A Blessing and Some Randomness

Behold a Blessing!

We just signed our 4th contract here at Starcrest Apartments and this cave of a basement apartment we usually don't have a problems staying cool, but this summer has been extra hot compared to the last three summers we have been here. Sometimes it's hotter in our apartment than it is outside. I don't know WHY we didn't think of this sooner! With a little bit of extra money this month we were able to invest in a Window AC Unit and BOY do we like it! A LOT! Goes to show you that when you pay your tithing, you are blessed with something you didn't know you needed.

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Some Randomness...

Well Avery has decided that he likes being a Chef! He told me he wanted to wear Ryan's cooking apron. So we wrapped it around him, handed him a spoon and then he said, "wook mommy, YaYa(is what he calls himself) wake bannana wedd." Which obviously translates to, "look mommy Avery make Bannana Bread." What a cute kid! He is always asking for banana bread!

And finally...we had that TV show "So You Think You Can Dance" on in the back round while getting ready to read scriptures (of course we turned it off when it came time to read.) And I took this video of Avery dancing to Hip Hop music! It's his new thing, he loves to sing and dance all the time. There isn't any sound, so you will just have to imagine the music...or turn some music on for yourself while you watch. In any case, sound or no sound...it's pretty cute. He literally finishes his dance off with a big BANG!

A Tale of Two Cities...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...but we will get to that later.

The first leg of our "Lake Powell Trip" started off with a bang! Or should I say a Tractor. On Wednesday we traveled south to Paragonah, Utah to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Free for the night.

After dinner and watching some TV Grandpa Free started up the Tractor and Ryan and Avery took it for a spin. They looked so adorable riding it together, and Avery wanted Stacy to ride the tractor with them, unforunatly they wasn't room for her.

Avery and Ryan were enlisted to help Grandpa with some work they could do in the yard. Avery had a blast scooping woodchips and dispersing them over the dirt.

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Remember when we said that "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times?" Well, let us explain...

We planned on meeting our good friends the Dunyons at Lake Powell for some fun in the sun. But late Wednesday night we got a call from them telling us that an axel broke on the trailer that was carrying the boat, and on top of that their truck got a flat tire. So it seemed that nothing was going right for them. They had to stop in Las Vegas to get the trailor fixed and didn't know if they were going to make it to Lake Powell. So we ultimatly decided to drive onto Las Vegas to meet up with them there and then all go to Lake Mead. A lake is better than no lake at all. So we were on our way to Lake Mead.

When we finally arrived and set up camp it was hotter than an oven and were were all sweating, not just bullets but arsenals of sweat bullets. It was torture, but camp had to be set up. When we finally finished we changed and finally made our way to the lake. Avery didn't enjoy his first ride in the boat. Pictures were taken of it, but none were postable. We found a little alcove on the lake and set up some shade and chairs and some food and we played around in the water.

Avery and Ryan making a sand castle.

Stacy in her ADORABLE hat!

More sand castle building.

TA-DA! Presenting Ryan and Avery's sand castle...give them some credit, the sand was more like mushy clay and the fact they built this was an accoplishment.

Avery playing in the water with a purple bucket...water in, water out, water in, water out! Kids are entertained by the simplist activities.

Stacy, Emma Dunyon and Brooke Dunyon taking a dip in the cool water.

Stacy and Avery swimming and playing together.

Our second day on the lake was underway and Avery was more at peace with riding in the boat.

Ryan and Avery looking stoic as we wait for others to get ice and drinking water to take with us onto the lake.

An adorable mother duck and her ducklings paddling around in the bay of the lake! Emma and Avery really loved seeing this little family quack around our boat.

A HUGE catfish swimming around our boat while were were in the bay. He had to have been a foot and a half long, if not longer. He was really big.

Emma, Ryan, Avery and Brooke's cousin Jenny playing football in the water.

Because it was so hot camping in the desert and were were so misserable in the heat while we weren't on the lake we decided to pack up camp and head back to Las Vegas to stay with Aaron's sister Jenny. Jenny and her family were so kind to put us all up for a night.

Emma and Avery watching "Home On the Range" Saturday morning. Such cute kids! And they played so well together it was great!

Avery wearing his mommy's hat while in the car on the way home...what a goofball he is...but he sure is adorable.

Avery was so tuckered out that he fell asleep on the drive home...Stacy did too, but since she is the one who takes most of the pictures...we don't see one of her sleeping.

Over all it was a great weekend! And we loved seeing and spending time with Aaron, Brooke and Emma Dunyon. And even though we were supposed to go to Lake Powell and ended up at Lake Mead, it's not where you end up on your summer vacation...but the people you take on your journey with you that make the experiance worth remembering!

Next year...LAKE POWELL OR BUST!

Independace Day Celebrations!

We started off the day in a very nice way. We all slept in till 8am, believe me...with a 3 year old, that is considered "sleeping in."
On days when Ryan is home, he and Avery do a lot together. Avery loves helping daddy out with various chores or cooking. Today Avery and Ryan had their work cut out for them. And of course Avery was so excited to get the ball roling.


First Avery picked out his "Daddy's Little Helper (will work for cookies)" T-shirt. Then it was off to the kitchen to get started on our Waffle Breakfast.

Here are Avery and Ryan preparing the waffle batter to put into the waffle iron.

And of course Avery has the job of mixing the batter. He loves this part. He is such a good little helper.

The Nelson boys pouring the batter into the waffle iron.

And now finally closing the waffle iron, and waiting for the GREEN light! Which means the waffles are done!

Avery and his YUMMY plate of waffles! It's his favorite breakfast in the whole world.

Once breakfast was over it was time to wash the Pilot. Ryan recieved a Gift Card to Checker Auto Parts so he went and bought some car washing supplies. They were very eager to get started. Avery wanted to be inside the car with dad so that he could help.

While Ryan was vacuuming out the back seat Avery had nowhere to go accept the driver's seat. He is getting so big, but he looks so small behind the wheel. I love this picture.

After the vacuuming was done, it was time to get the scrubbies and soapy water and get wet! Avery hates getting wet unless it involves the bathtub or the water playground...so he was a bit hesitant to do this part.

He warmed up the idea and even got his own wash cloth to scrub the car. All three of us were washing the car at one point. But Ryan really was the best at it. He had the best scrubby.

Once the car was clean it was time to relax. Stacy and Avery took naps and Ryan watched some TV. After nap time was over the 3 of us headed to American Fork to spend the rest of the day with Drew, Christy, Hayden, Hallie and Kiya. Drew and Stacy's sister Robyn and her hubby Jeremy were in town also. It was great to see them.

We were all so hungry we dug into the food and it was yummy. We all know what a sweet tooth Avery has. Here is a picture of him with a mouth full of brownie. I bet sometimes he wishes mom would just put the camera down and give it a rest.

Here are Robyn (left) and Stacy (right) being silly! If you can't be silly with your sister, who can you be silly with?

Ryan and Stacy enjoying the nice cool breeze after a hot and humid day.

Stacy and Avery relaxing while the neighborhood kids busted out the first of the fireworks.

Hallie with a sparkler. Doesn't that look fun!

Kiya sitting in her stroller as happy as can be. She really is such a wonderful, layed back baby! And so adorable!

Stacy's brother Drew riding a skateboard that has only 2 wheels! Hey! He is getting pretty good!

Avery with a sparkler! He had never seen one of these before. And he did quite well considering he doesn't handler new things well. He used 4 or 5 of them! And he loved every minute of it.

Avery with another sparkler. Stacy barely got this picture. The sparkler was almost out.

Avery just had so much fun with these, Stacy couldn't get enough of how happy he was!

Video of Avery with a Sparkler.


Fireworks!

We had such a wonderful day! It started out perfect and just kept getting better from there. We love days that are slow paced without a strict agenda. We can just lolly-gag if we want. Spending time together is so important to us, especially when Ryan works so much and most of the time its just Avery and Stacy. We love holidays and the opportunity it gives us to see and spend time with the ones we love!

Thank You Drew and Christy for inviting us the spend the 4th of July with you and your family. Thank You Robyn and Jeremy for taking the time to see us. We love you all! And we also hope that those we didn't get to see had a wonderful Independance Day! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

~The Nelson Family

Like Mother, Like Son

Today while Stacy was washing the dishes she looked over and saw Avery trying to climb into the cupboard. Unfortunatly this was as far in as he could get.

This was Stacy when she was between 18 months- 2 years old. She also enjoyed playing in the cupboards.

(Thanks to Stacy's mom for emailing this picture.)

Making Chocolate Cake

Sometimes you just crave some chocolate cake. Sometimes you have a 3 year old who begs you to make chocolate cake. And sometimes it's both.

Finally! The cake had finished baking, was cooled and cut! And boy, was it yummy!