Wet and Wild

Wedged between dry barren desert and rows of cookie cutter tract homes, there is refreshing slice of summer fun- Wet and Wild. Though this was opening season for them, it's not the first time this waterpark has been part of Vegas. The name Wet and Wild rewinds my mind to my youth and the fun summers spent at their old location on the Strip. I think that location closed around 2003, so Vegas has gone ten long years without a big waterpark. Mind you this new Wet and Wild is nowhere near as big as the old, but there is promise of expansion over the next few years. Lauren, Jace, and I got season passes and went quite a few times.With our passes we were even able to bring a few friends!! 

Brett and Jace

Jason with Jace's friend Brett

Jace and his friend Brett by the Lazy River

Jace and his friend Kaden went down Canyon Cliffs!!

Jace and his friend Erick

JACE AND COUSIN CLARK

Day with cousins, aunts and grandma

Scout Camp 2013

July 29- August 3, 2013

The great outdoors: where Boy Scouts escape the the pressures of living in a civilized world. Showers are optional, stinky breath is the norm, clothes need not match, and dinner is a guessing game. This was Jace's first week long Boy Scout Camp. This year was stake encampment so our whole stake attended Del Webb in Southern Utah by Kolob Reservoir. Jason also went as an adult leader, though at this point he's either a pro or just plain crazy as this was his 15th year going as a leader. 

Jace had a very productive week at camp earning these merit badges:

*Environmental Science

*Archery

*Rifle Shooting

*Mammal Study

*Geology

Erick, Brett, and Jace

Jace and Kaden

Jace with a few of his fellow scouts

It's All Relative

The Nelson Family Reunion....

Tales and folklore have long been told about families reuniting to see their long lost or far away kin. These family reunions, so I have heard, often take place camping in an enchanted wooded forest or in a small town bursting with charm. Family comes from far and wide to catch up on days gone by and when it winds to a close, tears are shed because they do not know when they will see each other again. 

That's not us.

Our family has never been able to check the normal box. 

Not that we are weird or anything, our family dynamics are just different. My dad is a Nelson; he has one brother and three sisters, all of which live here in town. My Grandma Nelson also lives here. Most of my cousins are here too. So guess where we have our reunions? Yep, right here in Vegas. This year we held our reunion in July. We had a temple night on Friday. On Saturday we enjoyed a lovely, sweaty picnic at the park followed by a splashing fun time at the Hollywood swim park- which we rented out and had all to ourselves. The best part: no tears had to be shed since we would all likely see each other sometime in the next week!!

  

Cousins!! Clark & Jace

Look close, Jace is waving to you

My niece Ava was baptized on August 3rd. Afterwards we went to my sister's house for dinner and cake. That day also happened to be my Grandma Nelson's 82nd birthday. Since I'm her favorite grandchild I thought it would be nice if she and I got a picture together. Aren't we cute!!

A Whole Week

July 7 - 13, 2013

EFY

These lovely ladies got to spend an uplifting week at Especially for Youth at the BYU campus in Provo, UT. I tried to get Lauren to write this post for me by appealing to future Lauren, telling her how great it would be to look back on this post when she's old and all the memories she had of this week.
She was not interested....
 INSTEAD you will be getting second hand info from me (as usual)

The mornings were started with a morningside. Some thoughts shared and spirits uplifted making each day open brightly. They went to classes most of the day, some fun, some spiritual, and most right in between. Cute boys were everywhere. Lauren's C.O.W (crush of the week) was a handsome young man named Ammon (pictured below). The best part, it seems, is that they were on their own, left to their own devices, minus the hovering parents......

So I'm sure it was a HUGE bummer when......

Taylor, Lauren, and Shelby starting their week at EFY

Lauren and Taylor's dorm room

Lauren and Taylor's group

Tucker- one of Lauren's counselors

This cutie was Lauren's C.O.W his name was Ammon and he is from California

MOM and DAD show up!!!!

Jason, Jace and I drove up to Provo Friday night so we could pick up the girls early Saturday morning. As we suspected they were quite tired and a smidge grouchy. Afterall they had just had an amazing, carefree week then we show up, totally cramping their style! It's a long drive to not see at least a few sights: so we drove up to Bridal Veil waterfall, checked out the shell of the Provo Tabernacle soon to be Provo Temple, and made a stop at Cove Fort. 

Taylor, Lauren A., Shelby, and Lauren excited to come home- not

Jace by the river

Jace and I by the waterfall

what remains of the burned tabernacle

soon to be a temple

love this little balcony in Provo

Adventures at Cove Fort

It was a quick trip to pick up the girls but I'm glad Lauren had to opportunity to go to EFY at the BYU campus. Hopefully we can do it all again next year!!