Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

There are so many reasons why we love you Daddy!!! We just got back from our trip to GG's and it reminded us of so many reason why we are so lucky to have you as our Daddy.

You always show us how to have a good time.

You always encourage us to try new things.

Then you always set us up for success and gain our confidence.

You always pick oranges at GG's for us.

And you always clean them to make sure they are safe to eat.

You even feed them to us...even if it means we might bite your finger.

You make sure we get the best part of the orange....the juice.

You always feed us well....even with a knife.

You aren't afraid to get a little sticky for that last goodness of fresh orange juice.

You always make sure we fly in the air....and we LOVE that.

Some Dad's won't let their kids eat cotton candy, but you let us and you show us how it's done!!!

You always carry us whenever we get tired.

You look so proud when you pose in photos with us. It makes us feel so loved.

You always make sure that we have water and toys whenever we are at the beach. Those buckets are just too heavy for us.

You always make sure Mommy's happy and it's fun to see you have fun with her.

You and Mommy make great kids...we're so happy you two are so happy with us...we have the best parents.

Mama says this is one of her favorite photos of you cuz you look so handsome.

We love how you can do anything....like superman. You are so good at riding those waves.

Daddy-we love you so much and you make us so happy. Thank you for taking such great care of us. We have so much fun with you and are so lucky to have you be such a great example to us. We want to be just like you someday. Thank you Daddy!!! Happy Birthday!!!!

Ma & Pa Nelson

Scott and I had the privilege to to on the Trek this year with our stake. We were asked to be a Ma and a Pa. The Trek is the opportunity for us to reenact the pioneers as they crossed the plains. Scott and I were the Ma & Pa for 8 of the youth. We had the best "children".

Here we are in the beginning.

Here's our flag that Vanessa, our big sister, made. Isn't it awesome!!!

Here's our boys: Scott, Brad, Weston, & Jackson.

Here's all our girls: Amanda, Haley, Vanessa, Elizabeth, and Carley

Here are the plains.

Weston and Jackson playing a pioneer game.

The pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked!!!

Here is a long line of our group. Awesome huh!!!


A shot of the girls getting ready for the "girls' pull".

Here's us girls trying to pull the cart up a steep hill(it is way steeper than the photo makes it look). I'm in the blue bonnet.

Here we are in action. It was so hard!!!

Here's the men cheering the girls on.

Here we are at the top after the pull....we did it. It was incredibly hard too. I'm so proud of our girls!!!


We did this for hours and hours and no one complained. It was awesome.

Scott and I with Martin's Cove in the background. My face is all puffy...it was an emotional journey....lots of tears.

Here is Weston and Jackson and Haley reenacting the pioneers.

Here is a statue of one of the men who carried hundreds of people across the Sweet Water River when is was near Zero degrees and the water was half iced over in a snow storm. Incredible!!!

Our family crossing the Sweet Water River.

What a handsome pioneer!



At the end of the trip. Top row: Scott, Vanessa, Amanda, Brad, Tami, Elizabeth, Haley. Bottom Row: Jackson, Weston, and Carley.

It was such an incredible experience. I'm so grateful for our pioneers. I hope that I can be as strong as them and stay strong in my faith in hard times just like they did. They are truly inspiring.

4th of July was a Blast!!!!

Better late than never....right. So on the 3rd of July we got stocked up on Fireworks for the next day, but when that evening came, the boys and I convinced Scott to do some that night. We ended up doing all of them and buying more the next day. It was so much fun. It was the first time we did our own fireworks and the boys LOVED it.

We started out in our driveway (the boys in their PJs).

The boys loved the sparklers. Layton looks so intense.

He was getting the hang of it. Scott was lovin' it.

This is the position Scott had the boys do their sparklers in.

Just look at that face!!!

Then we moved into the street!!!

I just love back shots.

This one was fun. I love Jake's face.

Scott was the pyro....a very safe one.

Our neighbors came to watch too!!

Then the 4th of July came and we went to a parade.
Scott, Layton, Jake, & Dallin. Isn't Dallin getting so big?!

I love their long hair here with their hats on.

All my boys!!! I love our family!!!

I thought this was the coolest float in the parade.

The kids got good at running and getting candy.

This was probably the boys favorite part of the parade...the motorcycles.

Here we are.

Next we went to David and Nanette's ward picnic. Jake & Layt got blue cup cakes.

Nasty!

They also had a big slide there for the kids.

The anticipation.

And the slide.

Layton's turn.

Down.

Kaboom.

The End. We had a great 4th of July.
We are so lucky to live in this amazing country...to
enjoy all the freedoms we do is priceless.