Spain 2010, by Jenifer Nelson

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share. Todd and I went to Madrid, Spain with some friends, the Allens. Boy that was a long flight. Our first day we went to the oldest restaurant in the world, Botin. They're specialty is suckling pig(this is baby pig and just so you know tastes like the farm. Our favorite treat in Spain was Churros and Chocolate. Deep fried, chocolate goodness. We visited old churches, castles, and buildings. Our first day trip was to Segovia, about 20min by train. The castle there is the one Cinderella's castle is patterned after. Cute town that was having a special religious holiday. In their Cathedral we got to hear their choir and orchestra. It was beautiful. They also had a yummy dessert that they only make one time a year. Had to get it! We had a Tapas tour. Tapas are small appetizers and we went with a tour guide to about 4 restaurants and tried some interesting food. Blood pudding, tripe, octopus, anchovies. Most of what we tried was really good. This is the way the Spainiards eat. One of the highlights of the trip was our Segway tour around the city. We went for 3.5 hours and went about 10 miles. It was such a fun way to see the city. Todd is trying to figure out how to buy one I think. My favorite day trip was to a little town called Talavera and Legaterra. Talavera is known for centuries for it's handpainted ceramics. Deana and I had fun shopping and were able to get home with quite a bit. These ceramics are upwards of $100.00. We paid much less for them there. Finally we went to a place that for centuries has a tradition of hand stitching linens. We went to a shop that was in the back of this cute Spanish couples house. She was adorable and took so many table clothes out to show us. Couldn't pass that purchase up. All in all it was a great time getting to know another culture and enjoying the history. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Things I Know

Today was a good day for me. I began this day fasting and praying for my oldest(G) who is struggling in life and school. We've found a school which would really help him learn to organize and get the individualized attention he needs. What 12yr old wants to change schools? In order to get in he has to tell the administrator that he wants to be there. Seemed like a big reach to me but I prayed and prayed hard. Then G prayed and prayed hard and told me he felt that he should go to this school. I know God answers prayers. I know God cares for each of us and knows what we need. I know being a parent is hard but having a belief in Christ makes it easier. I know that Christ died for everyone's sins so we could repent. I know as a parent I have to let my kids make mistakes so they can repent on their own. I know this is very hard for me but I must let them sin. I know the Father knew what he was doing when he created the Plan of Happiness. I know I am not driving this ship and there is a greater plan that I cannot always see.
Jen

Yo Yo!

You may be wondering what this blog is about...me of course! I am a yo yo! That's right, I have always struggled with my weight. Pre-baby, post-baby-all the time. I've struggled my whole life and figure lots of us do out there. I grew up in a home where my mom was very skinny. She would just forget to eat. HOW DO YOU FORGET TO EAT? I'm thinking about my thanksgiving dinner as I type. Anyway-always a struggle. Topped out at about 190 on my mission. I know, this is disgusting and there was a reason I wasn't a visitor's center sister! Anyway, my quest for health began three months before coming home and I've stayed on the bandwagon every since. I still yo yo though because I like to eat. Food makes me happy, it is social, it is comforting. Here's what I've discovered with my recent weight loss. It's all about calories. That's right ladies and gentleman...you must burn more than you eat. Everything you put in your mouth has calories, even fruit which I use to think I could eat as much as I wanted. Anyway I'm almost 39 and it's about time I figure it out. I've lost 10lbs in the last four weeks, just counting calories friends, just counting calories. Hoping to drop another 10 before November hits. I love my clothes fitting again and my knees not hurting when I run. Hoping to be able to do an unassisted pull up soon too! Here's to happy calorie counting! We can do it!!

So, What do you do???

It seems that some nights are more difficult than others at bedtime. I've always struggled because I think kids should go to bed when their children tell them to. Often my two youngest Luke and Regan get the giggles and I cannot settle them down. Some nights it goes on for hours and Todd and I start out very kind and end up quite angry. Tonite I'm doing something different. L and R did not seem to be settling down so I decided to invite them downstairs to do a little cleaning. It's 8:55pm and they still seem pretty excited. They're cleaning my baseboards and dusting. When they're done with that the windowsills are calling their names unless they decide to go to bed. And me, well I'm sitting here telling them to be quiet and keep working while fooling around on the computer. I don't know if this is a good idea or not but I'm sure not getting mad and the house seems to be getting a little cleaner.
So...what would you do???

Estes Park

I'm pretty sure I've posted Estes Park before. It's becoming a tradition to go each summer. This summer was special. My brother Phillip was getting married there. Phillip married his high school sweetheart named Jennifer at this outdoor chapel overlooking the beautiful mountains. Probably the 2nd most beautiful place to get married. The temple would of course me my first choice.
The kids had such a great time with their Bleak cousins there. We stayed in an awesome cabin at the Estes Park YMCA, spent lots of money on crafts, went swimming and even hiked up our favorite waterfall. It was a really fun week, we got to see Grandma Sandra and my Uncle Jay and Aunt Jennifer came for the wedding. A couple of my bro's childhood friends came too and that was fun. The wedding was beautiful even with the rain and I am happy for my brother finding happiness. Just 10 days 'til school starts,Yippee!!

Girls Camp

As the Young Women's President in our ward, I spent another year at camp with the great girls of Chapel Hills Ward. This was a new camp here in the area called Camp Joseph. Specifically built for the LDS population in northern N.M.and southern CO. It's a tent camp, I was so excited to spend 4 nights in a tent. I broke down and took and air mattress because I'm not much of a camper. We had 25 girls from our ward and about 3 leaders that went with us. We went with the whole stake so some meals were with the stake and some on a ward level.
Because I know how to french braid, I and another girl were the resident french braiders. We had a challenge for all of us to go the whole week without showering. Yes, even I did it. I was so gross when I got back.
We had a hoola hoop contest and here's a picture of me looking like a fool but keeping the hoop up. I have very fond memories of girls' camp and loved being there with these awesome Young Women!

Vacation to Florida!

Yep, we visited the Gulf of Mexico. In January(it was pretty cold) I begged Todd for ust to take a family vacation at the beach. Florida seemed like the perfect place. I rented a condo on the beach and waited for the prices to fall. I made our plane reservations about two weeks before the oil spill. As you can see from our pictures, there was no oil on our white beach, just beautiful sand and this green algae they call June grass.

My first half!

Last october my friend Nicole ask if I wanted to run a half marathon with her and Rebecca in April. These are two of my best friends from Vermont. Todd said, "you don't have a runners body, you'll have a heartattack or something" I was motivated by his negativity and began training.
I've been running lots since then and was feeling pretty ready until I had an injury three weeks ago that prevented me from continuing to train. Luckily all my resting paid off and I was able to race. Rebecca and Nicole picked me up too late at night and the next day we headed to Charlottesville, VA. This is a beautiful spot, home of UVA. I finished the race in 2hrs and 3o min and feel pretty accomplished for doing that. I'm sooo grateful for my dear friends. We laughed together and cried together and just had a fun time.

TIE BACK HAIR BEFORE STARTING MIXER!

So yesterday was a boring Sunday 'til Brenna decided to bake a cake! I wasn't paying attention and neither was Todd but luckily we were nearby. She was mixing with the hand mixer when I heard her start to wimper(I thought Garret was bugging her or sticking his hand in the mix). Anyway, I turn around and the mixer is on her head with her hair and scalp on the blades. Todd and I quickly turned off the mixer(she was a little panicked to figure that out). After taking a quick assessment and seeing far too much scalp pulled up by the beaters we decided to take her to the er in case there were some stitches needed. Imagine this, we walk into the ER with a 9yr old girl and a mixer attached to her head. After detaching the beaters from the mixer Todd and the nurse managed to unwrap her hair from the beaters. Most of which had been ripped right our of her scalp. Everything was in tact. I guess our scalps are stretchier than one might think. She lost quite a bit of hair and has a pretty nice bald spot but has hair that can cover it.
After dosing her with ibprophen, benedryl, and oh look here's some tylenol with codeine from 2007, she slept fine last night. Little bit of a headache today and her dad told her she didn't have to go to school. She's gonna go half day. I was pretty scared but I'm glad I can laugh about it now. I will not post pictures as she is a little self concious about it. Just imagine a bald bald spot about 1.5 inches from the start of her hair. And then imagine her walking into the ER with a mixer on her head. AHAHAHAHA!

Spring Break

For our Spring Break we drove to Utah to visit my brother Phillip and his crew. Here are some pics.
The above picture shows one of Garret's cousins holding his feet so he can steal the coins out of temple square fountain.
The kids in front of the Christus statue!
Summit and Brenna are the same age and are true best cousins. I love this picture!
So we saw Mo-Tab live and visited Temple square, played with cousins and skiied. My kids have never been to Utah so I also took them to Deseret Industries. I know it sounds funny but I grew up with one and my kids don't even know what that is. They loved it!

Here he is!

As promised, we picked up our new puppy Toby on March 27th, the day before Garret's birthday. After an hour ride up to Colorado Springs he puked on Regan in the car. Kinda made me laugh! He then had diarrhea for the first day. You would too if you were being malled by the Nelson kids. Since that first few days things have gone great. He came to us crate trained and uses that to escape from the constant terrorizing of Regan. She continues to do wheelbarrow with him which I think he hates but puts up with! We hung a bell on the back door and showed how to ring it when he needs to go potty. He's used the bell a few times. Progress! The learning curve is a lot better than potty training kids. Anyway, we're doing great and the kids love him to death.

New Addition

Many of you might have thought with that headline that we were going to have another baby. That is not happening!!! A few months ago Todd decided that the Nelsons need a dog so Garret could get exercise every day. We researched and found a breeder of Labradoodles(labrador retreiver and poodle) in Pueblo which is about an hour away. Well, I kept it a secret until today when we pulled up to their house. The kids were so excited! We went in and picked the dog which you see in the pictures below. After much discussion, we decided to name this little puppy Toby. He is so cute! He will come home with us on the 27th of March.

Snow Day Morning

Well, usually I wake up at 5am to exercise but I woke up to check and see if the district called a snow day. They only called a two hour delay. I couldn't go back to sleep and I don't feel like going to the gym just yet so I thought I'd blog. I always enjoy other's blogs but not sure if I'm that interesting.
This weekend we took the three older kids skiing. We left on friday and it was snowing here all the way to the mountains. Took us about three hours to get there. We ate our dinner and headed down to play at the ice rink. Copper Mountain has a fun ice rink with lots of snow around it. Too much snow on the ice but Todd made an awesome sledding ramp for the kids.
Next morning we were ready to ski. All the kids were enrolled in lessons. Garret decided to try boarding. He did quite well and is planning to make that switch. Brenna is a natural on skis and learned to turn a little better. Luke is still learning to turn. His last run with me he fell back into snowplowing down the mountain.
Todd says I haven't improved in my skiing since we started back 4 yrs ago. I guess I'll need lessons next time. Todd is an amazing skiier! His skis stay together the entire time.
Anyway, we had a great time but I was a little tired yesterday during church. I love the time together having fun.
Now, off to go shovel the driveway!

New Year Goal

I am not a big new year resolutions gal. I actually think it's silly to wait 'til January to change things in your life. Why not start on Monday? Why can't you begin changing things the day after Thanksgiving or in the middle of summer? Anyway, enough of my soap box!
Many of you know that for the last year I've been the Y.W. president of my ward. This has been a sacrifice for our family but a huge blessing in our lives. I love the girls and their sweet spirits. I am learning so much and am amazed at the growth of these young women. The church has come out with a new Personal Progress manual and some other really neat things to motivate the girls to get their Young Womanhood Recognition Award. As a Y.W. president this is definitely a goal I want for my girls. And...I want it for myself. I have decided to take part in this program. I am excited to be working toward a goal and increasing my spirituality. I started yesterday with lots of reading about faith. I'm also suppose to say morning and night prayers every day for three weeks. I'm quite certain that this is going to bless my life and make me a better mother, wife, friend and Y.W. president. If anyone wants to join me, please do! The church encourages all women to work towards this award. Happy Goal Setting!