Izdet...

that's what she calls herself...Izdet...it's really cute...and I don't want to ever forget.

Official!

Travis finished his classes for Walgreens and is now officially an Executive Assistant Manager! Woot woot! I am so super proud of him! He has worked for a long time to get this. They moved us clear over here, then he took the classes (three-three day sessions over four months time), now he has completed the class and his promotion is official and we will finally get the stinkin' raise. (o: It's been tough out here living in a house with extra expenses...only having his mgt wages. This is such a blessing!

So a big thank you to everyone who prayed for us and gave us encouragement. It's been a good week!

ELEVEN!!!

Yesterday my oldest baby turned ELEVEN years old!!!! I am not old enough to have a child that old...although...some of my friends that got married the same time as me now have 16 year olds...but that's their problem. (o; I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I am so proud of the person that Joseph is. He is very kind hearted, thoughtful, creative, eager to please...all wrapped up...with a short fused temper like both his parents to make him complete. (o:

Joseph is our miracle child. He came as I was beginning to sink into a pit of despair...seriously. over 5 years and no child, I felt that my life would never be complete. And then along came Joseph. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending him to me...all of them, of course, but Joseph was the beginning. So, here I am...the mom of a tween boy who eats everything! I'm pretty proud!

A Do-Over

I haven't blogged for a long time. I keep thinking it has to be a big long story every time...with pictures. But, my current blog reading frenzy that I have gone on has shown me that short and sweet is fine...and good. So...that is what I will do. Because I love looking back on my blog at the things we did and said.

So...in the spirit of do-over's that have been very important to me lately...I begin again.

Today is my birthday. I'm getting old. 37. I don't feel old though...and Travis will be 40 in eleven days. That's old. Well...until I get there. Then it won't be. I think. Although last night Travis and I sat down to read after the kids went to bed. He handed me his Kindle and said, "You might find this interesting." Then he laid down on the floor to wait for me to finish...but he never made it that far. He began to snore. I finished the article, put down the Kindle, picked up my Nook, began to read...the next thing I know...it's an hour and a half later...Travis is asleep on the floor...I have drool on my chin and my neck has a crick cause I fell asleep in the chair...

Maybe we are getting old.

Anyway...Happy Birthday to me!

What's Been Goin' On?

We have been...

Continually enjoying the beautiful scenery that is our back yard....
Finding awesome little visitors in our back yard...
Being too excited about the 4th of July, so having to light off just a few smoke balls right after church on the 3rd...(look at my cute husband having fun with my cute boys!)
Going to the church flag ceremony/pancake breakfast on the 4th....
And just having fun!

We all have our problems, but as long as we stick together as a family, we can do anything!

Salt Creek Park and Camp Hayden

Last Thursday Travis had the day off so we headed out to explore some more of the many awesome places around our new home. This time we went to Salt Creek County Park. It was built on an old Army fort. The bunkers are still there. It was super cool. We wished we would have seen some gray whales. When they pass through the Strait they are very visible apparently. We didn't get to see any, but the view was breathtaking anyway.

We didn't camp, but we hit as much of the rest as we could. We had all day and lots of sunshine.
I love my family! Right after we took this picture, a deer trotted by. I abso-freakin-lutely love living here!
I am so proud to be the mother of these beautiful children!

We hiked down to see the tide pools on Tongue Point. The tide was a couple hours past from the lowest tide of the morning, so we didn't get to see a whole ton of aquatic life, but we did get to walk on the cool rocks and see the Strait. Gorgeous!
Boys were cautious but had a blast.
Daddy rescued Lizbet from going off an edge into a big old tide pool.

We ate a picnic lunch and then the kids played on this huge structure for a while.
Bombs at the Camp Hayden bunker. Big suckers!

We Are Here!!!!

****lots of pictures in this one!!!*****

We made it! It was an insane couple of days trying to move out. A huge thank you to Travis's mom. She totally rocked cleaning the kitchen and helped pack. And Travis...he was super duper awesome driving that gigantic 26' truck (and towing the gray Escort!) Is it silly to be proud of him for driving that thing? He was awesome! Anyway, we ended up not meeting the closing time at the property managers place, so we spent a night in a hotel in Sequim. We had nothing but the clothes on our backs and we were grateful! We were so exhausted. The kids loved the hotel! The next day we picked up the keys and moved in. Thanks to a couple of the men from our new ward (at church), the unload was very quick. So...now it's been unpack and unpack. We love the cute little quirky house we have! (we Nelson's are cute and a little quirky so it is a perfect fit!) It's actually much much bigger than we had thought. When we came to look at it, I think we were so appalled by the yard, plus not having any furniture in it...we thought they were crazy saying it was almost 1,800 sq ft...we couldn't see it... But, now that we have our stuff in it...they were right and we were wrong...happily!

The area is more gorgeous than anyone could possibly imagine. We have not found a single thing that we dislike about this place. (well...Travis REALLY hates all the crab grass in the yard, but he's declared war and I know he will have it looking wonderful some day soon!) Our house has a forest around 50% of it. We sit in our yard and listen to all of the birds and little squirrels. But on calm days...we can also hear the seagulls and the ocean that are just two streets down. We see deer in the yard a lot! They are everywhere. Plus the mountains! Oh, the mountains take our breath away every time we see them...which is every time we drive to anywhere. *sigh* I am so grateful to Travis for working so hard to get this promotion and bring us to this wonderful place. It is truly a slice of paradise! I am so proud of him and I love him for all he's done for us. He's brought us to the perfect place. (plus...no traffic and the nicest people you will ever meet!)

Anyway...I'm going to try to post a few pictures of the move and the area. The internet is slow and the cell coverage is pretty much non-existent, but totally worth it!

Here are the kids at the hotel. We were so happy to get there. Travis ran to the store and got lunchables. We ate and then all passed out for about 10 hours.
It was kind of dark, but here is a picture of the house.
Here's our back yard. Love the big deck. Connor and Elizabeth spend practically every waking moment out there.
I'm telling you...nicest people ever. Our new neighbors across the street came by with a plate of cookies and this loaf of yummy homemade bread the day we moved in! Awesome!

Travis has been working hard trying to get the yard decent. It's been neglected for a long time. The kids have loved helping him.

Travis got a four day weekend this week, so we decided to pause on all the unpacking and have some fun. They washed the cars together. That was a special treat for them.
Then we went to the Old Railroad Bridge trail in Sequim. Mommy and Little Miss.

It was so gorgeous there! The bridge is now for foot traffic and bikes. That is the Dungeness river behind them. Cold and clear.

This makes me smile! She was throwing rocks. Daddy had to hold her so she wouldn't jump in to the river!

One half of the living room is unpacked enough that Travis and the boys were able to play Wii. We love all the space that we now have!

This is the view that we see when we drive to...well, anywhere! We were heading to Walmart at the time I took this one I think. *happy sigh*

Yesterday after church, our washer and dryer were delivered. Here are a couple of pictures of our cute and quirky little laundry room and the new machines. (that have been working around the clock since they were plugged in!)

The 2nd potty. I love having more than one toilet in the house. It was a must when we were searching. I also love the lime green sink!

And here are the washer and dryer! Poor little buggers are really squished in there, but they work and that's all I really care about! Yay for clean clothes!!!

The Sears guys left this bit of stretchy pipe thingy behind, so Elizabeth made friends with it. She carried it all over the place for quite a while. She is just super cute.

Okay...last picture for now because I have a million things to do and it's taking forever to download these pictures. This picture makes me smile. I was doing dishes and looked out my kitchen window and this is what I saw. Little children happy and having fun. Isn't that what life is all about??

More pictures will come soon. (o:

Ahhhhhh!!!!!! (and Dad was right!)

So, last night, Travis calls me to tell me that we are not moving in 11 days, but we are moving in 6 days! Hello? Zoiks! I spent all day yesterday just cleaning and packing the smallest bedroom! How the heck am I gonna do that to the rest of the place in 6 days? Well, today it is now 5 days.

*sigh*Now I am now going to have to admit something that I reallllly hate admitting, even though anyone who knows me even a little knows the sad truth...I. Am. A. PACK RAT! Yep. And the worst part of it...I married one too. And we bred 4 little ones. My dad told me...out of love you know...that I am a pack rat and that when we move, maybe I should try to overcome that little habit and teach the rest of the family my secrets. He's right. It's true. I've always been the one that absolutely hates to throw anything away. I think some of it is the teacher in me. It's not a toilet paper roll...it's a puppet...or a chew toy for the guinea pigs! But...it's taking me for-ever to clean out and pack this place up. Part of that reason is cause I'm tossing! I'm tossing out things that normally I would think I needed (like the box of old Christmas cards that, about 10 years ago, I thought I should keep cause I might like to cut them up and use them in scrap booking or something...) Hello...haven't scrap booked anything for years! Gone! I feel cleansed!

Okay...break's over. Gotta get back to the grind. I am exorcising my demons. This house is clear...well...almost. Eeek...it's after midnight! Only 4 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

Work Work Work!!!!

Our application was approved and we got the contract for the house today! Woot! This means that we are in total overdrive here for packing and cleaning. We just couldn't get ourselves to get serious about the whole packing thing while we didn't have a place secured. BUT~now that it is in the bag...we are in serious box and toss mode. Here are a few pictures of what we did today before Travis went to work. (This is a reminder to clean off my little camera lens thing on my cell phone before taking pictures...sorry they are kinda fuzzy)

Here is Joseph with our "borrowed" shopping cart. Someone else borrowed it and left it on the side of the road, so we borrowed it from the side of the road and are using it to move boxes from the apartment to the garage. We will return it where we found it before we move. Joseph's new obsession is shopping carts and store interiors. The store interior part started when he started making model Wal-Marts using legos...the cart thing. I don't know. Our kids are home schooled...they have original ideas and tastes I suppose...very curious. (but for those who worry that our kids are completely shut out...have no fear...Mario Brothers and Sonic are very well loved here)
Anyway....here is Travis taking pictures of the kids. They were supposed to be helping, and did a wonderful job of playing gopher when we needed them to go for stuff, but they mostly just had a blast riding bikes and toy cars and being free in the *gasp* sun!

See....fun stuff! Can't wait to have an actual yard to put it all in instead of worrying about all the cars in the parking lot! Woot! (again)
So we swept out the garage and divided it up...left side donation and the right side is where we will start stacking boxes from inside the apartment. Never had a garage in any of our previous moves, so this is wonderful...I pack them...then Travis gets the snazzy borrowed cart and hauls them off to be in the garage. It will make for easier loading of the truck and makes more room for me to pack. Sweet!
After over two hours of cleaning and sorting and tossing and stacking...phew! ...we were hungry! So we took a break and had tacos in th garage. A garage picnic! Woot again!!!

Here is Lizbet enjoying her tortilla. Mmmm....cheap Mexican food.

Okay! Now...on to some other business. Since the house is pretty much ours (for however long we decide, but probably a year or so), I thought I would post a couple more picture. It is totally retro house. It was built in 1979 and I'm pretty sure that besides the fridge and stove...most of it has been there since it was built. But...it's a roof over our heads and I will enjoy making it into a home. (too bad I can't redo the cupboards and paint the doors a lighter color though)

Joseph took these pictures. We were busy looking at all the details while he was running around snapping photos. We are glad he did cause it's nice to have documentation of the place to figure out where everything will go. Like I said...it's little...like 1,300 sq ft little. We are super excited about this wood burning stove. It's gonna be fun this winter using it. If I remember correctly, there's even a place on top to put a kettle on! Yee haw!

Joseph took this picture from the outside window looking in. We actually really like the open kitchen. Please note the fence in the back yard and all the trees that you see out of the windows.
Here's a picture that they posted on their sight, which is why it is a bit crisper image than from Joseph's beat up old Canon that he inherited. They built in the garage and made this second half of the living room. Behind that awesome wood wall is a little tiny 1/2 bath/laundry room.

This is the other photo from the site. Notice the lack of the refrigerator? Down that little hall are the doors to the bathroom and bedrooms. Cute, eh? I can't wait!

Okay...back to work. Soooooo much to do!

We are moving...

to here....

Well, sort of. Travis got promoted to Executive at Walgreens...a HUGE accomplishment considering after 33 stores in the district, he was the only one chosen. He's worked so hard for so many years for this opportunity. (I'm so proud!) The store that they are sending him to is in Sequim, WA. (that is pronounced...squim...like squid...yah, kind of weird, but we have a lot of odd names in Washington. This above picture is Port Angeles. We are hoping to rent a house in Port Angeles. It would be a 17 minute commute for him.

Yesterday we drove all 2 1/2 hours to Port Angeles to look at this house....

but when we got there, it really looked like this.... (that's Travis talking to the property manager)

It's a tiny little house with a seriously angry yard, but with some TLC, it will be perfect for us while we wait out the raise to kick in. See, Travis got the promotion, but he has to take classes this summer and PASS them, in order to get the raise. The raise is a nice amount and will officially make Travis's passion and talent for retail actually really worth it. So, until the first of October, we needed a little place with low rent that would rent to us month to month. This is the one we picked. Oh, and can I just mentioned that there is a yard with a big old bad Elizabeth-proof fence...once we tame the grass...she is going to be in outdoor heaven! Anyway, we are crossing our fingers that the application will go through because if it doesn't...well, that would just plain suck! AND, they want Travis to start work there no later than Memorial Day! Yep...we are getting 3 weeks notice to find a home, pack up and move. Considering the fact that we have been in Ashley Terrace for almost 10 years...there's a lot to pack! And throw out! And donate! Zoiks! So, why am I sitting here typing on my blog instead of packing and cleaning? Cause I am seriously intimidated by the sheer amount of stuff we have managed to cram into 1,400 square feet!

Okay, off I go to slay the dragon. Here is a picture or two to make the post complete...

(please note that I have cut my boys hair since Easter...they were all looking sooo scraggly!)