeping bag and air mattress. My arms and legs kept falling asleep, why couldn't I?? Well the night ended and the sun shone again. Jason had a scout hike to attend around the bend so he went to that while I went to visit with my new friend the fire once more. We had a breakfast of campfire pancakes and eggs and boiled water for hot chocolate. Jace and his boy cousins were busy on adventures, they found sticks, looked for bugs and hiked all around our campsite. We played a couple of fun games and sat around and talked. Jason returned around 11 and it was time for us to head out(Lauren's dance performance was at 3pm). Jace, under no circumstances wanted to go. He was happy as can be roaming free in this dirt and wilderness. Our adventure was over and we returned again to civilization. All we had remaining were our memories of a fun night and the overwhelming smell of the campfire that saturated our whole being and all of our belongings.

Staying warm round the campfire



Lauren roasting a marshmallow
Sheridan and Crystal cheesin' in the background!



Jace roastin' a marshmallow


Chick, Larry and Chris cooking pancakes

Jake, Clark, Caleb and Jace

Thursday, June 18th-

Tonight is our enrichment activity and we are going to attend "The Buddy Holly Story" at Spring Mountain Ranch. Kirsten and I are leaving early to secure a good spot on the grass where we can all sit together. The drive isn't bad and we are there about an hour before they open the gates- and yep we are first in line. Gates finally open and we book it down the trail and lay out a couple of humongous tarps- SPACE SECURED! The rest of our group eventually shows up. We all brought a dinner and some snacks, so we eat and talk until showtime. The play is fabulous! The guy who played Buddy Holly is Kirsten's brother-in-law, so we get a group photo with the star. We arrive back home around 11pm. What a fun night- hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!!

Friday, June 19th-

Finally a weekend away. It seems like forever since we've been to the cabin. We arrived in Cedar City about 6pm and had dinner at Wingers. The theatre is across the way so we checked movie times. Perfect! The kids saw "UP" and we saw "The Proposal". Everyone enjoyed their movie, although I think my ending for The Proposal would have been better...... but it was good. Saturday morning is when our real adventure started. We took the road less traveled over the mountain and drove on the old 89 highway. We stopped in the city of Panguitch for lunch and continued on our journey. Our next stop was Big Rock Candy Mountain. Somehow I recall there being a little candy store there but evidently there is not. They did, however have a little motel and cafe and a gas station with candy and little treasures. Jace got a bag of rock magnets and Lauren got a lollipop and a peacock rock. The kids climbed the "candy" mountain and we checked out the river. Thunderstorms were brewing as we got back in the car and continued on our way. The rain began falling harder and harder and soon it was falling in sheets. We trekked onward and soon arrived at our destination- Manti. I have only been there once before, not long after Jason and I were married, and it pretty much has remained the same. I haven't seen every temple in real life, and though every one I have seen is beautiful, there is just something exemplary about the Manti temple. I don't know if it's because it's nestled in that small town or because it rises up on the grassy knoll, perhaps because of the architecture, but what I do know is that it is beyond words. We decided we would take on the whole experience of the Manti Pageant and eat the turkey dinner at the old tabernacle. Next we drove to find a parking spot and by now the storm clouds could hold the rain no longer and it began to pour. The kids and I stayed in the car while Jason braved the elements and took a blanket and saved us a few seats. He returned and we waited out the storm in the car. It soon blew over and we were out to explore this little town. We got some pictures, honey butter scones, snow cones and hot chocolate(remember we were going for the whole experience). The pageant started around 9:30pm and the rain continued to stay away, which we were grateful for. They have really added a lot since we had last seen it and it was really good, even some pyrotechnics. After it was over we we loaded up and began the dreaded 2 hour drive back to Cedar. The kids fell asleep, but I stayed awake to make sure Jason didn't fall asleep. We got back safely about 1:30 am.

Famous vacation house in Marysvale(I think)







Big Rock Candy Mountain

Gazing at the river

Famous turkey dinner time!!

Manti temple

Jason, Lauren and Jace

Lauren and Jace with the statue of Moroni

Doesn't get prettier than this!

All lit up after the pageant

BASEBALL and BALLERINAS

Spring baseball was a big hit with Jace. First he got to be on the same team as his best friend Brett and second, they actually won a few games. Jace is so funny to watch, and he really could care less if he wins or loses- it's all about the snack. We enjoyed watching his games and are looking forward to Fall Ball.

This video is Jace's last hit of the season.....too bad they got him out!

Jace in action

Lauren spent her year learning how to be a ballerina. She liked going to class with her friend Shelby, everything is better with a friend in tow. They worked hard all year and had their performance last Saturday. They were both wonderful and I was very impressed with the dance company they attend. I have to admit that I was the first to complain about the costs involved with the costumes and the concert fees and being limited to ten people that could attend the concert....... BUT after witnessing a concert for the first time I can truly see that a few things like costumes, venue, lighting, sound system and professionalism make a huge difference come concert time. So next year I'm going to keep my mouth shut and only gag slightly when it's time to pay, instead of coughing up the money.

Lauren and Shelby at Thursday's dress rehearsal

Family photo after concert

Lauren with Grandma & Grandpa

Lauren with Grandma & Grandpa

The star of the show!

Lookin' gorgeous.... love the flowers!

Stopped by Carrabas after to have some dinner and got this shot in the bathroom.... by now she was in a mood so I was lucky to get the few pics that I got.

REALLY?

You're nice enough to open your heart and your backyard to a stray tortoise and before you know it the animal world is taking advantage of your hospitality.......

We found these adventurers relaxing and soaking up some rays in our pool.
AND as an extra bonus one of the left a special squirt of goo on the pool cover.

If that wasn't enough we have a little desert squirrel hanging around and swiping some of Ruby's food. I think the worst of it is the retched pigeon that uses our spa as it's watering hole.... little does it know that the BB gun is loaded and ready to take care of his disease ridden self!

Dude! Party Time!!

About 3 weeks ago, on May 16th, Jace had his birthday party..... and it's finally getting posted. He wanted a swim party, so I found a monkey surfboard theme, they use bananas for surfboards- I thought it was cute, Jace didn't care he just wanted a party. He had about 10 boys over, and what I dreaded to be chaos was actually quite controlled. We started with the ever popular pizza for dinner and surfboard sundaes, with banana surfboards of coarse, for dessert. Jason took charge of a few pool games, Jace opened presents and the boys swam it up. They also had to use some surf lingo like dude, gnarly, hang ten, sick(meaning good), and stoked.

These surf board sundaes are sick!

Dude! Brett almost blew up in the spa

Gnarly inflatable ring races

Totally stoked at these party favors

Say Hello to......

Two weeks ago, as I was taking a leisurely walk, I came across this little desert tortoise by the edge of the park. Fearing that her life would end either by riding lawnmower, automobile tire or intrigued toddler, I decided to take her to the safety of our backyard. Lauren and Jace were pleasantly surprised to see her sitting our our grass when they arrived home from school and hoped that they would finally be pet owners. After some research we concluded this tortoise to be a girl so we named her Ruby VonShellington. Now you would think that a small 6 inch desert tortoise would be easy enough to corral, but this girl is faster than you expect and hides in crazy places. Today she got out and wandered across the street- lucky I spotted her as I walked down to get the mail. We are still deciding if we want to keep her and build her a little home or if we should give her to a guy at Jason's work who has a few tortoises already.

Miss Ruby

It's hilarious to watch her climb up the paver

Jace and Ruby

She prefers the rocks to the grass

I guess we'll wait and see if Ruby becomes a permanent pet or just a practice run at pet ownership!