Our First Week of Summer

We started summer with a bang this year. We were so busy last week, I can hardly remember everything we did.

Before the craziness began, Sunday afternoon we took a lovely walk together around our river trail. We always get comments on our hats. We all burn to fast, we have to protect ourselves. Cute or not, they are a must for this Nielson family!

 Monday morning, Adam started a week long Robotics class at UVU. That meant we had to be out of the house by 8:30 every morning. Luckily, these kids have their morning routine down, so we were on time all week.

Adam was so excited about his class. He loves learning new things!

 Since his class lasted a couple of hours, the other kids and mom spent every morning in Orem, running errands and whatnot.

When we got home Monday, the kids were dying to go play in the sprinklers. They had a ball!

 

 Monday was Make Something Monday, so they decided to make brownies from scratch. Each kid (besides Caleb) pitched in and they did most of the work themselves.

 Their favorite part of the whole adventure was licking the bowl.



They did a great job! The brownies were delicious!

Tuesday Adam had his class again and that evening, Mommy, Adam and Tessa got to go have a special evening out. We went and saw The Little Mermaid at the Hale Center Theater. It was such a fun show and the cast was awesome! 

 Tessa was pretending to be under the sea.

 We were so excited to meet some of the cast after the show!

 Scuttle and Ursula stole the show.

 I love these pictures! Prince Eric and Ariel took a few minutes to talk to Adam and Tessa before we took pictures. These kids were so thrilled!

 Ursula was seriously amazing!

 Sabastian and Flounder. Everyone was so fun to watch.

 They wanted a picture with the sign after the show.

 Wednesday morning we were back in Orem, bright and early. Tessa was extra excited because she got to take a special dinosaur class through UVU. I think she was the only girl in the class, but she loved it and talked about it for hours afterwards.

 She got to cast some fossils in her class. She thought that was the coolest thing ever. She is dying to go see the new Jurassic Park movie.

 Thursday, Adam had his class, Tessa started a new art class with a brother in our ward and Caleb finally had his 9 month check up. The doctor declared him perfectly healthy. He weighed in at 19 lbs 14 oz and was 28 inches long. That puts him in the 30th percentile for weight and 40th for height. Basically where he has always been. Doctor Paxton was impressed with how happy and interactive Caleb is. He is one happy boy!

 Friday was Adam's last robotics class and we got to go in at the end to see what he had learned all week. He showed us something he built on Friday. Then he hooked it up to a computer and it moved! It was pretty impressive!

 Tessa is loving her new art class and spent most of her weekend working on some art projects. She has discovered modeling clay and made several animals with it this weekend.

Saturday we had some of our old friends from Ogden down for a visit. It was so fun to see the Littlemore's and get a good visit in. We found it crazy that we met almost 10 years ago when we lived in our Ogden apartments. I will always be grateful for some of the wonderful people we have met over the last 10 years. Time has gone really fast!

 

Our first full week of summer was a crazy whirlwind with lots of driving, but Adam and Tessa loved their classes and it was a fun way to kick off our summer!



10 Months Old!

This adorable little boy turned 10 months old last Thursday. Because he is such a busy boy, these photo shoots are getting to be near impossible. We did our best though. 

Caleb is such a happy boy and everyone is always commenting on how cheerful he is. He has recently discovered balls and he loves them! He loves to hold them and chase them around the house. He loves to play with blocks, read (and chew on) books and if he can get to the stairs, he LOVES to climb up the entire staircase. His sleeping is on and off. He still is a lousy eater. 

He loves to play with his siblings and be outside with them. He adores his Daddy! They are best buds!

Caleb had his 9 months check up today (finally). He weighs 19 lbs 14 oz and is 28 inches long. That puts him in the 40th percentile for weight and 30th for height. The Doctor said he is doing great and is perfectly healthy.

We love our little guy so much! It's amazing how fast 10 months have gone by. 

 Since his top teeth came in, he makes the funniest faces. 

 And then he discovered the sticker...

 Caleb's other favorite thing is his blankie. He loves his blankets and he loves to chew on them. Especially the tags. He loves to chew on tags period, whether they are on his blanket or his balls or stuffed animals. Such weird habits, but they are uniquely his. 

Summer Vacation!

We have tried to be patient for our turn for summer vacation. All of the other schools around us got out 2 weeks ago, but since we have more time off during the year, we got out later. We have been excited for our summer to start. Although, Adam keeps reminding us he would love to go to school everyday of the year. 

 Adam and Tessa wrote Thank You notes for their teachers and instructors. I love seeing their handwriting. Considering they didn't know any cursive at the beginning of the school year, they have beautiful handwriting! Both of their teachers think so too!

 Our favorite "School is Out" photo. 

This school is so amazing. When I got to school to pick them up, I found the entire student body gathered out in the parking lot. I didn't know what was going on, so I rolled down my window to see if I could hear anything. Then I heard everyone singing the National Anthem as the Principle lowered the flag. What an amazing way to end the school year. 

As Adam and Tessa got in the car, one of their teachers (Mrs. Heaton) grabbed them and gave them a hug and told them how much she loved them and was going to miss them. It was so sweet to see. Then they both hopped in the car and my sweet Adam burst into tears. These kids know and feel a difference at this place. I am so grateful they are students here. It has truly blessed our family!

Yesterday evening, we kicked off our summer with a fun party with the Riley's. We made S'mores, played games, and had fun visiting. 

 The kids love the jumping pictures! 

 We had fun trying different kinds of s'mores. 

 It's so fun for Jodi and I to watch our kids play together. We never would have thought 15 years ago, when we became friends, that we would always be so close, As friends and neighbors (practically). But I am so glad that we are!!

 Caleb just wanted to crawl all over the yard. And eat rocks. 

 Adam and Tessa had excellent grades all year long. So Daddy and I thought that deserved something special. We surprised them with a fun lunch at Brick Oven. 

 The rest of our day was spent swimming and enjoying our first official day of summer. We need to get a smaller pool for Caleb. He was dying to play in the water with the big kids. 

 They were having so much fun swimming and playing with the water guns. We had neighbor kids peeking through the fence to see where all the happy noises were coming from. 

 Thankfully, I get to stay home with these crazies all summer and have fun and make memories. We have so many fun things planned. I am afraid this summer is going to fly by and we will run out of time. But, we are going to do our best and make the most of our time together.
Welcome Summer! We have been so excited to enjoy you!

What's Been Happening....

Here's a look at what's been going on at our house lately.

Adam started Bears! He loves Cub Scouts and we are grateful he has great leaders who work hard with these boys. He looks so grown up. 

 I started babysitting on Thursday's. Since we have some girls here, we might as well invite all the neighborhood girls over to play. Gwen loves having her bff, Presley over to play. This past week they had a Princess Ball. 

 Caleb LOVES his Daddy and especially loves to snuggle with his Daddy. If it gets to be close to bedtime and Eric is holding Caleb, I always find him asleep and cozy next to his Daddy. 

 We made an early morning doughnut run before school on National Doughnut Day. The kids were ready for school and had all their chores done by 7:10am so they could get a doughnut before school. 

Caleb loves to play in the pantry! We had lots of paper plates at his level for a while and he thought they were the best toys ever.  

 Ma, Pa, and Uncle Ben came down to watch the Cultural Celebration for the Payson Temple Dedication. The next day, Adam, Daddy, and Mommy got to attend the Dedication. We are so excited and grateful for our new Temple!

 The cotton is out in full force this summer and Mommy is not feeling good with her awful allergies. 

 Caleb went from hating the bathtub, to never wanting to get out of it. He heard the girls getting in the tub last week and bolted for the bathroom and almost flipped himself in the tub before I got to him. He's such a stinker!

 Mommy and Tessa had our dear friends move away last week.

 We will miss Stephne and Camdyn a lot! 

Saying Goodbye

 It has been a sad few weeks as we have prepared to say goodbye to Mamma and Bampa as they packed up their house for their big move to Florida. We will miss this house, but we will miss Mamma and Bampa so much. It is going to take some time to get used to not having them 10 minutes away. We will miss our time with them and the kids already miss their fun house and backyard. Thankfully, we get to see Mamma and Bampa next month, but Florida feels so far away now that they are officially gone. Hopefully we will still get to see them often and thank goodness for Skype and cell phones and computers. Our kids have already made plans to have Sunday be their special day to call Mamma and Bampa. 

We love you, Mamma and Bampa. Good luck on your new adventure!