Trip to San Diego for the U of U Bowl Game

A trip to the Gateway


Going to the Gateway has become a yearly Christmas tradition. We love the fire pits and window shopping. Oh and I cant forget to mention the Rocky Mountain Caramel Apples (which were all eaten before I could snap a picture)!

2009 Family Photos


Wow, I have great looking kids!

The Nielsen Family

Sisters

Check out my new blog which has a collection of my favorite photos... CLICK HERE

Mike's 7th grade team accomplished a perfect season, won their first playoff game and won the final Championship game on Tuesday against Lehi 34-14. Here are a few pictures and video clips of the after game celebration... Of course I forgot my camera so I had to rely on my phone to take a few videos and pictures so sorry for the poor quality....

Glad October is over!

October was a whirlwind of a month and I am glad to say goodbye to it.

Our month started out with pressurized irrigation troubles. Basically it involved a lot of digging, then a lot of mud, then a lot more digging in the mud and last but not least a lot of praying. At one point we thought that our main water line was possibly broke (which is where the praying came in) but luckily it was just the stop and waste valve that had gone bad. Regardless, it was a lot of work and a huge mess. I know this is a month to late but I want to shout out a huge thanks to Lee for all his help with that project, it was back breaking work and he helped us out a ton! Thanks Lee!

Remodeling Project

Over fall break we decided that while we went to Vegas, Adam's buddy could take advandtage of us not being home to begin remodeling our downstairs bathroom and finish our laundry room. When we got back it was about half way done so we endured another week with our house in disorder while they finished up. Neither Adam or I do well with dis-order so living with things not in their proper place required a lot of patience. When they finally finished, we couldn't get our house back in order quick enough. We purchased and hung the cabinets and then began the process of sorting through all our junk and putting things where they should go. So three weeks later I am pleased to announce that our remodeling project is about 95% complete. We just need to decided on a floor for the laundry room and paint the ceiling & floor boards in the bathroom. The window in the bathroom is being installed as I speak. We can now breathe a sigh of relief that our house is now back to normal and everything turned out better than expected. Here are some before and after pictures...

BEFORE...AFTER....


BEFORE...


AFTER...

Halloween at Rice Eccles Stadium

Rainbows are always beautiful which makes it hard to brag about one rainbow in particular but I am going to try on this one. The photo of this rainbow was taken in my front yard just before sunset on a rainy fall day. It was so bright and each color was so pronounced and intense, I wish my camera could have captured how truly bright it was. I don’t think I have ever seen a rainbow with such intense colors before. Maybe the fall colors around it made it seem brighter than usual but regardless, it was absolutely beautiful! I am glad I had my camera handy!

Vegas Vacation

On Thursday we packed up the car and headed South to Vegas.

Our first stop was at a gas station in Fillmore. Has anyone heard of Abba-Zaba? Adam says that this was a favorite treat for his family growing up so he bought me one (he ate most of it). It was ok, kind of like Bit-O-Honey but in my opinion not as good. I was just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of it?

My next story needs a little background information first. Now if you know Adam, every second from the time that we get up the morning of vacation until we reach the hotel is on a strict time schedule. Bathroom breaks are kept to a minimum and eating is usually done in the car, so this next story is quite unusual to say the least. We decided to stop at a McDonalds in Cedar City for lunch. Due to the love of his new car, he choose to let us eat inside the restaurant this time. As we entered the restaurant, there was a BREAKING NEWS story on the T.V. about a boy who floated away in a home made balloon. It was so unusual that we wasted 45 minutes inside McDonalds watching this story unfold! It was so funny to watch peoples reaction when they read the screen for the first time. We left right after it landed and no boy was found inside. We had to wait until we checked into our hotel (3 hours later) to find out what the new developments were. By then he had been found in the attic of their home and the speculations were already flying around about a hoax. To be honest, it would have made a better story if he was found alive & well inside the balloon but it sure made for an interesting story at first.

Here are some random pictures of Freemont Street and the U of U game.

One more funny story. I hesitate embarrassing Michael on this one but it's too funny not to share plus, it's my right as his mother to embarrass my kids whenever I want. On the morning of the Utah Game we decided that it would be worth it to pay more money for a big breakfast since we wouldn't be eating again until the game that evening. Well, Michael kind of threw a fit because he claims that there is never anything good for breakfast at the buffet. Well, we went anyway and Adam told me to not recommend anything to him and to just leave him alone to pick whatever he wanted. Do you want to know what his choice of food was??

I know your dying to know...

Corn on the Cob and Doughnuts! WEIRD!

New Rims & Tires















At the beginning of the summer AJ tried everywhere to get a job with no luck. He was very fortunate to have understanding Grandparents who offered him a job mowing their yards each week. He has taken this responsibility very seriously and has only missed his mow days when the weather didn't cooperate. He has been very good at setting goals and saving every bit of his earnings for his Jeep. Next on his list is a new stereo.

AJ















AJ's team has won all but 1 game so far this season. To be honest it has been a little frustrating for AJ. Until last week he really hasn't gotten much playing time. Just his luck during last weeks game he got a minor concussion on the last play of the game. As we were walking him to the locker room afterwards he said with a big grin on his face "I got playing time today". Even better, he did really well. Hopefully the coaches notice and he will continue to get playing time for the rest of the season.


Mike















Mike's team is un-defeated so far. His games are really enjoyable to watch. It's amazing what a difference a good coaching staff makes. Mike has learned a ton and has the desire to continue to improve. Last nights game he sacked the quarter back which he was really excited about.

As a mom, I have to admit that I am not looking forward to another month of cold, wet games. I have turned into a big wimp.

I haven't hit the "What was I thinking" stage yet...


My postage stamp quilt is turning out great and I am really enjoying this project! I try to work on it when I can which is only in the evenings a couple times a week at most.

One month has passed and I am almost a third done.
To be realistic, at some point I am going to hit the "I'm bored with this project" or "What was I thinking" stage and it will sit for awhile. I am concerned that I am going to run out of a few of the fabrics. I think I will go purchase some more fabric just in case I need it. I would hate to get it most of the way done and not have the same fabric throughout the entire quilt.

Postage Stamp Quilt Update...

I am making great progress on my postage stamp quilt. So far I have sewn around (300) 4 patch blocks. This weekend I pinned them all onto a blanket and arranged them into 16 patch sections. My only goal as far a pattern goes is to not repeat the same fabric in a 16 patch area. Once I get these 16 patch blocks sewn together I will start all over again by sewing more 4 patches together. It's hard to tell right now but I think I will need to do this process a total of 3 times to get the size quilt I want.

Don't mess with the Man Cave!

What's a man cave?

man cave n. A dedicated area of a house, such as a basement, workshop, or garage, where a man can be alone or socialize with his friends.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Adam was forced to watch his prized Utes on a T.V. anything smaller than smaller than a 60" screen? Well, ask Keith's T.V. Repair what happens when someone messes with Adam's "Man's Cave" during football season. Needless to say, we now have our big screen T.V. back just in time for the Ute game this Saturday. Wow, that was a close one!

6 New Posts! Wow I really slacked off this summer!

Postage Stamp Quilt"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
-- Vincent Van Gogh

This is a long post but its mostly just for myself...

I was inspired to make a postage stamp quilt at a time when I have no time for such frivolous nonsense. Football season is a time demanding season at our house. Both boys are in school; they both have practices at different times of the day and games on different days of the week plus other commitments that require us to be in three different places all at once. As strange as it may sound, that is exactly why I wanted a long term project. I liked the idea of a project with no pressure to complete or deadline to meet. But I am also the type of person that likes to see a project through to the end and it would give me something to look forward to and to work on. As a mom, there are times when you feel like you are nothing more than a cook, a maid and a ride from one place to another. It’s easy feel taken for granted and burnt out wishing you had time for yourself. I was determined to find a project that allowed me to use up some creative energy and something to look forward to at the end of each day or on the weekends. After I started constructing my quilt, I came across this quote which I love!

"Stop fighting your creative spirit that is struggling to break free inside you. You will not be the person you were meant to be until you free this creative spirit and find ways to put it to use. Freeing your creative spirit will not send you into financial ruin or cause havoc with your life, if you acknowledge the creative side of you and find ways to gradually blend it into your thought process. What will happen is that you will find happiness you didn't know existed and you will become the person you were meant to be."

-- Edward W. Smith, The One Minute Motivator

As I was searching for a quilt to invest my time in I came across one called a postage stamp quilt which consists of thousands of 1” pieces sewed together. It gets its name because the pieces are about the size of a postage stamp. They can be sewn randomly or rearranged into a pattern. I found a color scheme that I really liked and mapped it out the best I could on how to accomplish a similar design (above are the colors I chose to use). I purchased 19 print fabrics and 8 cream/plain fabrics. I then washed, dried and ironed all the fabric. Then came the fun part… no I’m not being sarcastic, I actually enjoy the cutting part although my right thumb is still numb a week and a half later after cutting somewhere around 6,000-7,000 squares in three days (I must have damaged the nerves in my right thumb).

I then organized all the colors and matched them up into color schemes. I store them in sandwich baggies with numbers on them to try to keep everything straight. As I get time, I pull out the baggies and sew the color schemes together, pop the seams then press them.

Here is some quilt math. I want a throw that will measure approx 70"x80". That will take 5,600 individual 1" squares or 1,400 completed 4 patch blocks.

It is going to take a LONG time but its fun to have something to be working on and something to look forward to completing (someday).

Here is an example of a competed 4 patch. As you can see, they are very tiny squares.

More updates to come...

To be continued...

Labor Day Weekend!

We had a great Labor Day Weekend. Our niece, Kammie flew in on Friday so we spent the weekend with her. On Saturday we went to the zoo with Adam's parents and enjoyed perfect weather! All the animals were all out and very playful. On Sunday, we took a jeep ride up through American Fork Canyon to Midway with Kindra, Lee, Dad & Lindsay. We then enjoyed lunch in Heber. On Monday we did absolutely nothing! I love days that we can take a two hour nap and not feel guilty about it. Unfortunalty, now its all over we all have to go back to work - UGH!

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.
Bill Shankly

Football from a Mom's Perspective...

Hours of practice, cool nights, hot days, sweaty gear, bruises, ice packs, ibruprofrin, pep talks before a game, making dinner three times a night, talking in the car on the way to practice, enduring all kinds of weather to watch a game, eating on the run, running to Big 5 at the last minute for an essential piece of gear, the excitment of watching your kids play under the big lights, talking with family at half time, sending the kids off to school the day after a big win, words of encouragment after a loss, the prayer that automatically enters your mind when a player is injured, the selfish prayer that it's not your son, being so cold that you cant move your fingers, watching the scoreboard during a cold game wishing time would move faster, watching the scoreboard during a rivalry hoping for a win, I am the mom of a football player and I love every bit of it.

Michael made the 7th Grade A-Team!After a grueling 3 day tryout, we anxiously awaited the results of this years A-team. The coaches kept matching up Michael up against the biggest kid on the team and he proved to be very strong and aggressive. We knew just from watching that the coaches could not deny how much potential Mike has. Well we were right! He was moved up from the B Team to the A Team. This is a big accomplishment! Him and only two other boys were able to move up this year and he did it 100% on his own. Good job Mike!