Well, I'm finally updating this blog. Here are a few things that we've been up to around here. Curtis and I had a great opportunity to go to Hawaii this summer with Peggy and Kelly. We had a lot of fun. The highlight for Curtis was the deep sea fishing. (I won't mention that I caught the biggest fish if he doesn't mention I was throwing up the entire time...15 foot swells!) We also have been dumping a lot money into home improvements this summer and fall. A new roof, sod, and fence sure make a big difference.

Kyle is really into horses these days and he got a chance to ride one at our Nielson family reunion this summer in Nephi. That was also the same week that Blake made two separate trips to the Emergency Room for stitches (well one was the superglue kind). We all thought Cole was going to be our emergency room kid, but Blake has that title.

Hannah and Blake are in swim club again this year and are doing great! This picture is from a meet in Lander (Hannah top left & Blake bottom left). Both of them have qualified for state and we'll all travel to Lander in April so they can compete. They both swim all the strokes but their favorite is breast stroke. Blake dreams of being the next Micheal Phelps.

Hannah spent four days in Yellowstone this fall with her fourth grade class. Here is a picture of her (in the purple coat) in front of Old Fathful. She had a great time and got the insiders tour and saw lots of animals. In fact, she got trapped in her cabin by a herd of buffalo.

Fall means one thing in the Nielson household now - Hunting Season! Cole and Kyle (and Dad too) were pretty excited when Curt brought home this nice buck. Curt also got an antelope and an elk. We now have a freezerful of meat that I have to figure out how to cook. Curt has also enjoyed some successful days of duck, swan, and goose hunting. Curt is in hog heaven here in Wyoming!

Things have been going great here on the home front. Cole had his 5th bithday and is still in preschool. He loves it and will be ready for kindergarten next year. He is learning how to read and loves to do anything where he can move his body! He is all boy!

Today was Blake's 8th Birthday and his Baptism. What a wonderful day!! We had a lot of family and visitors today and he had a lot of fun. The baptism was a great experience and had a wonderful spirit. We are so blessed to have Blake in our family. He is just so sweet and tender. It's great to be eight! All of Curt's family were able to make it and so were Kelly & Tom. Blake is now getting ready for is first cub scout meeting on Tuesday
and a scout camp at the end of June.

Here are a few more things we've been doing. Cole loves the computer he plays until he passes out. Hannah & Blake did great at their swim meet in Rawlins and Blake & Curt caught a few big ones out of the Ham's Fork.

Hannah and Lisa had a great trip with the third grade class to the zoo in Salt Lake City. Despite the freezing rain and the long bus ride it was really fun because the animals were very active. You can see the leopard pacing right in front of Hannah. She also got a greeting from the cougar which was quite interesting.

Baseball has officially taken over our lives. Hannah & Blake play for the Pirates and are having a great time. They are doing very well and get to play a variety of positions. Blake's favorite is catcher. They use a pitcher for half of the game and a pitching machine for the other half. Both are hitting great and Blake even got a triple the other day. He also stole home and made a great slide to beat the throw. We love being out at the ball field inspite of rain, wind and even snow!

Cole had a few fun activites with pre-school. First was his program where he sang songs and danced his little heart out. Second was a field trip to the walking trail and river. And third was his end of the year picnic at the park. He loves pre-school and looks forward to one more year there.

Well, it has been a while since my first blog so this may be a little long. We have been busy and now that school is out things should hopefully slow down a bit. The last month of school was a busy one. The kids started swim club again, so that means 3 practices a week. We are planning on making it to 4 swim meets this summer and hopefully making it to state in July. The kids are most excited about the end of the year party at Raging Waters (a water park in Salt Lake).

We have only had a few days of good weather, so we snuck in a few pictures on one of them.

Welcome to our site. We are excited to give this a try and will do our best to keep you informed on what is going on in our crazy lives. Today was a big day for Kyle. He got his first "big boy" haircut! Wow....Does he look different! I kept looking at him all day and saying " who's kid is that?" Also, every time we said something about his hair he would just smile and rub his head. I know someday Cole will have to go through this same process, but for now he will stay the same. It's just so much a part of who he is. Hannah and Blake are doing great in school and soccer. Hannah just had her dance recital last week and did great! We are looking forward to the warm weather and all the home improvement projects we have planned. First will be a new roof and shingles next weeek...Yea!