Big-time Update!

OK, I'll admit it, I've been the biggest slacker when it comes to my blog (as if you don't already know that!). A lot has happened since I last posted so I'm going to do a quick update:

4th of July:

My parents came over for 10 days and were able to spend the 4th with us! We had a great time as usual, our tradition being to go to the Idaho Falls Parade in the morning, then to a family reunion for a potluck, came home for some down/nap time, then off to the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration which has the largest fireworks show in the nation west of the Mississippi.

Our trip to Washington:

Jer wasn't able to come with us for our annual trip to WA to visit our family...we missed him so much! However, my dad made the drive easier for me by flying to Boise from Portland, where I picked him up and he rode with us back to Portland where he picked his car up from the airport. It made it so instead of driving 13 hours by myself with 4 kids including a nursing baby, I only ended up driving 6 hours by myself. I've got to tell you, the kids were great! Driving to Washington, we decided not to stop at a hotel so, with all the other little stops included, it was a straight 15 hour trip and they did awesome! However, we decided to stop at a hotel on the drive back to Idaho and it really did make it so much nicer for everyone.

While in Washington the kids and I had such a great time hanging out with our family there on the farm. We were plagued, however, with the flu and it kept hitting one or two people at a time so we weren't able to visit as much with outside family members as we wanted to. Still, we were able to get a lot of stuff done, including:

The Grays Harbor County Fair

Berry picking

Chuck E. Cheese (my girls see the commercials for it all the time but our closest one is in Boise, 4 hours away, so we made it a point to go to the one in Olympia...Kelly and her kids joined us, so much fun!)

The beach (Whit and her boys joined us, it was pretty cold but still a great time)




Valentine Family Reunion (Thanks Annie for putting together such a wonderful time for all of us, I'm so glad this tradition has been started! It was great to see everyone, many people I met for the first time and several others I hadn't seen since I got married). My camera was dead by this point so sorry for the lack of pictures!

We also spent a great day with Carson, Brooke and their family. We wished we could've seen you guys more (darn flu!) but we still are thankful for the day we got to hang out!

After Washington we got home with just one week to spare before school started. Unbelievably, I have 2 kids in school this year- a 2nd grader and a kindergartener. Nan and Kam were both so excited for school to start, and so far it's been great for both of them. It's amazing how quickly they learn!

Jillian finally got tired of waiting for me to potty train her and potty-trained herself a week and a half ago. She just refused to put on a diaper so we moved on and haven't looked back! Even at night, now, she's out of diapers and she's doing so well! Good job, Jillie (no pictures available!)

Jaxon started walking last week....can you believe it? He was just barely over 10 months old when he decided to take the plunge and now he's trying to walk everywhere. Every day he walks so much more than the day before, it won't be long before he's hardly crawling at all! Kind of sad for Mommy, my baby is growing up too quickly!

Jer and I are doing great, we're loving the fall weather that's moving in to our area. Jer's parents have been asked by Melaleuca to move to Australia and help the company over there for three months and they are leaving today! We of course will miss them a ton, but we're so happy for that opportunity; what a great experience. Our house is still up for sale but we're not worried whether it sells or not, we're just going with the flow, knowing that things will work out when they're supposed to.

Well, that's about it! You're updated on the Nelsons....for now!