Zoo with the Williams

Our big group! Carrie, Ethan, Samuel, Brenden, Suzy, Colin, and Jenna
The new baby
Just in case you thought my son didn't belong in the monkey cage!
The picture on the wolf

Our big Kids!
Riding the Tram
We have been friends with the Williams since I was pregnant with Jenna and Suzy was a baby. They were each other's first friend. We have had so much fun together over the years. In amazing to see how much our kids have grown! These have been our picture spots over the years. They live about an hour and a half away so we don't see them as much as we would like but we still do some of our same traditions. And we have so much crazy fun when we are together!

Gabriella Marie Nelson- born August 20th 2009

Sweet little Ella!
With her big cousin Jenna
Proud uncle Jay
She was a little blue at first- she came out so fast she hit Tanya's tailbone. Poor baby.
The proud parents!
Holding her baby for the first time
Labor is getting harder-
This birth was one of the best experiences of my life and I'm so grateful to David and Tanya for letting me a part of their precious miracle.
Tanya's water broke on wed. at 3:00 p.m. at Walgreen's. So the rest of the night we were waiting for the contractions to come and they were only coming 10 min. apart. So we all went to sleep on call just in case it happened in the middle of the night. I got a call at 9:00 the next morning and Colleen wanted her to get to the hospital. Once your water breaks you only have 24 hours to have the baby. So she got put on petocin at 10:30. She was strong and ready to do it.
Now Tanya was not due til Sept 1st and our friend Andrea was due the 31st of august. They were both at the hospital that day having their babies! I think that is just amazing! So, mom and I walked over to see her new baby girl- Abigale marie. She is very cute. We were even more excited to see our new little one. The above picture was taken at 11:00 a.m. That is when the contration's started to come about 3 min apart. As they progressed we were right there with Tanya helping her through it. She was going natrual on petocin so she needed our help. It was so amazing to watch her go through labor knowing what she was going through and how it felt-but all I could do wasgive her moral support and try to give her some support through the contractions. I hope that mom and I were able to do that. I thought we had a good team going. Dave was on her back pain and mom and I were in the front holding her. It's amazing to me to watch the strength that we women have. Ella entered the world at 2:45 p.m. weighing 6lbs. 14 oz.
She reminded me of Samuel when they laid her on Tanya. She was dark with dark hair. I think she might end up having dark skin like him. It was so fun to have this experience and not have any of the after effects. I think I would like to be a doula someday and be able to help women realize the strength that they have. We were made to this and we can do ANYTHING we put our minds to.

The Zoo

The zoo had a Dinosaur exhibit this year so we went to the zoo a lot! Samuel loves dino's and this was a really cool exhibit.

Samuel and the pool

Yes- Samuel had another round of swimming lessons again with his favorite teachers Kelly and Devon. He loves all the lifeguards but those are favorite. He made it to level 3 this year, which means he can swim by himself and go in the deep end by himself. I am completing against him jumping off the diving board all alone. During his lesson he jumps off but a life guard is in the deep end with just in case. That is the way I prefer it for now. Why you say? He had NO FEAR! This boy will do the craziest things and then he looks at me and says What?! There is such a Huge difference between boys and girls!

They thought it was so funny that they were bouncing in the air every time we hit a bump!


More fun on the Lake! We are so sad to see summer go!

Jenna also played a great year of soccer! She is very athletic and loves to be in activities!

Joy school

Here's our big group!
Some days were like this-
These kids are great!

For the past 2 years Samuel has been in Joy school- it's a home based preschool that teaches values as well as academics. We had such a good time. I did the same thing with Jenna. My mom did the same program with us. I still have very fond memories of this program and I am still friends with those people. So that makes this extra special, knowing that my children will be life long friends with these kids. We had so much fun and did so many activities. Some of the kids went to kindergarten this year, but the O'Neil family is home so we still can do some of the same things with them. The things that I have learned and that the kids learned are invaluable. I would suggest this program to anyone!

Settlers

We love playing the Settlers of Catan! We had to play one last time while Jake was home. Our friends the Stapeltons introduced us to this game and we have loved it ever since! Also, when you play the game it's a requirement to have lots of snacks! In our case it has always been- licorice, popcorn, the rice cracker mix from costco, and whatever anyone wants the candy bag. This would be all the candy that I don't let my children have. All in all - good times!

Fun at the Lake

More summer fun at the lake with friends- Reeds and O'Neils and Abby's first time there! We love to be in the sun and play in the sand!

Jenna the Swimmer

The Spectators


The back stroke
I'm ready to race!



Jenna joined the Mills Creek Swim Team this summer. She had practice 4 days a week all summer long. She had so much fun! She is sitting here with her friend and neighbor, Katie Justinani. It was really neat for her to be on this team because Uncle Jake and Uncle Dave had swam on this team. She swam back stroke, free style and relays. She really did well and loved competing! We all so proud of her hard work and dedication. She has become an excellent swimmer. We also appreciated all of the spectators who endured the length of the meets!

The day got Jake got set apart- and the morning he left. President Titera came over and all the men got to be a part of the setting apart. It was very cool. I stayed up late with Jake that night. It was great to be with him then-we had some great conversations. It was an exciting time for all of us. The next morning we had a HUGE breakfast to see him off. We had everything you could think of and more! The Bower boys came to join us and see Jake off. They have been his friends and running partners for years. Jake has come such a long way. We are all so proud of him and his desire to serve the Lord. May he be blessed for his service. We love you, Jake!