The Nelson Family Circus

I turn to you...

2011-10-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school the song "I turn to you" by Christina Aguilera reminded me of my mom and I had it as her ringtone for the longest time. This song as well as Celine Dion's "Because you love me" are two songs that through out my life have made me think of my mom! I love her dearly and I wanted to share the songs and lyrics with you.

I Turn To You

When I'm lost in the rain,
In your eyes I know
I'll find the light to light my way
And when I'm scared, losing ground
When my world is going crazy
You can turn it all around and when I'm down you're there
Pushing me to the top
You're always there, giving me all you've got

Chorus:
For a shield from the storm
For a friend
For a love to keep me safe and warm
I turn to you
For the strength to be strong
For the will to carry on
For everything you do
For everything that's true
I turn to you

When I lose the will to win
I just reach for you
And I can reach the sky again
I can do anything
'Cause your love is so amazing
'Cause your love inspires me
And when I need a friend
You're always on my side
Giving me faith, taking me through the night.

Chorus

For the arms to be my shelter
Through all the rain
For truth that will never change
For someone to lean on
For a heart I can rely on through anything
For the one who I can run to...

Chorus

Because you loved me.

For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I’ll be forever thankful baby
You’re the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You’re the one who saw me through
Through it all.

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faith ’coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me.

You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch The sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had your love I had it all
I’m greatful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don’t know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was
Loved by you.

You were my strenght when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faith ’coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me.

You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shinning your love Into my life
You’ve been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faiht ’coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me.

Thank you Mom, for everything!

A little Halloween...

2011-10-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Chloe and I went up to Steven's familys house for dinner and carving pumpkins. It was a lot of fun and Chloe loved playing with her cousins! She also loved playing with the pumpkin guts :D

"What's in there?"

Yeah...I cut my hair again...cheesy smile!

This was on the way home, I thought it was pretty cool with the moon and all.

The day my world came crashing down!

2011-10-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

I took parts of this from my sister's facebook, but its the whole story of whats going on right now.

My mom has cancer.

What kind or where you ask? She has 5 tumors on her brain, 2 in her lungs, her kidney, and the doctors suspect her bones and blood. They told us 3-4 months.

5 years ago my mom was told that she had kidney cancer. This was based off of one CAT scan. All other tests done at the time didn’t show cancer anywhere else. She was treated and a couple of years ago, she had blood work done and nothing came up on that either. We thought we were in the clear.

In January/February she decided to do some remodel type work on her bedroom. She tore up the carpet and started sanding the wood floor beneath it. The walls had wood paneling on it and we took that off to discover layers of paint and wallpaper. She started scraping that off but found it to be quite the job. My brother assessed the situation and decided to step in. They took down the old wall boards and but up new stuff. The room looks pretty great. However, a few months later, my mom found out she had lead poisoning, we’re assuming from the paint she scraped off the walls as well as the wood flooring she sanded. All summer she has been pretty sick with this. She lost a lot of weight and had no energy. Communicating was frustrating to her because she would lose her train of thought. At some points I was shocked to see that in some ways, she was like a small child. Turns out, she also suffered a stroke.

While receiving medical treatment through all of this, it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago, September 16th, that she went into get a heart murmur checked out. The doctor she saw about that was quite alarmed and sent her to the ER. They didn’t see anything bad about the heart murmur, but did a CAT scan, MRI, and who knows what else. They found the tumors on her brain, in her lungs, kidney, etc. Saturday, September 17th, they told us “About 3-4 months.”

What a roller coaster ride it’s been since then, although this past week, things seems to have calmed a bit. She is at home, unable to get out of bed. We have hospice keeping tabs on her. My aunt, my mom’s older sister, has been staying with us helping with her care. My mom tells us, although very limited in being about to communicate, that she wants to live. She wants to fight it. She wants to prove the doctors wrong. So we support that. She always needs to have someone with her, so my sisters and I have been trading times sleeping in the same room and just being with her. My brothers have been great in coming by to be with her and spending time with my dad.
This is why I have come back to Utah. I'm not sure how long I will stay but the time being I am one of the caregivers, I do what needs to be done. I have Chloe with me so at times my ability to do alot has been limited because of caring for Chloe but I have been blessed with babysitters at times, during the day I take care of my mom with my aunt, during the night I turn back into mommy, and sometimes its both parts at the same time for all day.

It's hard to be here and see my mom knowing whats going on in her body, at times I can't breathe because of the overwhelming pain of it all. I dont want to lose my mom, she was been my best friend since before I was born. She is the most amazing woman I know, with unwaivoring faith I hope to have some day. But I know it's not the end, no matter how long she has here, I will see her again. As much as it kills thinking of her dying it hurts more thinking of her in any pain or discomfort, and we have been blessed with very little pain. Thank You Heavenly Father! She has some really great days and for that I am grateful!

Being away from Steven has been hard especially with everything hitting us down there as well, at times it is hard to think of everything going on and how we are even going to get through it. But my parents taught me well and I will do my best to trust the Lord and rely on him.

Right now I just need some really good friends and alot of prayers. Thank you.

Chloe holding my moms hand. My mom loves when Chloe comes and lays with her or holds her hands, its the cutest thing! Chloe really brightens up the day. She smiles big when Chloe says "Grandma" or "I love you" my mom says it back with a big smile! And my mom's smile lights up the room! Especially when it reaches her eyes. Chloe loves her grandma alot!

My mom at full health, January 1, 2007.

Love you mom!

Chloe turns 2! (where did the time go?!?)

2011-10-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Chloe turned 2 on September 9, 2011 and we had a little family party! With good food, games and presents!

The cake! Hahaha this was a blast to make, it was supposed to me a butterfly but I messed up so I turned it into a rainbow fish :D So I'm not a perfect mom, cause that means I'm human!

She LOVES balloons!!

The birthday girl!

Playing ring around the rosies!

Think she's hungry? Na, she just likes playing with balloons!

Blowing out the candles!

Pretty Daddy...(I love him)

The 3 of us...she wanted her cake...who cares about pictures!

Present time ( it was a good thing I started collecting presents before cause we had no money to get any at the time)

She loves her books!!

and her sungalsses!

Don't forget clothes!

I can't believe she went from this...

To this...

So fast! Chloe is my sweet pea and I love her more and more each day, the past two years have flown by and I wouldn't change a thing! She is the most amazing daughter, full of life, energy, enormous amount of love, she cares for everyone and everything, she makes my life full, and I am proud and blessed to be her mother! Love you Chloe Nicole Nelson!!

Picture Catch up

2011-10-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye is always hard and for me highly emotional!!

Shellie, Steven and Mom Nelson!

Me with Sam, Shellie, Lily, and Mom Nelson :) you cant see it but I was crying!

Me and Chloe saying goodbye to my older sister Amy! you can kinda see my red eyes.

Yep...bawling my eyes out!!! Me and My mom!

Dinner with Cory and Lexi (who are pregnant with a little boy and we are so freaking excited for them!!)

Our stop in Denver was a great time for the 2 cousins (Chloe and Maddie) to play with(great aunt and grandma) Kay!

Chloe...always escaping!

Everytime we go through or visit a city with a Temple I always have to stop and take pictures, this is at the Denver Temple.

Riding in Uncle Mels Roadster was a blast!!

Steven was a very happy little boy!!

Taking breaks along the way was needed! This was in a Volcano!

Me with my dad at our new place before we took the truck back.

Our new place! Its a nice place, we really like it!! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, huge, open floorplans, fireplace...etc. I hope to get pictures up one of these days :)

Chloe's cubby! Its in the kitchen and all hers! Her favorite place to be, she will eat in there, and when daddy or I am trying to catch up she laughs "hide hide hide" and runs into her cubby, slides to the back and shuts the door, its cute!

First of September we went up to Lubbock, Tx for my nephews wedding. This is Chloe with "Elmo" or Emily.

The girls waiting for the couple...

Now the boys...

I love taking pictures of the temple!!! Especially at different angles.

At the reception daddy and Chloe dancing (she is dancing on his feet...talk about precious!)

Now it's my turn to dance on his feet :) I love my hubby!! I love my family!!!

Catch up...

2011-10-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's been a year since I have posted anything on here I figured it was time to catch everyone up. Chloe turned one and was walking and getting into everything, her personality has really shown itself it the past year, it is amazing that someone that small can have so much attitude :) she keeps us on our feet and we love her more and more everyday. Steven started work at CBI security and loved it. We started getting the feeling that the military is where we needed to be at and started looking into the Airforce and Navy. We decided on the Navy and are currently working towards them, they want Steven to have some college under his belt so we then started to feel that we needed to move to Texas and do the schooling there. During this time Steven's grandma passed and it was very hard for us because we were so close to her. I got more into my photography and I've been taking friends and family's pictures, and love it. I've been debating on going ahead with my photography business but havent committed 100% but I picked out my company name years ago, I just never wanted to reveal it but what the hey... it is Captured Moments Photography. I know alot of people that are doing photography and I just hope I can be as good as they are someday. I do want to go back to school for a degree in Photography, so we will see. Anyways we finally decided on moving to Texas and moved in August. We live in Princeton which is about 45 min north of Dallas. We enjoy it there, we are currently just trying to get settled, and it has been interesting having my older brother as our branch president :D within just a couple of weeks of living in Texas we already have callings, Steven is a young men advisor and loves it, and I am in the primary. The heat has been rough, on my birthday it reached 105...crazy right?!? Steven started working as a mechanic but there wasn't enough work for him so he is back to looking at security and he's pretty excited about it. We will start school in January and go from there. I am not pregnant, not sure when we will be, it has been yet another heartbeaking year of wanting to be pregnant and not. It took over a year to get pregnant with Chloe and once again no go, it's been extremely rough. But all in the Lords time...right? Anyways on top of everything going on my mom was diagnosed with Cancer this past September (my birthday stinks! I dont think I should celebrate it anymore :D j/k...maybe) anyways I will post more about that later, I am currently up in Utah with Chloe caring for my mom. It's been rough and at times I have no idea how to hang on with everything hitting us. I think I need a vacation from trials... but I dont think that exists :) all well time to hang on a little tighter and breathe. PS Chloe is now 2 and life is never dull!!!

2010-05-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

I am currently trying to catch my blog up so be patient :D its going to take some time

Some fun and cute pictures of Chloe!

2010-05-18T09:11:00.001-07:00

She loves jumping!

WWWEEEE

Me and Chloe

She loves her massages from daddy

One of my favorite outfits :) "Dear Santa, define "nice" " thats my baby!

Christmas Dress

I love this picture *warning I say that alot...but what can I say I LOVE HER!!

Playing with my giant Care bear...I love stuffed animals

Steven and Chloe's first visit to Smith and Edwards.

THE CUTEST FROG EVER!!

Dressing her up

Winter Dress!

I love how she smiles with her eyes. This was when out heater died so we wrapped her up pretty good.

She is so cute posing this way!

Chloe with Grandma Woolley

Chloe and Grandma Marble

She's a viking! WATCH OUT :)

Our little bunny rabbit :D

After bath time :D

I love this picture!

4 Months old!

New Year Fun!

2010-05-18T09:04:00.001-07:00

New Years Day we went to Provo and had our Annual Marble Breakfast at Denny's :D and then got together at the Church with my family...it was pretty crazy, but so fun!
Daddy and Chloe! Purple is her color!! :D

Cousins, Chloe and Peter.

What a happy baby!

My cousin Jenny with her daughter.

Second cousins only a few weeks apart.

Christmas Catch Up!

2010-05-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

December was a busy month...we had a baptism in Idaho and a wedding all on one weekend...it was a fun month!!

Christmas morning

What a cutie!!

The official family Christmas picture with Rosco and all

Santa and Chloe :) shhh...its really daddy :D

My mom with Santa, its a family tradition.

She was a cow for the family nativity :) she is so thrilled...

Krystal and Me :)

In Idaho for the baptism. Her shirt says "Who needs Santa when I have Grandma" :)

Me and Kim at Kristinas lunchen

Family picture

Cousins :) Chloe and Trent

My favorite present

Our little stocking stuffer!

Chloe's 3 month picture!

Having fun with Chloe

2009-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Random pictures of Chloe. At her two month she was 10 lbs 3 oz and 22 1/2 inches. Her doctor was inpressed with her weight gain. She sure is growing!
She was watching tv!

She loves her swing!

Laughing and smiling!

She also loves her rattle

Ghetto Chloe

She loves her dad...they look so much alike!

Waving her rattle around!

One of our favorite pictures!

She is such a doll!

Sleeping baby...I thought this was a funny picture!

Temple Square part 2

2009-11-27T18:05:00.001-08:00

My sister Sonja and her family came into town. We meant up with them on Temple Square and had dinner with them...little did we know that my nephew was going to propose to his girlfriend...she said yes! It was awesome!

I took this pic..I was excited at how well it turned out!

He wasn't giving my dart back!

Emily, Ammon, Me and Steven (Ammon is two months older than Me)

Sisterly love!

Do we look alike?!?

If you can tell...my sister Emily was shooting me with my own dart gun! HOW RUDE!

Do you think he's cold?

Since I'm always posting pictures of my mom giving funny faces I thought it was only fair to post one of me...lovely isn't it?!?

Our Eternal Family!

Blessing

2009-11-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

We blessed Chloe on Nov. 1. Steven blessed her and she wore my blessing dress (pretty cool!) We had another blessing that day so we couldnt have a get together after the blessing. Sorry everyone! Thanks for coming though!

Chloe and cousin Peter with grandma

Peter was born on Sept, 29. So only 20 days apart!

So Chloe and I were born around the same time weighing about the same and blessed the same Sunday...wearing the same dress!

Halloween

2009-11-27T17:52:00.001-08:00

For halloween we went to a family party...Steven and I dressed as nerds and Chloe was our pet frog :)

Chloe with Grandma Nelson
(sorry formatting is off...but I dont have the time to fix it)

Four Generations

2009-11-27T17:47:00.001-08:00

My grandma came up from St. George so we decided to get some pictures :D
My aunt with Chloe

Four generations... I thought it was cool that its a direct line. I had a picture with just my grandma and Chloe but the computer wont accept it...but it was super cute!

Fishing

2009-11-27T17:45:00.001-08:00

Steven went fishing with Cory one weekend and then Jeff the next weekend.

Stevens catch...

Haunted houses

2009-11-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

We made haunted house with our friends Jake and Stacey (who are currently pregnant...CONGRATS!)

This is mine...the scarey version...kinda disturbing :)

The aftermath of a earthquake...or too much frosting and candy...

Mine...the nice version :D I made two...it was fun!

Before the accident

Stevens

Sunday on Temple Square

2009-11-27T17:40:00.001-08:00

Sunday afternoon activity. Steven had never toured the Beehive house so we decided to have some fun on temple square. My grandma lived in the Beehive house when she went to LDSBC...pretty cool huh?

I'm the queen of blinking in pictures!

Pumkin Carving

2009-11-27T17:38:00.001-08:00

Carving pumpkins with our good friends!

Smile for the Camera...

2009-11-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

Having fun with the camera and Chloe :D

More pictures of Chloe

2009-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures of Chloe through out the last month. She has grown so much! At her 2 week apptment she had gained 18 ounches and grew 1/2 an inch. She is getting stronger at holding her head up and little by little is giving me more sleep at night! WE LOVE OUR LITTLE PUMPKIN!

Grandma!

Cousins!

Seeing her newest cousin Peter!

Introducing....Chloe Nicole Nelson

2009-09-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

So this is super short because Steven just got called into work....oh joy :P so basically on the evening of the 8th I started to "leak" didnt think much of it because I had a doctors appointment on the 9th so I decided to wait...I wasnt contracting so like I said I didnt think much of it. Went to my appointment and sure enough my water had broken...we went to the hospital so they could start me contracting...they had me contracting every minute...not fun but I did it all natural :) and it was hard...but worth it! She was born on 9-9-09 at 11:08 pm! So my joke about having her on the 9th came true and I wasn't induced. That is the short version...Im currently having fun adjusting to the emotions and sleepless nights :) But im very grateful for this little one!

Maternity Pics

2009-09-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

These are our maternity pictures! Taken by Cory and Lexi! I absolutly love these pictures! Thanks you guys!

Quick Catch Up

2009-09-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Baby Showers:

Las Vegas: 3 year anniversary:

I LOVE DOLPHINS!

Day's of 47 Rodeo:

Whiplash...Monkey riding a dog!

4th of July:

Rodeo with Cory and Lexi:

Kelly Concert with Lexi:

Sorry for taking months to finally blog but with no internet at home its hard to find the time to go some where and do it...so here is a quick update while Chloe is being watched by her grandma :) and sorry its just pictures because I need to keep my time short so I can get back to my daughter. oh and sorry about the formatting...once again not caring :)

Chloe's personality

2009-06-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Chloe is starting to show her personality. The last two trips to Julie, my midwife, Chloe has kicked at the hearbeat machine. Last trip Julie was measuring my bellie and Chloe started poking at her. Julie laughed and said she has a very fun, active personality. Steven has felt her kick but it was little ones. Chloe has been very selective on who she lets feel her...during the trip she started doing the big kicks and my mom was the only one able to feel her and Chloe would always get really active when I would talk to Steven, missing her daddy. So when I got home I was excited to let Steven feel it but everytime he would put his hand on my tummy she would stop moving...and then start up when he removed his hand. Last Saturday after having his hand on my bellie for five minutes he was about to remove it when she finally kicked him hard...his eyes got all big and he got all excited. Monday she was being less active but when he put his hand on my bellie she started kicking and moving just for him! It was so cute. He is the best father with her...well my bellie...hm...yeah :) He loves feeling her move...I love feeling her move. It always brings a smile to my face because after trying with no success for over a year we feel very blessed to feel her and have her.

Last but not least...

2009-06-17T17:46:00.001-07:00

Independence Rock. This was our last stop of the trip. It was an amazing trip with many spirtual experiences. I won't forget it anytime soon. Thanks Dad and Mom..and of course Amy :) and Steven for letting me go. I love you all!

Mt. Rushmore

2009-06-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

Mt. Rushmore amazed me! The work that went into making it was just crazy in my mind.

Washington...I really like this picture. I took it while in a cave. Pretty cool huh?

Dad and Mom

Dad, Mom and Me.

Me and Amy

Mt. Rushmore

Winter Quarters

2009-06-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

Me and my mommy in front of the Temple

Winter Quarters Temple

Picture of Moroni

Me and Amy in front of the cemetery

Adam-ondi-Ahman

2009-06-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

Future Temple Site

Me and Amy

The Valley

My Mommy...she's been stuck in the car with me and Amy too long...

In front of the Valley

I took the "Lean on Me" song a little too literally :P

Me and my mommy!

It was gorgeous here!!

Nauvoo

2009-06-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

We stayed the longest in Nauvoo so there are a ton of pictures...and most of them are not with people in them...but I absolutly loved the history and the feeling of it all I had to share some of my pictures.

Brigham Youngs Home

Some of you know that Steven is directly related to Orrin Porter Rockwell. This was his land in Nauvoo.

Pics of the Temple

The Temple at night...beautiful!

A show the couple missionaries put on about the hardships of Nauvoo and having to leave it.

The sign into the City.

Me and Amy on the carriage ride.

Mom and Dad on the carriage ride.

Orrin Porter Rockwell's parents land in Nauvoo.

Joseph's thinking spot. Nice view huh?

Joseph's office in the store.

This is the room above Josephs Red Brick Store and it was the room that the first endowment was preformed in.

The Mansion House

After their murders Joseph and Hyrum's bodies had to be hid a number of different times, this was the last place they were buried. No one knew of this place...in the early 1900's a hired man found the bodies under this shed and then buried them in the graveyard with the others.

The brown house was the first house Joseph and Emma had in Nauvoo. The second story of the brown Joseph built and the white was added later after his dealth.

Me :)

A saying by Joseph Smith. It's a good one.

I took a lot of pictures of the temple!

The Statue and the Temple!

In front of the Nauvoo Temple...gorgeous huh?

Another view

Us in front of the Joseph and Hyrum statue, the statue represents the ride to Carthage as Joseph looks back on the city knowing the hardships that they are going to endure.

Nauvoo Temple. Gorgeous inside and out! Being able to do a session in it was an amazing experience!

"Eyes Westward" Joseph showing Brigham to Salt Lake

This is where Joseph and Emma danced and where Joseph drew the way to Salt Lake City.

Amy and Mom in the Cultural Hall

This is one of my favorite pictures of the temple because I took it through a window of the Cultural Hall down the hill.

The Smith Graveyard

Carthage Jail

2009-06-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Going into the City

Amy and I with Joseph and Hyrum

They had a true bond!

The Jail. The upper window is the window Joseph fell out of.

The second room they were put into. The first one was on the first level and the guard felt it wasn't safe for them to be there so he moved them to this room but it was basically a furnance so he then moved them into his families living quarters which is the third and final room.

The living quarters. This was the room that they were in when the mod attacked.

The door that they shot through killing Hyrum.

Us in front of the window Joseph fell out of.

Hannibal

2009-06-17T15:09:00.001-07:00

We stayed a few days in Hannibal so there are more pictures on this post. Hannibal is where Mark Twain and Molly Brown were born. It is also where Mark Twain based his adventures of Tom and Huck .

The following few pictures are of us on a boat ride.

Dad

Amy

I think they hit something...what do you think?

Lovers Leap...the legend behind it is a Romeo and Juliet type story...but the locals added their own happily ever after...so the couple didn't die in the end.

Me and Mom :)

The statue of Tom and Huck.

On the trolley, a lot of history in Hannibal.

Dad waiting in the van while we hiked our way up to Tom's lighthouse.

Mom pushing me up...or holding on while we slide down...hmm...

The easier way of getting down to the car...

"I dont think I can make it"

Spying on Dad...

Taking in the view...and texting Steven :)

I look like a dork but I'm posing with Steven...

My Mommy!

My other sister Emily is in the middle...can't you see her?!?

Me and Amy.

Me and Mom in front of Tom's lighthouse

Mom and Amy in front of it.

The Mississippi River.

Far West

2009-06-17T14:59:00.001-07:00

Amy and I chillin' :)

Fun in the car!

Dad and Mom in front of the Far West Temple Site.

Amy...

Far West Temple Site

Fun in the hotel

2009-06-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

So Amy had a problem sharing a bed because she had to sleep diagonally...well I wanted to help her out so I decided to sleep diagonally too...what do you think? She's the gray and I'm the black.

Liberty Jail

2009-06-17T14:33:00.001-07:00

The second part of the day we went to Liberty Jail. We also drove by the future temple site! Pretty cool!

Us in front of the sign. It was a windy day.

In front of the jail...the flash blocked the jail...but its there.

This was the actual jail that Joseph Smith and others were imprisoned at.

Independence

2009-06-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

The first stop was the visitor's center in Independence, Mo. Amy's best friend Danyelle drove us around the first day.

Danyelle and Amy in front of the Temple Site.

The Visitor's Center.

The Missouri River.

Amy and I in front of the Temple Site.

The three of us in front of the Visitors Center

The Community of Christ Temple.

On the Road

2009-06-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that the last two weeks of May I was gone with my parents and older sister Amy on a trip visiting the different Church History Sites. I took a bunch of photos but am only putting a few up. These are the first couple of days of driving.

One of my favorite pictures! Pretty cool huh?

This was a picture of the evil trucker that kept on passing us and then we'd pass him...it brought out Amy's competitive side :) This one is for you, sis :)

This was just a random one to show that its beautiful but I happen to love Utah mountains! But if we ever moved I would be willing to go where the Lord wanted me to go with or without mountains.

May Weddings

2009-06-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

In May I had two weddings to go to. Both weddings were of close friends from high school. The first set of pictures is of Sam's wedding. We have known eachother since junior high when were in drama class together and became closer in high school in science class...we kept eachother from going insane in the class!

Sam made a gorgeous bride! She is moving to Canada in July! KEEP IN TOUCH SAM!

Erika and I went to the reception together and ran into our friend Alisha...so of course we had to take a picture of the three of us! We have known eachother since grade school! Time flies!

Next set of pictures is at Savannah's wedding. We have been close since high school English class. It was the best class with her in it!

Emily, Savi, Erika, and Me :) The four of us are pretty close! Savi and Emily came to visit me at LDSBC my freshman year! It meant a lot to me!

The two pregnant women! Emily is due a month before me and having a little boy! We are excited to be pregnant together!

Haha...I'm so tiny! Chloe sits in the lower back...plus I'm getting bigger :)

AW! Some of my closests friends! Erika and Emily! and of course Savi...but she happened to be the bride and couldn't really sit down and chat with us :P haha You looked beautiful Savi!

CONGRATS SAVI AND SAM!

And the baby is...

2009-05-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

CHLOE NICOLE! We are having a girl! It was amazing seeing our little girl! I got to see her yawn and it was the most precious thing! She kept on hiding her face with her arms and fists...... so...Steven is determined that she will be a boxer.

It's a girl...unless he is hiding something...

Her foot!

Leg

Another leg...two legs...good sign!

Her arms in front of her face...she is a shy one :)

WE HAVE AN ALIEN! TA DA! Just kidding! I love my daughter!

So the ultrasound tech told me that it looked like I was 18 weeks and 6 days...so another due date change...Sept. 26 :) but she also mentioned that it was give or take a week...so who knows? I see my midwife tomorrow so we will see what she says about the ultrasound. But the ultrasound tech also said that Chloe has all her parts...very good sign! And she has been moving like crazy! Steven thinks its the craziest feeling...

PS

2009-04-28T17:50:00.001-07:00

Oh one more thing...during the tornado warning we saw the coolest vehicle used for chasing tornados...I didnt have time to take a picture but I looked it up...

the one we saw was red...but awesome!

Texas Wedding

2009-04-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

April 16 was my niece Krystals wedding. It was in Texas so I drove down with my parents and flew home with my sister Amy. Here are some of the pictures in really random order and once I fix the lighting in some others I will have more to show! By the way the title picture was one that I took from the airplane.

This was my view from Denver on into Salt Lake...we flew a heavy snowstorm. This was on the way home.

Pure white out! Again the view from Denver.

Waiting in the Airport...Amy and me!

This was our plane! Getting ready to load.

This was the view from Amarillo to Denver...nice and clear!

At the recpetion...gotta love older brothers...NICE FACE JEFFREY!

Me and Emily!

My nephew Ammon...he is older than me too!

The beautiful bride my niece Krystal.

Jacob posing!

I LOVE MY MOM!

The sky coming out of the Tornado hail.

Windmill!

On our way back from the temple ceremony we had a tornado warning...that was pretty intense. This was when we were driving through the hail...pure white out. There was a point where we couln't see my brother in laws tail lights...or the road...

The intense moments...no one was breathing!

At the lunchen making Kristen (my sister in law) laugh. She wouldn't eat without one of us making her laugh...David (her husband...my brother) ended up taking her ice cream away because of it!

BRAINFREEZE!

Amy daring me to take a giant spoonfull of ice cream...

Mom wanted a picture of someone using the chopsticks...Amy looks cute!

The aunts and uncles...aw! They took so many pictures of the aunts and uncles Amy needed someone to say something funny to keep the smile...so I said "Whose idea was it to put the pregnant woman in front?!?" I didnt show it but the next picture everyone ws laughing and Krystal was looking over at us.

The sisters!

Coming out of them Temple!

Me, Kristen, Amy, and Sarah.

David and Jeffrey. Two of my brothers.

My mom and David.

Me and David.

Jeffrey and Sarah's little one. Griffen! One of the cutest nephews!...but then again I think all my nephews and nieces are the cutest.

Me and mom at the hotel.

So you are getting the really short version. But it was a very eventful trip! With me harrasing dad with the radio to Emily leaving her purse behind later having David send it overnight to Steven, and of course the tornado...cant wait until next months trip back east!

It was a beautiful wedding! CONGRATS YOU TWO!

What’s in a name?

2009-04-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Steven and I have had our baby names picked out since we were engaged. I was curious at their meanings so I looked them up…

Each name has a special meaning behind them for us.

Chester Steven:
Chester was the name of Steven’s grandpa that was a big influence in Steven’s life. So our first son will be named after Steven and Steven’s grandpa.
Chester: Fortress
Steven: Crown

Chloe Nicole:
Chloe has been a name that I have had picked out since high school. Nicole was another favorite of mine but it is also Shellie’s middle name…and Shellie is the one who introduced us. Chloe will be our first girl.
Chloe: Blooming
Nicole: Peoples Victory

Joshua Michael:
Joshua was another name that I have had picked out since high school. Michael was the name of Steven’s uncle who died a few years ago. He holds a special place in Steven’s heart.
Joshua: Lord is Salvation
Michael: Who is like God

Madelyn Ann:
Madelyn was a name we both came up with after we started playing with baby names. It’s always felt right. Ann is my middle name and so she is named after me.
Madelyn: Strong Woman
Ann: Gracious

These are the for sure first four names we want for our children. But only the Lord knows who will be coming to us. Other names we like are:

Jennifer Rose: Jennifer after my older sister that died at birth.
Amber Lee: Lee is the middle name of my other older sister that died at birth.

CREEPY

2009-04-28T16:26:00.002-07:00

I was talking to my mom and sisters the other day and we figured out a creepy trend with me and the number 13…

I was born on the 13
I was my moms 13 pregnancy (9 living, 2 died at birth, and 2 miscarriages).
My parents have 24 grandchildren…12 boys and 12 girls…my child will be the tie breaker being lucky number 13…
Oh and on the note of tiebreaker… I was the tiebreaker with my siblings…they were equal boys and girls until I came…
Pretty crazy huh?!?!

Movements

2009-04-28T16:26:00.001-07:00

So the last few weeks I’ve been asked if I’ve felt movement and I couldn’t answer…Because I didn’t know. Well I started stressing because a lot of my friends have already felt movement and I was worried that I hadn’t. Well a few days ago I was resting my hand on my stomach and I felt a slight bump under my hand. I wasn’t sure if it was a kick or not. Sunday morning I was starting to wake up when I felt it again. By now I’m pretty sure I’ve felt a kick. I asked my sister and some friends what it felt like and all their explanations were what I was feeling. Last night I was laying down watching TV with Steven and the baby started kicking a bunch. I put my hand over it and it would kick my hand and then I had Steven feel. His face lit up when he felt it. He was pretty excited to be able to feel the baby kick. So now that I am aware I’ve been paying more attention to the movements that are going on. Its pretty crazy!

Random

2009-04-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

One of the many rainy days that we have had the last few weeks I was looking out our window and saw in the neighbor’s tree a goose standing on the top. It looked fake at first but it would move its head every now and then. It was awesome!

Pretty Cool...huh?

Baby Predictions

2009-04-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

We find out the sex of the baby on Friday, May 1. So far we have a few predictions:

The Midwife thinks its going to be a boy on September 25.
Steven’s Dad says a girl on Oct. 2.
My friend Erika thinks it will be a girl. With an unsure date.

Now it’s your turn…Tell me what you think the gender will be and what day the baby will be born!

Gifts from the baby

2009-04-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Besides being constantly tired…most of you know that morning sickness has been kicking my butt…well here is everything that has been happening because of the pregnancy. The first few months I was throwing up constantly. It got to the point where I developed a lump in my throat because of the irritation, I’ve worked through a blotchy face, and all that fun that comes with throwing up. It has gotten better…I’m down to throwing up once a week and sometimes once every two weeks! I think this whole time of being pregnant I have thrown up more than I have my entire life.
I’ve never suffered through seasonal allergies. This year with my pregnancy I was lucky to get a bad case of them…to the point I couldn’t open a window or door without instant watery eyes, stuffed nose and constant sneezing. Well I am now on medicine to help me through it.
Right as I am working through my allergy mess I realize the reason behind all my headaches…I’m allergic to the seasoning MSG. Which is in EVERYTHING! Even if it doesn’t say MSG there are many other names for it so people can get away with putting it in foods without people knowing it. So now my diet is limited and I’m working through it with the help from other members of my family that has suffered from MSG allergies for years.
Well now that I am rearranging my diet to help this new allergy I find out I have shingles (if you’re not sure what it is…look it up…it’s not fun). All because of my hormone changes with the pregnancy, on top of the stress of everyday life…After being told this by my midwife and given a prescription to clear it up…I have to admit I LAUGHED MY HEAD OFF!
I am now on a medication for my seasonal allergies and shingles…on top of having a limited diet and working through vomiting. Isn’t life grand?!?!? But I am really grateful for my pregnancy because I know it can be a lot worse than what I am experiencing.

This also helped me to understand why we weren’t able to get pregnant for that year and a half…I wouldn’t have been able to finish my degree with everything that has happened. The Lord knew it and I needed to trust in him more than what I did. I graduated in December and got pregnant right after…he knew what he was doing.

Updates: March - April

2009-04-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

I’m starting to miss going to school…only because I was able to keep up with our blog. Lets see…

After four years and a major surgery I got my braces off on March 17 and I AM LOVING LIFE…now I just have to make it to the dentist…oh and Steven and I was finally able to have a proper first kiss. We’ve never kissed without my braces…I’ve never kissed anyone without my braces…Steven has never even seen me without braces…I guess he really does love my personality :)

The first picture that I am metal free and it was at Jay and Britts lunchen.

Steven’s younger brother Jay joined the Army and before he left for boot camp married his longtime girlfriend Brittney.

I had my first and second appointment with my midwife. I absolutely love her! We’ve heard the heartbeat a couple of times. Hearing the heartbeat makes it all real for us. According to her and my uterus size I am due September 20…so I now have two due dates. We’ll see what the ultrasound tech says…maybe I’ll have three :) But no matter what the date is the baby will come when the baby wants to come…and I’m not going to stop it!

Our friends Adam and Julie had their little boy back in March. We went to the hospital to give them a baby gift and to see the cute little guy!

The happy family!

Logan James Ross

Steven started at Metro Protective Agency as a Security Guard. He loves it…I don’t :) It’s been something that he has always wanted to do…but because of my fear he has stayed away from it. Well the change felt right so we did it. When it came to his qualifying shoot…it was clear we made the right decision. He shot 248 out of 250 rounds and got a 99% on his written test. That means he is able to be an armed security guard. We are saving up our pennies and dimes so he can get his gun. Right now he is an unarmed security guard. He works from 9pm to 6am so I’m alone at night…I sleep with a bat and a dog that barks at everything…and I’m constantly praying. So far he loves it…well unless Jeff tells him that a site is easy and “nothing ever happens” than on his first night at that site Steven has to take a guy down for breaking into a car. Than take Jeff down for saying it was an easy site.

My nephew Joseph reported to the MTC April 1. He flew in the day before and my parents, Emily and I had lunch with him. It was a good lunch! GOOD LUCK JOSEPH! He is going to Anaheim, CA. Spanish speaking.

Emily, Joseph and myself :)...the aunts

Mom, Joseph and Dad...the grandparents

We loved Conference! The talk that stood out to us was Saturday Morning session “Need vs. Want” (or something like that) well we sold our Wii system to help pay some of our debt off. We have only my school loan to pay back so that is pretty good. We are going through our junk and getting rid of a bunch of stuff we don’t need. We went through our movies and got rid of a bunch. We came up with a list of things we wanted and needed for the upcoming year and how we are going to reach these goals. It’s been good for us to write everything down.

Most of you know that I’m kinda accident prone…the first Friday after we found out we were pregnant I fell down our stairs and got a giant bruise on my butt. Well it’s been a few months but “Accident-Prone Rachel” has returned…You see I love French bread. But French bread doesn’t love me, in fact it doesn’t like me at all. After one of our many fights I went to cut me a slice and little did I know that the bread knife was on the breads side…well I ended up cutting a good deal through my pointer finger and even cut through my nail…I decided not to put up pictures for those who have a weak stomach. Well the bread and I have come to an understanding…I will cut it straight and keep my fingers away from the knife blade and it will let me eat it.

After waiting a few months for my diploma I finally went to talk to LDSBC about it…someone had put it on hold without informing me I had a hold on my account…then took it off without letting the people in charge of the diplomas know that the hold had been lifted. Talk about lack of communication! Anyways I have it now and I’m pretty excited. Now to start work on my Photography degree…

In March Steven and I went to a "See Ya Later" party for Bryan. Here are some fun pictures of the three boys being...well boys :)

Cory, Bryan and Steven have been friends since childhood.

Baby's first picture!

2009-03-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

So on March 5 I had an ultra sound! We got to see the baby. And it was moving like crazy! Steven came in after we had gotten started so he wasn't able to see the baby moving as much because as he came in I started talking more and so the baby stopped moving to listen to my voice. Sweet huh? I was just amazed at it all! The baby is facing us and the little white above it is its hand and it was waving. We taped it on our phones so you can see the hand moving back and forth...it brought tears to my eyes. We were able to see the heart beat! Before it turned toward us I was able to see the outline of the face and its so precious! The "So Cool" in the picture is because that was the first words Steven said after entering the room. The lady thought that was funny and had to put it on the ultrasound as a memory for us. We are way excited! Pretty cute kid...huh? :)

Oh and according to the size I am actually due September 28. EXCITING! Tomorrow I have my appointment with my midwife and I guess we will go from there.

Draper Temple

2009-03-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

So we finally made it to the Draper Temple open house! Since Steven is now the Mission President in the ward he had a lot of tickets for a number of days since January. But every chance we had to go...he had to work. So lucky for us Javin and his Dad invited us to go with them and Steven had the day off! YAY! So Saturday night we got to go and it was amazing! The Temple is gorgeous! The two of us!

The group! :) It was a blast!

Javin and his dad!

Day at the park

2009-03-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

This was a way fun day at the park that we went with parts of Stevens family...about a week ago. Steven and I watched Quinn. A freaking cute kid!Swinging...

Down the slide we go...

Dad Nelson, Lily, Joel, Me and Quinn.

AW! Cute huh?

Looks like Fun!

It was a very fun park! Thanks for showing us Shellie!

PREGNANT!

2009-03-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

So the story of discovering we were pregnant...Most of you know we have been trying for over a year to get pregnant with no success. A year isn't much compared to those out there who have been trying for years...but believe me it is still very painful! Last December Steven lost his job at Acura (stinkin' economy). So we in a way stopped trying (basically we stopped everything the doctor told us to do to get pregnant). I have also had plenty of dashed hopes in the past (my period being late) so when it didn't come in January...I kinda expected it to just be late. Well by now my chest was hurting me, I was taking herbal pills to help get my period started...I was just sick of being late. Well Sunday the 18 I was complaining to my mom about it all, venting about how frusterated I was about the herbal pills not doing anything because I still hadn't started and she calmly told me to take a pregnancy test. I laughed it off because I was positive I wasn't pregnant. Too many false tests...I didnt want to bother with it. But she repeated it to me, so I decided to do it for her. Monday morning came around I got up and took the darn test. After taking it I didn't wait for it and just started my day like every other day. Well after awhile I went back in and about fainted...it said pregant...my mouth dropped and I took it in to Steven who was still sleeping. Well I just tapped him on the shoulder and said "I think you need to see this..." Well he thought our dog Rosco had done something so he sleepy said "What did he do? Where is he?" I just sat down and put the pregnancy test in front of him. He looked at me, looked at the test and then back at me and said "Wow." I cried of course and then get extremely scared. I took a second one to make sure and same result came out so we started calling everyone. My mom of course was excited but at the same time knew it. But she did call my grandma saying "My baby is having a baby." I called most of the family and got a few screamers...which actaully helped put the excitement back in me...Thank you to the screamers :) I'm still way excited...and way nervous! But I know I can do it...with lots of help! Oh and right after finding out we were pregnant Steven got a call back on a job. So even though things are bumpy we are very grateful!

Car Show 2009

2009-03-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

So on January 19 we went to the annual car show. Since that morning we found out we were pregnant we looked at a lot of family cars...plus our favorites...of course! SMART CAR! This one was for Jeffrey! :) It's a convertable one!

We really like the Nissan Versa because its low cost, good gas mileage, high enough that I wont hurt myself getting the car seat in and out and its a fun car!

I'm still in love with my beattle!

This was the Nissan Rogue. One of my favorites...this would be our upgrade from the Versa...but who knows...right?

Nothing can replace my beattle! I mean just look at it!!!

I was debating on if I wanted to try a car seat back there...there's still hope :)

I'm gonna say "No" on the car seat fitting in this one...What do you think?

One of Stevens favorite cars! Pretty huh?

Wedding #2

2009-03-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

The next week we went to Natasha's Wedding. Natasha and I meant at EFY junior year and instantly became close friends. We hardly ever talked or hung out but when we did it was as if we had been best friends growing up. We have been extremely close through out the years...She is one of the few that I can say is a true friend! Steven and I still need to get to know Neil (her husband) a lot better. :) Natasha and Neil...VERY CUTE!

Me and Natasha!

Wedding #1

2009-03-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

January 3, we went to a close friends wedding. Jane and I became friends in 9th grade and soon after became the best of friends...after graduation we went our own ways even though we are still friends. Jane Taylor Nelson...we have no relation. Just the same last name right now...even though we used to tell people we were sisters...

Aw! Steven and I at the wedding.

I bascically view Javin as one of my best friends! WE ARE TIGHT! :)

Lets play...catch up...

2009-03-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

So it's been a long time since you have heard from us :) Well since I finished school I wasn't able to get on as much. We don't have the internet at home so it makes keeping up with the blog difficult. Sorry.

So New Years we had dinner and played Clue at my parents house. With my family we like to get into the game more than others...meaning we dressed up (sorta) as our game member... I was Miss Scarlet so I had my red scarf...Steven was wearing the hat for Colonel Mustard (didnt really go but it was fun). I won by the way :) it was a blast! One of our favorite games!
We then went to spend a few hours with his family playing games and eating a bunch of food. The whole night was a blast from beginning to end!

Great News

2009-01-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone...guess what!?!? I'm PREGNANT! WOOHOO! I'll catch up everyone later :)

This past month

2008-12-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

So this past month we have been crazy busy and since I'm done with school I was never able to update the blog...so here are a few highlights. I'll try to update some more another time.

The Nutcracker with the girls! We missed you Kristen!

Amy, Natalie, Mom, Me, Angela,and Joanna...Emily behind the camera, Amy and Abby down a few rows...

Amy, Natalie and Mom

The weather outside is frightful...

A random picture I took of the mountains :)

Our backyard...

We got a lot of snow! Rosco loved it!

Sledding at Rock Canyon Park with my family on Christmas!

Temple Square with Bryan and Becky and Cory and Lexi.

The boys sleeping...or are they?!?!? Steven with Bryan and Cory his two best friends.

Steven has to take a picture like this every time we go...pretty good huh?

A reflection of the temple...this is the one I have to take every time we go.

The cutest couple! :P

Steven and Me.

Forgotten Carols...SO GOOD!

THEIR AUTOGRAPHS....WOOT WOOT!

Steven and Me.

Me and Emily! AW...

The Three of Us

Company party...

Steven and I

Random... Steven loves having his brother home!

James with Rosco!

Oops...

2008-12-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

So in my "Catch Up" post I mentioned everything that we have going on and at the time I was listening to "Carol of the Bells" so instead of writing "Forgotten Carols" I wrote that I was going to see "Carol of the Bells"...I fixed it. We am going to "Forgotten Carols" with Emily next week. :) I have an excuse...My brain is fried! Sorry Emily.

Christmas

2008-12-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

So I'm still working on a title picture..I've decided to try to use only pictures that I take. So until I take one that I really like, my Thanksgiving/fall picture will have to do. Sorry :)

James Homecoming

2008-12-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

James did an amazing job on his talk! This is the pictures after wards with the family and friends that came. It was a huge group!

The Jerry and Debbie Nelson family (minus a few people)

(Top: Me, Steven, Jeff, James, Dad, Jake)

(Bottom: Joel, Mom, Sammie, Shellie with Quinn, Jodee, Jay, and Britney)

For the most part this is the group at James's homecoming...a few people left before the picture.

James coming home

2008-12-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

So James came home on Tuesday November 25th. We were all there to greet him. He was supposed to come in around 9 in the morning...he missed his flight and came in around 12:30. It was Tuesday (my crazy day) I missed all my classes ( Thanks James :P ).

Group Shot (my in-laws)

James and Steven (Steven was so excited to get his brother home!)
First hug (Aww)

HE'S COMINIG! (He's the one not looking up...punk)

The sign we made (well Steven made it)

Waiting for the second time of the day...can you tell everyone is tired?

You would never know we had been there the whole morning...ok maybe you you would...

Aww...Steven and his niece Lily

Me...I like my hair in this one

Me and Steven waiting at the airport (this was before we found out he missed the flight...notice the smiles)

Alisha's Wedding

2008-12-04T09:46:00.001-08:00

Alisha and I have been friends since elementry. I first became friends with her twin Alayne in 4th grade. Sorry I didn't take any pictures with Alisha...But I did of Javin. He and I have been friends since Freshman year in dance class...I introduced myself as Fredrick...and he introduced himself as Joanne...we've been best friends ever sense.

Me and Steven

Steven taking an unexpected picture of Javin and myself talking.
Joanne and Fredrick

Catch up!

2008-12-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

So we have been crazy busy and crazy stressed these last few weeks, and will continue to be busy for the next week to two weeks. So that is why we haven't posted anything. My Art professor let us have an work day...meaning no class. So I decided that it was time to catch everyone up on our crazy lives. In November we went to two weddings of high school friends, both were gorgeous. On the 25th James (Stevens younger brother) came home from his mission. We had Thanksgiving with Steven's family. Stevens birthday was on black Friday(Thank you for all who remembered. It meant a lot to him-he is now 24!) On the 30th James had his homecoming so we had a big family get together. I have been busily working on school, I have a week and a half left. This past week I have been getting everything together(signatures, post-assessment test...etc) for graduation. I AM DONE NEXT WEEK! WOOHOO! YAY! (can you tell I'm excited?!?!?). And yes I saw Twilight...if you want to know what I thought of it and if I will actually read the books you'll have to ask me...Steven has been working really hard at Jody Wilkinson Acura. But since he just got that job a few weeks ago we have been trying to get bills paid instead of Christmas presents. So Christmas is going to be a bit hard this year. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do right :P (even if I don't want too) and I couldn't get a job because of my school load. But I'm just grateful for the job! This upcoming week besides school and work we reading with the kids Friday morning, a ward Christmas party Saturday morning, a work party that night and in between I am getting away with my mom and sisters to the salon to relax a little(thanks to Emily and her Christmas gift of last year!) Sunday we are going to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and I am way excited for that. We are going to Forgotten Carols next week(we got tickets before we went broke...dont ya love that?!?). We then have my family monthly activity, the Nutcracker with "the girls", our Christmas party (if we ever get the chance to plan it)...we'll see if that happens... and besides the family get togethers on Christmas I think that covers it...maybe...I might be forgetting something...hm..all well. Hope you all have a great day!

Erika's Wedding

2008-12-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

Erika and I have known each other since 3rd grade. We have an inside joke that we are twins split apart at birth...look at the pictures and you can see it...okay not really but we are very simular in many ways. Anyways Erika's wedding was on November 14, 2008. These are some fun pictures from it. It was so beautiful! She made a gorgeous bride! It was fun seeing people I haven't seen since a long time.

Janelle and I have been friends for a while. We were in the same ward growing up. Janelle was my partner in the "Metal Mouth Gang" but recently she got them off...TRAITOR!

Erika, Emily, Savi and Me. I've known these three forever!

Beautiful Erika. I was so scared of crusing her, and my fist is because I was cold and I didn't want to touch her bare skin with cold hands. I'm not mad or anything :P

Britni and Me...I was telling Steven to "cut it out" with the pictures

Britni and Me! Britni is Erika's older sister. I was in the middle of Erika and Britni. Britni and I were in the same Sunday School class but since I'm a September baby I was a year behind them, So I was in Erika's year. Make sense?

Battle Hymn

2008-11-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

I got this link in an email and thought it was well worth sharing. Most of you have gotten this, but for those who haven't. CHECK IT OUT! :)

http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/Battle%20Hymn/index.htm

Child of God part 2

2008-11-13T10:24:00.001-08:00

Look...WE HAVE A BABY! This is our family picture. Cute huh?

Afterwards we went to Wendy's for some ice cream...YUMMY!

Cheesy smiles with Jackson!

I'm a Child of God

2008-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was my family's monthly get together and we went to the "I'm a Child of God" exhibit at the Church Museum. It was so much fun! Here are some of the pictures we took. For the most part Steven stayed behind the camera.Dress up time!
It's probably a good thing we weren't at the stable during the birth of Christ... :P

Seth's outfit was too small...

...and Jackson's was too big!

I'm so ready to be a mom...can you tell? haha I wouldn't really hold a baby like that. It was a joke!

Daddy (Steven was questioning who the dad was because the baby is Asian)

3 generations

Carson was trying to eat the microphone...cute kid!

Just for fun

2008-11-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

8 TV shows/movies I love to watch:

1. Extreme Makeover- Home edition (its the only show we watch. We don't have tv channels)-We watch it with grandma.

2. Mamma Mia is my favorite right now (Big fan of musicals! 7 Brides for 7 Brothers is the best)

3. Scared Stiff, The Stooge, Who's Minding the Store(Anything with Jerry Lewis...Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin together are my favorite though)

4. Move Over Darling, Glass Bottom Boat, Pillow Talk (Yes...I am a Doris Day fan!)

5. Beauty and the Beast! (Disney Movies are my weakness...Hercules...Mulan...etc)

6. White Christmas (I love sappy holiday movies!)

7. Church Movies (We love watching The Testaments...gets us bawling everytime!)

8. Arsenic and Old Lace / Good News / Whats up Doc (As you can tell I love the older movies...I didn't mention a movie with Gene Kelly..but I love watching Gene Kelly movies.)

8 Favorite Restaurants in random order:

1. Sizzler

2. Olive Garden

3. TGI Fridays

4. Ruby Tuesdays

5. Los Three Amigos

6. Wendys :D

7. Souper Salad/Sweet Tomatoes

8. Chili's

8 Things that Happened Yesterday:

1. Well I was at school from 6:45am-8:00pm (so I was in class 9 hours and doing homework during my breaks) Oh and I got to eat lunch with Steven. Since thats everything that I did I'm going to say what I'm looking forward too for the rest of the week... :) Fun huh?

2. Cleaning the house/Doing homework.

3. Reading with first graders on Friday.

4. Steven's High School Reunion Friday Night.

5. Erika's Reception Friday Night.

6. Alisha's Recpetion Saturday Night.

7. My date with Steven.

8. Church and Sunday Dinner with Jake and Stacy!

8 Things on My Wish List:

1. Twins :) You all know how much Steven and I want twins! but then again...I'll just be happy to to be pregant!

2. My photography studio!

3. Dream home and Stevens career to take off!

4. Family car...haha I would give up my beetle for a family any day!...I would just get it when the kids are grown :D

5. So my ultimate wish is...to swim with dolphins!

6. No debt and our year/emergency supply done!

7. NO STRESS OR WORRIES! That would be heaven for me!

8. World Peace....yep thats right I'm tired of all the hate!

9. I'm adding one...a true friend! a best friend!

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. James coming home!

2. Being done with school! December! My graduation! and in the future my photography degree!

3. KIDS! Being pregnant! Watching Steven bless our chrildren.

4. Christmas. I love the holidays!

5. Opening my photography studio.

6. GETTING MY BRACES OFF!!!

7. Our Nascar vacation.

8. Meeting and shaking hands with all the Prophets, meeting my ancesters, seeing my grandparents and my sisters again...and the best of all hugging Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father!

9. This is for Steven...The new Fast and the Furious movie and the new Transformers movie coming out next summer...he is way excited for those two

I TAG:

No one, I was just doing this for fun.

Thanksgiving Theme

2008-11-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, so most of my Thanksgiving themed blog is done...and it has been hard! The title picture I took! I took it on the 1st when we were leaving Micah and Jodee's house. Pretty good huh? :) I like it. Anyways can't wait for my Christmas theme!!! And sorry Amy about the "Stuffed Turkeys" title...I thought it was funny, plus it's hard coming up with a Thanksgiving theme! And you will be happy to know that I finally decided on "Midnight Renegades" for our title...it goes back to when we were dating. It was a movie we made with the help of his family for one of my classes. (someone stole my slurpee and kidnapped steven...it's an intense movie!)

Birthday

2008-11-03T10:15:00.001-08:00

So my birthday was over a month ago...but I didn't want to post anything about it until I got the picture of my cake. (Thanks Amy...oh and sorry for bugging you about it!) Steven and I were going to have a birthday party (to make up for the last 3 birthdays being h-e-double hockey sticks) well that didnt happen, for reasons not to be stated. My birthday started out with Steven waking me up at 3 am to say "Happy Birthday" and then Jeffrey texted me in at 7 am his happy birthday song. Steven made me breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast, and of course hot chocolate) It was great! I love that man! That morning my mom and sisters took me to a salon and I got my nails done (I've never had that done before...very relaxing) anyways we then went out to lunch (during this Steven was making my cake with grandma-and he forgot to let the cake cool before adding the frosting, so the frosting melted to the sides...I LOVED IT! THE BEST CAKE EVER) we had our family activity that afternoon so Freeman and Amy, Dad, Mom, Emily, and Amy all came up and we went to the fair...or tried too. Parking was a mess so Freeman and Amy ended up heading home and Dad had a meeting so it was Mom, Amy, Emily, Steven and myself that made it to the fair. Emily, Amy and I rode the Ferris Wheel...total sister bounding moment...I kept on switching places (your not surposed do that...hehehe) Steven and I then went and saw the tractor pull. Which I thought was awesome!! All in all...it was a blast. Oh the only real downer was the fact that I had a head cold...no fun. But I wanted to Thank everyone that actually remembered my birthday.

Theme Song..

2008-11-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

So some of you know that Steven and I have been going through some rough times...Steven just got layed off because of manditory cutbacks, our cars keep dying one after another. We have been having different family issues, and we have been trying for kids for the past year with no result...and it has been heart breaking for me! Everytime that pregnancy test says "not pregnant" I feel my heart breaking a little...and last the ever present question of wondering if we need to move. All of this has left me feeling brusied and just beaten down. Well the other day the song "One step at a time" by Jordin Sparks came on the radio and it became my theme song. Because no matter what we are going through we just have to keep pushing and things will work out one way or another. So here are the lyrics and I added the song to my playlist. It's a really good song.

Hurry up, and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything, that you always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste, but you just can't touch

(Pre-chorus)

You wanna show the world
But no one knows your name yet
Who and when and where and how your gonna make it
You know you can, if you get the chance
In your face, the door keeps slammin
Now your feelin more and more frustrated
And your gettin all kind of impatient
Waitin

(Chorus)

We live and we learn
To take one step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly, or falling in love
It's gonna happen, when it's, supposed to happen
And we find the reason's why
One step at a time

You believe, and you doubt
Your confused, you got it all figured out
Everything, that you've always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, or would be yours
If they only knew(Pre-chorus)(Chorus)

When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
It's your faith that makes you stronger
Only way we get there
Is one step at a time(Chorus x2)

BUSY!

2008-11-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

So most of you have noticed that Steven and I have been pretty busy. It started on Oct. 24. We had our ward Trunk or Treat. We are on the activities board so we got to set and take down. It was a blast. Steven and I really got to know different people in our ward. The kids were SO cute! Then on Saturday night we had Adam and Julie over. They are so fun to hang out with. She is having a boy in March and Steven and I are way excited for them! We made dinner and played games...word to the wise...Steven gets really competitive playing Clue! Sunday we had didnner at my parents house. Then this past week we hiked Ensign Peak and went to Park City. Halloween was spent at Micah and Jodees. Saturday went to my parents for a Stevens meeting, I had a good visit with my mom! That night we went with Micah and Jodee out to eat and then to "We Also Sing" it was a Temple Square Event that had Mom Nelson, Shellie and Sammie singing in it. It was fantastic! (WAY TO GO YOU THREE!) and Yesterday I was able to sub for a the 5-6 year olds in primary! Last night we spent most of our night at Grandmas eating dinner and doing a puzzle! On top of everything Steven is searching for a job...and I am still busy as ever in school.

Rosco

2008-11-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

So last night while Steven and I were over at Grandmas...Rosco discovered that if he stands on the couches he can see right into Grandmas kitchen (where we were at)...he was watching us the entire night...

This picture I had the flash on...so it made his eyes glow....FREAKY! (he is standing on two legs in this one)

The real ruler of the control!

So I noticed I didn't have anything on my blog about my dog. So I took these pictures over the weekend and decided to put them up. He is the cutest dog ever! He keeps us plenty entertained...and works our patience pretty good too :)

Halloween

2008-11-03T09:09:00.001-08:00

So Friday night I had to drop off some insurance papers to Amy, and we got to take a cute picture with Jackson and Carson. Some of the cutest nephews ever! Carson wasn't wearing his costume in the picture but he was a bear and he kept on grawling. It was way cute! We then went over to Micah and Jodee's. They happen to be one of my favorite couples to hang out with! We ate pizza and watched movies. We then stayed the night because we had to be at my parents house the next day. It was a total BLAST!

Park City

2008-11-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

How did I get in there?!?!?!?

This is Road Rage Steven

Normal Steven

So after Ensign Peak...We decided to go to Park City. Here are some pictures of that adventure...

Ensign Peak: The Pictures

2008-11-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

I was sneaking beyond the fence...the sign in the background says not too....oops

The View

The sign...

Kissing :) Awww!

Blowing a kiss to Steven....he was the one taking all the pictures

Steven looking...happy...haha

ME! haha....I look funny

Both of the rings...

I thought the Kolob sign was pretty cool!

TA-DUH! The ring! (If you didnt know we upgraded my ring with two new weddings bands!) And as you can tell the width is so wide that I am having it resized now...so pictures to come :)

Ensign Peak

2008-11-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

The Story:

So last wednesday Steven and I finally made it up to Ensign Peak. It was amazing up there. We had a fun little picnic. Took in the view, it was a great view...besides all the smog! He totally reproposed to me! He got my ring back from John and didn't tell me! So while we were up there he took my hand and led me to a good lookout spot, wrapped me in his arms and me being sarcastic and not knowing what was going on asked "are you going to propose to me again?" all he said was "Nope we're already married...however I am going to tell you how much I love you and am enjoying every part of eternity we have together..." he then pulled out the ring! ITS GORGEOUS! Thank you John!!!! It was one of the best days!

Tagged

2008-10-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago...

1. I was in 6th grade...Crazy!
2. Wishing to be older...(WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?)
3. Playing with friends! (I miss those days...why do we have to grow up?)
4. Doing homework that took 10 minutes...maybe 30...wow I wish that was how it was now!
5. Babysitting

5 Things I need to do Today...

1. HOMEWORK! (#1 Priority!!)
2. Clean the house...
3. Laundry
4. Did I mention homework? Thats pretty much whats on my mind....
5. FHE- we are planning on hiking Ensign Peak...but we'll see ( I wanted to take pictures and my camera is still not fixed!)

5 snacks I enjoy...

1. SLURPEES! (thats a basic food group for me :P hehe)
2. Gummies
3. Popcorn
4. Crackers/Chips
5. Fruits and Veggies!!!!

5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire...

1. Get out of debt/get our year supply together!
2. Build our dream house (we already have the plans for it...now we need the money...)
3. Buy Steven's Truck and my SUV
4. Open my photography studio
5. I've always wanted to open a battered womans shelter. I want to help people in hard times.

5 places I've lived....

1. AZ (Chandler/Wilcox)
2. Moroni UT
3. Provo UT
4. Midvale UT
5. Salt Lake City (dorms and our current home)
*Maybe in a few months we might be out of state...

5 Jobs I've had...

1. Nanny
2. Receptionist
3. Janitor
4. A/P Clerk
5. Sales Associate

5 People I Tag...

1. The Family
2. Kylie
3. Natalie
4. Casey
5. Well actually I tag EVERYONE!!! (MUAHAHAHA)

Rules: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let them know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

2008-10-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty funny! Enjoy!

Ultimate Goal...

2008-09-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

So most of you all know that I want to go into photography. I want to open up my own photography studio and do weddings, family pictures, etc...that will be the business end of it but as a hobby I want to take nature pictures. Ever since I can remember my ultimate dream/goal concerning photography has been to take a picture of lightning, like the above picture. Rain and lightning has always fasinated me and so I hope some day to have a lightning picture! I think that would be amazing. Also the great thing about photography is that I can still be a stay at home mom. (*crossing fingers)

Theme

2008-09-25T16:17:00.001-07:00

So I've been going crazy trying to think of a theme for our blog. Couldn't really do our last name, unless I wanted a wrestling theme...Steven of course wanted it. But I wasn't a fan. I starting thinking about how I am way big on holidays and decorating for them, and so my theme will change with the holidays...fun huh? I thought so. I had a blast coming up with everything for Halloween...I have a bunch of ideas...I might be constantly changing it :) Hope you like it and stay tuned with what I do for Thanksgiving :)

2008-09-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I have one a few days left of freedom before I'm back at school...I'm trying to enjoy it but dreading school and fall cleaning has left me little time to completely enjoy no homework. This semester is my last...until I transfer for my photography degree...but for this semester I am taking 16 credits, Monday-Thursday (Tuesdays I am at school from 6:45am-8:00pm YIKES) I am taking... American Civilization, Professional Business Writing, Intermediate College Writing, Design Fundamentals, New Testament, and Personal Finance. I'll be at school a lot so I'll probably spend alot more time on my blog. Wish me luck...'cause I am stressed with everything going on. Steven is doing well at work...they are calling him a natural... keep your fingers cross so this will work out.

New Callings

2008-08-20T16:55:00.001-07:00

So on top of us being on the Activities Committee, Steven and I are Ward Missionaries again. But with this ward they are involving us a lot more. They want us to greet everyone for Sacrament Meeting every Sunday morning. We also have a list of people that are inactve or new members that we visit every week. The goal is to take an hour or two every Sunday and go visit with people. Steven is more gifted in that area then I am...he can strike up a conversation with anyone and he can get into deep discussions...as for me...I'm more closed off to people I don't know and I don't like to opening up to people. I feel dumb when I share something personal. I guess this is just one of my trials that I need to work through. Wish me luck!

Back it up....

2008-08-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

So you all know that I take plenty of pictures...well today I went to print them off and for some reason the computer on Costco wasn't reading my memory card. I have over 600 pictures on that card, well I turn my camera on and it says that my card needs formatting and that means bye bye to my pictures...which made no sence to me because I used it just the other day to put pictures on my facebook and it was fine. Anyways the moral of the story is always back things up! And I am going to have to find a way to constantly put pictures on the computer...with my luck my computer would crash....oh dang I probably just jinxed myself..... on a happier note Steven really enjoyed his first day at work!
PS
If you have any pictures of us please send them to us...it would help fill in my blanks...thanks!!! Oh and that also means I have to retake pictures of the house...so it's gonna be longer. sorry!

Just Kidding...

2008-07-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

So...the orthodontist decided to change the date of getting my braces off! I have another quick check and then they decide on the date that they will come off...say goodbye to Auguest 25th...dang it!

ITS FINALLY HERE!

2008-07-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

So after three and a half years...a surgery from heck...and plenty of physical therapy...my braces are coming off! We have a for sure date...AUGUST 25! They are still waiting for my teeth to meet so I'm in some heavy duty rubber bands and its a pain. But if it gets me out of them....YAY! Cross your fingers...cause this better be it!

Gas...

2008-06-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

I thought this was way funny and appropriate for the high gas prices.

Updates:

2008-06-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

We are currently painting our house. It's looking fantastic! I will get pictures up asap! Steven is enjoying his job and all the responsibilities it holds for him. He is excited to start on Micheal Jordons house. I am currently in school and will be graduating in December. I'm going into Photography. Taking the time off for the surgery put me back quite awhile but it was worth it. Rosco is as usual keeping our lives plenty entertained...and busy!

SWEET!

2008-04-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

These past few days I haven't been feeling well...so Steven bought these to make me feel better!

Ducks...

2008-04-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

The other day there were two ducks in the yard...just chillin' . It was pretty awesome!

Phoenix

2008-04-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

The Track!

The next stop was Phoenix where we were able to go to Nascar with my brothers...it was a BLAST! I thought it was going to be boring...but it wasn't!

DAM!

2008-04-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry...couldn't help myself! ;)

Vegas

2008-04-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Elephant Moved! Scared the ..... out of me!

Now this is what I call a teddybear!

Vegas was our first stop. We stayed two nights where we did nothing but relax and have fun. Everyone loved the T-shirts I designed...Steven had the "I have a smokin hot wife" and I had a "Married" one. They were way cute! Everyone thought we were newlyweds, which in fact true...cause we always will be newlyweds...totally cheesey, but so true!

Vacation!

2008-04-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

After not having a vacation and needing one in a long time we decided to run away! So the minute my last class was out on Wednesday April 9th...we were off and nothing was going to stop us!