News From the Nelsons

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Dole and Poly! Hawaii Day 2

We headed up to the Dole Plantation. We took the train ride learning all about growing pineapples and got some DELICIOUS pineapple ice cream. Then we headed up to Laie. We walked around the temple grounds before heading to the Polynesian cultural Center. We loved the presentations by the different islands…I loved Tahiti and Tonga but Samoa had me laughing so hard I was crying! The canoe parade was awesome and we loved the buffet!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Aroha! Hawaii Day 1

Kody and I met in college. We married and spent the next 3 years finishing our education. After graduation we took 1 week off before Kody started his job at his current company. Our 10 year anniversary is in August and we (I) decided it was time for a REAL VACATION.

The end of the summer can get pretty hectic with Kylie and Tessa's birthday as well as preschool preparations so we decided to vacation in June.

Our first day in Hawaii we spent at Hanauma Bay. We rented some snorkel gear and snorkeled over the low lying reef. There isn’t a lot of coral left on the reef but there were fish everywhere! AND we saw a SEA TURTLE!!! I didn’t think I would like snorkeling that much but I LOVED it!

Catching Up...May

May was a very busy month for us...these are just a few things we did:

Cabin-No month is complete without a trip to the cabin. We even got some guests to join us! Being lazy, playing on the computer, making bracelets, playing at the park, and "Passing the Pigs" were just a few of the good times we enjoyed!

Soccer-we had Kylie's last soccer game. She loved being a "Sprite" and playing with her friends. They were a scrappy, happy team and improved to win a few games this season. Kylie loved her Coach Eric who was so patient coaching them. He always made sure they had fun!

T-Ball- Kylie also had her last T-ball game. She loved t-ball too and improved so most of the time she was hitting the coach pitched balls. She loved to hustle after the ball and often made friends with the opposing team members as they waited on base.

Cousins-Our cousins came over for a 4 day sleepover. 7 girls...what fun! We enojoyed watching movies, getting ice cream, and eating on the veranda (aka patio). I was pretty pleased with myself that I got all 7 dressed and hair done for 9:00 church. How did my mom do it?

Kody's Birthday-Kody turned 32 in May. We got him a chocolate football cake. What do you get the guy who has everything...clothes for our upcoming vacation. I joke that Kody only has "work clothes"...clothes to go to work in and clothes he wears when he works in the yard. So the clothes I bought I declared "being seen outside of work" clothes.

Preschool Graduation-Every year I get more and more prepared for preschool graduation, but it still is quite a hectic time. Printing the diplomas, making the video yearbook, and this year I even made the refreshments. It is always a bitter-sweet time for me. I miss my little cuties but am excited to spend more time with the girls

Memorial Day-Surprise, surprise, Memorial Day was cold! so we decided it was the perfect time to put in the sprinkler system and grass seed at the cabin.

Kylie's LAST Day of School-Kylie had her last day of 1st grade. I decided to take a picture so I could see how much she had grown and changed over the school year!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

A Stitch in Time...

saves a little girl from a big scar.
Spring had been a little crazy with Kylie playing soccer and t-ball. She is loving both! I have been enduring the cold temperatures and keeping her sisters occupied during said events.
Thursday Kody was home from work so he watched the girls while I took Kylie to soccer. Then we met at the T-ball game. I put out a blanket and we were enjoying our first game without freezing winds and rain. The game was almost over and Tessa was moving around on the edge of the blanket. She suddenly cried out in pain. I lifted her up and their was blood oozing from her knee and a broken bottle top on the ground. The blood was pouring out and I fished two band-aids out of my purse. But there was still blood all over my hands so I ran to the car for some wipes. In the minute it took to get back blood had totally saturated the band-aids. We took off the band-aids to clean the wound and put on a bigger bandage and decided she needed stitches.
Thankfully our doctor office has late hours on Thursday. I called and they said to come in. Kody took Kylie and Mallory and I took Tessa to the doctor's. When we got their the nurse on duty was our neighbor Kim Laing. She treated up great! Tessa didn't cry at all as she cleaned her wound and even when she found out she had to get a shot and stitches.
She cried just a little when the shot when in (but Kim soon had her happy again with a bubblegum sucker). She actually only got one stitch. The doctor make a box stitch of sorts around her "V" shaped cut.
I am so proud of Tessa and so grateful for our friend Kim!

Mother's Day

This Mother’s Day is different than others past. This year my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer. It was one of the most frightening times in my life. Some of my friends have had parents with cancer. Some of them have had parents that have passed away. I know I tried my best to convey my sympathy to them but I realized my words were pretty hollow and that I couldn’t truly imagine what they went through.

The night my mom told us I remember thinking “I’m not old enough to not have a mom.” Pretty selfish thought, but it’s true. My mom MEANS so much to me and DOES so much for me. The thought of never being able to call her and tell her about all the frustrating, sad, happy, and exciting things in my life crushed me. My heart ached to think that my girls would be without the grandma they adored.

We fasted and prayed as a family and we were truly blessed. My mom had a hysterectomy and they found that the cancer had intruded too far into the uterine lining and all her lymph nodes were cancer free.

I can’t explain how relieved I was. It took some time for my mom to recover from her surgery but she is doing well. It has been hard not to slip back into the routine of taking my mom for granted. She does so much and never complains, but I try to remind myself of that awful day when I imagined a world without my mother!