Hope You Had a Happy Easter

Why is it that with all of the pictures we took today, our goofy one turns out the best?

Hope you had a nice Easter. We did.

It was a good day in primary for Trenton. Two Trentonisms reported by two different teachers.

1. They were talking about the resurrection in sharing time and the teacher talked about how sometimes our loved ones die. Trenton piped up with "My Grandma Nielson was 101 years old, and she had a breakdown and died!"

Explanation: I believe that in an effort to comfort his serious grieving about Grandma's death,

I think I told him something to the effect of that when people get old their bodies start to get worn out and break down, and it becomes difficult for them to do a lot of things they used to do. That's all I can figure.

2. In his class they were talking about the Word of Wisdom. Trenton's teacher reported back that he said, "There is a guy in my Dad's office that drinks coffee, but he is respectful of my dad when he smokes."

Explanation: He knows that it is the other guy who smokes and keeps a respectful distance from his dad when he does it, but the way he said it, made it sound a lot like his Dad is the one doing the smoking. This on top of last week's revelations about all of his dad's girlfriends. One might just think Barry is leading a double life.

Putting the "Happy" in the Holidays

We had a great trip to Utah and a fun time in Prescott on the way back. And I'm sure I'll have lots of "happy family" pictures to share soon, but this photo made me laugh out loud, so I thought I would share it right away. I was attempting to get a family photo the Sunday before Christmas. The girls are actually wearing dresses that I made (I know, *gasp*!). It took several tries before I could get much cooperation. This picture pretty much says it all. Yes, I caught Kira mid-eyeroll--annoyed with her father, who is apparently a big goof! Trenton is distracted, as usual, and I think I should have a contest to see who has the best caption for what Tessa is thinking. My vote would be something like, "Did I really choose to come to this family?"

We hope your Christmas was as "happy" as ours!

Nielson Family Reunion--Finally! (JULY '08)

This has been a long time coming, but I finally got through all of the pictures I took at our family reunion this summer (I was kind of the family photographer) and narrowed it down to 60 favs. for the slide show. I gave my mom a disk with all of the photos she will be sharing with her family and I am planning to get everything posted on the family reunion blog. But for now, here are some fun pictures of our camping reunion on Kolob mountain this past Fourth of July!

*Catching Up* Lake Powell--Big Kid Edition-June'08

OK. I am almost done with Lake Powell. I promise. Clearly I take too many pictures, but I also become attached to lots of them, so editing them down, doesn't always go so well.

The big kids had a great time at Lake Powell, too!

In this pic, we are getting ready to sail the houseboat away from the dock. This pic made the cut because it documents what Barry's chest looked like in his ultra-tight rashguard thing. Ooh la la!

Bobby and Amber rode the jet skis all the way to our campsite.

And here the silliness begins! This is the man of the hour. The whole foundation of this trip was the celebration of Bill's 60th birthday (Barry's dad). Most people don't get to see this side of the doctor/former bishop. I wonder if I could get any blackmail money out of him???

In lieu of a traditional birthday cake, we had a cookie cake featuring some of Barry's famous homemade cookies. Those molasses cookies were the perfect texture! They are making my mouth water as I type.

And what's a birthday without a little "Birthday Bingo?" Barry's mom had made this fun bingo game for the occasion, and what's more fun...we used skittles for the markers! We also showed the DVD slide show Barry and I had made for him back in April, and gave him a paper saying that the photobook I had been killing myself to make for him before this trip was on its way. Lame. I know. I did the best I could, but I just couldn't get it done in time to have it on the trip. The other disappointment is that some of the edges were cut off of the pages. We made a book of 60 memories about Dad. If I get a chance, maybe I will post some of the layouts I made for the book.

Barry took these lovely shots of his brother, Jared.

Here Barry is trying unsuccessfully to fly a kite.

So the big problem about Lake Powell is that it is HOT! Too hot to be out in the sun, so there was a lot of this going on (although it was hot inside the boat, too.)...

And quite a bit of this going on...

And even some of this going on (although I have no idea what this is)...

Also, an awful lot of eating going on. Did you know it is possible to gain 7 lbs. in about 4 days? I don't think I did until this trip.

Until next time, Lake Powell! (except for the family pictures I'm still going to post...soon...I hope!)

Gratitude

I have been wanting to do this post for a while as I have been trying to focus on gratitude all month long, and I have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving--particularly special people! So this post is about some of the people who have sacrificed to help us lately and for whom we are extremely grateful!

SHANDA
I can't believe that Shanda stayed with us for 2 1/2 weeks and this is the best picture I have of her. Anyway, I am so glad that Shanda and Talia could come for Tessa's birth. Shanda was a huge support in so many ways! She helped keep me from going insane as I waited for Tessa's arrival, took over disciplining Trenton when I no longer had the strength, kept my children happy and entertained during Fall Break, took care of the kids (including getting them ready for the Halloween party)while we were at the hospital, coached and encouraged me through my early labor, was my cheerleader through it all, paid attention to my emotional and physical needs (pre and post-labor), and much more! I think everyone should have a sister around during childbirth times.

MY PARENTS
This is my Mom with Kira and "Pepperoni Pam Pizza." My parents got to town right before we got home from the hospital. My mom spoiled me with breakfast in bed each morning, took over all of the dishwashing and meal prep, did a ton of mending, and helped me (really did most of the work) make my Christmas presents for the children (can't post pics until after Christmas), entertained my children, and much more!

My Dad took care of several things on my "honey-do" list, drove me to the Pediatricians office, and ran other errands. He helped Barry take down a tree in our front yard, and much more!

HALTERMANS

My mother-in-law took a few days and came down to be with us. Here she and Mikelle are bathing Tessa. Mikelle provided dinner for all of us.

While Becky was staying with us, they helped the kids carve pumpkins and helped entertain the kids. Amber has the energy to wrestle Trenton, which he loves!

Besides, helping us at our house, my mother-in-law took Trenton back to Prescott for the week, which was a huge deal for me. Lots of credit has to be given to my father-in-law, who had charge of Trenton for several evenings, while Becky put on a play for her Relief Society.
He had a great time in Prescott! When they brought him back from Prescott, they all (Mikelle and Amber, too) helped clean the house (you know, scrub bathrooms and yucky stuff like that!) and Amber brought a twin bed for us, so Kira could finally get out of her toddler bed.

WARD FAMILY

I'm almost embarrassed to list all of the people from the ward that brought us food, knowing that in a lot of wards, people are lucky to get a meal or two. We have a really supportive ward and although everyone is in a difficult situation (pregnant, recently had a baby, or something similar), they are all still willing to help out however they can!

So I am grateful to the following for bringing food (and several also brought gifts) and taking such good care of us:

Lunts

Hickenloopers

Horrocks

Rockwoods
Glazebrooks
Gilberts

Broyles
Smiths

Porters

...and tonight, if Barry ever makes it home, we are supposed to have dinner from "The Claim Jumper" courtesy of Clear Creek Associates, where he works!

TRINA

My sister, Trina, came to town for a reunion with High School friends, not expressly to help me, but in the day she was here, she managed to help me sort through maternity clothes, fix a yummy Sunday dinner, and give me some much needed sister bonding time!

So writing this all out is kind of overwhelming and makes me feel incredibly guilty about any complaining I may do. How do people ever do this with out family or the church?

Thank you, everyone!

The Halterman Family (July '07)

For a brief while, the whole Halterman clan was together this summer. We are excited that Mikelle and Bobby have moved to the valley and we get to see a lot more of them, but Jared and Suzy have moved to the middle of nowhere, Missouri for medical school, and now, Kristin has taken off for adventure and excitement on the east coast. Amber is in town, but is super busy with work, her calling as RS Pres. in the singles ward, and loads of friends. But she makes time for us and Mom and Dad make frequent trips down from Prescott, so we do get some good family time.

Honoring Grandmother & Grandad (July '07)

We headed straight from Utah to Prescott where we honored the 60th Wedding Anniversary and 80th birthdays of Barry's grandparents with a Harrop Family Fiesta!

My mother-in-law put on a fun family reunion and cousins from as far away as South Carolina attended. Of course, since Mom was in charge, the Haltermans were all pretty busy making things happen.

The first night we had fajitas, shared memories, and even had a pinata. Here Grandmother and Grandad are singing "their song".

Barry is usually the pinata master. I think he enjoys tormenting little kids. :-)

When will it be my turn?


The rest of the weekend included a family history presentation, a bounce house, R/C ATV races, a rousing game of family feud, ice cream sundaes, water ballon toss, and water balloon volleyball, and of course lots of fun with family we don't see nearly often enough.

Honoring Mom (July '07)

Would you believe that this beautiful woman turned 70 years old this May?


Most people don't. She has a youthful energy and work ethic that I don't think I have ever had.

This summer, seven of her eight children (and loads of grandkids...see below) got together to honor her. We all submitted favorite pictures and listed 70 great things/memories about Mom, which my sister had printed in this hardbound book. I think she was moved, and felt appreciated (it's about time, right?)

We combined her celebration with a birthday party/college shower for my adorable niece, Kalen, who has just started at BYU. It is crazy that I have a niece who is an adult! But she is a great one!

Here is the plethora of children on hand for the occasion.

Summer Catch Up -- Kira & Serena

Being the oldest girls in their respective families, my sister, Serena and Kira bonded while in Utah. I thought they looked too pretty in pink to pass up a photo op.

Labor Day Camping Trip

I had a little too much fun taking pictures at our camping trip, so here is a long slide show of some of my favorites. We had a great time hanging out with Barry's family at Mormon Lake near Flagstaff, and it did feel like heaven to get out of the heat for a few days. Thanks Haltermans! We never would have been able to plan a camping trip in our current state. It was nice to go along and relax. I know the kids had a great time! Barry and I did, too!

Grandma and Elmo

Still catching up on fun photos from the summer. These were from when Barry's mom came to help us get ready to sell our house. She took on perhaps the most daunting task, which was going through the kids room with them and putting clothes/toys in storage, cleaning, etc. Anyway, she did a fabulous job with many fewer tears than there would have been if I had done it. She had given Trenton this Elmo shirt and wore her own for the fun factor, so we had to get some pictures. THANKS GRANDMA!

Getting to know Cousin Talia (July 07)