Billy

Olivia's school has two goats out back, Billy and Homer. She loves them and says hello to them every morning on the way in! We even brought them carrots a few times:)

Olivia and Madison, her bud from school.

Sweet Olivia, Proud of Herself:)

She was so proud, they did their program and sang songs- she didn't miss a beat!

Olivia Receiving her Diploma

Each child got to walk up in front of everyone and get their diploma from miss Lois. And then they said a sweet thank you. Shy little Olivia bolted back to her seat real fast:)

Momma Swan and her babies:)

This is the swan that lives on our lake, we've been following them since the parents made the nest a few months ago. And then we watched as the eggs hatched overnight. They are so fuzzy and so cute!

Deagan Cracks Me Up

Deagan has been teething these four inscisor (?) teeth for like six months now, and they still haven't broken the surface! Plus four molars in the back (which might actually appear first). Anyway, the kid is so outside of the mold of a normal child....
I've been rubbing Anbesol on his gums- you know, the nasty tasting stuff that numbs the whole interior of your mouth?
Yeah, well he thinks it's hillarious. I rub it on and then he runs around crazy shaking his head and making crazy eyes, and then comes and asks for more. I have to hide it from him! He loves it!
The kid CRACKS me up!
p.s.- I used to have to hold olivia down to get any in her mouth! Then I just gave up and stopped trying to help her because she hatted it so much:)

Uncle Tim and Aunt Sherry on their Wedding Day

So in love, so young, so innocent- beautiful!!!!!!

Uncle Tim

We received a call early Thursday morning from my grandma telling us of my Dad's brother's passing. He died of what they think was a heart attack in his home late Wednesday night. Uncle Tim was a great man. He was always happy to see you and so gentle and kind, saying "well hello there" with a big smile. He's the kind of guy that was always very young at heart with big aspirations. We constantly talked of trips we'd take and the wild and crazy stuff he'd done. Uncle Tim was so excited when I brough Jeff into the famliy and welcomed him with open arms. They loved to b.s. at famliy functions about camping, hiking, skydiving and anything else that happens outdoors. He's been there for all of my kids birthday parties here and countless ones of my own growing up. I'm kicking myself for not backing up my files and having my computer crash (this week of course) when I have some great pictures of him and his famliy at Deagan's birthday party!
Losing Uncle Tim is another terrible blow to this famliy. Going through the grieving process again is especially hard this time around. It seems like just yesterday we were all in this same position dealing with my brother's death. I can't believe it was actually six years ago. Does the pain ever go away? Does it ever stop cutting your heart so deep? Like it just happened! I am a very emotional person, moreso since having kids, and I just can't handle certain things well. I re-live things so deeply in an emotional way and just have a hard time letting go, not moving on, just letting go. So I try not to let myself get wrapped into the memories, but this time it was inevitable. I had to dig through it all and bring Nick right back to the surface day by day what we went through. Memories I've tucked far away. And now, thinking of everyone else on my Dad's side of the famliy and all they have been through...I wonder can it get any worse? Can the pain of loss get deeper, I hope not in my life. It's just so hard to understand. So hard to attempt to try and figure out why things happen the way they do, but the sad part is that you really can't understand it or make sense of it.
The visitation is tomorrow, keep us in your prayers!
THANK YOU!

Tim, Andy, and Tony

I am making a slideshow for my uncle's viewing on saturday, and someone gave me this picture- it's my new favorite of my Dad and his brothers! Tim is on the left, little brother Andy in the middle (a whole helmet head shorter), and my dad on the left:)

Obituary I wrote for Uncle Tim

Nelson, Timothy, 53, died at his home late Wednesday in Ann Arbor, MI on May 30th, 2007. Tim was a loving father of two, uncle, brother, husband and son. Tim was the son of Fritz Nelson of Whitmore Lake and the late John Nelson. He was born March 22nd, 1954 at the Burtonwood Air Force Base in England. During his childhood, he was the resident of many countries and states, with fond memories of growing up with his brothers and sister in Gulfport, MS and Savannah, GA. Tim graduated from St. Thomas High School in Ann Arbor in 1972. He was an avid outdoorsman who found joy in hiking, camping, kayaking and had a thrill seeker passion for skydiving. Tim enjoyed spending his free time at Isle Royale in Michigan. He was a Master Gardener from the MSU extension program that took pride in the craft. Tim perfected his skills as a mechanic and enjoyed working on cars. He is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Sherry Nelson and their two children, Daniel and Patrick Nelson; Brother and Sister-in-law, Tony and Kathy Nelson of Brighton, MI; and Brother, Andy Nelson of Whitmore Lake, MI. A visitation service in honor of Timothy Nelson will be held at Stark Funeral Home 101 S. Washington Street in Ypsilanti, MI on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 from 6-9pm. Funeral Services fo will be at 2pm on Sunday. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to his family for a future memorial tree to be planted in the Arboretum in Ann Arbor. Please contact Stark for more information at 734-482-4900. “When enjoying the flavor of life, take big bites…moderation is for monks!” a favorite quote of Tim’s by Robert Heinlein.

Anniversary Party

This weekend I threw (in combo with my grandparents) a surprise anniversary party for my parents. We went to a new fondue place in Novi. The food was interesting and we had a great time. I think Deagan loved it the most, we couldn't stop him from dipping!

Mmmmm....Brynn is that yummy?

love you;)

Lovin' the Fondue

Deagan was obsessed with the cheese fondue

Ring My Bell

We made them kiss about a hundred times, by ringing our wedding bells on the table. Olivia thought it was hillarious!

Olivia look at the camera please....

We had matching skirts on....

Us

Great Grandpa and Deagan

He was explaining how someday Deagan will have hands as big as his!

Cutting The Cake

I actually found their cake knife from 30years ago:)

Who is Walking Whom?

Deagan just wants to be BIG

Big Brother Helper

This car has been the best investment in a toy that we've ever made! Olivia used it at Deagan's age, and still loves it! Deagan rides in it daily....

Sweet Love!

Sleepy Stella

Stella and Deaga

Deagan insists upon coming out with us each and every time that Stella has to go (like 20 times a day). And he always wears his alligator boots. TOO CUTE!
These were from when she was just 8wks old and three inches shorter....

too tired!

Us on the Ferris Wheel

At the top...the way top! They were NOT scared at all!

Olivia doing flips on the bungee thing

We were at the fairgrounds and she went on the bungee bouncey thing....with one instruction she was doing flips!

*HaPpY 30th AnNiVeRsArY*

Thirty years ago today my parents got married! THIRTY YEARS!!!! I am very proud to say that in today's society they are celebrating their 30th anniversary. It's an amazing accomplishment and what an example to set for me and my children!
I love you guys:)

Little Moments

Every night I have the pleasure of putting Deagan to bed. Not that no one else will do it, but I don't want to share it. It's one of the best parts of my day. Deagan is about 20 months now, and still loves to be rocked before bed. It's our little moment together that we share.
Well lately he loves to draw it out a bit. I'll rock and rock, then ask him if he's ready to go in his bed....and he'll say "no, momma, rock!" So I rock and rock and rock, and we go back and forth about bedtime and rocking.
For the last year and a half, every night I sing to him "You are my sunshine." And tonight he actually started singing back. He got about every fourth word. It was amazing. To hear your little baby, all curled up on you quietly singing in your ear. It's the sweetest sound. And I'll cherish it forever! ..."pease no tate shun shine way..."
:)

Yes, I will post pictures soon!

Hello everyone! Just wanted to say sorry for the lack of pictures....since I've been out of school things have been super crazy. And I don't have access to computers with all the programs twice a week anymore!
So here's the update in a nutshell:
We are closing on a house on June 8th.
We have a new puppy, Stella, a great dane.
Olivia is riding a big girl bike with training wheels.
I graduated photography school.
Jeff is working at Quicken now.
Deagan has grown leaps and bounds in speech, mobility and height!
He got his second haircut of all time last week.
We went on a vacation to Holland for Mother's Day- to the tulip festival.
We camped in a rustic cabin and it was SUCH A GREAT TIME!
The kids love "candy samiches" aka smores.

So I do have pictures of the house, the dog, the new princess' bike, the haircut, tulips, camping....and a ton more among my 250+ files that I have to download....in my spare time.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there is a wedding in six weeks...
:)

Jeff and Dad's New "Project"

My Dad and Jeff got a little ambitious this weekend and started building a deck on the front of the house....just a little one...look to the right and then they'll send it back around the side of the house too!
they're crazy.
But it's about time:) We've all wanted a deck for FOREVER:)
I'll keep you updated on the progress of this addition.

My Latest Studio Shots

I thought you'd all like to see my latest studio shots. A few weeks ago I took Deagan, Olivia, and Maddison to the studio at my school for a little fun session. We had a great time. Deagan was full of cheesey smiles and crazy grins! And the girls just enjoyed playing:)
I hope you enjoy the pictures.
(They looked a little washed out on my laptop screen as opposed to my computer at school, so if they look odd, they're not normally like that- all washed out!)

Our Beautiful Children

They are the most adorable things I've seen and I just want to squeeze them all day!

Mister Deagan Nicholas

Miss Olivia Ashley

Madi and Olivia

They had such a great time during the photo shoot! They look like they could be sisters:)

Maddison

Maddison (my friend Jen's daughter)

School

I seem to get myself too emotionally involved in the situations that are in the news. When Jeff was in Iraq I wouldn't even let myself watch the news and I was much better off. I can't help but feel empathy for the families and attempt to put myself in the shoes of the people that the events are happening too. The Virginia Tech Killings yesterday kept me awake all night (well that, and Olivia in our bed with a fever and tummy ache).
Then I had to go to school today. And inevitably the conversations came up. The situations played in all of our heads. We talked about what we would do, where we would go. But the truth is, you have no idea. Honestly, I think I would choke and stand there like a deer in the headlights if some gunman came storming in our room. It's something I've never really thought about before, in depth.
But now, given the idea to think about it, it scares the hell out of me. I was sitting in my car today eating my lunch, watching random people- wondering if they were plotting something searching the parking lot, or just trying to find their cars!
When did it become ok for someone to walk around randomly shooting people? Well not ok, but not extremely shocking. I mean, the term "gunman" is well known in our society. It disturbs me. It could happen anywhere, anytime. It just takes one pissed off person! One bad grade. One insulting comment from a peer. Anything, really!
I fear for the commonality of yesterday's events. I fear for my children growing up in a world full of hate, fear, and people losing grip on a society with morals...feeling they can do what they please, including taking someone's life.
The whole thing really disturbs me!

We've Moved, again!

Well it was a long, and let me say LONG week. Jeff and I rented one of those PODS for moving. It made our lives much easier, but moving is never easy. Luckily we had our friend Mark there two days durning the week to help bring down all of the heavy stuff with Jeff. I was the packing queen. Give me a room and I can organize it, box it and run a mean tape gun. And don't forget the oh so important box labeling. (this one time I lost my big permanent black marker, all processes stopped for an hour until it was found). HA! I'm laughing now. Anyway, back to the story. Aside from mark's muscles, we successfully packed up that whole house, that we lived in for less than a month, in less than a week. It was great!
Long story short, for those of you who don't know why we moved out: our landlord was an ass, it was a terrible situation, and we are buying a new house. The closing was set for april 27th, but that might be pushed back a little. The inspections are on hold until the bank (it was a foreclosure) can get their stuff together. They had issues with the de-winterization. Bla bla bla, it could be pushed two weeks or so.
So we are back in the parent's basement for a few weeks until we close. We CANNOT wait to get into our new house. Our free time is spent dreaming and planning all of the things that we'd like to do in that house. Remodeling, adding, painting, decorating- you name it. It's fun to plan the future:)
As for that, Jeff starts his new job tomorrow!!!!!! We are so excited:)
Well, now we get to attempt to settle back into life only to move again in less than a month. Round and round we go in this crazy game we call life:)
(but we're still smiling)!

Daddy and Livia

olivia and mimaw's easter cake

Olivia spent the night at my mom's house Thursday night and make a lovely cake for our Easter party! It was delicious:)

HAPPY EASTER:)

Hope everyone had a great easter!
We had a wonderful evening hosting dinner at our house (something we've longed for, for years!). Everything went very well and the kids had a great time visiting their grandparents!

p.s.- Blogger is tipping my picture sideways and I can't figure out how to fix it! SORRY

Our Terrific Kids!

I absolutely love their crazy side!

Olivia and Kit

All dressed up in their matching easter dresses:)

GO MSU

GO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night, MSU won the NCAA Hockey Championship:)
Jeff and I were trying to contain our excitment while the kids were sleeping in the hotel room. For those of you not so into hockey, or didn't get to watch the game, it ROCKED!
MSU has always had a pretty good team with an eventful season, but had't won the Championship in 21 years. So this was a BIG game. And it was one in the last two minutes, so it was FANTASTIC.
GO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our little "Vacation"

Saturday night we took a little vacation to the Best Western in Sterling Heights that has an indoor waterpark. It was just a little one night stay to get away from the stresses of our everyday lives and focus on just our family. We had fun swimming, eating poolside food, and cuddling. It was a nice little detour from the norm:)