Dad's Visit - Christmas Extravaganza

My Dad was able to come and spend 2 weeks with us in November/December. What a fun visit. He was also here for his Birthday I haven't had a Birthday with my Dad in years. While he was here we celebrated Thanksgiving and his Birthday. Tyler made a delicious meal and I made some pretty awesome pies and a pumpkin cheesecake! DELISH... We hosted this year and had a blast. I love planning for parties. Another fun thing we did while dad was here was go to this fun Christmas Extravaganza at one of the parks where we live. They had reindeer/pony rides, santa, train rides, face painting, elves, cookies & it snowed. Addi loves horses, so we stood in line so she could ride Blossom!

 

 

While in line they had these big candy canes and Addi was loving them. She sure did love hanging out with Grandpa!!

 

 

My friend Stephanie was an elf at the event and did face painting. Addi is not for face painting, but didn't mind her hand getting painted. Steph did a wonderful job! Her snowflake was awesome!

 

 

 

While Dad was here we also went up Red Rock Canyon and hiked around. Dad loved it and so did Addi. I loved this picture of the two of them. I framed it and sent it home with Dad. Such good memories and fun times. We love you Dad.

Boo! Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween!

 

This year Addi wanted to be a princess. After looking at the options in the stores, she told me she wanted a purple and pink dress. As we watching Cinderella, Addi pointed out the purple/pink dress that Anastasia wears and asked for one. Well, they don't sell those in stores, so, I put my home economics classes and other talents to work and made Addi her very own princess dress! The pattern I used was a bit different than I have every used, BUT I learned alot. Next year's costumes: TBD, but I'm thinking super heros... Could be fun! 

 

 

 

Someone is 3

Our sweet Addi turned 3! Wow, how 3 years has gone by so fast..

This was her at her baby blessing August 2009

1st Birthday Party!!! 2010

2nd Birthday!!! 2011

Decorating Mickey Cookies our Theme for her 2nd Birthday 2011.

Family Photo!!! Addi is getting so big!! Just Love her 2012.

A Rose Cake!!! Orange, Purple and Pink!!!

Getting so big!!! New swim suit and Barbie to go to the pool!!!

Addi has a lot of wonderful qualities. She is so kind an sweet to everyone she meets and always says hi!!! She is tall for her age, totally a Nielson!!! She loves to learn new things. She loves Mars and Saturn (thank you Little Einstein's) She loves her stuffed disney pals. She loves puzzles and coloring. We love swimming together as a family too!!! Heavenly Father blessed us with this sweet little girl. So grateful she calls us her parents!!!

Happy Birthday Addi, we LOVE you!!!

4th of July 2012

What a fun day, we started the day at the Summerlin 4th of July Parade. It was a nice and cool morning compared to the weather we had been having!!! We stayed for about an hour and a half and left to go and get ready for a fun party at Haley and Jordan's house... Addi enjoyed swimming and Tyler and the rest of guys sat in the hot tub!!! I had fun the night before helping Haley sew decorations...Then we went home and Addi took a nap and rested for the grand show of fireworks

We folded the back seat of Tyler's Jeep down and sat in the back with blankets. Addi and I were chilly... ha that seems funny as we live in the desert in the beginning of July... Nice the heat wave decided to cool for the evening... What a great day to celebrate our independence and enjoy time with each other as a family!!!

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Mt. Charleston

We were adventurous this weekend... After the Grand Canyon, Marilyn got an ear infection, so Sunday and part of Monday was spent chilling at home. Monday though, we had to get out of the house. We ventured to Mary Jane Falls in Mount Charleston. What a beautiful place.

There was still ice up in the mountain!!! So fun...

Look closely, we had some deer cross our path, we were walking down the mountain and a lady who hikes the path regularly said that is was really rare to see deer!!!

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was one of those "bucket list" trips that we have been wanting to do for some time... Over Memorial Day weekend, we braved the wind and took off to see the Grand Canyon and it's amazing views...

Daisy and Donald accompanied us to the Grand Canyon, they are part of family too!!!

The Tribe that owns the land of the Grand Canyon Skywalk is not a casino tribe. We paid $30 for this photo, but felt it was worth it. It was a fun day!!!

Addi had so much fun she made it about 5 minutes down the road before crashing in her car seat!!! What a wonderful day!

Congratulations Graduate

This past weekend after a lot of hard work, Tyler graduated with his Associates of Occupational Science Degree, Culinary Arts... Tyler is sporting his medallion given to all graduates and the yellow rope signifies his graduating status of High Honors.

We are so proud of him and his accomplishments.

Congratulations Tyler!!!!

Denver

Over Easter weekend, Addison and I ventured to Denver!!! What a nice weekend. Thank you Jason and Heather for hosting!!! We just did a quick weekend trip, but enjoyed the time together. Saturday we went to the zoo!!! Addison had a blast and loves animals... We have so many books about animals it is so fun to see her name them. Addison LOVES Carousels, she was able to ride the elephant! Good thing she LOVES Dumbo!!!!

This is Addi with her two cousins Jaxon and Ethan.. They all 3 wanted to ride in the stroller... I love cousin time :)

Disney World Trip!!!

Wow, a whirlwind of a vacation... Monday had a 4.5 hour long plane ride... Addi did awesome in the airport and on the plane! She really does travel very well... Arrived in the Orlando airport about 12:30 am Tuesday morning.. That place was crazy. I was in the A terminal 3rd floor, baggage area 1st floor, had to get my bus to Disney World in Terminal B 1st floor. Well, you would think you could just walk on the first floor to the next terminal NO... I had to go back upstairs walk across then back down on the other side of the terminal. All while carrying a large fully loaded backpack, a blanket, a suitcase (thank goodness for wheels) and a 2 year old... Good times... Anyway, we made it to our shuttle and ended up sitting there for a bit till the driver came back... Made it to the resort about 1:30 or 2 am... At this point I am so sleepy, but Addi wasn't ha ha. She just wanted to go and walk around, but it was so nice to be with Tyler that I didn't care... We stayed at Disney's All Star Sports Resort!!! Nice place too...

Addi really liked running on the football field... It has changed a bit since this photo was taken...

Yes, I am taking all of my photos from online as my camera is in Florida with Tyler... LOL.

Anyway, the next day we got on bus that took us to the Animal Kingdom. What an amazing place. Addi loved it. And I loved the Safari. I loved the giraffes... Beautiful creatures. 

There is also this amazing tree there. Just massive and beautiful... It was fun to see all of the animals that are carved into it.

Another fun part of the day was riding Mt. Everest... I rode single rider it was okay, I don't think I like going backwards though, especially in the dark...

We then went to see the Nemo show. What an awesome performance. Addi was enthralled with the characters. She loved it.

Such a great show...

We then left for the Magic Kingdom... By this point we are all tired, but just trying to get in as much as possible... We had a fun time, and Addi's favorite part, the Carousel Horses. She even started to cry when they stopped and didn't want to get off. We explained that other children needed a turn to ride as well...

We played in the park till closing, grabbed a bus back to the resort and ate some food and let Addi play in the kiddie pool. She needed to unwind a bit... She had such a great day!!!!

Next morning, we woke up and got everything ready to check out :( SAD!!!! And jumped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom to catch the Monorail to The Grand Floridian... Just have to say YUMMY... The breakfast was amazing and Addi got to meet some awesome people. Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter (who she does not like) Alice, Pooh and Tigger... Addi LOVES Tigger and kept giving him hugs.. Pooh too... 





While at breakfast we were able to meet one of the Chefs, thanks to Tyler's connection of working there. His name was Chef Jonathan. He came over and asked if there was anything he could do to make our stay more magical... Offered us dessert, well, with my love for cupcakes, I took him up on the offer. He brought out a beautiful cupcake with lots of frosting. YUMMY!!!!

From The Grand Floridian, we got on a water taxi that took us to the Magic Kingdom. We all enjoyed the boat ride... Addi most of all... We then went into the Magic Kingdom for a bit and let Addi ride the Carousel horses again. We also rode the train, so much fun!!!

Then, it was time to say good bye... Tears were present... :( It was like saying good bye all over again back in January... Just a few more months and we can be a little family again...

Tyler is doing really well at Disney and has made lots of progress through his training! I am so proud of him and miss him so much...

Disney World is truly a magical place!!!

Valentine's Day!

This year Valentine's Day was a little different. Tyler and I have always been together for Valentine's Day, but this year we weren't. It was still an awesome day! Tyler sent me the cutest card, I loved it! Since he wasn't here to cook me a delicious dinner, I decided it was time to start a new tradition! Heart shaped pizza!!!

Such a fun way to celebrate loving others!!! We bought Addi Lady and the Tramp and watched that last evening too. What a cute love story!! Addi also got a chocolate heart that ended up all over her face and hands, but she enjoyed it.

I love Tyler and Addi so much. They are the best blessings in my life!!!