Monterey

We took a trip to Monterey the last week of April so we could use our Aquarium passes one last time before they expired. It was neat to see the new flamingo and sea turtle exhibit - I don't think I've ever seen live sea turtles before. They were so cool! After the aquarium we went through the 17-mile drive. It was a gorgeous day and the ocean was so beautiful and blue! The Lone Cypress...

2010 - Have you missed us?

Lukas is now 8 months old! Wow how time flies. He still is completely toothless, moves around on the floor by stretching his arms out and wiggling his body, and giggles at his sisters. Also his white hair is really starting to fill in! He is such a fun little guy.

Emily - Easter 2010. I let her wear my pearls...she felt like a pretty pretty princess! Can't you tell by the uneasy smile on her face? I had to get her to stop climbing all over the rocks long enough to snap a photo!

Allison, what can I say? I think the mischief shines through on her face! She gets into everything, but you can't help but love the little tyke. I think she dropped those chocolate eggs about 20 times and carefully put them back into her egg each time. She knows what she wants!

Don't you love the headband? We use them to hold her hair back when she's eating, and sometimes she just ends up wearing it all day like that.

Other news since Christmas...we had a great trip to Las Vegas at the end of the year for a Nelson family reunion. It was so fun to have the entire family there together. We celebrated my mom's and Allison's birthdays and got to hang out with all the cousins. The kids had a wonderful time.

I resigned from my job at the Zoo in February and have since been busy keeping up with the kids and balancing some freelance marketing jobs on the side. Now that I don't have to work 15-20 hours a week, I don't know how I ever did it while juggling everything else! I suppose there was a lot less cooking and cleaning going on. Although there's still not that much. At least my house still never seems to be clean, despite my efforts!

Allison Turns Two

Our sweet little Allison turned two on the 27th. We have inadvertently been calling her our "two-year-old" for the past several months, so it's nice that it's finally official. We got to celebrate her birthday with the entire Nelson family, which was a lot of fun. We were also celebrating my mom's 60th birthday (Dec. 24th) so it was even more special!
Some highlights of two-year-old Allison:
She is talking all the time, copying big sister Emily and everything anyone else says. Some favorites are "ablankiebinky" when she's tired, "dat's mine dat's mine dat's mine", "YES, mommy, YES!", "I wuv you Wukas", "Iwatcha show", "just call me mischief!", "happy birfday, gwamma" and myriad other words and phrases.

A favorite pastime is getting into anything she possibly can...a big change from Emily's two-year-old days. She likes to dump things on the floor, practice drawing all over herself and putting on mommy's mascara, and opening anything with hinges.

Her favorite place to go is the park, or to playgroup with our friends. She loves to run, dance, and sing into her plastic microphone and do anything else that makes noise. She also likes to eat cat food, poke her belly button, play in the bathtub and drink her favorite apple juice.

She is just too cute right now with her chubby cheeks, cheesy smile and wispy hair that falls constantly in her face. Allison, we wuv you!

Merry Christmas 2009

Sunday before Christmas the we got the kids all dressed up for church...Lukas looked so cute in his little pants and vest, and Emily and Allison were adorable in their fancy dresses.

We had a fun Christmas this year. The kids got lots of toys and clothes, and we enjoyed a delicious homemade lasagne dinner with the missionaries. Marianne was here, too. Lukas got this cute "first Christmas" hat from my mom - look at those gorgeous blue eyes! Emily got her art set that she wanted...she has been drawing, painting and coloring all week!

Allison got a little princess bike. She sat on it all day. And her feet actually reach the pedals!

Ho Ho Ho! Santa is coming...

Lukas met Santa for the first time at our credit union's annual "Breakfast with Santa". I think he said he wants to learn how to sleep through the night for Christmas!! Allison was a little too nervous to sit on Santa's lap, so I was able to hold her next to him, at least.

Besides the breakfast, Emily also got to see Santa at the Zoo's ZooLights event. I believe she asked for an art set this year. (Yay! finally done with princess stuff!)