Funny, funny MONDAY!

Here's a joke to start your Monday off with a laugh.............



An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.


Dear Bubba:

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

A few days later, he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad:

For heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.

Love, Bubba

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local Police showed up and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day, the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad:

Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. It's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love, Bubba

Hee, hee, hee!

Elder Nelson - Phone Home!

So Christmas is always something to look forward to, but this year it was special because I knew that we would be able to talk with Tyler.  We were so excited when he called about 10 am our time.  We had some trouble because he gave us a number to call back to, but it was pretty hard to get through.  We finally did it though and we all talked to him for like 2 hours.  It was great.  We all just hung out on a phone and said whatever we wanted when we wanted.  It was like having him in the house because we were all walking around and hearing his voice wherever we were. 

He is doing so well.  We are so proud of the things he is learning about himself.  And the Christ-centered life he is trying to live. 

He told me in an email the week before that he was really looking forward to our phone call and that he "freakin' loves me".  Now I am really not a fan at all of the word freakin, but if he is going to use it in that way, I'll take it!

We had sent him two packages before Christmas.  It's hard to send stuff to a missionary because they don't really have a lot of room to pack a lot of stuff around.  But we found some stuff.  Luckily he did get both of them which I was concerned about because they say that Mexico is pretty tough to get packages through to their intended recipients.  There are others that think that I am actually sending boxes to them, even though they say CLEARLY  to Elder Nelson  So that's what his picture of the boxes are.  He was pretty happy to get some stuff from home.

We did find him some stuff he'd enjoy.  Just some stuff from the States that he couldn't get there.  I made him a Denver Broncos stocking and filled it with all of his favorite Christmas candy.  He was thrilled with his packages and felt the love we wanted him to feel sent from his family at home to him.

Just to the right of the center/top of this picture is a little black book that I made.  It was based on this video on youtube.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

Its from Elder Busche and it's a great uplift for anyone.  I made one for Jeremy after he introduced me to the video on line.  So I decided to make one for Tyler as well.  He was so appreciative of it.  He told me that he loved the book and told his companion, "Look!  My mom made this!"  He's never been so proud of my crafting before!

This is a picture of Elder Nelson with his Mission President.  His name is President Alin Spannaus.  Tyler really loves him.  His testimony has grown so much because of the experiences that they have had together.  It's been a great experience for him.  

So our Christmas was complete with Tyler in the picture as well.  We miss him so much, but we know that he is doing something that will benefit not only him and his future family, but many others in his future.  He's already been out there a little over 300 days, so we are almost 1/2 way to a Homecoming Party!

2010 Ketchup! Hee, hee, hee......

I thought I'd update my blog a bit since it hadn't been done in a while.  I can't remember if I included some of the following photos or not, so if I did - enjoy the trip down memory lane!

So this was of my birthday.  A DQ cake.  YUMMY!  They are so nice to me (well, I'd have to give all the credit to Mike because the kids don't have enough allowance pooled together to get me a slice of DQ cake, let alone a whole one!  Only because their allowance is $0.00 per week!)  Mike also generously gave me some moola for a shopping spree and I did indulge (in both the cake and the shopping spree!)

Here's Brigam trying on snowbarding gear in Dec.  It's all hand-me-down stuff (notice the pink goggles :), but he seemed excited to hit the slopes. But when the first couple of opportunities for "snow fun" came, he didn't want to go.  He was under the impression that he would be getting all new gear from Santa for Christmas and said he would wait until then.  Then he would "tear up the slopes" with his siblings.  I was doubtful he would go at all even if Santa filled his wish list with shredding gear.  Where did he get the idea Santa was a snowboard giver anyway??????

Brigam got to make his own gingerbread house at school.  He was so excited to bring it home and show his artistic/creative side.  I know that it just looks like angled graham crackers surrounded by candy on a plate, but believe you me, just about each candy was something special.  It had a job and a purpose.  I'm telling you that he'd do great building booby traps for high security buildings.  After photos, he was a pretty nice guy who was more than willing to share his treasure-trove of sugar bliss with his siblings.  He's nice like that, you know.

 So here we are getting ready for the Cable Bridge Run.  Don't we all look so dang cute in our "fun" hats?  We actually all ran in the hats.  It was a crazy day to do it.  We got a fresh blanket of snow during the middle of the night of a few inches.  It was cold and slick, but it was fun.  We all did the 3 mile run (you can do 1, 3 or 6 miles) and their times were pretty good.  Of course, mine would have been better but I had to bring up the rear to make sure no Nelsons were lost during the running of this tradition!

Our results are as follows:

Jeremy 27:38

Brigam 34:31

Mike 38:40

Mykalyn 44:10

Terilyn 44:27

Not too bad, but now we have a baseline to beat next year!

 So here is Christmas Morning.  Of course, Mykalyn is always prepared for the camera.  They were so excited!  Brigam did get is board from Santa.  It looks like Jeremy was as excited for Brigam as he was!

Jeremy got a new board as well.  It was sorely needed since he decided to grow a bit this past year.  It was funny because he was so wrapped up in Brigam's board, that he failed to see his own leaning against the wall.  Needless to say, he was excited.  I had to tell him to "take that thing out of your mouth"!  I know, and he's almost 16.

 Brigam got a snowboarding helmet (thank goodness Dad's a safety geek and thinks it's important.)  He was so excited because his helmet can plug into the new to Brigam, used Ipod that Peggy gave him.  He's rockin' ready for the slopes now.

 Jeremy has an oral fixation.  He loves things, he puts them in his mouth.  Here is his Denver Bronco leather wallet.  "Jeremy, get that thing out of your mouth!"

 Mykalyn got new goggles.  Unfortunately they were not pink, but they did fit and that is a step up from the pink ones.  Isn't she so photogenic?

 She desperately needed a new camera.  Her one she got last year got loved to DEATH.  She is so happy to not have to hang on to a battery compartment while she takes the shot so that the batteries don't pop out!

It was a great Christmas morning.  One in which we got to talk to Tyler for quite a while.  Please see previous post.

And this is how we celebrated New Year's Day.  We had a baptism.  It was truly a great way to start off the year.  Our friend, Kim Dueno, got baptized.  That is Elder JOE Smith (not kidding) on the left.  He has the same birthday as Tyler.  He is awesome.  Next to him is Bishop LaDow.  That's who Kim wanted to have baptize her.  There's Brigam.  He's the reason Kim wanted to find out more about the church.  She saw something in Brigam that was missing from her own life and the lives of her boys.  She was brave enough to check it out.  Next is KIM!!!  She is truly awesome.  She is golden.  She is such a strong daughter of our Heavenly Father.  I am so glad to call her my friend.  She amazes me and makes me want to be a better Latter-Day Saint.  On the end is Elder Boren.  He came in the picture the Wednesday before Kim's Saturday baptism.  Not pictured is our Elder Perkes who was transferred just that Wednesday before the 1st of Jan.  He was very instrumental in Kim's teaching and learning as well.  Great missionaries!  Greatest of all experiences for me to be a part of.

Brigam and Kim.  His "second" mom and I am truly OK with that. 

Here's the latest pic of my Mom and Dad.  I told my parents they better enjoy their last Christmas in Mongolia.  They need to come home now and hang out with their grandkids before they are all out of the house.  Isn't my mama beautiful?  You know she is.  They are expected back the first part of May.



Snow Day

So this was our first snow day of the year.  It definitely lived up to it's name!  There is a ton of it out there, so much that it was hard for everyone to keep up with shoveling it!

I enjoyed myself. This is what I worked on on this fine winter day!

 Come on in Christmas.....it's warm in here!

Just a mild indication that my children will NEVER drink coffee

So Mykie had her first experience with a Starbucks today.
It all started last week at middle school in one of her classes. Mykalyn is working on a clay sculpture illustration from one of the pages of her favorite books. She needed some clay which her teacher provided. Well, Mykalyn was doing a terrific job with the clay provided (that's a different story, but she's really good at sculpturing), but needed a little more to complete the job, so she went back to the teacher for more. Unfortunately, he was out of clay.
Somehow they got into a discussion about clay and if Craft Warehouse did or did not have any. So both wanting to be right, a bet was made. I know what you're thinking, "A bet? Isn't Mykie a Mormon?" The answer is YES she is and that life lessons are always being taught. Our job is to learn from the lesson being taught!  Mykie was going to learn that betting could be not enjoyable.
So she bet. The bet was that Mr. Tolkey would buy Mykalyn a soda if she was correct about clay NOT being at Craft Warehouse and on the flip side, Mykalyn promised to buy Mr. Tolkey a COFFEE if he was wrong. Sometimes we are so blinded by wanting to be right, that we don't know what we are doing!
Long story short.....Mykalyn LOST the bet. So she needed to pay up. Mr. Tolkey wrote down exactly what coffee she needed to purchase and she brought the paper home.
This morning, she told me that we needed to go buy him a coffee. I informed her that I would not be buying any coffee. I told her that she would be buying the coffee herself. Originally, I had given her $5.00 to buy more clay at school. She asked me if she could use the $5.00 I had given her for clay to purchase the coffee. I said, "Sure, Mykie. Take the money I gave you for school supplies and use it to pay off your bets." She looked a little pleased with that statement so I clarified that I (unsuccessfully) was using sarcasm and that there was no way that I was going to pay off her bet. She'd have to use her own money.
So I was nice enough to drive her to Starbucks this morning before driving both Jeremy and Mykalyn to school. She asked me to go through the drive thru. I told her "NO! I am not ordering the coffee." I told her that she'd have to go in the store herself, order it herself and purchase it herself. She wasn't too happy, but did it anyway. Jeremy and I sat in the car being happy, Jeremy didn't want to have to go in and "smell the coffee"!
Soon she came out holding the coffee like it was acid. She did spill some on her and the way she acted, you'd have thought she was picking up dog poop with her bare hand! She put it in the cup holder and started to complain about the smell of the coffee house - she was all worried that she smelled like coffee.
So then we have Jeremy in the car who has THE MOST SENSITIVE nose ever created. He had to have all the windows rolled down and he "can still smell it! Gross!" He was worried that he also was going to smell like that "evil substance" all day. All the way up to his school, she and Jeremy were talking about the smell and the way it makes one's breath smell, and wondered VIGOROUSLY why anyone would ever drink something that smelled so bad. It was a little comical, really.
Although it was funny, I have to conclude that coffee drinking will never be an addiction for either of those kids.

Ouch!

So I have been laid up on our couch since last Friday morning. Mykalyn and I went to the gym and did a weights workout on the new Club Max equipment. Then we met Bill Hollenbeck for a little tennis lesson at 10. After about 45 min I was reaching for a ball that bill was sending my way, but my new tenny runners that had about 2 cm more sole on them than my old, beat up tenny runners stuck to the court because I didn't pull my foot up quick enough. As I reached for the ball, my foot stuck and I heard my ankle pop. I thought I could walk it off, but I was wrong. One step and I had to go down. It really hurt. I was trying hard not to cry because I don't think it would have helped and it defiantly would have made Bill feel un-comfy. Mykie was running to get me some ice.
When she came back, I iced it for a few minutes and then decided to head out to the car before I couldn't drive. I came home and was helped into the house by my hard working husband and here I've sat for days.
On Fri and Sat I really only sat on the couch icing it on and off for hours. I will tell you right now that there is nothing on TV.
By Sunday my ankle was doing a bit better and Pam had brought me some crutches on Saturday so at least I could get to the bathroom without crawling or hopping to it. I wasn't going to go to church on Sunday because it was hard just to put my foot down with the blood all rushing to it and causing me some great pain in my CANKLE because it looked like my calf went right down into my foot with no ankle, but Jeremy and Mykie were both speaking on Sunday and I couldn't miss that.
Mike brought me right home after Sacrament Meeting where I feel asleep for about 1/2 hour before everyone else came home. Sunday I just hung around with ice.
Monday was a killer. I was still hobbling around with crutches, but mostly hung out on the couch. My precious children surrounded me on the couch for way too long. I was wanting to wish school back in session. Poor children. It's not their fault that I can't even climb up or down stairs to get a level away from them for just a minute!!!! I just know that being laid up is no fun. And when Mike went food shopping for me (which I really appreciate) he didn't buy me any bon bons for me to eat while sitting on this couch doing NOTHING! I can't wait for my ankle to get back to normal!

Happy 9th Birthday, Brigam!

So we celebrated Brigam's 9th Birthday the day before his actual birthday. He loves the Army right now. He wants to be a soldier when he grows up. That is today, we'll see what happens in the future. But for today, that was the theme. We had some great games for the kids and Mykie and I made the attendees their own Tye-dye army t-shirts with their name on the back and ARMY on the front. Brigam loved them.

Here were some of the games we played.

Boy's playing "Drill Sargent Says". Mykie got to be the Drill Sargent. You know she loved that!

Some participants of the game "Mine Field".


Brigam in the "Mine Field". Watch out!!!!

Photo finish of the game "Rescue Me". The games were so creative for this Army Themed Birthday Party of Brigam's.

Brigam got some great gifts. Most all of them were guns, go figure! He got 3 guns cut out of wood from Eli. His dad cut them. They were so cool. Grampa Mike made Brigam a rubber band shotn' gun. That was super cool.

Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing, Dad!

This boy loves Legos and the Army. What a mix of a gift from Grama and Grampa Anderson. It was perfect!


I had to include this shot of Mykie, Haven and Chloe. They are all three such sweet girls!

Mykalyn and Haven Peterson. She is such a cute little thing (so is Mykie). ;)

Brigam said he had a great time. We had chocolate and root beer cupcakes with airplanes crash landing in them and sweet swamp punch (green Hawaiian Punch). It is the last of my babies to be nine. Next year he will go to double digits. Crazy that they are getting so old. With me still at 28. Hee, hee, hee!