The Proposal

So, the deal was that Michael had asked Megan on a date one night.  But he had his two younger brothers pick her up.  They drove around a bit and then ended up here at the Riverwoods Mall where it was all lit up for Christmas.  They escorted Megan to the Gazebo in the middle of the mall where Michael was set up with his guitar and hooked up to speakers and amplifier.  Michael had written a song for and about Megan.  As he was singing, some of his friends and family were standing in the background with posters that said, "I love you because.... " and we each held a different reason that Michael loves Megan.

Then at the end of the song we flipped our posters over and they read "Megan McGee will you marry me"!  At the same time Michael had those same words in his song to her.  Then he got down on one knee and with the ring she had chosen, he asked her to marry him.  Megan said he was crying when he asked her.  Then they hugged and kissed and we walked around the mall and took pictures and we all got some hot chocolate.  It was a fun experience!

And that is how it all began!  Some time I will tell you about our experience driving out there that night.  It was the first real snow storm of the season and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. 

Michael and I drove out together and it was a comical experience! 

Anyway, I am so happy for my baby boy!  They are an awesome couple!

Winter 2012 Pictures

So, since we hadn't had any family pictures taken since Michael came home from his mission, and we all knew that Michael and Megan were going to be getting married and Stephen going on a mission in 2013, I was determined to have some family pictures taken of just the 5 of us one last time! I enlisted my good friend Amy who lives accross the street to use her nice camera and take some pictures of us. She took over 200 shots and these were among my most favorites!

The men in my family

Stephen-"oh it's so cold so I need to look like I'm freezing because my picture is being taken and I cant ever make a normal face in a picture because I'm Stephen"

Mike - what the heck are we supposed to be doing in this picture? It's cold and I just want to go inside, but I must endure the cold for my wife who thinks she has to have these family pictures taken and

she's probably right"

Bryce - "I dont care how cold it is, I must look good and cute because my picture is being taken and my Mom thinks I am so good looking so I must please!"

Michael - "What the heck are you guys doing? No one is paying any attention to the camera

 there is no rhyme or reason to this photo, and what the heck happened

to all of you while I was on my mission?"

The attempt at lifting Mom

Now this picture is one where we were trying to figure out what to do so the boys decided they wanted to lift me.  Well, Michael was ready to just pick me up.  Stephen took a second look and said "hmmmm, not sure I want to do this.  Bryce is always willing to jump right in.  Me however, I knew that it was going to be a disaster so I refused.  I think Stephen was relieved.

The jumping in the air shot

And next, the infamous jumping in the air shot!  They boys must have done this 5 times as they wanted to catch as much air as they could.  I love Mike's face in this....not much expression...that's Mike, doesn't matter what he's doing, it's always just a skill.

The Infamous Dip

Okay, I love this one.  What can I say?  This is us.  He's got me right where he wants me laughing uncontrollably! 

The clowns

Okay seriously, this picture says it all.  Do you see how Stephen is way up high making himself known to all the world?  Well, that's the way it is at my house. Michael is just having a good time being cool and letting you know he's watching you.  Bryce? 

Whatever his big brothers are doing is cool so where they lead he will follow:)

The Nelson Family of Five

And lastly I was astonished that we actually had this one good picture of the whole family come out.  We actually all look pretty normal for the most part. 

I  LOVE  MY  FAMILY!!!

THERE  IS  NO  WHERE  ON  EARTH  I WOULD  RATHER  BE  THAN  WITH  THEM!

He's Engaged!!

Michael and Megan 2013

Okay, so much has happened since I last posted, BUT!(if you buy 2 completos it's only 2 dollars ...if you dont get this you can click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2RO0Cws1Q watch ) this is the biggest!!!  So, I will cut right to the chase!  My baby boy is engaged!  And....He is engaged to a beautiful, smart, fun, strong, down to earth, return missionary, amazing young woman!!  Just the way Mike and I always hoped and dreamed! 

Megan McGee is from Tucson Arizona.  She is #4 of 5 children in a family of all boys except her.  So, needless to say she gets us!  Which is so awesome!  She served a mission to Chile and has been home now for about 9 months.  Michael is head over heels in love with this remarkable beautiful woman!  I have been very blessed to have been able to get to know her very well as we now work together.  It was probably only a month into their relationship when she got a job at the Chiropractor office where I work.  So, I pick her up every day and we work all day together.  It has been a lot of fun getting to know her.

Anyway, so much has happened since they started seeing eachother and well, I just dont have the time these days to blog like I used to so I will have to catch you up as we start this new chapter in our lives. 
Their plans are to be sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple on April 26, 2013 and we couldn't be more pleased!  We love you Megan McGee soon to be Megan Nelson;)

 

It's Christmastime

It's that time of year!

I thought it might be a good time to update.

  I'm a bit bugged these days because

my camera is not working and I had to take these

with my camera phone that I hate!

But anyway, I love the holidays!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving with our extended Nelson family. 

2 days later we kicked off the Christmas Season by having our Christmas Musical Celebration!

We did it 2 years ago when we first moved to Utah.  We skipped last year when we were just moving into the new house.  So, this year we decided to do it again.

  We invited the people on our street that are in our ward.

We ended up having 12 musical numbers.

Michael playing and singing "Mary did you know".

Amy playing and singing "It's Christmastime" by Hillary Weeks!

My fave!!

Mike, our home teacher playing "Silent night".

It was a really nice turn out about 40 people including kids, and Mike recorded the whole thing. 

The great thing about it is that although it was a bit stressfull for me trying to get everything ready,
on time,  I was able to get all my Christmas decorating done quickly and early!

So, now I feel way prepared.  It's weird.  I feel calm.  I have even started doing some Christmas shopping and have been able to take care of the boys

for Christmas. Now it is just doing a few odds and ends throughout the month. 

This year Michael has someone special to celebrate with.  He will be headed to

Arizona to spend Christmas with her family. 

I think we have a very eventful year ahead of us with Stephen heading

 off on a mission and Michael making a special announcement...good times

are coming our way!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Well, it's that time of year again.   The older the kids get the more we just enjoy the whole month watching scarey movies, going to parties, and just hanging out and having fun.  Last weekend we threw a Murder Mystery Party for our neighbors and some friends.  It was a blast!  The theme was Celebrities Celebration.  Many many celebrities were there.  There was Marilyn Monroe, Bob Marley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bing Crosby, Patsy Cline,John Wayne, Lucille Ball, Liza Minelli, Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, Bruce Lee etc.  This was a first time event for us.  We had been to a Murder Mystery Party before but had never thrown one.  My neighbor and good friend Amy did most of the work putting the game together.  Anyway, it ended up to be so much fun we have decided to make it an annual event! 

The boys are now done with football season.  It's a sad and happy time.  We dont feel so rushed now on the Friday nights after working all week long which is nice.  But at the same time, it's a sad feeling to know that we will no longer see Stephen play on the football field.  His attention has been more on his up coming mission and his education.  He has been filling out college applications lately and hoping to get into BYU.  The cute girl he is dating is also planning to serve a mission when she is 19 so they are both preparing for that.  They are good friends and I would be very pleased if those 2 ended up together someday.  She is quite the "Gem". 

Michael is doing great!  Going to school full time and working back at Maple Lake Academy for boys.  He really enjoys that job.  He was on call for a while so he took another part time job at Vivint for a short time where he met Megan, his new girlfriend.  Shortly after they put him on a permanent shift at Maple Lake and he quit Vivint.  So, now he is pretty seriously dating Megan.  She is from Arizona, a return missionary and pretty sharp.  Our family loves her and I think this might be the one!  So, stay tuned.  Michael is still trying to get back on his feet. Trying to buy a car.  It's been tough for all of us sharing transportation. 

Bryce is trying to decided if he wants to try out for the basketball team this year or do hip hop again.  He is hating early morning seminary at 7:00. He thinks that's too early.  Now that football is over hopefully it will get easier to get up and get ready on time.  He had a really good football season and is looking forward to next year.  He recently cancelled his facebook account because he felt it had too much garbage available. I admire him for making that choice. He is a good boy.  And very cute, I might add.:)

I am finishing up my Spanish Class.  It's been a lot of fun.  It's also been a very fast-paced class.  I've learned a lot but havent had much of a chance to use it.  I need to make a bunch of flash cards and let Mike quiz me.  We have one more class and then there may be another to follow if enough people want to continue.  But my next adventure will be piano.  I am going to take lessons from my neighbor.  Getting excited about that.  Other than that, just enjoying my job as much as ever.  I work with great people and get to serve great people too.  They treat me well there an I am a lucky girl!

Mike finally got on with a really good homebuilder by the name of Richmond American.  It is a good company and he is back as Superintendent over several projects.  He is excited and enjoying learning about this new company.  He is working out in West Jordan for now so he is driving my car and I'm driving his truck.  When he left Miller he had to give up a company truck so we are now down one car with Michael and Stephen still needing a vehicle.  Michael is saving his pennies but commutes with me each morning as school for him is at UVU in Orem close to where I work.  Stephen is just hoofing it for now back and forth to school.  Luckily it's close to the house. 

All in all the Nelson's are doing well and hanging in there.  Life is good, and we continue to work towards preparing our boys for missions first and of course life.  The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is what keeps us all going.  We are greatly blessed with much love, trials and blessings in our lives.  Mike and I are so thankful that our children are growing up to be righteous young men for we know they have a great work to do.  As long as we all stick together I think we all just might make it!

The Front Door

So, we have been in our house for about 10 months now. When we moved in we had just enough of the house done for it to pass the final inspection and move in. However, we still have many many additonal finishing jobs to do. One of which was the front door to be painted. But with Mike working out of town and a demanding calling he just didnt have much time to do much of anything on the house.

However, last Sunday they released our entire bishopric and a new one was put into place.

 In additon, Mike has been working in town the past couple of weeks,

so we are finally getting some things done.

So, here is the latest!  We hesitated to paint the door this dark chocolate brown, but we absolutely love it!

So, now I'm crossing my fingers that we can get some other things done before the cold weather hits or something else!

A special time with cousins

     On Sunday we had Mike's brother's family over for a special family dinner. We were celebrating the last fast Sunday with our nephew and cousin Jordan Nelson. He's the one in the green shirt.  He stands about 6'2 1/2".  He's a great kid.  He has had a rough road behind him to get where he is today, but he did it!  He is ready to serve a fulltime mission and he's been called to San Jose California.  Since we are all originally from Northern California we think it's pretty great that he is going there. 

But we had a blast Sunday night spending time together as an extended family.  We talked a bit about missions and missionary work and then Jordan spent some time sharing with us his decision to go on this mission and some advice to the younger boys who have not gone yet.  It was a really great time together and a special moment for all of us. 

These kids have grown up together since they were just tiny babies.  They are close in age and close in heart. They are a bunch of fantastic kids and their parents couldn't be prouder of them.

Oh yah, and Adam Hogge (in brown shirt) who has always been a part of the group.

We had a lot of fun taking some updated shots of the kids and of course Coleen and I had to sneak in a picture too.  It's been 23 years of watching our kids grow up together and having fun on vacations

and supporting eachother thru all the ups and downs. 

 We are very blessed to all have eachother!