The Nelson's

2012 Ski Mountaineer National Championships

2012-01-12T21:38:00.001-08:00

HE WON!

Yep, Luke is the US National Champion in Ski Mountaineering. Last year he was the second US finisher, third overall, but this year he was first overall! It was exciting, plus it was fun to have his parents there to see the race with us. This is the first skimo race they had seen, and it was great to have them around.

The race was held in Jackson Hole at Teton Village. The course climbed up 8000 vertical feet and then of course you have to come down 8000 feet as well.

He was strong this year and had no problem with his gear. It was fun to watch this year as well because I was able to go up the tram and see Luke reach the top . It was the first time I've been able to see him on the course. The weather was nice and sunny this year, but the snow conditions were rough.

The next day he was able to race the Targhee skimo race and placed second there. One min. behind first. His legs were pretty worked after the big race so he couldn't hold onto the lead, but second was still great.

Christmas

2012-01-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas with my family. It was good to be home with my brothers, parents, and niece and nephew. Christmas is getting better every year with Kids around. Christmas Eve we spend at my Grandma's house, looking back I wish I would have taken my camera because I did not realize that would be the last Christmas with her around. We had a nice dinner and it was great to be at my grandma's again, it brought back a lot of memories from when I was little.

When we got back to my parent's house the girls received the traditional PJ's and then they frosted ginger bread cookies for Santa. Then it was off to bed.

The next morning Brynlee was very excited to see that Santa had found her at grandma and grandpas and she was pleased to see that Santa left lots of good crumbs behind.

Brynlee asked Santa for a cookie set and for a Fire Truck. Chloe received a barn and barn animals. We decided to continue with our tradition of not going overboard with the girls on Christmas. We wanted to keep it simple and focus on the little things. We've been more careful with the types of toys we buy for the girls and it's been much better at our house.

Christmas was great. I loved having it on Sunday this year. I loved that after opening the presents and feeling grateful for what we had and for being with family that we could attend church and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Oh and my favorite part of Christmas was...Surprising Luke, maybe even for the first time in our married life I was able to surprise Luke for Christmas. He's been talking a lot about wanting to learn how to play the banjo, so after a little while of searching I was able to find a banjo for him. It was a little difficult because I knew nothing about what type of banjo to buy. Thank goodness for the internet. It was fun to finally be able to surprise him!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T15:50:00.000-08:00

This year we changed things up a bit and headed south for Thanksgiving. We had the opportunity to stay with friends and had Thanksgiving in St. George. I think it's been over 10 years since I last visited St. George, and now I can't wait to go back. We had a lot of fun and were able to soak up a lot of vitamin D!

We played by the pool, but mostly the hot tub. We went on Hikes through Zion and didn't wear our winter coats...it was wonderful. The only downside was that we were not with family this year.

Here are a few of our photos

Brynlee by the pool where we stayed

Chloe found an escape route

Our hike up angles landing

Walking the path to the narrows

Very tired from a long day at zion

Halloween

2011-11-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween weekend. It seemed to be a very long celebration of Halloween due to it falling on a Monday this year. What do we need to do to change Halloween to occur on the last friday of October? I'll vote for it, who's with me?

I made the girls costumes this year. It was a first for me. Brynlee wanted to be either a princess or spiderman, and then she finally decided on spiderman. We modified her costume into a "spiderGirl" which didn't sit too well with another spiderMan on Halloween night.

Chlöe is a great little toddler, but every once in a while she can put up a pretty good temper. Brynlee had started calling Chlöe "Chlöe Bird" a few months ago and it has kind of stuck, so when chlöe starts getting mad- we naturally started calling her angry bird....so Chlöe was an angry bird this year, but the cutest little angry bird I've seen.

The costumes were pretty easy to make, and I was able to get them made during nap times. (yeah) Using clothing we already had, a few pieces from the dreaded wal-mart, felt, and a trusty glue gun we had two homemade costumes this year.

My parents put on a carnival for the grandkids this year. They put a lot of work into it and it turned out great. The kids all received tickets and were able to go through a spook alley, they had a coloring contest, cake walk (musical chairs), ring toss, and they had a fishing pond. The kids ran around a lot and really enjoyed it.

Getting tickets from Grandpa for the carnival

Entering into the Spook Alley

Grandpa shutting the door on the spook alley so it's nice an scary

Brynlee at the ring toss

Chlöe hanging onto the rings.

Chlöe trying out the fishing pond.

Musical chairs

Chlöe enjoying her cupcake.

Brynlee lost at musical chairs and was very sad. Her cupcake cheered her up though.

The grandkids

Monday we went door to door trick-or-treating this year. Our ward had a trunk-or-treat on Saturday night so it gave us a nice opportunity to walk through our neighbor hood with the girls and visit with our neighbors. It wasn't too cold and the girls had a fun time. Chlöe was mostly entertained by a sucker for the night, and Brynlee was very brave and did a really good job of saying "trick-or-treat" and thank you. It's fun to see her grow up and change from year to year and to see her develop a relationship with her sister.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

This week we went to a pumpkin patch out in Chubbuck to pick out pumpkins. I actually planned ahead this year, so we had a better experience buying pumpkins. Last year I kept putting it off and when Luke and I took the girls out to get pumpkins we check three different stores and ended up getting the last pumpkin available at Fred Meyers. There was a reason why it was the last pumpkin. It had no stem, was still a greenish color, and was very large and oddly shaped...but we had a pumpkin.

Keeping last year in mind, as I saw pumpkins around town I bought one early and then heard about the pumpkin patch at Swore farms. This is the place to get a pumpkin (if you didn't grow your own). It was a bit cold and the wind was blowing quite a bit, but we had a great time. Our friends joined us and we were able to get a lot of good photos with the kids.

Running, Running, and Running

2011-09-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well it has been well over one month getting closer to two since we have been home, not that I am keeping track or anything. I have not had the best track record for updating this blog, so for the 3 of you who look at it, sorry. This past month has had it's ups and downs. It was harder than I thought adjusting to being home. It seems like we are only now feeling that we are adjusting to being back home and trying to find a rythem to our schedule. That might have something to do with our crazy busy Aug-Sep schedule of running, running, traveling, birthdays, weddings, school, and running...

Let me explain.

Our first stop, even before getting home to Pocatello was in Star Valley (Afton), Wy to run our favorite race the El Vaquero Loco (50K and 25K). Luke did awesome again, and was able to win the race for the 4th time in a row. I was glad that I also had the opportunity to run it this year, last year being pregnant kind of put a damper on running, but it made it all the more exciting this year to be back in the game. I felt much better and actually ran way more of the course than I had done previously, but I was kind of sad to see that my time was not that much better. Besides that it was great to be back in familiar territory, seeing northwestern mountains and good friends.

Groups of friends ready to run the race

Jenny and I stopped for a photo, we really just wanted to rest from hiking up from the lake you see below.

Celebrating my Birthday with a good ol' fashioned ride on the tube.

After getting home we began setteling in, I unfortunately got a year older. We knew that summer would shortly come to an end so we hurried and tried to do a lot of the things that you do in Pocatello for summer, and then came more running. Luke has had a goal to run to the top of the Grand Teton for awhile now. Last year he ran to the top of Mt. Borah and set a running speed record there, so he hoped that he could have some success on the Grand. The day he ran the Grand was beautiful, he did an amazing job and set a time of 3:33:02! Yes, he ran to the top of the Grand and back down in 3 hours, 33 min, and .02 seconds. While it was an awesome effort, and the fastest time in the past 20 something years that we know of, the record was set 28 years ago with a time of 3:07. Now we'll have a new goal for next year.

Driving early in the morning...anticipating the run.

Great view of the tetons.

brynlee playing on bunk beds at the "hostel" in Jackson where we stayed.

Off to run..

And back 3:33:02 later.

Catching his breath. Well done Luke.

A family photo we had taken after Luke ran the Grand Teton.

And who could start off September without going to the fair. Grandma and Grandpa Nelson came into town just in time and took us to the fair. Brynlee and Chlöe enjoyed walking around, but Brynlee still doesn't like feeding the animals, she is willing to get closer now. Grandpa was very patient with her and spoiled us a lot at the fair, Thanks again.

Following the Grand, Luke ran the Wasatch 100 trail race. Luke's parents were able to help out with the race while they were here, which made it so nice. We were all able to be there and cheer him on. With trail races you can only see the runners when they go into aid stations so there are usually several hour in between when you see the runners. Luke was at the front of the pack and moved between 2nd and 3rd position through the 100 mile race. Each time we saw him he looked great and was feeling great, 2 things which usually don't happen when most people run for 100 miles. Luke felt like he had run the perfect race, his training and nurtition were where they needed to be and he ended up finishing 2nd overall. He ran 100 miles in under 20 hours. A time for the Wasatch that is incredible. There have only been 6 people in 32 years to run the race in under 20 hours. We were really happy for him! Plus it was fun to watch him do so well. If you are interested he has a race report on his blog, which you can read here.

After the race we came home, Chlöe turned One! I can't believe that she has turned one already. She had a fun little birthday party and did not dissapoint in getting attention. She was quite entertaining as she was opening her gifts and attempting to eat her cake.

Luke also became a year older after Chlöe, but we didn't really mention that too much.

Later that weekend, Nakita, Luke's sister got married in Twin Falls and it was a great opportunity for Luke's family to all be together. It was good to see a lot of people who we had not seen in awhile, but sad because Luke's parents headed back to NM after the wedding.

Nakita and Brandon

Chlöe and Grandma

Chöe

Brynlee then started Pre-School, which was a good thing because she could not wait any longer. She loves school and was so excited to get back into pre-school again. She started this fall with a new school, we are having her go to a montessori program and so far we have loved it for her. It is a great fit for her and I am excited to watch her grow and learn.

We rounded out the month with another session of running. This past weekend was the Bear 100, which starts in Logan, Ut and ends in Bear Lake. This time both Luke and I Paced runners that were running the course. It was the first time that I had the chance to pace a runner so I was a little nervous, but I think it turned out ok. I ran 17 miles, we'll hiked, from 8:30 pm to 4:15 am. It was dark the entire time so we used our headlamps and tried to have warm layers on because it got really dark. Overall it was a great learning experience on seeing what goes on at night in a 100 mile race, but it didn't convience me that it's for me. Who knows, maybe one day.

Car camping at it's best. In a parking lot making pasta. Better yet, Luke was cooking!

Chlöe hanging out in her "play-area"

The only thing that is left now is for me to enjoy a quiet conference weekend and to be inspired and Luke will finish off the month running down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River with his friend Ty. They will be running around 120 miles in 2 days and will be raising awareness for Salmon (the fish not the town- haha). You can also follow his run on his blog....

(So I got this up a little later than I had planned. You can read Luke's Epic adventure of 130+ miles running for 52 hours on his blog. I am just glad he made it home with out a rescue story)

This next month I am looking forward to changing colors, the smells of baking many goodies, and halloween!

Home Again,

2011-08-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

We returned from Cimarron, NM this past weekend and it was a little bitter sweet. We were really not ready to leave, but we needed to come back to work on the next stage of our life. I was sad to leave Philmont. We had a great time there. I am happy to be back in Pocatello, to shopping at Winco, Costco, Fred Meyers, TJ Maxx, and was surprised to see that we will soon be getting a Cafe Rio. But, I miss the quiet simple things we were able to do at the ranch together as a family. We were able to eat all of our meals together in the dining hall and were able to spend a lot of time together. It was great to have the girls be able to spend so much time with their grandparents.
Now being back, I miss dirt roads. I miss being able to walk across the street and run for a long time without seeing anyone but deer, or elk, or antelope, or possibly buffalo in the fields. I also miss the afternoon thunderstorm that would roll in cooling us off from the heat of the day. I miss seeing all of the big trees and baby deer running through the fields.....
But, We are back to enjoy the end of summer in Idaho and look forward to doing many more fun things. We have already gone to the cabin, been boating, went to the Pool, had snow cones (tigers blood of course), played in our yard, at the park, gone on wagon rides, and are planning a trip to the Zoo.
Here are a few more photos of things on the ranch.

Nelson Family Philmont Photo.

Brynlee and her new unicorn horn, which she is very proud of.

The girls at a playground in Taos, NM.

Grandpa Nelson and Brynlee playing golf in the back yard.

Chlöe on her first official day of crawling.

Me and the girls heading on our hike up to "Lovers Leap"

So long Grandma and Grandpa, we'll miss you.

Cimarron, New Mexico

2011-07-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Time has gone quickly by and we are almost to the end of our summer here at Philmont. We are starting to wind down, and I realized that I had not posted any photos of the girls yet this summer. Sorry. I am going to just share a few of our favorite photos and happenings.

On the way to New Mexico we stopped in a little (awesome, and our new favorite town) Silverton, Colorado. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the mountains area around this place. It is really breath taking, and kind of makes you want to live around the area. Luke and I were lucky enough to be in Silverton twice this summer. Once in May as we drove to New Mexico and then a few weeks ago for the Hard Rock 100. The snow was melted and it was gorgeous.

At Philmont there is lots of hiking to be done. Luke ventured out with Brynlee one day to hike the Iconic "tooth" at Philmont. (See photo below). They went up a very steep trail called the Stockade. Brynlee was a trooper and made it half way up to the top. It was a good practice run because a month later we hiked it for grandpa's birthday. Brynlee did great with all of us there and made it to the Tooth ridge and summited to the top! She got quite a welcome at the top by the other hikers that were on the ridge. They were very proud of her and so were we.

Besides Hiking we have been hanging out and playing. Grandpa Nelson built a sandbox which has been lots of fun for the girls. Chlöe has enjoyed eating the sand.

Grandpa and Dad also put up a tire swing, which has consumed a lot of Brynlee's time.

Brynlee has also enjoyed riding her John Deere bike, and pulling sister in the wagon on the hitch.

Chlöe loves the slide at the park. She goes down all by her self and it's hilarious to watch her slide down it.

Cowgirl Brynlee, riding her John Deere with her boots and her hat.

We have a lot more photos to show you, but this is all the time I have for now. I'll try to update again soon. So long from Cimarron.

Happy Birthday Brynlee

2011-05-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Brynlee Turned 4 Today!

Brynlee has been so excited for her birthday...if you are around her much you have been hearing about her birthday or have been asked on several occasions if she had turned 4 yet. She could hardly wait to be able to hold up four fingers and to catch up to her friends who were already 4. Early in the week Brynlee had asked me what a celebration was, I told her it was like a big party for a special event. She told me that she wanted a celebration for her birthday instead of a party. So, here are some details of her celebration.

Per her requested we celebrated her birthday Rapunzel style after the movie Tangled. I wasn't planning on doing much for her birthday and had only decided a week ago to have friends over, so I jumped online and found a few great ideas for her party. I usually don't make links to posts and mention much about what we do, but I would feel bad about not sharing the sites that I found information from, so here is some information. Disney had a whole website with activities and party ideas, even free invitations and a cake idea, I used most of them. I also found a few other sites that blogged about their parties as well. They were a big help. I spent a lot of time decorating the house, but it didn't cost much. Brynlee liked it a lot...but in the long run I might have gone overboard a bit. The party was for 4 yr olds, and lasted an hour and a half- so, anyway...lots of work for a short party. We just might keep the decorations up for awhile or move the Martha Stewart pom poms into the girls room for a bit.

Sorry the photos are so small. I was having problems uploading larger ones and I am not that good at taking photos so...we get what we get.

When the kids came they colored on coloring sheets from the movie and then we had a contest to see who could draw the best Flynn Rider nose. The kids drew a nose on a wanted poster and then hung their wanted poster up in the room. Most of the noses would have looked better on a jack-o-lantern vs. Flynn Rider, but that's what you get when you have 4 yr old artists.

Next, they played pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider's face. It was funny watching the kids place this because they had never really played pin the tail on the donkey, so it was fun watching them figure it out.

We needed to get some of their wiggles out so we headed outside. We lucked out on our Idaho weather and had sun shine which made it nice for a tug-of-war. One website had suggested braiding yellow rope and using it as Rapunzel's hair, but that sounded like way too much work so we used one of Luke's old climbing ropes instead. The kids had also never really played this before and it was funny watching them...they had a lot of fun and did a great job. At one point they all ended up on the ground pulling each other back and forth.

Next we headed to the pinata. We have a tradition in our family that on Birthday's and other get togethers we usually have a pinata. No party is complete without one at our house. Some of the kids had been at Brynlee's last years party where we had a pinata for her Dora Party, and they were all ready for it this year. They did a better job at it this time around, but we still stepped in and helped a little in order to get the candy out.

(This was the poor pinata after the party)

After all the "sugary candy" was picked up we headed inside for some healthy snacks. I placed strawberries, grapes, cheese, crackers, and carrots in two skillets that I had. (I also saw this online)

The kids quickly ate this up and then moved on to the cake, cupcakes, and presents. Brynlee's cake was more of a decoration than anything else. It was from the Disney website as well, so I just copied it. It wasn't hard, it just didn't look as nice as the one online, but people could tell what it was so that was good.

Before the kids went home we gave them party favor bags, I didn't get a photo of them but they included a thank you bag with bubbles, a pencil, and a set of watercolor paints that had a print I modge podged on that I found here as well.

Phew, well that was the party. We were tired after that, so after the kids went home Brynlee, Chloe, and I curled up in the basement and watched Tangled.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart. You make everyday an adventure and exciting.

What we've been up to

2011-04-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of updates to cover. I was shocked to see how long it had been since I had updated the blog. Sorry.

Since I last wrote anything, Luke has traveled to Italy to compete in the World Ski mountaineer Championships. He did well. He placed 19th overall against the other competitors and was the first US finisher in the events he competed in. Job well done Luke. He also competed at the Wasatch Powder Keg and won first place. Good job again, Luke.

After getting home from Italy, Luke then finished up preparations to go to Peru with Idaho Condor on a humanitarian trip. He spent time there over spring break with a large group that provided medical and dental services to remote villages around Cuzco, Peru.

Now that he is home, we are in training mode for running. Let's hope spring decides to come soon so it will be funner to run outside.

Brynlee took ski lessons this year. I was a little worried about her riding the lift without Luke or I but she was fine. It was fun watching her learn to ski. By the end of the lessons she was going all by herself and wanted to straight-line it for the bottom of the chairlift, from the top. For being sometimes timed, she was a little too fearless.

Chlöe is getting so big SO FAST. She will be 7 months old on the 13th. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. She is still an awesome little girl, I love her to pieces. She is so easy going and happy. She has rolled over a few times but is mostly mastering the art of sitting and drooling.

For Christmas Luke bought me a new DSLR camera! I couldn't believe it, and I am so thankful for him and that he was willing to spoil me and get me a nice camera. It has been fun taking good photos of the girls. Hopefully I'll get better, but for now these are some fun photos of the girls I have played with. It's fun being able to take photos of them together, while they like each other :)

Weather

2011-02-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

The weather looked like this outside today.....

So with a little help from my sous-chef...

We made this....

That looked like this...

....taste tester approved.

Effect International

2011-02-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

A Busy New Year

2011-01-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning of New Years we took the girls skiing up to Pebble. Even though it was very chilly outside, Brynlee was quite a trooper and enjoyed going skiing.

Thank goodness for a ski harness. Dad makes a good Brynlee Lift.

Bynlee skiing down and practicing her "Pizza"

Luke and Brynlee on the chair lift

The First weekend of the New Year, Luke skied in the US National Ski Mountaineer Championship race that was held in Jackson Hole, WY. He has been racing in ski mountaineering for several years, but this year his fitness level and ski gear were in line and he was able to pull out a great race. He finished third overall, but was the second American to cross the finish. This race was also a qualifier for the US Skimo team. The first three American finishers would qualify to be on the national team that would compete in February in Italy. Luke is very excited and will be heading off to Italy next month! We are super excited for him, and even though I will not be going over...we will be supporting him from home base.

Here are a few photos of the end of the race. I was not able to make it to the start, just the end of the race. If you go to http://www.powdermag.com/features/news/skiers-in-tights/ there is a feature article and it describes the race a bit as well as showing them climbing Corbet's.

Here is Luke finishing the race, Stoked and in Lycra.

Brynlee was making snow angels as we waited for Luke to finish.

The day following the National Championship race, Targhee also held a skimo race that was a qualifier for the US Skimo team. Luke raced it as well and came in fourth overall, third American. It was a very chilly morning. Here is a photo of the sun burning off the morning fog at Targhee. I was hiding in the lodge, believe me it was cold.

The starting Line,

The race is on, skiing up the mountain...

and up...

Girls waiting in the lodge, keeping warm.

Finished 4th overall.

Good race, Very cold, frozen face. Now to train for world's in Itally.

Chlöe is growing up so fast. She is 4 months old now and I feel bad that I haven't taken as many photos of her as I did Brynlee. It breaks my heart that I can't turn back time and have those moments again to take photos of her cute little face. SO I have vowed to take more photos! I am leaving my camera out and taking photos weekly.

Here are a few photos of Chlöe sitting up in her new big girl chair. I love this thing!

I started giving her a little bit of rice cereal, which she loved. Here is her first food experience. As you can see, she was very happy about the experience.

Brynlee is now loving the camera and also had to have a photo taken. Who can blame her, she is dang cute.

We were given this cute little bunny hat by a good friend. All I can say is stinken cute! Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!!!!

Christmas

2010-12-31T11:10:00.001-08:00

This year we celebrated Christmas at our home with Luke's family. It was nice having his family with us, especially where they live so far away. On Christmas Eve, we drove to Shelley and had dinner with Luke's grandparents and cousins. Santa made a special appearance at the end of the party and Brynlee and Chlöe were lucky enough to have Santa bring them gifts. They both did well on Santa's Lap. Brynlee told me that she wasn't going to be afraid of Santa this year.

Brynlee helped clean up after the festivities and had fun being pushed around on the broom.

We had to hurry home so Luke and Brynlee could get ready for Santa. They frosted ginger bread cookies.

Chlöe hanging out, watching and drooling. (I can't beleive how big she is getting)

Putting out the milk and cookies for Santa.

The Girls in there p.j.'s getting ready for bed.

Brynlee sleeping soundly with her favorite horse, waiting for Santa.

Waking up Christmas morning

Finding stockings under the tree

Chlöe hanging out with grandpa, sucking on her thumb....she didn't last long.

Brynlee had great expressions while opening her gifts. We were lucky to catch a few. She was really fun this year. She brought a lot of excitement into our home and it made Christmas better for all of us.

Brynlee with grandma opening a fun little gift.

She asked Santa to bring her a tool set. Lucky for her he listened.

This is a quilt that Grandma Nelson made for her. She was very excited because it had princesses on it.

In Pocatello we kind of missed out on the White Christmas thing, but the sun was nice. We headed for a walk/run up city creek before we ate our Christmas meal. It was nice to get out and it made our dinner even better.

We had a great Christmas. Thank you to family! I appreciate all that you do for us and it was fun to be together.

A snowy Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T06:45:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving brought with it a good storm, as I am sure most of us experienced. We headed to Rigby to be with my family for the feast. We thought we were being smart by leaving early on Wednesday to my parents house, but apparently so did everyone else. I-15 was packed with traffic and we were all driving on bad roads. Most of the time we were only going 25-30 miles per hour due to the icy roads and because of all the traffic. We did have time to enjoy a good sunset as we were driving 5 miles an hour here. The total time to drive from Pocatello to Rigby was 3 HOURS! Thank goodness our little girls decided to take a good nap.

When we arrived in Rigby we were surprised by the huge amount of snow that was there. My parents had large drifts everywhere and the cars were all snowed in. All of the snow was fun to play in and good for jumping off of. This drift went mid way to my dad's truck door and then covered the back as well.

Brynlee decided she wanted to go skiing out side. We wanted to get up to Targhee on Friday but it was a little too cold for the little ones. Thank goodness my parents had lots of snow in their yard, Brynlee had her own private bunny hill and chair lift (her dad).

After Skiing, we moved onto snowmobiling. Last year we attached a rope to the sled skis and then let Brynlee go in circles, but this year she has moved up in the world to driving on her own. She had a huge snowy field to ride in and Luke was able to run along side of her to help out.

After awhile Brynlee decided to give her little cousin Aliza (16 months) a ride on her snowmobile. It was hilarious to watch Brynlee drive around the little sled with her cousin hanging on the back of it. They both did great!

If you are wondering what Chlöe did the whole time....Well this photo sums it up. She slept most of the time at my parents.

Great-Grandma Joyce held her for awhile and entertained the girls. Thanks Grandma.

On Saturday we drove over to the Rexburg bench and went for a snowmobile ride. Here are a few photos of Brynlee and Luke and Grandpa Allred.

Brynlee and Chlöe keeping warm in Grandpa's snowmobile trailer.

Catching up again

2010-11-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

The Nelson family is finally settling in and we are slowly getting into better routines around here. We have had a lot of changes with a new baby, Luke's new job- well career actually, and with me staying home full time. I had always looked forward to the day when I did not have to work or have most of the responsibility to work but now finally being here has taken some adjustments. I have had to remember that it takes a long time to get things done and I have had to adjust my expectations. My favorite part about being home with the girls is not having my life scheduled on the hour, well almost and having time with them...seeing the llittle things.

Here are a few photos of Halloween and Chlöe's blessing. I need to stay up with taking photos of little Chlöe because she is changing so fast. This was taken last week. Her little face has filled out much more, but I wish time would slow down a bit.

This is our craft project Brynlee and I made for Halloween.

Brynlee and Dad at the Trunk or Treat.

Our trunk decorated for the event. Luke purchased a fog machine, the kids thought it was fun.

She was a little unhappy. I think it is because she fell asleep during her first trick or treating experience and was sad that she missed it.

Brynlee being Cheesy with little sister.

Brynlee having fun playing in the leaves at Brandi and Jake's house.

Big Sister and Little Sister shirts.

Grandma and Grandpa Nelson with Chlöe

Grandma and Grandpa Allred with Chlöe

Newborn Session

2010-10-08T16:23:00.001-07:00

I am so excited to show all of you these photos that were taken of Brynlee and Chlöe. We had them taken when Chlöe was 4 days old in Blackfoot at Paisley Studios. Again I highly recommend this studio! Anyway....see for your self

Chlöe Skye Nelson

2010-09-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Finally I am able to introduce you to the newest member of our family. I wanted to do this much earlier but I have spent the last week recovering from a nasty Battle with Mastitis! I had a really bad infection, and I am glad to finally be on the mend and to feel somewhat back to normal.

Chlöe Skye Nelson was born on September 13, 2010. She weighed 6 LBS and 2 oz, 17 in long.

Her labor was awesome. Five hours from first contraction to when she was born at 10:30 in the morning. She has been a great baby. She actually does what newborns are suppose to do, sleep and eat. It has been nice to have some time to recover from, well everything. Brynlee was not sure what to think of her sister at first. We had a rough first week as she was not sure what to think, but after spending a great one on one weekend with my parents in Rigby she was alright with coming home and was ready to be a big sister. She has gotten more comfortable with her little sister every day and has gotten back to being her good ol' self again. We are glad to have our happy Brynlee back.

A little information on Chlöe's name.

My great grandma's name was Chloe Nelson (No relationship to Luke's side- just so you know)

Luke's Grandpa Nelson is from Sweden, so we thought we could pair my great grandmother's name with a Swedish spelling. As for Skye- it means clouds and Brynlee's middle name is Sierra- meaning mountains, we thought it would go together well- and would represent our love for the outdoors.

There will be more photos to come. These were all I had on my computer. Getting sick put a damper on the amount of cute photos, so don't worry more to follow. We did a newborn photos session in Blackfoot at Paisley Studios and had some amazing photos taken of Chlöe by herself, with Brynlee, and then a few with me. I am excited to get them back and post them. Just a plug for the studio that took the photos, they were amazing to work with and worked magic with a little three year old sister that did not want her photo taken with her sister.

LIfe is Crazy

2010-09-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to catch our blog up for a while now but have been unsuccessful. This past month has been crazy busy and I will try to catch up on the details.

We took a little family road trip late in August and drove to Sun Valley, stayed at Red Fish lake and then headed to a friends wedding along the East Fork of the Salmon River. It was a beautiful drive and we were able to see amazing mountain ranges every where we drove. It was nice to get out and enjoy some of the last good weeks of summer.

Over Labor Day weekend Brynlee and I signed up for the Pocatello Marathon's events. I walked the 5K and Brynlee ran, well attempted to run in a .2 mile kid race. We figured with all of the races Brynlee has followed Luke and I to, she would have fun running in her own.

Being pregnant, walking the 5K was not as easy as I thought it would be, but I slowly made it.

Luke ran the Wasatch 100 mile trail race over this past weekend. He did very well and finished the 100 miles in less than 24 hours. What makes it more amazing is that his knee was in horrible pain and he was still one of only 16 people who finished in under 24 hours. (a total of 250 people signed up for the race). I was very proud of him. I was not able to be there to support him on this race, due to my pregnancy moving along faster than we planned on it was better that I stay home and not travel to Utah. We did not want to have our little girl come into the world while he was running the race.

I ended up going into labor on monday morning.... and I will post about that adventure later.

Luke Graduated!!!

2010-08-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that Luke officially graduated from PA school on Friday!

Yeah, we are so excited. He will take his boards on August 17th in SLC and then we will wait some more to make sure he passes and then he will get his licence and begin his job in September with Idaho Sports and Orthopedics.

Congratulations Luke. Thank you for all of your dedication and hard work the last...well, thanks for hanging in there for the past eight years of school and marriage!

We were able to give Luke a few good surprises for graduation. His parents drove 14 hours from New Mexico to surprise him and come to graduation. It was fun to have them here with us and it was great seeing Luke's reaction when he realised that his family had come to support him.

Later after graduation we held a little surprise lunch for Luke in the back yard and had a few friends over to hang out and celebrate Luke's accomplishment with school.

I just want to thank all of our amazing family members and friends who have been there along the way. We couldn't have done it with out all of the support of family and friends- so THANK YOU!

New Mexico

2010-07-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

This month while Luke was in Seattle, Brynlee and I went down to see Grandma and Grandpa Nelson at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch. We were able to stay with them for a week. It was nice to get down to the Ranch and spend time them. Brynlee enjoyed hanging out with her Grandparents and when it was time to leave didn't want to go home. I didn't blame her, we had a lot of fun and home was a long trip away.

Here are a few of the things we were able to do while visiting.

Here is Brynlee's action shot. She has been jumping off everything lately.

Brynlee with Grandma and Grandpa

Brynlee playing on the toys at the Ranch. She could have spent hours on the swing and slide.

Brynlee was able to paint stamps and made this T-shirt at the craft center. Way to go Brynlee.

Brynlee was able to cook Smores several times.

She really enjoyed catching them on fire and then liked to shake them. Thank goodness grandpa helped stop the flame so nothing started on fire.

Here is my Cow-Girl. Brynlee was lucky enough to have a new outfit and cowgirl boots to ride her favorite pony, Butterscotch.

Grandpa and Brynlee setting off for her pony ride

Brynlee riding all by herself. (Kind of) At least she is Happy and is touching an animal.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back again to the Ranch.

Hippie

2010-07-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

With a three year old there comes a time when they insist on dressing themselves. I have been documenting Brynlee's concoctions of outfits and I've decided she is a hippie. Here are a few of our favorites.

Fouth of July

2010-07-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone National Park

This fourth of July Brynlee and I headed up to Yellowstone National Park to meet up with my family. We were without Luke this year so it made it feel a little different. Luke is in an ER rotation in Seattle Washington so we missed having him around for the holiday.

The first day we were in the park we went out on Yellowstone Lake with my Dad and Jake. They were able to do a lot of fishing that morning. Brynlee and I had fun hanging out in the boat with them. Brynlee fished for a while but it didn't last long. She just had fun driving the boat, playing around, and eating snacks. It was fun speding time with Jake. He was leaving for Basic Training a few days later so it was nice to have some time with him before he left to SouthCarolina. Brynlee will miss her Uncle Jake a lot.

Driving the boat with Papa.

Brynlee attempting to catch a fish. No luck.

Papa, Uncle Jake, and Brynlee on the boat.

Cousin Aliza and Brynlee with their matching Ranger hats that Papa got them.

Later we took a drive to see the Canyons of Yellowstone. It was fun to watch Brynlee see Yellowstone for the first time. She liked walking around the paths and looking at the huge water falls. She impressed all of us when we walked down to see a section of water falls. We walked down an exposed metal stair case that was over 300 steps long. Brynlee got down just fine with the help of me and my dad, but we were worried about the way up and how she would do. Considering she has most of her dad's blood running through her I should have known not to worry. She climbed all the steps and did it faster than we could. Then to rub it in she ran most of the way up the trail back to the car.
Brynlee and I at the lookout point for the falls.

The big stair case, heading back up.

We also checked out the stinky sulfur pots. It was funny watching Brynlee as she tried to figure out where the smell was coming from. This is at a "mud pot" geyser, the next one to it sounded like a dragon and she liked that one a little better.

Brynlee and my parents on a beach along side Yellowstone Lake.

Brynlee and I at the "Black Pool." I loved the bright colors of it.

Brynlee and Grandma eating Tin Foil Dinners.

Brynlee cooking her first marshmallows by herself.

Eating Smores, our favorite camping dessert. Yummm!

This was the mighty 4th of July Parade in Grant Village. It consisted of a few cars and the employees of the area...most of which were not from the U.S. It was pretty funny. Brynlee was the only child watching the parade and ended up with a handful of 4th of July mints for candy.

Old Faithful. I wanted a photo with Brynlee by it, but she was more concerned with going to the car and watching a movie than seeing the Geyser. Guess we'll have to go back when she is older.

On the way home we stopped by Big Springs and Brynlee fed the fish. They were not very interested so we found a group of baby ducks that were much more fun to feed.

Thanks Dad and Mom for a fun 4th!

Bye Uncle Jake, we will miss you and look forward to seeing you at Christmas.

Weekends

2010-06-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

The last few weekends we have been trying to enjoy some time as a family before Luke leaves to Seattle for a month. We went to Rigby to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Allred. While there we were able to play at the Riot Zone. Brylee had so much fun. We took a few rides on the go carts, played a round of miniature golf, and then Brynlee spent 2 hours playing on the huge blow up toys. She ran non-stop for nearly 2 hours, climbing and sliding and jumping. It was so funny to watch her just run and run. She always likes to tell me that she is a "running girl." Thanks mom and dad for a fun weekend!

We spent last weekend up at my parents cabin. It was rainy and cold, but we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful green mountains. This past weekend we went to Utah and supported Luke in the Wasatch Steeple Chase race. This is his third year running the 17 mile trail race and he did awesome. He won the race and nearly beat the record. He ran 17 miles half of which was running up a huge steep mountain and then back down again. His time was 2 hours and 16 min! He only missed beating the record by 36 seconds. It has been fun watching him at his races. This year he has done really well. He placed first at the Menan Butte race, setting a new course record, then third at the Pocatello 50 which was cut short due to the snow over memorial day weekend, and then first again this weekend. Way to go LUKE!

Kitchen Updates

2010-06-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

For mother's day this year Luke told me that he would make remodeling our kitchen a priority. Yeah! I have been waiting for us to be able to do this so I was very excited. Luke with the help of my brother Jake pulled up the flooring, well...as much as we could. Our original plan was to lay tile down, but after seeing hard wood floors under the linoleum flooring we did not have the heart to cut it out. We refinished the hardwood in a really nice walnut color and then were lucky enough to have a friend install granite. Never in my wildest dreams would I have granite, but we could not pass up the price. Next, we will move to updating the cabinets. Not sure yet what we are doing, but I will post photos when we get it done.

This is how it looks today. We are looking at doing a tile back splash and are just waiting for the tile. I love how it has turned out. The darker flooring and and counters really warms up the kitchen. Plus, my favorite part is no more old yucky WHITE linoleum that showed everything on the floor.

Brynlee Turned Three

2010-06-20T20:04:00.001-07:00

Brynlee turned three clear back on May 1st. She had requested a Dora Party with Rice and Beans, so we had a little fiesta. We had friends and family come over, we were a little crowded but we were happy to have everyone together for her birthday. We were crossing our fingers for good weather, but as you know we did not have a good spring. We did get a break in the weather and were able to have the little girls go outside for a pinata. Brynlee had a lot of fun and I can't believe she is three years old.

Spring Updates

2010-04-27T16:03:00.001-07:00

This spring we attended Baby animal days in Logan, Utah again. This time we had more company. My parents came along with Jake, Brandi, and Aliza. Brynlee still wasn't sure of what to think of the animals. I was hoping that having one year to grow up would have helped her to be less afraid of touching little harmless baby animals, but this was not the case. Again, even with grandma and grandpa she was too afraid to touch anything. She decided just looking was good enough. Her favorite part ended up being a little train ride. While it doesn't look like it on her face she really liked this part. Hopefully one of these days we will move past this part. At the end of the day they had a candy canon that went off and all the kids could get little goodies. I was surprised how well she did. She actually got quite a few pieces of candy even though there were so many kids. She ended up picking up the candy that was closest to us while all of the other kids ran for the middle. Overall it was a nice day to be out with the family.

While we were in Logan my parents, Casey, Brynlee, and I ran another 5K race. It was good to have my parents out and running again. My dad pushed Brynlee in the Chariot and was able to get third place in his age division. Way to go Dad. It was fun to be able to get out as a family and see them be active and do well. Even my mom ran/walked and had a very good time. Now we just need to find a few more for them, thank goodness for the Pocatello Fun Run Series.

Easter was nice. We didn't have the best weather but we did get out for a little Easter egg hunt.Brynlee enjoyed finding her eggs and helping her little cousin Aliza find eggs as well. It ended up being a quiet Easter because Luke had to ski patrol so Brynlee and I watched conference and stayed in side.

Since Easter our weather has been up and down, normal for Idaho spring but I always have high hopes for something better. Brynlee has been dying to get out side ever since last weekend when the weather was way too nice and has been talking about going to the pool nearly every day. She can not wait, and I have to admit I am a ready to sit at the pool as well.

Over spring break Luke went to Peru with Idaho Condor. It is a group made up of medical and dental professionals and students that go to small villages out side of Cusco Pero and offer services to the indigenous people. He was gone for 12 days and had an amazing trip and is already planning on the next trip back to Peru.

Right now I am enjoying not working full time. I have completed the spring semester with the hygiene students so I have a few weeks off unit I work a few days in summer clinic. It is nice to have this part completed, and knowing that summer is around the corner and that Luke will be graduating soon makes me very very happy.

Brynlee's birthday is coming up this weekend. She has been excited for a Dora Party for nearly 6 months now, so we can't let her down. She has been very excited for her Dora Party and has been talking about the different aspects of this party. We will be having a Dora cake and several different dora themed games. Luke and I talked to her about what kind of food she wanted for her birthday, we told her that she could choose her most favorite type of food to have with her friends and family, and guess what she chose?? She said she wanted Rice and Beans..... Rice and Beans is a three year old's favorite food! Funny huh, I love it! (I am not sure if this girl knows what a Happy Meal is...) So needless to say we will be having a fiesta! Dora Party here we come!!!

Bad Blogger Award

2010-03-14T14:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry Family and Friends,

I have done a really really bad job these last few months of keeping up with posting what has been happening with our family. I missed posting any information on Christmas and the New Year, not to mention many other small and fun Holidays that I didn't have to work. So now is the time to get motivated and feel like I can do more than I have been for the past three months.

Here is a rough summary of what we have been up to.

Work and School.

Ha ha.... sad right, but true. We have had some fun in there and have gotten out as a family and done a few things, I won't lie.

Christmas was fun. We spent Christmas at the Cabin with my family. It was nice to be in the mountains, it was quiet, simple, and nearly perfect. It was one to remember for a long time.

After Christmas, I have forgotten things. We went cross-country skiing for Martin Luther King day and then last month went night skiing with our friends at Pebble. Their little girl and Brynlee had a great time. It was so fun to see them enjoy the cold evening on the hill skiing with one and other. I hope it will be something the both of them will still enjoy as they get bigger. Grandpa and Grandma Allred (aka my parents) came down and brought the snowmobiles. We went riding up Mink Creek. It was a lot of fun and Brynlee discovered how to ride her "kitty Kat" by her self. It was a bit scary for us but she survived. I will make sure to post the video of her riding it, it is hillarious. Well other than that, we have been busy with work and school. It will soon come to an end, I have a month and a half of working full time and then I will only work 2 days a week after the university is closed for spring semester. I am looking forward to the break, and after yesterdays snow and today's cold tempetures I am really looking forward to spring and summer with warm days, flowers, gardens, running in the sun, playing at the pool, walking around the zoo, and only working 2 days a week. HERE IS TO Summer!

Spring Fairy

Brynlee and Grace "high five" before racing each other down the hill

Night Skiing at Pebble Creek

Brynlee and Papa Allred Snowmobiling at Cabin

Brynlee and cousin Aliza sledding down the road at the cabin

Weekend at Cabin

2009-12-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

Luke finished the last day of his third rotation. I am happy to report that we only have 5 more rotations left until graduation. (Can you tell we are counting down?) To celebrate his "last" Christmas break we headed up to Palisades with my parents to their cabin. We had a great weekend of relaxing and playing in the snow. We were excited to see all the snow that came down. It snowed consistently the two days that we were up there. We did a lot of playing in the snow and Brynlee enjoyed riding the snowmobile again. She also did a little skiing with her Sad and Papa Allred.

The biggest excitement/work came when my dad's truck got stuck in the snow and then slipped down to the side of the mountain. The snow gods must have been mad at us for driving the truck to the cabin on the 11th of December and got back at us. It took 4-5 hours of work, along with a chain wench, and lots of digging to get the darn thing off the mountain, but at least we are all home safe and will be driving the snowmobiles to the cabin through the rest of winter.

Trying to pull the truck off the side of the road. There is a steep slope on the right side of the truck.

This is my dad's truck stuck on the side of the road leaning down the mountain.

Luke throwing Brynlee up.

Papa Allred, Luke, and Brynlee getting ready to go skiing

Brynlee pulling funny faces on the "kitty cat"

Brynlee getting rides on the sled. Lucky girl.

SNOW

2009-12-06T20:17:00.001-08:00

We here happy and a little surprised to wake up to snow on Saturday morning. Brynlee and I decided that we would go out and have a little fun. We went over to my brother Jake's house and played in the snow. He has a little artic cat snowmobile. Last year Brynlee wanted nothing to do with it, but this year she was fine. Here are a few photos of us in the snow. Brynlee liked eating it as much as playing in it. She also attempted a snow angel, which was funny to watch.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T09:58:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving we spent with the Nelson's. Luke's parents drove up from New Mexico and then his sisters met us at our house for Thanksgiving. We had 12 family members over for Thanksgiving in our little house. I was afraid that it would be tight, but it actually worked out very well. We moved our couches out to the garage and set up the tables in the living room. Our guests included Luke's parents, his two sisters Nakita and Sasha along with her fiance Dave. Luke's grandparents, my parents, and younger brother Casey. It was fun to have everyone together.

Prior to Thanksgiving DAY, Luke made an announcement that if our family wanted to come to thanksgiving at our house then they would all need to participate in the Turkey Trot 5K race. Everyone agreed, minus grandma and grandpa Nelson. We had runners, walkers, and a little of both. It was a lot of fun to wake up and go out for a run/walk on a beautiful brisk morning. After the race we hurried home and began getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up soaking the turkey in a Brine sauce overnight, it was from a recipe that I found from the pioneer woman. I love her website and have never gone wrong with any of her suggestions. I was a little worried about the turkey because it was the first time I had really cooked one, but it turned out tasting great. The dinner turned out well, but it seemed to be over so quickly that I was kind of sad when it was done.

We had a great time visiting with family and having so many in a small space, but not that everyone has gone home, it is a little too quite around here.

Bonfire for SNOW

2009-11-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the annual Bonfire for Snow at Luke's Bosse's house. It was a lot of fun, and we were happy to have snow already on the ground. We warmed up by eating good chili and then headed outside to enjoy a large bonefire. This bonfire does have an unusual twist, so don't tell your enviromentalist friends, but there are many old skis, snowboards, boots, and a few bikes that get burned. They are an offering to the snow gods to help give us lots of snow this winter.

Staying warm by the fire.

Group gathered around the fire

Several skis and boots.

If you look real close you can see the back of a bike.

Fall Photos

2009-11-14T16:45:00.001-08:00

I was playing around with my brother's camera the other day and got some cute photo with Brynlee. It was one of the last nice sunny days we had before a little bit of snow came.

Meeting Pioneer Woman- Ree Drummond

2009-11-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite websites is thepioneerwoman.com. She has 5 different sections to her website and my favorite is the cooking section. She has great recipes and photos with each step. I highly recommend visiting her site.

She came out with a cookbook and had a book tour, but the closest she came to Idaho was SLC. Erica, a good friend of mine, and I decided to take a trip to SLC for a afternoon of window shopping and book signing. We should have know that people in Utah seem to be obsessed with people and that we should have gotten to the book signing venu hours and hours before it started, but we did not. We arrived at 6 and did not get our cookbooks signed untill 11:00 at night. Yes, we were a little crazy considering we got back into Pocatello at 2:00 A.M. and had to be to work by 8:00. All and all it was nice to get out and have girl time...and not to mention it was neat meeting Ree.

New Shutters

2009-10-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Luke put new shutters on our house this weekend. It is hard to tell from the photo,but they are ceder shutters. It dresses it up a bit more, and I think we will also be adding them to the other windows.

Brynlee's first dental visit

2009-10-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

I had some down time at work this week so I figured I would take Brynlee in and try her first dental "Happy Visit." Being the daughter of a dental hygienist I was hoping that she would do good and let me touch her teeth. At first when she saw the dental chair all covered in plastic she wansn't sure what to think, but as soon as I turned on the t.v. to cartoons, she didn't care what I did. I am happy to report that it was a successful visit, she let me remove the plaque, polish, and even let me give her fluoride, which most kids hate. Way to go Brynlee!

Fall Updates

2009-10-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

Luke accomplished a major goal this running season- He ran the Bear 100! He did an amazing job as well. He ran 100 trail miles in 21 hours and 55 min. The race went from Logan to Bear Lake and had a ton of vertical climb and drop. I can't remember how far exactly, but it was a lot. He finished 4th overall in under 22 hours. The crazy thing is that only 9 people ran 100 miles in less than 24 hours. 99 runners completed the race and most of them did it in 30+ hours. This photo of Luke finishing was taken at 3:55 in the morning! What a fun and super crazy event! Nice job bud.

The Allred family reunion was again at Medow Lake. We lucked out this year and had really good weather. It was really fun to have the family together and it was very relaxing. Brynlee is getting older and loves camping and spending time with extended family. She also had a good time telling everyone what to do- you know, as a 2 yr old would.

Brynlee and Pappa Allred on the lake with a mighty squirt gun.

Brynlee and Uncle Jake fishing. She wasn't sure if she really liked the fish or not.

Brynlee and I were lucky enough to make it to my dad's grain harvest in Rigby in September. Brynlee enjoyed riding with Uncle Casey in the big grain truck. She was a little shy and did not want to ride in the combine, but maybe next year she'll be ready.

Brynlee and Mommy hanging out in the grain truck.

Brynlee and Pappa Allred watching the grain on the farm. Brynlee has a sad look on her face because she had only a few hours eariler received a very short hair cut from Grandma. So long hair. We are crossing our fingers that it will grow back soon and that Brynlee will stop twirling it and breaking it off.

Brynlee and Uncle Casey driving the grain truck.

I spent a little time this summer finishing those projects that never seem to get done. This is a dress I started making for Brynlee last fall and finally finished it this fall.

Luke and Brynlee's first day of school. Luke headed off to his first day on PA rotations and Brynlee started back into full time school at ELC. (So sad that summer is over).

Keiko, a friend from work, and I ran the Pocatello 1/2 marathon this fall. I ran it in under my goal time so I was happy with the results. (Now we'll think of running further next year). It was fun...well kind of. I was glad that I did it, but running on the road really isn't that fun. I am realizing that I am becoming a trail runner and that my body doesn't hurt as bad after running on trails.

25K El Vaquero Loco Trail Race

2009-08-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Luke and I ran a trail race in Afton Wyoming with a few friends from Pocatello. Luke ran the 50K race last year and loved the course, so when it fell on my birthday I thought it would be a great way to celebrate by running the 25k. The other reason why I wanted to run the race was for a race sweatshirt. Usually I get a t-shirt that I don't wear, but with this race you get a sweatshirt and a hamburger and huckleberry soda when you finish.... (yes, it was awesome to have at then end of the race).

I had never ran 16 miles before and the only trail race experience was on the 4th of July running a 5 mile Kelly Canyon trail that did not gain much vertical. The Vaquero gained over 4,000 vertical feet and reach 10,000 feet twice so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Kathleen, a friend from Pocatello, agreed to run it with me which was great because we saw amazing mountains, waterfalls, creeks, and wild flowers along the way. It was a great experience and I hope to run it again.

This past week we were de-compressing from a great week vacation and Brynlee learned a new trick. She can now stand on top of her dresser by climbing up the front. She was very proud of herself, but I hope it doesn't continue.

Summer Vacation

2009-08-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

New Mexico here we come.....

Luke had one week off for summer break between his didactic and clinical year, so we decided to get away and not think about school and work for a while. We headed to New Mexico to see Luke's parents in Cimarron (Philmont Boy Scout Ranch). It is a 14 hour drive that we spit up in 2 days. Our first destination was Cortex, CO. We drove through Utah, which made the drive go by very quickly. (last time we drove across Wyoming and it seemed to last forever). We camped the first night in Cortez and then got up early the next morning and went through Costa Mesa National Forest and went on a tour to see ancient cave dwellings. It was very interesting to see and quite amazing to see how people set up their homes in the side of a canyon wall.

After Cortez we headed down south to New Mexico.

It was good to spend time with Luke's parents. We went on an early morning bike ride, drove around to several camps, and hiked to the top of Mt. Baldy. Brynlee was great on the trip, she was quite a "big girl." She rode a pony named Butter scotch, and did amazing. She is usually a bit scared around animals, but she did great. We really enjoyed our time in New Mexico and were sad when we had to leave, but Luke had a race in Park City, Ut. On the way home we retraced our path, but this time spent time in Moab at Arches National Park. It was amazing to see the huge arches and rock formations. It was quite impressive.

We arrived in Park City after a week of being gone from home. Luke was able to run the Jupiter Peak 16 mile race representing La Sportiva. He did well and placed 8th overall against very talented runners. Finally, later that night we made it home to finally see first hand our newly painted house.

Painting House

2009-08-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

Luke and I decided to have our house painted. It was looking a bit shabby from the weather, plus getting tagged didn't help our curb appeal. We hired our friend Todd - and what a task he had. It took over a week to finish the work, but I think it turned out nicely so far. We are going to add cedar shutters and put up a new flower box to add more character to the house. In the future cedar shakes will go in the eve above the window and we will add a new front porch. It looks a bit plain right now, but over time I think it will come together nicely. We really like our small home and hope to stay in it for many more years. Here are a few photos of the house in the phases we were here for. (We left on vacation to New Mexico before any of the paint went on the house- so I was a bit worried to see what we would come home to find).

4th of July

2009-07-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Summer finally came, well sort of...

We are excited to have a break from all of the rain. We have been getting outside and are loving it. For the 4th we were able to get away early with my dad and headed up to the cabin. It was so nice to leave and see the gorgeous mountains and see how green and lush everything was. We relaxed on friday and took a short boat ride between the rain showers. Saturday Luke and I ran a trail race at Kelly Canyon. Luke took 2nd overall in the 10 mile race, and I took 1st women overall in the 5.5 mile. It was a ton of fun, and I pretty sure I am getting turned into a trail runner. Sat. afternoon we headed to Jackson Hole Wyoming and we watched the fire works and enjoyed walking around to some of the shops. We finally headed home on Sunday after a great relaxing weekend.

Catch UP

2009-07-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

Well it should be no surprise that I have not done well at updating this blog. I apologize to the family that lives far away from us and is not able to see Brynlee. I hope to get more blogs posted so that you can follow, and that I can document her growth. It is amazing to look back and see how much has changed in the past year. You will see when you compare the photos from last summer to now.

Some of Brynlee's favorite things...

Juice and chocolate milk
Ice cream cones
Going to the park and eating lunch
Playing with the big girls
She likes to say "OK" for about anything
She loves getting pushed on her bike
Rides with Papa Allred on the 4-wheeler
Playing outside

Photos

2009-03-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of this last month

Spring Break

2009-03-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

This week is the beginning of spring break for ISU, but it has not started off well. Yesterday we received 3-4 inches of snow, and the forecast for the following days are not looking up. This past month we have been in our usual routine, work and school. We have gotten in a few days up at pebble and Luke has spent the last three weekends in randonnee races in Pocatello, Utah, and Jackson Hole. Those are now completed and we are heading into the beginning of running starting in April. Overall, we have not been doing anything exciting. We basically just go day to day and week to week... at least now through school, but we are looking forward to Spring.

Brynlee has been growing up a lot lately, she learns so much every day. We are getting close to 2yrs old now and she is quite the "big girl" now. We are slowly trying to decrease time with her binky, sometimes we have meltdowns, but she is gradually having it less and less. Her vocabulary is growing daily, and she is talking more and more. Her new sayings are now "Sure" instead of saying "yes," and she has been say "help you" instead of "help ME." That one has been a little confusing to her. She likes to help around the house and will cook dinner or "soup" on her little kitchen set. Her favorite movies right now are #1: shrek and #2: Nemo. We cannot get enough of Shrek, in fact she wants to watch it so much we actually had to take a break from Shrek for a week because she would wake up at night and want to watch Shrek. Who knew that a big green ogre could be so interesting for a 2 yr old. One day we might move on to princesses, but right now Shrek will do.

I guess I should mention that we did have something interesting or crappy happen to us last weekend. We had some punk come through our neighborhood and spray painted several houses, fences, and cars. Our car, house, and renters truck were all tagged. It wasn't fun, but it did come off with some elbow grease. I just hope the ones responsible will get caught- I'm voting for lots of community service!

2009-02-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

Mistake

2009-02-07T20:28:00.001-08:00

I need to mention that I have made a mistake with using Blogger. In an attempt to update my information I accidentally created a new blog. Whoops. So....you can also see us at lukeandtanaenelson.blogspot.com I will attempt to merge these two if anyone even attempts to look at our blog. So please stay tuned.

A New Year

2009-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

I am sure that it is no surprise that I have a problem keeping up with this blog. I did set a goal to at least update it monthly... so we'll see what actually happens.

We really enjoyed the Christmas season this year. Brynlee is growing up so much, and it is making life so much fun. I can't even tell you how much she cracks me up... she is quite the little character. For Christmas this year we headed down to New Mexico. Luke's parents moved there in April, so for Christmas they flew us down. Luckily we missed the major winter storms that came through the area. We had a lot of fun hanging out with the family. Luke and I got in a few days of skiing... yeah! Brynlee had a lot

of fun opening up all of her gifts, but I think she was more interested in ripping of the wrapping paper that actually what was inside of the boxes. However, she is now enjoying her gifts now that time has passed.

Now that the holiday season has passed, we are attempting to get back into our hectic routine. I am not excited about it because it was so nic

e to have luke home and actually spend time together as a family, but the sooner we get going the quicker he'll be done. Luke's PA school is still intense and I was hoping that this semester would be better, but so far he'll still be very busy. I hate to complain because I am thankful that he is in a good program that will give our family a promising future, and he works very hard, Thanks Luke.

We hope that you all have a great January

and I am crossing my fingers that I'll get a few more postings this month.

Here are a few Christmas photos of Brynlee.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

This past week Luke and my Dad and brother Casey were on the middle fork of the Salmon. Brynlee and I stayed home and hung out by ourselves. We had a fun week, and it helped that it was the 4th of July. This past week was very hot outside, so in order to cool off Brynlee and I went to the Ross Park Pool. She wasn't sure what to think about it at first, but she started warming up when I gave her a toy shovel to play with. She decided it was fun to splash it around in the water. Brynlee and I also enjoyed taking laps in the lazy river.

To celebrate the 4th, Brynlee and I went to Inkom to watch a parade and the headed to Rigby to spend time with my family. Luke got off the river and met us in Rigby later that night and then went to see fireworks in Menan. It was fun to watch Brynlee enjoy the fireworks. One of her favorite words right now is "Wow," but it's a drawn out long "Waaahhhw" or something like that. Brynlee also started clapping for the ones that she liked. It was fun to see her enjoy the fireworks this year!

We hope everyone had a fun forth of July!

Gardening

2008-06-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Brynlee helped me as we worked in the garden this weekend. She enjoyed paying in the dirt and pulling weeds, as you can tell from her face. She also liked pulling on my potato plants, but thank goodness they were a little stronger than her and should recover.

This weekend we also had the opportunity to attend my 10 year class reunion. It was fun to see friends that I have not seen for several years, and I look forward to seeing them in the future.

Graduation

2008-06-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

In may I finally graduated with my Masters of Science in Dental Hygiene.

It was fun to walk and to finally get hooded.

So what's in my future now??

I am not really sure yet. I have been visiting with ISU to see if I can start teaching there in the clinical and lab settings for the students, so I'm waiting to hear back from them. In the mean time I am enjoying my summer with Brynlee. We hope to get to the pool, and play a lot in our newly fenced back yard.

2008-05-07T08:43:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Brynlee

2008-05-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Brynlee turned one on Thursday!

I can't believe that she has been in our lives for a whole year. We have learned so much having her around. She definitely keeps us going and is awesome to have around. She is a kick in the pants, and we love watching her figure out the world around her. She has figured out the walking thing pretty well and loves to be on her feet.

Here are a few photos of her on her birthday as well as a fun photo shoot we did for her being one.

March is almost gone.

2008-03-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am not doing well with keeping up with my blog. Hopefully when I finish my thesis this summer I will have more time to update this blog.

This past month has been another busy one.

Luke had been competing in ski mountaineering races. Overall, he has done awesome. He was able to get first at the Pebble race, 9th in Alta, and 15th in Jackson. He did very well for his first season racing pro. We look forward to next year.

I have been busy working on my thesis and trying to keep with with Brynlee. My thesis is getting closer, and I am schedule to defend my thesis on the 30th of April. YEAH! I will be excited when I get this behind me. It will be great to walk on May 10th in celebration.

Brynlee is growing so fast. She is so close to walking. She loves to roam around the house now at her own will. As long as she has a wall to touch, she can go anywhere she wants. Easter was good for Brynlee, she received a new pair of Carhart bib overalls, sunglasses, her own Sigg water bottle, and a few new clothes. Grandma and Grandpa Nelson gave Brynlee her favorite thing right now- bubbles. She loves watching bubbles in the air, but I not sure who gets more enjoyment, it is a toss up between her and Pedro.

Happy valentines day

2008-02-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Happy "V" day:

I can't believe that we are half way through February already. Time is going by too quickly. I have a lot to get done before May graduation, so as the dates quickly go by it makes me a little sick.

This past week I went to Utah to a dental conference. Luke stayed home alone for the first time with Brynlee. She was very good to him and slept all through the night. I was gone for valentines day so it was a little quiet for us, but when I got home I found a homemade card from Brynlee and a dozen roses.

Brynlee Crawled

2008-02-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

On monday February 4th Brynlee finally decided to crawl. Luke was visiting her at daycare and we were lucky enough to get it on a cell phone video.

She wasn't too sure about it, but is slowly getting more confident with her skills. Her favorite thing to do lately is to walk around the couch, coffee table, kitchen walls, and nearly anything she can hold on to. We are slowly having to baby proof the house as she is perfecting the art of pulling out everything she sees.

First Snowmobile ride.

2008-02-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here is Brynlee's first snowmobile ride at Grandma and Grandpa Allred's. She is on the "Kitty Kat" sled that her Grandparents purchased after we told them that Luke and I were expecting. It will be a few more years before she'll love riding with Grandpa.

February all ready!

2008-02-01T22:11:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe how fast this last month has gone.

Highlights from this month include:

Our biggest news is that Luke was accepted into P.A. school at ISU! We are so excited that we will be able to stay here and finish school! Congrats to Luke for all of his hard work. He will start in Aug and will finish in Aug of 2010.
We were able to go skiing to Pebble Creek on the 21st. Brynlee came along and hung out with us in the lodge. We toted her around in the backpack. She got her first run in on the Bunny Hill! (on her dad's back)
On the 24th we were able to go through the Rexburg Temple open house. It was neat to see it, and we were able to take a friend with us who is not a member. It was a great experience.
Luke spent the last week in Las Vegas at the SIA ski and snowboard show. He worked for HEAD snowboards and Scott's Ski and Sports. He comes home tomorrow from a long week. We are excited to see him because Brynlee and I have had a long week.
Poor Brynlee has had a cold, now it is in her chest and she is loosing her voice. She has a bad case of diaper rash caused from a few days of the runs, and has bonked her head several times- one almost giving her a black eye. We will both be glad when she starts to feel better.

Welcome

2008-01-09T21:44:00.001-08:00

Hello Family and Friends,

Happy New Year.

One of my resolutions for the new year is to keep everyone updated with our family. We started this so family and friends could keep track of us and watch along with us how quickly Brynlee is growing up.