Happy Halloween

We love Halloween here in the Nelsen household, so we've had a fun week.  We went to the pumpkin patch on Monday--it was hot, and I couldn't for the life of me get a good picture of the boys together.  Andrew had a Halloween party at school on Thursday and John had his work party on Friday.  His co-workers go all out, and I like to make something nice and creepy for their potluck.  We got to go to another fun party Friday night (ran out of time and didn't get to make a creepy dessert for that one) and then we had the church trunk or treat today.  Fun but tiring few days!  And now some pics.


Pumpkin patch:

 

John as a Blues Brother

John's office becomes an autopsy room.

 

Creepy cheesecake for John's office party

Cutest Mickey Mouse ever:

 

Studliest General Obi-Wan Kenobi:

 

 

What happens in Vegas...

Earlier this month, John and I were able to sneak away from the kids for a few days to go to Vegas for John to attend a conference for work.  The boys got to stay with John's family (they had so much fun, I don't think they even noticed we were gone) and while John was at his conference during the day, I got to sleep and be totally lazy.  It was awesome.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon...the conference was at the Venetian, so the hotel reservations were at the Palazzo, which is a sister hotel/casino and connected to the Venetian by lots of really expensive shops that I only wish I could shop at. :)  Anyway, we checked in and were happy with the room (though with all this bug bed stuff going on lately, I was paranoid and tried to check our room for signs of bed bugs). 

Sitting area

Sleeping area...obviously.

After getting settled, we went to explore.  The Palazzo and the Venetian are both beautiful casinos, and when we walked the shops between the two, we discovered a plaza with a canal and gondola rides.  It was pretty cool, and they did a good job with the feel of Italy.  I mean, obviously it's not the real deal, but it was still pretty cool. 

Lobby of the Venetian

Blurry picture of a gondola ride

I hope Andrew makes us lots of money with this shop. :)

We decided to walk the strip and find something for dinner.  We went to the Mirage and ate at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill.  It was pretty tasty, and there was some live blues.  After dinner we went to check out the theater where they show Beatles Love.  

The Venetian

 

 

 

John had to snap this pic at B.B. King Blues Club...

Try not to be jealous of how cool I am.

We then walked down to the Bellagio to check out the fountain show.  I have to say, it was pretty cool.  We stayed and watched 3 or 4 different shows.
 

 On Wednesday, John had to be to his conference at 7am...haha.  I slept until 1:30pm though.  That's right, 1:30.  I didn't even know I was still capable of sleeping in that late, because I haven't done that in years.  But the room was dark and quiet, and I was recovering from a cold...so I slept well!  I then lounged around and read until John got back and we went to dinner and then a free cocktail hour put on by the conference.  Gotta love that free ginger ale.  We then wandered around the casino, won a few bucks and then lost it.  Good thing we don't really gamble.  We went back to the room and watched The Hangover (edited!) and it was pretty much what I expected.  Made me laugh a few times, but generally not my kind of movie.  John thought it was hilarious though.


On Thursday I only slept until 10am, and then went and had a nice breakfast and read.  Then went and sat by the pool and read...I basically didn't do any exploring, just lounged around the whole time. That night John's conference was putting on a free dinner at one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants, and he was allowed to bring me.  The filet mignon was divine, and I finished off John's because it was "too rare".  Isn't that the opposite of how it should be?  Shouldn't he be finishing my steak?  Anyway, the dinner was really good.  After dinner, we headed over to the Mirage for Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil.  We had the "cheap" seats, almost all the way in back, but it was still awesome.  Such a good show in general, but especially for Beatles fans like us.  I was just amazed at the acrobatics and dancing, all the stunts...I felt like the entire show I kept thinking "You've gotta be kidding me!" about all the things they were doing.  It was so good, I highly recommend it.


On Friday, John finished up the conference and I just waited around the lobby/casino for him to be done.  We decided to head over to the airport early, which was a fortuitous choice because our flight was delayed 2 hours, but since we were there early they were able to move us to the earlier flight.  At that point I was really excited to get back to the boys.  I was very proud of myself, I'd let myself be an adult and not think too much about the kids while we were gone.  I talked to them every night of course, and missed them, but it was nice for me to be able to flip the mom switch off.  When we got back to UT, Grant was especially happy to see us.  He wouldn't let me leave the room, and was very clingy (which I have to admit made me happy...yay, he loves me!  Hehe.)


All in all it was a very good trip, even if we didn't partake of many of Vegas' most popular opportunities. :)

Words of wisdom

As I've been working on organizing our office, I've come across a lot of interesting things that I forgot we had.  Today's favorite find was from our wedding...instead of a traditional guest book, we had people leave sign little cards with advice.  Then I was going to put the cards in a nice scrapbook...well, 6+ years later and that still hasn't happened.  Instead I found the pile of cards sitting rubber-banded in a box full of random stuff.  Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite words of advice:

• "Look out for John's landmine" - signed by "A Brother"
• "Always leave the toilet seat down" - Pam (if only John would listen to you, Pam!)
•  "Always get in the last word in an argument...say 'Sorry'!"
• "Just be happy, stay in love, and always remember how you feel today."
• "Drink caffeine in moderation!" - Thanks Nicole! :)
• "Laugh together often!"
• "Like I have ANY advice?! :)" - That one made me laugh (courtesy of Erin M.)
•  "Play lots of X-box!" - Eric and Lindsey
• "John - Whenever she's mad at you, do the dishes.  No woman has ever been able to stay angry at a guy who's cleaning."  SO TRUE! :)
• "Don't use fake tanner!  It streaks!" - Tabitha, I've most definitely followed your advice...I learned the hard way.
• "Laugh about things, forgive each other (and forget), and simply enjoy one another.  Choose to be happy :)"  Great advice Emily!
• "My word of advice - always take care of each other and listen to good music."  Thanks Tessa!
• "Congratulations!  I'm sorry, I have no good advice."  That one made me smile, Liz.
• "Always say 'That's my man' or 'That's my woman' for eternity."

It was really fun to read through all these and remember our wedding day.  And now that I've found the cards and have a nice little office set up, maybe I'll get around to putting these in a book...

Rock Mountain High

A couple weeks ago we took a quick trip up to Utah so see "Uncle Buddy's" farewell (or, I guess to be more correct, his last opportunity to speak in church before he leaves on his mission). It was a brief visit, but very enjoyable. Here's a few pics from the family's last mountain picnic (how I miss the mountains):

 The boys take a break from tearing up the mountainside

Grant loves fire-roasted hot dogs (Grandpa in background passing out the homemade brew (root beer))

Got your nose!

"Smarfmellows" bring out Andrew's diabolical side

Daddy teaching Drewbs the art of the perfect golden brown toasted mallow

 

Andrew's Big Week

Andrew has had a busy week last week: he started both preschool and t-ball.  On Monday, Grant and I took him to his preschool class (a kindergarten prep class offered by the city).  At first Andrew was really excited, but then as we were about to leave the house he told me that he didn't want to leave me. 

Andrew's best cheesy smile

That all changed once we got there and he saw all the toys. His teacher is really nice, and he has 8 other boys and 1 girl in his class.  

You're still here? 

Grant was really upset to leave Andrew (plus I think he wanted to stay and play with the toys) and when we got in the car he pouted the entire way home.  He also kept saying "Kiss A-ew" (A-ew is how he says Andrew, and apparently he was sad that he didn't get to give Andrew a goodbye kiss, even though he gave him a hug).  Once we got home though, Grant was happy and it was fun for me to see him as his own little person, without the Andrew influence.  Not that it's not great when they're together (though really, sometimes it's not ;) but it's just fun to see him on his own, and he hasn't experienced too much of that.  Grant was SO happy to see Andrew when we picked him up.  Andrew informed me that he missed me, but he still had fun.  He got to do crafts and worksheets, and (most importantly, in his eyes) play games in the gym.  He loved "hoolee hoop" even though he said he wasn't very good at it.  So cute.  Yesterday we went and got him a backpack, because he really wanted one to put his school stuff in.  When he put it on and walked into class, I couldn't believe how fast time has gone, and how big he is now.  It's just crazy!  And this is just preschool, I'm sure I'll be freaking out when he starts kindergarten next year.

Tuesday was Andrew's first blastball (pre t-ball) practice.  He is on the Rockies, and he did great at his first practice (though John has been practicing with him for awhile, of course :). He had some great hits and throws, and he really seemed to have a good time.  

 Fine Tuning his Fielding Techniques

His practices are at the fields at the rec center that I work at, so I was able to sneak out and watch him for a few minutes.  He had a great hit while I was there, and I was this ridiculously proud, dorky mama, so excited by how well he was doing.  A bunch of the other moms were commenting on how good he is, and I wanted to say "That's my boy!"  Haha.  And I know he's big for his age, but WOW he was bigger than those other kids.  I think in the spring we'll sign him up for real t-ball. 

He has been living in his Rockies shirt since he got it.  When he woke me up Wednesday morning, he was wearing it.  He changed back into it after preschool.  He's been wearing it all day today.  He just LOVES it and wants to wear his hat everywhere too (including to bed).  I'm so glad he's excited.  And I'm so proud of him! 

Rocky Man

Anyway, he had a good time and his first game was today. It was hot and chaotic, but he did such a good job and had a lot of fun.

Suddenly the Rockies realized playing in the dirt was much more interesting than the Marlins trying to hit the ball

Now for the highlight reel:

"Knock the cover off the ball!"

"He's a natural....a natural"

"Now batting....number 11...Andrew Nelsen"

Oh yeah, I have a blog...

I had actually kind of forgotten that we have a blog...things have been too busy!  And then when I sat down to write a new post, it took me a good ten minutes to figure out how to add a new post (it's the template I tell you). 

Anyway, I'm sure there's a lot I could say.  But for now, I just wanted to do a quick post about the boys.  They are crazy.  Monday (while the babysitter was here) they went into the pantry and got into a few jars of food coloring.  Let's just say it was quite the mess (and I only saw it *after* the babysitter had cleaned up...).  And then today while I was in the shower, instead of eating his provided lunch, Andrew climbed up onto the counter and got down the finger paint.  Not a big deal, really, since it's washable and nontoxic.  But it was also a bit of a mess:

After a delicious lunch of chicken nuggets and green finger paint, the boys ran around like crazy people.  Literally ran in circles around the living room.  We have a nice little digital keyboard that they like to turn on, put on the demo song (at a very high volume), and then run around:

Crazy boys.  Love 'em.

The age of innocence....

After visiting Taco Bell last week we discovered they're celebrating DC Comic's 75th anniversary. Each Kids Meal comes with a 3-D Color Poster of a DC Super Hero.  

Both Grant and Andrew received a Wonder Woman poster in their meal.  They were both very excited about their cool new super hero poster and even more excited by the fact that it was 3-D. After eating lunch Andrew asked if he could hang his new poster up. Kara asked him where we should hang it. Andrew's response.... "Above my bed."

We will be keeping this story in 'tease him when he's older' file!

 Andrew's new favorite poster