TEENAGER IN THE HOUSE :)

RACHEL ELIZABETH DEAN

Rachel was born on June 6, 1996 @ 7:36 PM. She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was born 2 days over the due date. My water broke around 11:30 AM on the 6th. I delivered her at St. Marks Hospital with Catherine Wheeler as my doctor. They were so busy that she was delivered in a storage room at the hospital. She was such a good baby she slept through the night the first few days home from the hospital. She literally slept the first three weeks of her life day and night...I don't know if it was because it was summer and our apartment we lived in was hot but we loved it. It was so fun for us to be first time parents. We had a great time dressing Rachel up and playing house. Some other names we considered for Rachel were: Courtney, Ashley, Lindsey, Eliza, Rebecca, Bridget, Sadie, Chloe and Danielle. We couldn't decide so we narrowed it down to Lindsey, Rebecca and Rachel. We wrote down our top two choices and hoped that the same name would be on both lists. Luckily it worked out. Mike picked Rachel and Rebecca and I picked Lindsey and Rachel...so RACHEL it was. Rachel is such a joy to be around. She is very creative and keeps us entertained. She loves most sports and has a great heart. I love to have talks with her at night and consider her one of my BEST FRIENDS. We love you Rachel...Thanks for "13" great years...we can't wait for what is a head for you.

Mike graduated from the University of Utah on June 7th. I missed out on seeing him walk but he came to the hospital after and saw me and Rachel. When they gave him his diploma they announced he was a new daddy.
Rachel was blessed in my Grandma Ashton's dress... it is over 100 years old.She was such a chubby, happy baby :)Her preschool graduation...Kindergarten here I come.

1st day of Kindergarten. That was a big day at our house since she was our first to go to public school.Rachel loves, loves Diesel. He usually picks to sleep with Rachel at night. Watching her take care of Diesel makes me realize she will be such a good mom one day.

She loves to spend as much time as she can with Sydney and Zoe.

She also loves spending time with her cousins Annie and Lindsey.She truly is a CRAZY girl.

She has become a really good skiier...I almost can't keep up with her anymore.

I love to listen to her play the piano. She has had a great time taking lessons from Grandma Ruthie and getting to know her better.

She loves to play soccer.

She played Volleyball at Olympus Junior and loved learning the game.

We surprised her with a new cell phone for her birthday. I have to admit it will be nice for me to keep tabs on her. I don't know how our parents did it without us having cell phones. I got to where I would let her take mine alot and I would really miss having it so it is time for her to have her own.

I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rachel. Thanks for being such a great girl and friend. You make life so fun and interesting.

I LOVE YOU :)

MEMORIAL WEEKEND

We had such a great time camping this past weekend in Green River, UT at Swayze's Beach. We camped right by the River. It was really fun. There was lots of sand for the kids to play in. It rained a little but we still had a great time. Camping with the Nelson's is always a lot of fun. Amy and I went down Thursday to get a spot with some of our kids, Grandpa Robert and Brett's son Alex. Mike and Steve came down Friday with the Junior High/High School kids. We will definately have to go back and explore the area more. What a great place to camp. We did a little hiking. The kids love to climb on rocks and explore.Me, Sadie, Jake, Adam, Alex, James, Will, Grandpa Robert

Playing cards in the tent waiting for the rain to stop.
We cooked our yummy (eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, juice, hot chocolate) breakfast in the rain :)
Jake, Sage, Will, Sadie, Alex, Adam, James, Lindsey, Rachel
Lindsey, Rachel, Annie
The kids had fun swimming in the river.
It is so much fun digging in the sand.
They spent hours digging.

Cute Sadie

This hole took them a while to dig.

Will, James, Alex, Lindsey, Rachel, Annie, Sage

We went to Goblin Valley. I have never been there when it has been so muddy. It was quite funny to see how much mud got caked on our shoes and how slippery it was.

The girls:

Annie, Rachel, Me, Lindsey, Morgan, Sadie, Amy

We never get sick of exploring around in Goblin Valley. YAHOO! The pool is open for the summer. We had our annual pool party and picnic with the Dean's on Memorial Day. We are so lucky to have access to such a great pool. Thanks Judy and Roger for always letting us come and swim.

Mike, Sadie, Jake, Rachel, Will

Taylor, Abby, Sadie, Mike, Jake, Rachel, Will, Parker Bring on the LAZY days of Summer with lots of swimming and vacations...only 8 more school days :)

EXTRA, EXTRA Read all about it...

Jake and his friends made the Saturday Tribune last weekend.
They were asked to ride their unicycles in a bike show at the Gallivan Center last weekend and the Tribune took their picture while they were practicing. They were quite excited to see they made the paper. Way to go boys. (Zoe wasn't right by them when the picture was taken so she wasn't in the paper)

Ready to go out on stage.

Jake, Brayden, Adam, Zoe, and Ezra in action.

Sadie graduated from preschool. She is now officially ready for kindergarten. I cannot believe our baby is going to kindergarten next year... what to do with my extra time alone :)They had a really cute program of singing and each child had a part to say....Sadie's part was : "My name is Sadie I have a great sense of humor. I love my family and friends. I am good at gymnastics." The kids were so cute and Sadie really got into it. She loves to be on the stage.Way to go Sadie!The other big news in our home is Sadie lost her first tooth today. She couldn't be more excited. She is a few years ahead of our other kids in losing their first teeth. She can't wait for the tooth fairy...she actually asked me if she could put the tooth under my pillow because she was kind of nervous for the fairy to see her sleep. I told her Santa watches her sleep when he comes so she thinks it might be OK to put it under her pillow now. Ahhh the joys of parenting :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Mother (aka): Mom, Taxi Driver, Referee, Coach, Cheerleader, Listener, Tutor, Teacher, Helper, Cook, Accountant, Servant, Organizer, Cleaner, Maid, Friend, etc.

I LOVE being a mom. I would do anything for my children and when they are hurt or in pain...I feel for them. I am so glad I have been trusted to take care of our 4 great kids. As life gets more and more crazy I keep remembering the talk given by President Monson about Enjoying the Journey. I don't want to miss anything and that is what makes life so busy...but also so great. I do know that soon our children will be off and doing their own things and they won't need us as much. We won't have as many sporting events or programs to attend . Instead we will be like our cute neighbors that live across the street as they watch us go, go, go. I really am loving this phase in my life and wouldn't trade it for anything. LIFE IS GOOD!

Sunday Morning I was treated to a yummy breakfast that Mike and the kids made.
(Scones, Eggs and Bacon)
Rachel gave me some notecards that she made in young womens.

RACHEL - I love being your mom because you are witty...you continually make me laugh with your funny sense of humor. You are such a good girl...you really cherish your friendships and make such great choices. You are athletic...it is so fun to watch you in all your sporting events. You are smart...I never have to remind you to do schoolwork...you just do it. You talk to me and let me know that we are friends and you are glad I am your mom. You are a beautiful girl and turning into such a great young woman. I love you Rach :)

JAKE - I love being your mom because you have such a tender heart...you LOVE to give me hugs :) I love it when you smile and look at me out of the corner of your eye...it just make my heart melt. You are such a smart boy...school comes so easy to you and it makes life so easy for me. You love to be around me...whether it is snuggling on the couch or laying in my bed to watch TV. You are so fun to watch in your many activities...unicycling, skateboarding, snowboarding, biking etc. You are a good friend. I love you Jake :)Will made me this calendar at school...LOVE IT!

WILL - I love being your mom because you are truly a ball of energy...you get so excited and are easily entertained. You of all the kids tell me you love me the most...you always come up and give me hugs and say I LOVE YOU...it makes me so happy. You are a very smart boy and doing so well in school. I love to watch you in all your sporting activities...you sure keep us hopping between baseball and soccer. You are also a great friend. I love you Will :)

SADIE - I love being your mom because you make me laugh...you have such a funny sense of humor. This picture lets me know that you will always be my baby. I love that you always want to go with me and be my special buddy. I love to watch you play babies and grow up...not too fast though. You are also a great friend and are so fun to be around. I love you Sadie :)MIKE - I love being your mom (just kidding) because... You make it so I get to stay home and be there for our children. I am so grateful that you can provide for our family and I can be at home. You are my best friend and I wouldn' t want to be on this journey with anyone else. I love you Babe :)MOM (aka): RUTHIE - I love you being my mom because you have taught me to serve and be a mother by your great example. You are truly one of my best friends and I feel so lucky that I live so close to you and are able to call you whenever I need anything. I am so glad that our kids have you in their lives. I love you Mom :)JUDY - I love you being my mother-inlaw because you are a good listener. You let us know what an important part we are in your life. You are such a great example of someone that loves their family and friends. You raised Mike into being the great husband and dad he is. I love you Judy :)My cute brother and his wife Mandy had their baby (Josh) last week on May 6th. I had to put a picture in here of her since she is the newest mother (again - Jaxon and Ellsie) in my life.

JOSHUA ROBERT NELSON
He is just too cute. It is so fun having a new baby in the family that we can all hold... I LOVE HIM :)

Will's Baseball 2009

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL PARK....

Baseball season is in full "swing". Will has had (2 - 3) games a week the last few weeks and the next few weeks to come. I LOVE baseball. It is so fun to see how much the boys have improved this year. Will really likes it. He has a great coach that is so patient with the boys and really makes them know they are all doing a great job.

They are the "Angels" this year. This is his last year of machine pitch before he has to try out and play kid pitch. Rachel played kid pitch quite a few years and I have to say sometimes it is so boring because the kids usually strike out or they get walked. Machine pitch is the best because most of the kids can hit the ball so it makes for some great entertainment. It sure is fun spending so much time with all our friends and great neighbors at the games. It makes dinner a little tricky because most of the games are at dinner time but we don't seem to be starving.

It is so fun watching Will do something he loves :) Such a HANDSOME player :)

It is quite entertaining watching Will play catch. He is still learning the position with all the gear on.