Temple day - July 11, 2009

What a wonderful and special day we had as a family! One of the young women in the ward, Joy, came to the temple with us so we could all be in the temple as a family, while she watched the kids in the building across the street. It was a crazy day- it rained the whole way there and the entire time in the temple we could here it storming and then when we stepped out into the world again, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking through. What a blessing it was to see the sun and to be able to take these pictures. It was so cool to be there together, minus Nicole of course. Later, we went to P.F. Changs for some fabulous food. These pictures are so Jake-mister personality!

The 4th

We had a fun day. We went to the parade, grilled food and watched fireworks. There is only ever one more thing that belongs with the 4th-L.G.-we missed ya this year!

The end of our trip

Our last walk to go to Del Sol
This was the place we stayed- The Beachway. We were so Blessed to have this time together. We missed my parents who were supposed to be there but my mom was ill. Thank goodness her health is returning. We are thankful for the many gifts and blessings we continue to receive every day. Thank you to everyone who made this happen. It was great!

cute, happy kids
Uncle Rich, Aunt Lois, Uncle Dean, Aunt Marianne, Grandpa, Carol, and Don
Grandpa with his great grand-children
The grandchildren and great grandchildren that were there
The Men- adding Jake, Mark, Keith, Samuel, and Henry

The Girls that came to Michigan
Aunt Lois, me, Aunt Marianne, Lena, Kirsten, and Jenna in front
My smiley boy with his favorite car- he was racing it down the banister!
Henry and Jenna were not happy about taking pictures and not happy about having to leave each other. Samuel and Lena were pretty cheesy though!
The adult table-Don and Carol joined us as well
Our last night in Michigan Grandpa took us all out to eat. We went to a wonderful place. Everyone was able to get something they loved so everyone was happy. The kids had pizza so they were over joyed. Mark and Keith got cut out of this picture- sorry guys! We had so much fun together! Later that night we went back to Uncle Dean and Aunt Marianne's room and played O' Heck ( Samuel's Favorite) and Mexican Train! When the kids got tired we turned on Star wars. They didn't move after that! What a memorable time we had together! We sure LOVE and MISS you all!

Beach day

So the day we pick to go to Beautiful Lake Michigan it's 62 degrees! So, some of use were wrapped up and others of us could not be bothered by the weather- because we were at the beach and really, nothing else matters!
Henry and Jenna building castles!
Jake and Jenna posing before they ran down the sand together
I LOVE this sand!
Thanks for taking me to beach mom, I'm just sooo happy!

More fun!

our little fish!
Keith and Lena squirting me
Catching a ride on uncle Jake
My Aunt Lois and Uncle Rich stayed in a room that pretty much had a private pool. Once the kids saw that they were in the pool within minutes! It was great! They had a great deck off their place so while the kids swam we grilled dinner and could all just sit and watch the kids. Keith and Jake got in with the kids. It was a nice break!

Trip fun

Jenna and Samuel so happy about getting ice cream!
Riding a real chain ferry across the river to go to dinner- we had yummy fish tacos that night
Waiting for the ferry
We all had breakfast together before everyone parted ways- it was a great breakfast!
While everyone else left, Jake and I and the kids drove up to Saugatauk, Michigan and had a little get away. It was so nice to visit with family that we haven't seen in awhile. We definitely made some memories! It was nice to hang with Jake just before his mission. Trips like this make me love my family even more! The next few posts will be the trip so bear with me!

My grandpa's 90th birthday!

All the Nelson Men
Dave, Tanya, Abby,Nicole and Sammantha

The great grand-children went up to the front to sing to grandpa


So After many months- I am back! Our family has had so much going on and this was one of them! June 27th was the party. The week before being Fathers day- which I'll post later-my mom got sick, Ken came home and had his boards, Jake came home the same day, I had to prepare the father's day food with the help of Tanya and I had to speak in church. It's taken me this long to try to catch up from the start of that weekend. Around mid may, my brother Dave his wife Tanya and their daughter Abby moved back to Cleveland. It has been a joy having them close and being able to spend time with them. She is due with another girl on Sept. 1, so we are excited for the new arrival. I have enjoyed shopping for baby things again and finding things for them.
We were so excited for this momentous party,not just because Grandpa turned 90, but all of my siblings were going to be together and that has not happened since Dave and Tanya's wedding 21/2 years ago! I Love seeing and being with my family. We were able to see extended relatives and people I haven't seen in years. It was truly fun! We were in Chicago so we had to have our Beef's and our yummy stuffed pizza! More to come soon!