Andrew is 7 months

Well, I somehow skipped Andrew's 6 month picture. So he has really changed in the last two months. He is an active kid now. In the last two months Andrew has decided that he wants to be a part of everything we do. If we are eating, he thinks that he needs to eat. He loves feeding himself crackers. Luckily that usually satisfies him while we are eating. I hope he doesn't get too sick of them soon. I keep trying to think of good finger foods he can eat since he doesn't quite have his pincer grasp down yet. Andrew loves to make noise. He makes this deep growling sound that we all laugh at. He just started babbling. The kids love to hear all the new sounds he can make and they love to tell me that he knows my name when he is saying, "mamamama.." ANDREW CAN NOW CRAWL...uuuggh! This stage is so exhausting, because I have to constantly watch him. He is still such a sweet baby and is happy as long as he is included in the excitement, and around this house there is never a lack of excitement!

Gotta love those dimples.

Here he is on the move....Watch out!

He just learned to pull himself up on furniture. He is not very sturdy when he does it, so he falls often and when he falls he gets SO mad!

Nielson Mini- reunion

My grandma has wanted the entire family to go to the temple for a very long time. We finally decided to do it this weekend in memory of my Grandpa's birthday. Although not everyone could make it, all of my mom's brothers and sister were there. It was a great experience to go together. My Grandma just cried after the session she was so proud. I was very grateful that we were able to be a part of it.

Grandma I think you are amazing!

I love this picture. Three generations.

The Nielson girls. Those are some great ladies!!!

All the Nielson family.

After the temple we picked up the kids and went out to eat. Shae was starving and could hardly take a breath in between her huge bites of fettuccine.

The kids table!

It's Harvest Time

Our corn grew great this year. The whole family went out to reap the harvest. Shae and Brigham thought it was too hot and didn't last very long. Bodell showed a little more endurance, although she was very disgusted with the bugs that we had on the corn.

Even Andrew got into the action.

...That's what little boys are made of!

We have a few fun creatures that live under our trampoline. Near the salamanders is a little family of toads. Brigham loves to climb under the tramp and grab the toad. On this day he decided that he wanted to torture me with it. He brought it into the house...YUCK! and then kept holding it close to me so that it would jump. He thought my shrieks of horror were hilarious. Then of course he pulls out the sweet face when I decided to take a picture.

To The Top of The Mountain

My mom and dad invited us to drive with them to the top of the mountain while Josh was gone deer hunting. The kids were excited to ride in Grandma's new Rhino. You can't beat the mountain air and scenery. The kids kept telling us they were starving, so we stopped for a picnic lunch off the mountain road. The kids must not have been too hungry because they spent about 1 minute eating and the rest climbing the hillside.

Andrew is trying to break into those yummy rolls. Sorry buddy.

After the drive the kids were very and hot and VERY dusty. We decided to take a break at Dry Wash. It didn't take long for Brigham to jump in.

Nice pose Shae!

Bodell spent the time looking for baby frogs.

Oh, I am going to miss the summer.

Happy Birthday Josh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!! Josh turned 34 today. We didn't do a lot of celebrating between work, soccer games, and more work for Josh, but we did manage to have a quick dinner and then cake and ice cream later. We love you Josh!



Here is the CATTLE DRIVE CAKE the kids designed for Josh. They thought that he needed a ranching cake since he used to be a rancher. All the marks in the frosting were purposely done to make "hoof prints in the mud." Brigham added the oversized dog, much to the dismay of his older sisters. The kids said the cowboy is Josh, and then Shae announced to Aunt Sunny that she is the cowgirl in the cake.

Back to School

This summer was the summer of lots of biking (shae learned to ride without training wheels at the beginning of the summer) and lots of swimming for us. We had a great summer. However it is time for school to start again. The kids were excited to start school again. Brigham started preschool this year. He has been looking forward to it for months. He loved his first day.


Bodell on her first day of school.




Shae on her first day of school. Ready to ride her bike to school.



Patiently waiting for the bell to ring.

Shae with her new teacher.