White Christmas...Hopefully

It's officially winter! If you measure it in inches, that's SEVEN for us! We are gratefully snowed in and cozy in our warm, dry house. This is our first winter in our new home, so we will get to discover it's propensity for power outages (and the preparations that go with them), as well as just enjoying being up where it snows. I guess we're closer to that Green Mountain than we thought.



So, MERRY CHRISTMAS to those we won't see this year. For sure we are thinking of everyone and hope we will get to see you soon. And here is this year's Nelsen Family Christmas Tree. We didn't trudge all the way into the freezing wilderness to rip it from the ground whole...but, it's pretty anyway.



Our most recent proud news is that Rachel won 2nd place in the school's writing contest, for which she was given this wonderful poster. She picked it so that she could give it to her dad, since it's a poster of his favorite car. Isn't she a thoughtful young lady?

We will have to post her story along with any illustrations for your benefit soon.

Hannah, Sheriff and The Fett (as in Boba)

Our lil' pardner Sherriff Dylan was super cute in his cowboy hat, vest and chaps.

It's cactus juice. He can't get enough of it! Well, a cactus shaped like a cow.

Moo!

Hannah Montana and Boba Fett.

"Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold."

&

"Sweet niblets! Crazy bounty hunter gonna take Han Solo say what?!"

Our Punkins and Their Pumpkins!

Our kids are so looking forward to this part of the year ~ we all picked out pumpkins together and spent time carving them into a little brigade of internally lit squashes.

( I know it's just "squash"!)

We didn't want to do anything really scary, since we don't do the traditional Halloween stuff. We're going to the Fall Festival at Rachel's Green Mountain Elementary this year! Which sounds like it will be a good time for everyone, including the toddler. Perfect!

The kids are dressing up and we are going as...parents. We've never been into the dressing up part of it as parents.

BOO!

Rachel's pumpkin scared Byran's pumpkin.

The Nelsen Punkin's Pumpkin Brigade.

Rachel put a Veggie Tale on the computer, and Dylan climbed up into the chair and crossed his hands and his feet.

I cannot ever get enough of this expression. It's a good thing, because it's pretty much nonstop!

Baby on his computer. I swear, this is his favorite toy!

Sam carving his pumpkin.

There it is again! Amid all the pumpkin goo!

What Sam's pumpkin originally looked like (the first one on the left).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AUTUMN HARVEST FESTIVAL!

Be A Good Citizen

Vote.

https://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/secure/pages/Onlinevoterregistration.aspx

I'm not going to have a political discussion, here.

Just, get out there!

No excuses!

They'll even send you your ballot! In the MAIL, even!

Dylan Turns ~Two!!!!~

Ah, the terrible twos...let the year commence!

We had a wonderful day or two of celebration for this auspicious occasion! He was not really with us on the "celebration" aspect and had a pretty miserable time. Poor kid. Getting four teeth at once isn't really the way you want to greet a new year. But, at least he'll get it all out of the way.

Looking quite dapper with his chocolatey goatee. (And happy. Which lasted about ten minutes.)

Today, I said to him: "Dylan, stop playing with that lamp, and play with your toys. Mommy has to read her book!" And he said: "Book!" Which he hasn't said yet. We also got him to say "Pizza" (I know, what was I thinking?), "Water" (Okay, that's better), and "Please" (Which he usually resists in favor of "Thanky" and "Welcome!". He also said "Shoe", and the usual suspects..."No..." and "Mommy". If you ask him a question, be prepared for a very thoughtful, "Nooo...."

My beautiful...special...children.

"Speak no evil, be properly appalled at evil and plotting evil." I guess I missed something crucial in rearing my children...

"Back away from me with that camera!"

I was always frightened of toy screwdrivers. So, I took the photo anyway. Quite a shot, isn't it?

Our Trip To Deception Pass

We were privileged to get to know our friends Rachel, Kelly and little Ava this summer! We all drove to Deception Pass for a visit, which is a beautiful place!!

Rachel and Ava

A beautiful beach, and a lovely day!

Time to go!

Rachel, Kelly and Ava!

Baby Quad

This was the highlight of the summer!

"Okay, Dad, how do you turn this thing on? I got places to be..."

Yes, Byran actually turned it on. Now we'll never get him to learn to ride anything with wheels that doesn't have a carburator! Byran actually held onto him the whole time...don't freak out. This is just for show.

"But...I don't want to get off the quad."

Even Rachel got in on the action. Look at her go!

Visit To Auntie Dana's in Quil

The kids and I took a day to get some R&R and visit Aunt Dana...I didn't get photo of her (or me), but I wanted to share some of our visit.

Aunt Dana had this really cool elephant...I just had to get a shot of it.

The kids posed for this picture all on their own. A coupla hams, aren't they?

Brothers.

Gollum. Serious. Preeecious...

BLAHHH! I AM A KRAKEN FROM THE SEA!!!

We made a friend (Nelson).

And Bobbie helped Sam get over his fear of dogs (after being bitten last July).

What a fun day!

Current Events

To sum up...

I start school again in exactly eleven days. I'm taking Constitutional Rights and Leadership and Professional Ethics. I'm extremely excited!

We're hoping to be in a house in a few weeks since our broker keeps insisting she can close our loan in two weeks. She's a magic broker, and don't let anybody tell you any different.

Byran purchased a motorcycle to help defray some of the fuel costs of using his work van all the time. It's unfortunately missing a few things to make it street legal. Or legal at all, really. Like, a license plate. We're working on it.

We're taking Sam and Dylan to Deception Pass this weekend, and we hope to break in Sam's fishing pole. I'm not sure what kind of fish they hope to catch, but I hope it's the kind one would ordinarily take a photo of and throw back. I'm really uncertain of my gutting/boning/pan frying skills. I mean, I mostly just don't want to.

But, how exciting!

Dylan just cut two teeth in his lower gums. They were big, ornery suckers. Dylan spent about two weeks sobbing uncontrollably and sticking his hands in his mouth. Don't worry, we gave him plenty of Tylenol and cold things for his mouth. Unfortunately, he also discovered biting. Which he lovingly only bestows on those he loves the most. Just ask Rachel...

Rachel has had, thus far, the most painfully boring summer vacation of her life. I'm not certain what we've done in the past that was so memorable, but I certainly feel her pain. Here I was, hoping for sheer boredom and have lacked any. She, on the other hand, has craved excitement and adventure and has been left wanting.

But, school starts soon. She'll be busy with that and making lots of plans for the fall. She has already planned out her Halloween costumes for the next three years, and has begun planning her birthday party (it's in February). Boy, can she think ahead! She's already developed a knack for check-lists.

I'd let her house hunt for us to add to her excitement level, but I think I'll let her be bored. To her credit, she is a wonderful helper with her baby brother, she has learned to make blueberry pancakes from scratch (and cook them on her own, too) and she has been learning many helpful household chores. She keeps declining my offers to show her how to clean the toilet. Rats...

My dear Anna has been holed up at her dad's, making up for lost time with him. She has been doing well! We see her less occasionally than we would prefer. Can you believe it: she's almost fifteen?! Soon, she'll be learning to drive! Or, rather, learning to stay in-between the lines and out of people's living rooms and off their bumpers. All valuable skills. We shall see how that transpires!

That's all for now. I hope our next post is about our new house.

The Grand Ol' Fourth

It's been our tradition for a few years to go out to Ocean City and Ocean Shores on the 4th of July. The first year, the weather was amazing. This year, the trip was a BUST. It was windy, cold, gray, and generally pretty uninviting. We did hang on the beach to play in the sand for a while, though.

Yea! Happy Fourth of July!

Rachel has a crush on a boy...oh, they grow up fast.

Dylan the warrior!!

Tough girl!

So, we left the coast and got a few fireworks and came home. We had a blast.

I know. Ha ha.

This is Grandpa Tom's. Our temporary abode while we wait for our own home. I just thought this looked cool.

Every time Byran lit one of these, Rachel would yell: "Fire in the hole!" Apparently, the kids had decided that that was her job.

Wall E ~ Third Of July At The Drive-In

I know most people go see a fireworks show on display on the 3rd of July. But, our genius idea was to take our kids out for a movie...outside.

Wall E was playing, and it was a darn cute movie.

I'm fairly certain that many of the buildings are no longer in use at the dinosaur Rodeo Drive-In. Who knows where this mysterious door leads?

Sam hamming it up for the camera.

Yup, there was a full playground complete with a swing set. That, complete with a concession stand and movie screen makes for kid heaven.

Rachel relaxing and waiting for the Big Show.

Sam snuggled in the back of the Vue. Kind of a tailgate pajama party. With chips and water.

Dylan amused himself by standing on Sam, facing the inside of the car and bouncing up and down and then kneeling on Sam somewhere uncomfortable and pummeling and slapping him. He repeated this exercise over and over again. I was rather impressed that Sam was not the least bit ill-tempered about it. He said, "Do you know what he's [Dylan] saying to me when he's slapping me like that? He's saying: You have no liberty! You are my step-stool!"

Funny stuff.