Ending Another Year in Rexburg 2008

Nothing Like Frozen Smiles!!!... with an average temperature closer to zero who wouldn't!
OOOOh! It it cold! But F-U-N ...Fun!

Ok for those of you with facebook these pictures may be dejavoo, but I added them anyway because some who don't have facebook get to see them from here. 

This has been a good winter so far. Christmas itself had it's challenges, but we made the best of it. We appreciate all the cards and packages we recieved from family. It is not the same as being together with family, but it helps. 

Grandpa and Grandma Bo thanks so much for the Christmas money the boys purchased some little target toys they really enjoy and have not yet stopped playing with!!! Miss you! We also got them some gloves and things they needed for the winter. 

Grandma and Papa Nelsen thanks so much for the box of Christmas goodies! We all loved our 'jammies!! Brent changed several times! lol. :) And we are grateful for the other things like the picture frame with pics already in it- awesome! And among others the little star pig- we have yet to decide on a name. Thanks so much!!

Aunt Karissa we loved the game expansion and can't wait to get some friends or family to play it with us! I loved the pandora bracelet as well- what a great idea! The pig made me smile even before I knew the exact meaning of it and laugh after.... it is a cherished gift and always will be!

Grandma Neises and Aunt Maria thank you so much for having Christmas with us and for your gifts as well! Thanks Grandma for watching Joshua while we played out in the snow!! And thanks Maria for playing in the snow! Maybe next time we can all play!

Well, it's been a long and difficult year! But we survived. And we look forward to the coming challenges of this next year. As the widget on my blog says "Everyday is a gift" (and Kung Fu Panda- lol )! We look forward to making the most of it! Although I can not say everyday is good- I can say we are trying to make them as good as we can! Justin has had some highs and lows with school. I have had some highs and lows with health- and I now know the hospital pretty well and it's staff. ( A very difficult pregnancy as usual and a surprise blood clot) Which set Justin back in school because he was helping at home. We found out he will need two more years and then we found out they would let him into Winter term reducing the two years to 1 and a half! We want so badly to be at home with our extended family, but we will enjoy Rexburg while we can also. Who knows when we'll get to see this much snow again! Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who have prayed for us and helped us through this year!!!!

Winter Fun: Sledding

Us in the Snow.....always a family event!

  Dad and Brent!
Brent and Aaron... looks like he's smiling? ;)
AJ and Aaron..... he did ride with Dad most the time, but he got tired of the cold pretty fast!
And this is how Joshua spend the his time tucked away under like ten layers!

Sorry we haven't finished putting decorations on our tree, but we did go sledding! So I thought I'd put the picture on here. Joshua and I didn't really get to do much sledding, but we still enjoyed it until it got too cold. ;)

Well enjoy the pics!

Let me know what you think of the new look for the Christmas season. The boys LOVE Christmas decorations especial our little 3 foot tree! We don't have much for ornaments on it yet, but it is a work in progress. I'll post a picture of it later today. Now I'm going to do some Family History Indexing.... if you haven't learned how to do this yet... you should it's way fun! And it helps me feel useful. ;) Today is Maria's Birthday so we are excited to celebrate with her.... maybe I can sneak a picture of her in too later. Hee he hee. Smile! Hope everyone is enjoying the season! It was -4 degrees when I woke up this morning! Justin LOVES it here when there is lots of snow on the ground. we will have to do some sledding and take photos. Maybe this year we will get to go snowmobiling.... that would be fun. We are also looking forward to seeing the Rice family!!! Yay! 

If you haven't sent us your address for Christmas cards by now you probably won't get one.... shame on you! Well, Love you all!

Let it Snow! Right Joshua....

Although a little late ..... the snow has begun to fall. 

Thanksgiving Holiday and more

Ok. I guess I'm updating this only once a month now. We just discovered it will take us 2 more years to finish school so we'll be in Rexburg for a while. I wasn't too thrilled, but I can't control it so the up side is it's a nice community and the temple is up the hill. I am considering taking some classes. I wouldn't mind working from home, but we haven't found a job that will work yet. Justin and I will be signing up to do subbing for the Madison School District.  It won't bring it much money and not for two months after we start anyway, but it was the only idea we had. It was Mom's idea actually because she is liking her work with the school district. Justin was going to try helping the FedEx drivers, but the way the economy is the drivers who need help can't afford to pay even if it is as little as $50 for 10 hours of work which is what Justin has gotten once and $80 the only other time he was able to do it. 

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Ken and Aunt Susan's house. Brent and Lydia got along very well and AJ was all over the place like usual. We really appreciate them inviting us because it's hardly the holidays without family around. And Kristin and Andrew's new little baby Justin (who is not so little anymore 8 mo. ) is so adorable!

We went to one of Maria's plays "bye Bye Birdie" as always she was my favorite actress. She is also in a small part in a low budget movie that comes out this weekend in select theatres I think. Mom is so excited and is all ready to go. Mom and Maria have been working very hard so we don't get to see them very often, but it's so fun when we do.

We will be hanging out in Rexburg for another Christmas. Honestly we haven't had the energy to pull our Christmas decoration out of the back of the storage. SO sad! lol. But we have lights up on our balcony. 

Alex has been with his friends 24-7, but we're happy for him our house is kinda boring these days. 

It is 14 degrees with a frigid breeze.... cold cold cold. I miss summer, but then who doesn't. ;)

Joshua is doing very well. At his last visit they said he was in the 80th percent overall. Average height and a little chunky. He likes to gab with me and I love it! I still wake up at 12, 2, 4, 6, and then the day begins. Aj still gets up at 2 or 3, and then again at 5:30am. All the boys are up by 6am. I manage to drag myself out of bed by 6:30am. 

Well we wish everyone the Happiest of Holidays. 

Ok. I think I fixed the email issue. It should work for the reply feature now. ;)

And what's a post without a picture or two. Here is us on Halloween trunk-r-treating at the REX. Behind us are the Altell commercial guys with the wizard van.....fun huh. Hopefully next year will be less crazy! They ate all the good candy in one night..... and they shared with Dad and I ( we might not get that 'treatment' next year ;) )

Family Photos!
The Boy's Pumpkins! (from left to right: Brent's, Joshua's, and Andrew's pumpkin)
The Bishop and His wife (the Fillmore's) with the boys at the Ward Party. ;)

And Below is the Knight and the Princess. ( Brent and Belle)

Here are a few photos I thought everyone might like. Alex took some family photos for us...Thanks Alex!! And we went to a ward halloween party. Oh and Brent's pumpkin is the mean looking one (he asked me to draw a mean face), AJ's pumpkin is the biggest because Brent didn't want one that had dirt on it, and Joshua's is the smallest. The boys (except Joshua) decorated their pumpkins. Aunt Maria helped too! I'll add more pics to facebook for halloween stuff later. One of these days I wouldn't mind making costumes until then the over priced wal-mart pull-ons will have to do.  Oh and I changed back to a brunette.... and I love it!

It's been busy and crazy around here. I've been in the hospital and back out. Karen or Grandma Nelsen came and visited and ended up showing up in time to be a huge help!! And I've been visiting the hospital in and out since then for tests of various kinds. Alex moved in with us (we are so happy to have him).  Our good friends Spencer and Jenessa Gierke had their first baby, a little girl named Zoe. She is adorable!!! Justin's Uncle Ken also has been in the hospital. I could have fainted when he told us all about it! Ken and Susan came over to bring some gifts for Joshua. (They are so sweet!) It's so nice to have family close by!

Well I'd better skat... baby Josh is crying. 

Ok I posted allot of pictures on facebook so thats where most of them are. Otherwise here are a few teasers. I don't really have time to write anything. Except we are sooo excited to announce the birth of Joshua Deane Nelsen and yes Justin changed his middle name at the last minute- smile. He was 7 lbs 6 ounces, 19 inches long, and born at 7:28pm on 9-29-08. 

Just thought I would add a few more pictures. Summer is winding down out here ( so sad ). Our little Humming Bird came back. I took some pictures of our balcony, my favorite spot in the apartment! And we took the kids up to Island Park again for a day while Dad went tubing with a friend. We gave them time to wade in the river and throw rocks. Then I let them play at a park and watch videos at the cabin until the guys got back. We will really miss Morgan and Bethany (no not just because of the cabin ) they were great neighbors and really good friends. 

I also added some pictures of the boys learning how to clean up their house graffiti. We've been working on motivational ways to get them to help out especially with their own messes. It's allot of hard work even though it looks like their the ones working! (smile) LOL. 

So far our schedule is working out; breakfast, scripture study, a little educational tv, chores, and daily activities.  We've tried to be outside as much as possible.... I like to take advantage of the short summer while it lasts.  Today is a kids carnival put on by the school so maybe we'll go and then post some pictures later. 

Allot is coming up baby, Justin starts school again, and more so fun fun fun! 

SO It's been 5 YEARS ALREADY!!!!! Justin and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary. We wanted to take a trip, but with baby Joshua coming soon we thought we'd hold off a while. Justin did have some suprises for me which was awesome!! And we went out to eat dinner. 

So far this has been a great summer! We've actually been riding our bikes allot. One man in town stopped and looked at me and said we were just too ambitious! We just laughed and kept going. 

We went to Jefferson County Lake or Rigby Lake as we call it, just down the road a few times and that was fun. The boys love the beach. AJ ate sand (uh yeah grose!) and he liked throwing sand in my hair. Brent stayed out in the water allot of the time just hanging out with Dad. 

I'm sorry I'm not writing much, but I am sooo tired! I don't really get much sleep these days so I think it just makes me more and more tired. Honestly I think I could even get more sleep with baby Joshua here than I do now.  Well, write more later....... ;) smile

Island Park, Bethany and Morgan's Family Cabin! ;)

We would like to thank our awesome friends and neighbors Morgan and Bethany for letting us stay the night Friday in their Family's Cabin in Island Park. We had sooooo much fun!! 

Island Park, Bethany and Morgan's Family Cabin Pics! ;)

A Few Promised Pics ;)