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Give It A Try!!

So it has been a crazy summer! We really put the miles on the Xterra! And we loved it! It has been a long time since I last posted. So long that we have already moved!

Congratulations go to Alex and Bethany! And Luke and Alisha! Great life changing events for each little family! Luke and Alisha moved closer and Alex and Bethany moved farther away!

As for us we are still pluggin away at school and so happy to be here!

Papa and Grandma Nelsen came for a visit. We loved getting to spend time with them! And Justin has a new found love of fishing! Little Brent also has a love for fishing now too.

Brent is now home-schooled. We don't know how long, but definitely not until we are in range of a good school. He is even reading 2, 3 and 4 letter words.

AJ just learned how to ride his bike and that is his new obsession. Today we went at least 4 miles, I thought he would never stop! He is starting preschool at the college next week.

Joshua is walking, and even running a little. He gabs a bit enough to let you know who it is he wants and the direction of what he needs. He is also an endlessly determined climber!

Fall has already begun in Rexburg! But Rexburg does have amazingly wonderful Fall weather!

Oh and Misty and Ben have blessed us with a new niece named Katie McDavitt!!!! We can't wait to meet her! So jeaolous of those who are there!

Oh and we enjoyed an awesome visit from Malissa! Come back soon, we love ya!

As for here and now it is all school for all of us and a little college football too. ;)

And of course I am trying to create a website at www.nelsenfamilyhomeschoolk8.org I hope it works out. I plan to build on it a little at a time including a blog backgrounds portion and some adsense or affiliated marketing. I am still learning a little at a time and I am trying to build a graphics design team for the backgrounds.

I here if it works I could make some money, but I won't hold my breath. For now I am learning.

I call this post "give it a try" because that is what I do! With some help, talents, and prayers it may work out! And that includes Brent's schooling!

Well love you all and hope to write more as soon as I can!

Brent has all 13 articles of faith memorized! He got to go bowling with Dad!

Back to the Country!

Yes! We finally have a yard! But no fenCe so now I have stray animals and stray kids! But being grounded seems to help a little for Brent, and AJ well so far we just have to keep an eye on him. 

We love it out here already. The house we are renting is for sale so we have had one showing already and we got accidently locked out by the agent when we returned to the house. No big deal just inconvenient. LOL.

At least we have no one banging on my floor just because my boys are active. ;) 

We are in the midst of our 1 week break between semesters. Something is better than nothing- right! ;)

We are also very excited about the upcoming events: Fred's graduation, Luke's graduation, and Alex and Bethany's wedding!!! Yay! I love to travel! Well, it is a little more challenging with the boys... but I still like it!

It snowed again today! Can you believe this weather.... I can,  but I don't want to! 

Well, hopefully it will get nice soon. 

Hope everyone enjoys the photos. I don't have Easter ones up yet, but I'll work on it. The boys loved hunting eggs in their own yard. It took AJ a little instruction, but he got the hang of it. In fact, he hung around Brent while Brent opened his eggs, but refused to open his own. 

At the store we went to their egg hunt and Brent got so many that when we asked him to give to the little kids who didn't get any like AJ (who stood at the end of the isle and cried because he had tried to sneek past the grocery girl so many times and had to be told 'no' that he must not have realized it was finally ok to go). Well, it was nice of Brent and I was glad he did it! I'm sure it was hard for the other Mom's since Brent looks 6. They asked me if he was really 4yrs old and I said yes, but it wasn't until they asked that I realized how much bigger he was and he is going to be 5yrs old next month LOL. 

Brent braved his kindergarden shots. And the doctor said he is just above the 99% for hight for his age. AJ and Joshua are still just above average on size. Joshua is 20lbs! Still no teeth. He can crawl and pull himself up on things. Brent can count to 100. And AJ is trying to put sentences together, I love it when he tries to sing 'itsy bitsy spider'. 

And I should say we love having Mom and Maria with us! They help with the boys and the house work, and they are just plain fun to hang out with!

Well I'd better skat. Love you all!

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Cookie Love'n Pictures

I added some pics to facebook also, but here is one of the cookie pics. Joshua really wanted that cookie it was so cute!
Brent is always happy for a photo op! He's growing up fast! He has his first Primary talk this next week. Fun Stuff! He is 4yrs 9mos.
AJ has so many faces! Usually dirty because he's always into things! He loves to  'make' things in the kitchen....a dirt soup and mud pie kinda guy! He's 2yrs 7mos.
Who would have thought this little guy, Joshua, would get big so fast! He's an eater and is always grabbing for foods you are holding! It just happens to be a cookie this time. I don't blame him these cookies were good!
The Temple always looks so nice. This day it just seemed to glow off the snow so I snapped a pretty bad pic, but you get the idea right. lol. I've been doing indexing every morning- you should too it's fast it's easy it helps geneology work AND I think I type faster..... maybe. lol Anyway you get the idea. More Fun Stuff!

Justin started out the year with Shingles, a reoccurrance of the chicken pox. Your body never really gets rid of the chicken pox virus it just fights it into being dormant in your system and if your immune system is down for some reason it can come back to get you with a vengeance...yeah poor Justin it was bad his whole side of his face was so swolen up!!

And it happened right when our insurance was like "see ya later!". They said we were no longer covered. We've been working on getting the mistake fixed but they say it won't start up again until maybe mid Feb. 

Needless to say we're taking our time if possible on any medical stuff. My Surgery to remove the filter to my heart won't happen until late Feb or Mar because of it, but I'm in no hurries. LOL. They did run some blood tests.... about ten or more viles worth so those results will be in two weeks. I have to wait for those too before the surgery. I've been really weak on and off so hopefully those will help us understand more about what is going on. 

Justin is back to school and doing great! This semester he is coming home more excited about what he is learning so that is fun! Our taxes are done..... I guess thats good well except for state taxes we owe them so we haven't filled it out yet.

Brent is in Preschool and will start Kindergarten in the Fall. We hope to get some more gymnastics in after this semester because he is increasingly interested in doing gymnastics in the apartment and we think he needs a place to do them outside of here. LOL. He is good though. We won't start AJ until Fall. Joshua is turning over and trying to sit up but no luck yet. 

We are looking for a new place since the rates are going up for the 3rd or 4th time at our apartment complex. We found something hopeful but I won't talk about it unless it works out. I guess thats it so far for us. Love you all!!!

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!