Missionary #2

On Friday night March 8, 2013 Stephen opened his mission call.  

He was so nervous all week as he knew that he would be receiving his call this week and could think about nothing else!  He paced the floor all day friday after he received it in the mail.  He had been getting little sleep and has been so anxious just to know where in the world he was going.

We all really thought for sure that he would be called to a foreign mission.  I guess because Michael went out of the country we naturally thought Stephen would also.  Plus Stephen knows a bit of spanish and uses it here and there.  Plus he looks very latin.  He is such a go getter and is very much a people person with a whole lot of passion.  So, I really thought that he would go to some far away country to make it more of a challenge for him.  But only the Lord knows how he will challenge his children.

Anyway, I was almost as anxious as Stephen was the 2 days leading up to him receiving his call.  The day of I became sick with a flu bug.  So, I wasnt feeling much of anything by that time except sick.  Stephen, however, was still pretty anxious.  Michael had to work late so we had to wait until 10:00 pm to open it.  We had the Mark Nelson family here and Grandma and Grandpa Nelson.  My family felt it was too late to come all the way out so we had them on the phone.  And Stephen invited his 4 closest friends to come with their parents.  Hummer, Payton,  Karson an Caleb. Once his friends got here the 4 of them gathered in the office for a group prayer and hug.   Stephen was the first of them to receive his call but he is the youngest in age.  So, they were all here waiting when Michael finally showed up at about 10:15 pm.  Stephen talked to us a bit while we were waiting about his decision to go on a mission and some of the things that are important to him. 

 When the moment finally arrived for Stephen to open his much awaited call. Stephen said he suddenly felt a great calm come over him. ( I also no longer felt any anxiousness).  We decided later that this must have been the spirit preparing Stephen for a non-foreign mission. Stephen proceeded to read a very calm call for him to serve in the Tampa Florida Mission.  I think we were all shocked and a bit let down at first since we all kinda expected some foreign country.  However, we knew that this was a call from our Father in Heaven.  Stephen will be a great asset to his mission! He will enter the MTC on June 26th.  

We have since learned that he will be coming in at the same time as a new mission president is assigned to his mission.  And my best friend is the most excited of all.  Denisa is from Tampa Florida!  She has shared many interesting things about the area.  The climate will be a lot like Micahel's mission in Australia was.  And there are a lot of ethnic groups there.  Cuban and Dominican to name a couple.  Not to mention that there is a very strong Baptist following there with very well versed Bible followers.  "They know their Bible"!  So, Stephen is really looking forward to going and serving the people of his  mission.  The Tampa Florida Mission!

And we are so excited and pleased with this fine young man who has been sent to our family.  

This is why I am a Mother!!

Keeping you updated

    Well, we've been a busy family as of late. 

We celebrated Micahel's 23rd birthday on Feb 19th .  He and Megan are getting more and more excited for their wedding coming up at the end of April.  Aren't they adorable together?

Bryce entered himself in the Nebo School district Middle School Weight lifting competition and Won 1st place in his weight division.  He was surprised and very proud of himself.  Here he is flexing and looking tough.  He also just made the High School JV Soccer team.

What a stud!:)

Stephen has been attending lots of dances but this one is worth mentioning.  He was asked by this young lady to her Sweethearts at Maple Mountain High School.  The fun thing about this date is that Kayla is the Student Body President at her school and Stephen is the Student Body President at his school.  She and Stepehn had gotten to know eachother thru different school functions.  Maple Mountain is also Springville's rival school. They had a blast together and have become great friends.

  "Now that's a lot of Political Power right there"!

We also celebrated Mike and Bryce's birthdays since they are within the same week.

Mike Feb 27, and Bryce Mar 2.  Mike 50 and Bryce 15.

Mike and I hope to do a bigger party for our 50th Birthdays a bit later in the year.

There's too much going on!

But Bryce was so excited when Michael and Megan gave him 2 little chick's to raise for his birthday.  They have been concerned about what he will do when Michael gets married and moves out and Stephen is on his mission.  So, they thought this would give him somehting to do with his Dad.  He was thrilled!  Mike just said, "Oh boy".....

Last but not least we are awaiting at this very moment the arrival of Stephen's mission call.

He is such a character that kid!  As soon as the time was exactly the amount of time that he could fill out his paperwork for his mission and send it in, he was on it.

We had little to do with it.  Mike and I tried to get him to slow down and wait a bit to get other things done, but that's a laugh!  It's a good thing I am such a laid back Mother because there is no stopping this boy!  He is always charging full steam ahead and this time the determination in his heart was more than any of us could try to control.  All I can say is thank-goodness he is driven in good ways and not in "other" ways:) because I would be a nervous wreck most of the time with his constant anxious ambition.  I am truly blessed to have righteous sons who want to serve their Father in Heaven.

His call is on it's way and should be here by tomorrow!

All in all life is  good.  I thank my Father in Heaven everyday for the good in my life.  I have truly been blessed.  I wouldnt trade it for all the riches in the world! 

In fact, I have all the riches in the world with my family!

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!