Monday, August 1, 2011

Dexter the Dog

We have added a new member to our family ... Dexter the chihuahua/terrier mix. We felt Cory was a bit outnumbered, so we got a boy to try to even things out!!! Here is our cute boy.



He is a rescue dog from the Adopt-A-Dog in Hood River. He was abandoned by his previous owner. I think they wanted an accessory, and soon realized he was actually a dog, not a purse! They dyed him purple and barely fed him and taught him only a little. So he requires some teaching and loving and food. The purple will fade! (Its mostly on his undercoat and tummy now). We're excited to have him and its kinda fun to be followed around again! Welcome home, Dexter!

Jillian is ONE!

My baby girl is ONE whole year today! I really cannot believe it! Partly, because she's small. She's a petite thing (go figure!) and looks younger than she is. Its also, partly, because we're pretty sure she's our last child and its bittersweet to see her growing up so fast! She is a fun and very happy little girl. Bright blue eyes that reflect everything she thinks. She is so very happy and loves to be around her family. She has the cutest little dimple in her left cheek, and I love it! Jillian crawls everywhere exploring everything. And although she is delicate in her explorations, she's also very deliberate and focused. Jillian loves watching Vi and Ella and our new pup, Dexter. Each morning she rewards her rescuer with a huge smile when we go in to get her from her crib. 






We had a family party last night for her. I've never seen a baby dig into their cake like she did! No holding back. She was filthy within seconds!





We are all so in love with this sweet 1 yr old and are so grateful she's in our family. How lucky are we? 

Friday, July 15, 2011

Summer Vacation

For the first time in years we took a family vacation (all 5 of us)! We drove 18 hours to Meeker, Colorado for a family reunion. The girls were amazing on the drive. Minimal crying and whining. Although, that was helped greatly by the DVD player and new toys. Meeker is a beautiful little town in NW Colorado on the edge of the mountains. We enjoyed shootin' and fishin' and a parade and swimming and horse back riding and kittens and foals and mosquito bites galore! The girls' cousins (Kyna and Anneke) were able to visit too, so they got some great cousin bonding time. We all had so much fun together and really enjoyed our time. Here are some pictures of our trip:

Papa and G'ma with their girls
 Papa and Jillian (look at those eyes - so happy!)
 The "Best Cousins Club"
 Waiting for the most patriotic parade I've been to in quite a while
 They only caught crawdads, but they still had so much fun!
 Ella with the new baby kitten
 Isn't it beautiful out there? Ella riding Ham (yes that's his name!)
 Such complete JOY on her face! I love it!

We are so grateful we were able to go to Meeker. And I'm even more grateful that the girls were amazing. I was prepared for 2 days driving with whining and crying and tantrums ... but there were none! What a great vacation and time spent together!

Monday, June 13, 2011

I am so busted!

It has been almost a year since I last posted anything. How bad is that? Apparently life has been a bit crazy and blogging has been last on my list of things to do! So let's catch up, shall we?

Last September Ella turned 7! Now she's almost 8!!! She'll be baptized in September and is so excited, its almost all she can talk about. She's been taking swim lessons and has become quite a little swimmer. She can swim the length of the pool and back, plus do cannon-balls (a must!) and she loves diving. She's tall and skinny! Gorgeous brown eyes as always and is turning into quite the girl! She recently was picked by the school principal to read a poem she wrote in front of the whole school! She was amazing. She has a natural talent for poetry and drawing. She takes after her aunt and uncles! She is so very helpful with the little girls and just loves them. Her obsession with horses is only growing. She's asked for a horse riding birthday party! That's a tall order ... hopefully I can fill it!


Violet turned TWO in March. She's a funny little girl. Full of attitude, but really funny too. She is pretty sure she doesn't have to listen to anything we say, which is quite frustrating. Luckily she's also very loving and cute! She absolutely loves shoes. Wherever we go and whomever we meet, she must see their shoes. At church she insists on her nursery leaders taking their shoes off so she can wear them. This last week I was informed that she's started to kiss the boys. Oh man. She's putting the moves on them big time ... already. She is a very confident little girl who really enjoys being around her family and constantly moving. Violet is a very busy girl! Violet does anything Ella does. And that is funny to watch! The 2 yr old version of a 7 yr old's moves, etc. Its just funny! She wants to be with Ella constantly. Very sweet! Oh yeah, and she's a thumb-sucker. That should be fun to get her to stop doing! She is a cute fluffy little girl who is still working on growing hair. She has beautiful blueberry eyes and lovely blonde curls.


Jillian will be one in August. She is coming into her own, both physically and emotionally. We're starting to see who she will be! She's not crawling but she is somehow moving everywhere! Jiji has a temper, when her needs/wants are not met or she's put to bed too soon for her taste. However, she's also very happy and sweet. She nuzzles like a cat, which is funny! She adores her older sisters and finds them quite amusing. Jillian has the same blueberry eyes as Violet, but bigger. And they all have amazing eyelashes. I'm jealous. :)

Cory has been busy with jobs! Last year he was laid off in January and worked a couple contract jobs for Logitech and Intel. Now he's with a new company with a "real" job and he's really happy there. The commute is annoying, but the job is worth it. He's been trying to get a medieval group off the ground. But life seems to get in the way. I sometimes feel weird surrounded by swords, shields, helmets, etc. But it makes him happy. I know I'm the only girl on the block with a suit of armor in her dining room! I guess that's something to be proud of! (I thought about posting a picture of him, but since I don't want a picture of me on here, it doesn't seem fair to put one up of him, right?)

I have been busy. Adjusting to Jillian has been fun, but challenging. Luckily they are all very sweet good girls! And we have a lot of fun most days! In February I started training for a half marathon (that's 13.1 miles, in case you didn't know). It was fun and hard. It was an all women marathon and every Saturday we'd meet up and start walking/jogging/running. At the end of May all the training paid off and I finished all 13.1 miles! I wasn't even last. Its started a fire under my tush and I've signed up for an upcoming 8K and I'm looking for more. Tonight I'm starting a new program called Couch to 5K ... so we'll see how that goes! Its been fun to attempt things that I can complete and then feel proud of myself for. My mom actually got to be here when I walked/jogged the 1/2 marathon. That was kinda cool. To cross the finish line with Ella while my family and Mom and friends watched. Pretty cool. :)

We are looking forward to a trip to Colorado this summer for a vacay! Yay! It feels like forever since we've gone anywhere. We are NOT looking forward to a 20 hr drive in the car with 3 kids, but thankfully portable DVD players exist. That will help. We have also begun house hunting again. Its not going very smoothly, but we're hanging in there. The right house is out there, I can feel it!

Anyway, that's got us caught up for now. Hopefully I'll do better. Sorry.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ella is 7!

Where does the time go? My Ella Bella is 7! We celebrated her birthday and for the first time ever both sets of grandparents were there to celebrate! She had a great weekend, with several birthday dinners and lots of gifts and love. Grandma Matlock even made a special castle cake for her. She is a very loved little girl who is growing so big and beautiful. She is so loving, constantly thinking of others and how she can help. She is very bright, both mentally and spiritually. Ella is joyful. Always! She reads like the wind and loves to gain knowledge! We are so lucky to have her with us. And as soon as Kodak releases my pictures I will post some! Right now its holding them hostage.

Our girls

I love random pictures of my girls and the things that they do. So enjoy a few!


I heard Vi in the play room whining and whimpering. When I went in there, this is what I found. In case you can't tell that's Vi upside down in the baby swing. And stuck! I laughed pretty good, ran for the camera, and THEN I rescued her!
 My girls riding ponies at the local Pumpkin Patch. Ella, as always, is thrilled, Violet, not so much.
 My favorite ... the girls reading books. Ella loves to read and Violet loves to listen. And since she's 1, Violet is almost always 1/2 naked!

Jillian's Blessing Day

Our Jillian was blessed on September 5th and all the grandparents and our friends came to celebrate! It was a beautiful day and we're so grateful for our family and friends ... and of course for Jillybean!


 Erick Peterson, Jimmy Matlock, Wayne Nielsen (holding Jillian), Cory Nielsen and Bryan Smart
Sheryl Peterson, Melissa Smart, Julie (holding Jillian), Ella, Kathy Nielsen (holding Violet), Kathy Matlock