Thursday, September 30, 2010

Summer Wrap-up

We are already in October and I am still posting about summer, but this the last one...I think. So, very quickly, the last odds and ends of our fabulous, fun and never-long-enough summer:
Hogle Zoo with Grandma and the Curtis cousins. This was the absolute highlight, the reptile house filled with snakes and other little creepy creatures:Roman and Capri sizing up:This girl loves her grandma and I do too-it makes trips like this so much more fun!Karoline and her daddy (kind of random picture, but I loved it and it did take place in the summer!):Popsicles, pools and playtime in the backyard. Good times.Funny story. Before I got a pool, I filled this cooler up with water just to let the kids play with. Both got in as if it were a pool...kind of white trash, but who cares?!Another favorite this past summer was swimming at Lifetime. We love our gym and the pool is a huge bonus in those hot months...
Rob and Eli came to play one day:Capri could stay in the pool forever if I let her. No matter how cold she gets, having to get out is a serious bummer.Cheri and Cody, as well as my parents, have memberships to our same gym so it's fun when we can go together:I think Roman is having a good time, what do you think?In their summer's Sunday best:Karoline at 6 months: I love that Capri is starting to enjoy getting pictures taken with her baby sister. She is willing to do just about anything with that little girl and absolutely loves to hold her now!

Tucker is a triathlete!

I have an amazing husband. A husband that is now an official triathlete! Tucker competed in the TriUtah Jordanelle Triathlon in August and I couldn't be more proud. It all started when some friends from the ward, the Guymons (aka Captain Awesome and Ellie), decided to try for their first tri (hehe). They thought it would make it that much better if they brought some others along for the ride of endless training in running, biking, and the worst, swimming. Tucker was sold on the idea and got to work. We were already running, but he hadn't been on a bike in years, and he had never taken a swimming lesson-EVER! He knew the swim would be a nightmare and he did not like practicing so it wasn't too much of a surprise when I got this text the morning of the race, "I am looking at the course for the swim. I have never swam this far before. This is going to be bad. Pray for me." I felt bad, but I knew he would do great and here is proof:He survived the swim and was ready for the bike! Hooray! From then on, he felt great and I was assured because he was smiling all the way to the finish line:
Here are the awesome triathletes:
Reese Harper, Tucker, Mike Sanderson, Ben Dickman, Cody Ford, Steve and Ashley Guymon (the power couple that finished before everyone else...yes, they are that good!)
Ashley did have another girl to accompany her in the insanity of such a race, Jenn Phillips:

And here I am, the athletic supporter:We had such a great time with this group. We stayed at the Guymon's place (thank you Guymons) up in Midway the night before and had so much fun eating a fabulous pasta dinner (thank you Youngs) and talking for hours (thank you everyone). The day of the race was so exciting as all of us fans watched as the athletes passed us on each transition-something about the atmosphere filled with adrenaline makes it incredible! We completed the weekend with a well-deserved (at least for the racers) meal of delicious mexican food at Tarahumaras, yum.
Ben and Kate Dickman, me and Tucker, Mike and Brooke Sanderson, Steve and Ashley Guymon
Seth and Jenn Phillips, Barbie and Reese Harper, Christopher Lloyd, Tyler and Andrea Young

I have to say, I am starting to think about training for a triathlon. Then again, I thought I would be up for one in years past, but it has yet to happen so we'll see. :) Tucker, on the other hand, says he wants to do another one for sure! Thanks again everyone-we had a BLAST!

Oh my Capri...

Capri loves the camera and loves to pose (while Roman won't let me take a single picture of him these days...the difference between a boy and a girl!)

Capri has said some funny things lately that I had to record, though I should probably be a bit embarrassed about...

I forgot to add this one:
As she is looking at my dad's iphone she says, "Grandpa, you need more apps!"

Capri: "Daddy, what's this?"
Tucker: "It's a medal for running a race."
Capri: "Oh yeah, I did too."

On the trampoline:
"Don't shark me!" (shocks are sharks)

You know when your daughter is spoiled when she says:
"Grammy, you need to get me the unicorn pillow and Roman the bumblebee pillow, ok." (This only two days after seeing the ridiculous commercial for them on tv.)

And my favorite:
Finding a Nordstrom bag in the car, she asks, "Is this Susie's bag?" (Susie being Grammy, one of Nordstrom's favorite customers!)

She also loves to make up new words to all of her favorite songs and it makes for great listening! I love her!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Karoline at 6 months...


What a happy baby! Karoline is like sunshine and is always willing to smile for you. Everyone seems to see what an angel she is within moments of meeting her and I couldn't agree more. I am absolutely, 110%, head over heels, in love with her. This is why:
*When you talk to her and tell her how much you love her, she responds by clicking her tongue and smiling back...melts. my. heart.
*You know she is happy when she kicks her legs and the faster they move, the happier she is...kind of like a dog wagging its tail, but way cuter.
*Karoline is child number three and this means no concrete schedule, being "loved" by an older brother and sister, and due to the lack of time, doesn't get bathed daily like she needs to be. However, she is amazingly willing to go with the flow and make the most of it!
*Her pats are the best. She sits there and pats you on your arm over and over.
*Karoline loves faces. She will hold your face in her hands and then try to eat it. It's like a really wet kiss all over.
*She is a momma's girl and seems to be happiest when I am there. If I have been away, I return to hold her and she doesn't stop at the face. She tries to eat my hands, arms and even legs-whatever she can get her mouth on.
*We are making huge progress on the eating solids thing. Such a stress relief when your child decides they do like to eat something other than their bottle!
*Speaking of eating, she is still our fattycakes and the chub could not be better.
*Her sister (and sometimes her brother) are her favorite entertainers. Capri can get her to laugh in no time and will keep her laughing forever. There is not a better sound than a baby laughing, especially when it is a deep belly laugh like my Karoline's.
*She can roll anywhere she wants to go and she can roll fast!
*Karoline is as sweet as they come, but she is starting to get a bit of attitude. If she wants to play with your phone and you take it away, she will let you know! If she sees you make a bottle and don't immediately put it in her mouth, watch out!
*She is a smart cookie! When trying to feed her, I would do whatever I could to get her to smile so that her mouth would open and I could spoon some food in. That worked for about 2 seconds. She quickly learned and would keep her lips closed shut for the rest of the attempted feeding.
*Her hands are held with such femininity. She moves them just so daintily and with those dimples for knuckles, I swear it doesn't get much cuter!
*She develops a new "thing" all the time and uses it constantly for a few days as if she wants to show it off. Some of her "things" are sticking her tongue out, closing her lips together as if she is saying, "I will not talk!" and finally, my favorite, jabbering with intermitten blowing of spit.
*Karoline gets bored easily and so she needs to be entertained. Fortunately she loves toys, but sometimes they don't do the trick. She has moved on to phones, keys, glasses, and her new favorite, pop cans (with a pin hole punched through to allow the liquid to drain without having to open the top-thank you Tanya for the tip!).
*When she gets something she loves, a toy, her bottle, your hand, she repeatedly squeezes it, opening and closing her cute little hand around it.
*Something about her being able to use a straw is so darn cute.
*She thinks its funny when her dad startles her - Just don't do it too much.
*This little girl has some serious fine motor skills. The "passing an object from one hand to the other" and the "pincer grasp" milestones have been passed off for some time now. Using the pincer grasp to grab bits of bread from her tray to put into her mouth...to. die. for.

And for the 6-month stats:
-Weight: 16 lbs 4 oz placing her in the 60th percentile
-Height: 27 inches placing her in the 90th percentile
-Head circumfrence: I can't remember exactly, but she is in the 93rd percentile! Does anyone remember my little brother Jon as a baby? Yeah, she gets it from my side of the family. :)

I love this stage and I love this girl-good times ahead!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Salt Lake County Fair

Last month, my mom and I took my nephews and my kids to the fair. They had a blast. Seriously, there is no need for Lagoon when your kids are in awe of the 50 ft. track roller-coaster. No need at all.
After watching the pig races and admiring the prize-winning chickens and bunnies (that were oh so soft), we headed to over to the big animals. Capri was not a fan. All of the cows were mooing and when you are a couple of feet away, it can get pretty loud. My mom and I were laughing thinking that Capri could never be a farm girl, but either could I so I really shouldn't complain about her prissy behavior. To give her a bit more credit, she was awesome during the spider and reptile show.
We then hit the rides and these were the faves:
Spencer and Eli did the bungee trampoline and had a great time, but both got a bit of a scare when the operator would launch them super high...

This is the look of terror, but don't worry, he really enjoyed it!
Kaleb and Spencer wanted to try out the ferris wheel. Check out Kaleb holding onto my mom for dear life-love it.
Capri and Eli were waiting there turn while holding hands. Eli is so cute to Capri and we think he may have a cousin crush. Just the other day he was holding her braid and telling her how pretty her hair was. So. Adorable.
The insane roller-coaster ride...again, about 50 feet of track in a circle. They thought it was the greatest thing ever as you can tell by their faces:

Karoline was a champ and fell asleep in her stroller so that we could enjoy ourselves that much more. And yes, I do eat those thighs all the time.
Boys will be boys...
Such a great time for less than $20!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Utah's Toughest 10k

No, I would never do something like that! But these crazy guys did:
Dad, Jeff, Richard, Tucker, Cody, Austin, Dave
And some even finished with smiles:
This is my dad, in cargo shorts, and he even had his phone with him as if he were just taking a stroll. He actually decided that morning that he was going to run this thing-he is nuts!
They all had a great time and we, the athletic supporters, loved being up in beautiful Midway, so it was fun for all!
I am amazed at Tucker and his love of running. He actually has fun doing these races and I am so proud of him!
Janneka and my little brother Richard-aren't they cute?My mom was watching my nephews that weekend so we brought them all up together (leaving at 7am that morning...I am seriously impressed that we pulled that off!):Karoline was happy to see her daddy too!Roman, Sammy (Tucker's cousin's little boy), Luke and Capri
It was especially fun because so many of Tucker and my family member's were there-good times!

Good Ol' Millcreek

Growing up so close to Millcreek Canyon, I have many great memories of campfires, hikes, bike rides, and especially birthdays. I don't know how many times I have celebrated my birthday up there, but this year added one more and it was great. We didn't make a reservation so we were stuck in this random site that you had to hike to, but the seclusion it offered made it a lot of fun. The Nielson and Curtis families came to help me celebrate the big 28 and I swear we had that many of us there. Ok, maybe not, but there were quite a few of us and our site was ridiculously small. :)
It was still pretty warm once we settled in, so I decided it would be fun to take the kids on a little walk before starting with the campfire.
Our mission, find some kind of creature for the kids to get excited about. Mission completed with the finding of not one, but two squirrels...or were they chipmunks? Either way, the kids were loving it.
Once we got back, we inhaled our dinners of roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Nothing says summer more than s'mores up the canyon!
The boys were OBSESSED with the fire and ended up looking like this:
What a great way to spend a summer day and an even better way to celebrate my birthday!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

We love having our cousins in town!

This past summer was full of fun, which is why I have been slacking in the blogging world-we haven't had a second! I am determined to catch up, but I still don't have a lot of great pictures on my sister-in-law's camera so bear with me.
We had ALL of Tucker's family in town for a week with the arrival of our new adorable niece Isla. Everyone wanted to be here to see her and welcome her into the Nielson family. Unfortunately, I have zero pictures of the sweet baby girl so once I get permission from her mommy, I will post some of hers!
It was so fun to see these two together, Karoline and her cousin just three months older, Naomi:
And some of the other grandkids dancing and running in the rain:
It was so nice to finally see everyone and get these kids together for some great fun!