Christmas Eve Extravaganza

Bi-annually we go to Taylors house for Christmas, and when we are all together it is quite the party. This year, due to Grandma and Grandpa Hansens request we toned the celebration down a bit and didn't go out to the desert for dinner. (No generators, no costumes, no flaming christmas trees.) Despite the change to a "normal" Christmas celebration the evening still turned out to be a grand production---including outdoor movie screen and a Christmas show. Even Santa made a quick appearance. Here are some pictures of the event and the bi-annual nativity play we have--it was hilarious, not to mention chaotic as Abby played the lead role of Mary.

Ray Busby Nelson

Farewell to Ray B.
Taylors grandfather passed away December 17, 2007 at the age of 87. Ray was a great man who loved his country, the state of Arizona, but most of all his family.

Yesterday, we had the service for Grandpa Ray. Taylor gave a great eulogy about his life and his ability to always see the real person inside. We are so proud that that both PArker and Taylor bear his name. (Taylor Ray, Parker Ray)
Farewell, Ray. We will miss you----till we meet again!

Man vs Wild

So to celebrate his finishing of finals Taylor decided he wanted to get away from it all---and he really meant get away. He packed his backpack and headed for the most remote trail he could find. I wish I could get him on here to write about his experience. He decided that he wasnt using a tent anymore and slept all night under a tarp in the pouring rain and out in the black of night with animals all over and not a foot print in sight. (Taylors dream was fulfilled... and I am so glad I did not have to participate in it.)

Taylors thoughts about the trip... "Well, maybe nextime I should take a handgun, but I stayed dry." Um....Crazy!

Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite memories is frosting Christmas cookies with my mom---so I decided I would continue the tradition and do it. (Let me say, being the mom takes on a whole new dimension to christmas cookies.) You are the one that has to clean up!

Santas Lap

HO HO HO...Merry Christmas-Walmart Style

Ok...you cannot have a family blog without including pics of your kids with Santa--- no matter how ghetto Santa looks.

As trailerish as this may be, we saw Santa in Walmart and had them take our picture... What can I say, I am high class. Well, it was pretty obvious that even Abby had her doubts about this Santa. Why? Oh I dont know... maybe it was the 1981 glasses he had on, or maybe it was the fact he didn't look a day over 40, or maybe it was the fact that the suit was completely hanging off of him. Obviously, he was some techie nerd from the electronics department.

Anyhow, it gave Abby a chance to tell Santa personally what she wanted for Christmas. She said she wanted....

1) A barbie (covered)

2) Barbie slippers (where did that come from?)

The Barbie slippers were a new present idea, one I had not heard before. Luckily the real "Ms. Claus" was able to go by the slipper section on her way out of Walmart and snag some authentic barbie slippers in Abby's size without her noticing. Haleluia for little brothers who can provide great distractions in the shopping cart.

Taylors Rockinghorse

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Last time we went down to Yuma to see Taylors family, his mother gave Parker the rockinghorse Taylor had when he was a little boy. Well, needless to say it has turned Parker into a roughriding cowboy. Here are some pics of his latest ride.

The Christmas Tree Is Up!

Oh Christmas Tree, How Lovely are your branches!

Yes, Our Christmas Tree is finally up. The kids had a great time decorating it this year. Unfortunately, I have to report that currently all of our ornaments are now residing at the top of the tree as one little boy...not naming any names... cannot resist the temptation to destroy them.

The Nelson ornament body count is now as follows...

2 Red Ball Ornaments (fatalities)

1 Tinkerbell Plastic Snowglobe Ornament (fatality; has been sucked into the toybox black-hole.)

1 US Airforce Wooden Soldier Ornament (Fatality)

1 Star Ceramic Ornament (Fatality)

1 Sheri and Taylor Star Wedding Ornament (Injured)

Lets pray that there wont be any more Nelson ornament casualties this holiday season.

Grandpa's Swing

Thanksgiving at Grandma's House was spent in Grandpa's "swing".

Its a Jolly Holiday with You...Bert!

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THE MALIBU FILES

Let this be my first installation of a piece I am going to entitle as... The Malibu Files.

Why? Because where on earth but Malibu are you considered low class if you drive a lexus, and where else on earth do you see your favorite movie stars at every corner.

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Today my friend Mary Jo and I went to the local cafe. And as we walked in, there was a man behind us humming... yes... humming. I remember thinking, oh... how cute... that old man is humming. Well, the next moment we happened to litterally bump into eachother. And he said, excuse me, ladies. Well, when I looked up... guess who that old man was... it was Dick Van Dyke.

As many of you know, Mary Poppins is Abby's favorite movie now days so I was killing myself that I didn't have our new 50th anniversary Mary Poppins DVD on hand for him to sign or maybe the pink parisol that Abby has asked for for Christmas. I really need to come to Malibu prepared next time!

I cant help but think he was humming, Lets Go Fly A kite, Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang, or I love to laugh. Maybe next time I see him I will ask him to flap like a birdie. That is my favorite part of the movie.

Oh yes, minutes after this, guess who came trapsing into the cafe. My good friend Shannon Doherty.

November 17th- National Adoption Day

November 17th 2007 the Nelsons celebrated National Adoption Day. (No, we did not adopt another child.) However, as some know, Taylor has been volunteering to work for underpriviledged families who want to adopt but cannot afford a lawyer. (We are so proud of him.) Well...today, on national adoption day, his family's adoption went through and we all tagged along to court with him. Well... Sheri, Abby, and Parker didn't witness the proceedings, but rest assured we were extremely supportive from outside the court room door.

I have to tell you, there is nothing like seeing a new family coming out of the courtroom with smiles on their faces. One family we saw while we were waiting adopted 5 children. In addition, many of the children getting adopted were older and getting their family for the first time. To see their faces was a truly amazing (not to mention tear-jerking) experience.

We would like to say congratulations to Taylors family, the Gruerra Family! (Their new daughter is shown on the left.)

Throw Up Thoughts

On Thursday, myself, Abby, and Parker hopped on a plane at 9:15PM to come visit my parents in Arizona. Parker, who hadn't been feeling good for days, seemed to be in good spirits as we boarded. "Good Spirits" can be characterized as running around the airport like a madman, and driving his mother crazy. When we boarded the plane, I got the usual look from the stewardesses. You know the one that says.... "awww, they are so cute but mam, you are crazy to be flying by yourself." I dismissed "the look," sat down, and started to feel very blessed that we were lucky enough to have three seats to ourselves. (Parker was an un-ticketed passenger.) Well, it was a very good thing because right as we were taking off, Parker lost his color, and began heaving up all over my shirt what must have been a mix of airport pizza and cranberry juice. (My shirt was white by the way.)

Meanwhile, the two businessmen sitting across from us are just staring at me. I am not sure what they were thinking, but I read their expression to be... "I am so glad I don't have kids." I kindly asked them to call the stewardess to get me some napkins.

To make a long story short, I did get cleaned up, however this experience led me to some much deeper thoughts. At what point in my life did it become okay to get puked on? I mean, everyone on that plane felt so bad for me, but I didn't think it was that big of deal. That led me to think of all the other horrific things I do in a day. To name a few, wipe noses with my hand, wipe 2 different bums daily, catch chewed-up, spit-out food with my bare hand, clean up puke, pee, poop, blood, chocolate, and any other disgusting thing you can think of.

It was just then that Abby turned to Parker (now asleep on my lap) and me with a huge smile, and said, "Mommy I love you, but you and Parker are stinky. " And thats when I realized that I am the luckiest butt-wiper in the world.

Smells like Money to You?

This weekend was supposed to be "THE WEEKEND". The weekend where Taylor gets to drag his wife and 2 kids off to the wilderness and live his dream of roughing it. So after weeks of meticulously planning our route, buying all sorts of roughing it knick-knacks, and analyzing our Wilderness Wildlife Identification packets, we woke up early Saturday, grabbed our backpacks that Taylor had packed weeks ago, and headed off on our journey. The drive was not long. The scenery was beautiful, and as we got closer I could see the excitement building in my husbands eyes. However when we arrived, to my husbands shock and great dismay, the park had a huge sign reading... CLOSED DUE TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER. Apparently all forrests in So-Cal were closed that morning due to the supposed arrival of the Santa Ana winds. Yes, there is a god!

So did the Nelsons let this unfortunate event get to us? Heck no! While driving home we saw the sign for the LA Zoo, pulled off the highway, and had our own little adventure.

We knew the weekend wasn't a total waste when we arrived and Abby said, "Daddy, smells like money to you?" (Something Taylor says every time we pass cows. :) )

Trick or Treat

Halloween 2007... Believe it or not, we actually convinced Taylor to Trick or Treat with us. Who would have ever known!

Trick or Treating this year was awesome. The abundance of wealth in our town finally paid off for us. We went to a neighborhood of some friends from our ward. The kids were hooked up with primo candy, the coolest gifts (including glow stick necklaces), and were able to enjoy some of the best Halloween decorations I have ever seen. Even Taylor and I had a good time, pulling the papers from the for-sale houses to see how much they were. Lets just say the lowest we saw was 1.3 million. Ouch!