Dream Big!



I have been really watching my kids lately and how they grow so fast!!! It is exciting and makes me sad all at the same time! Isn't the range of emoitions that you have as a parent strange?? I am thrilled to see them grow and change and become themselves!! I am so proud of their accomplishments and I feel sad when they sorrow over something!!! Over all, I want what is best for them.... but, I don't always know what that is. I often tell people that it is so weird that you, as a young couple, can be sent home from the hospital just a few days after having a baby. How do you know what to do??? I think that, really, the only way that we learn and survive is the emmense love that we have for our kids! That is what teaches us how to take care of them (along with a few wiser loved ones and some awesome magazines)!!! I really have been thinking of this because I see what some of the struggles are going to be in their future, and I would like them to grow because of these things instead of be crushed by them! I am always reminded of my kids every time I hear Ryan Shupes song: Dream Big.

When you cry be sure to dry your eyes, cause better days are sure to come!
When you smile, smile wide and don't let them know that they have won!
When you walk, walk with pride! Don't show the hurt inside because the pain will soon be gone!
When you pray, pray for strength to help you carry on when the troubles come your way!
When you laugh, laugh out laoud cause it will carry all your cares away!
And when you dream, DREAM BIG! as big as the ocean blue!!
Cause when you dream it might come true... so when you dream, DREAM BIG!!!

Aren't these words so perfect for the things we want for our children!?! I hope that our children will always follow their dreams and know that they can achieve anything that they want! And we, as parents, will be here cheering them on and helping them whenever possible!

-Shari

Easter Sunday!!

This was a great day!! I just Love Easter and the message that comes along with it!! I Love to hear about the Resurrection and know that our Savior truly does live again!!! What a wonderful way to celebrate this marvelous blessing!!! We started out our day by attending church, and we were very blessed to hear all the wonderful talks about the atonement and Christs Resurrection. I felt the spirit very strong as I listened to the sharing time in primary, and hope that you all can know and feel the wonderful aspects of this gift!!

It was our year to spend Easter with my family and we had a great time!! We ate dinner with my parents and then headed over to my grandmas house for the big Easter Egg hunt with all the cousins!!! There are a lot of kids, but thanks to all the eggs that were brought each kid got to find 16 each! Even the babies! and then we spent the night talking and laughing and visiting with the rest of the family!! It was so much fun and I really enjoyed seeing everyone!!Here Cael is fetching the very coveted egg from the majestic bird/water statue!! There is an egg there every year and it is a coveted egg!!Draycin happily gathering his eggs!!The egg to the left of him was in plain view but so clever was the camouflage coloring that it took him forever to see it!!Daddy helping Cael get eggs!!Cael was so happy to hold and shake and eat the eggs!! Who cares what is on the inside!!Apparently the large green egg that Cael is holding was the most coveted of all!! All the kids were endlessly searching for it and bartering eggs with one another to find it not knowing that Cael already had it in his clutches!! It was chuck full of jelly beans and there was no way that we were giving it up!!!Papa helping Draycin find Easter eggs!! Whoa! who is that scary dude in the back ground??? Oh... It's just you Ryan!!My dad pulled the boys around in this for a while. Cael didn't last long, but Draycin Loved it!!!Mighty Alex atop of grandmas tree!!!Talmage and Draycin Rode the alligator seesaw for quite a while!!

Papa had to help Draycin go down because Talmage is a bit bigger than Draycin. I am so glad that they had Fun together!!! What a great day we had!!!

-Shari

Let the Easter Festivities begin!!!

We celebrated Easter with both our families early this year because it was Dina's holiday and we would not have Allie and Brenton. So this meant that we got to do twice the stuff!!! On Friday April 3rd we went to my parents for dinner and an Easter egg hunt! The kids got spoiled with baskets full of goodies and had a blast coloring Easter eggs!Here is Kaylee, Leah and Cael!! 3 little cuzzies and only 3 weeks apart!They are all so darling!!!My dad put his gigantic shirts on the kids so that they wouldn't get their clothes dirty during the annual Easter egg coloring!!Uncle Chace giving out instructions! Our kids are so stinking cute!!!Every year they try to find different things to color the eggs with.... one year we even used all my nail polish and the eggs turned out awesome just like they did this year!!!Abby and Sam are contemplating on which exciting thing to use next!Karlie! I didn't have any embarrassing pictures of you, but if you want to see some doosies of my just check out my sisters blog! Life With The Crazies!! She also makes some amazing Cakes for weddings and other things!!! That was a shameless plug!The babies were so tired but were doing their best to still be cute for all the pictures!I just LOVE this picture of Brenton helping Cael play!!! Isn't he a good big brother!!Two cute boys!!!!On Sunday April 5th we went to Mark and Julies for dinner and an Easter egg hunt where the kids got spoiled with lots of gifts from grandma and grandpa Nelson!! They always call Easter "Christmas in April". We were lucky that the weather was good and got to hunt outside!! Draycin is showing you his egg!!Allie and Brenton fighting over an egg... or so it seems???Mommy helping Cael find his goodies!!Brenton spots another egg!He had to climb up here to get one of his eggs and, of course, he totally enjoyed doing it!!Draycin with his basket overflowing with eggs!Two of the Handsome men in my life!!This is the boys handing in the numbers that are hidden in their eggs for surprises from grandma!!

Allie sitting pretty while she wait her turn to get a prize!! The kids got all kinds of nice things and clothes and were spoiled rotten!! We had a great time and appreciate both our families making accommodations for us to celebrate together!!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

-Shari

Easter Dance

Every year Bear River puts on several different dances for primary age kids. We still get to attend them because my in-laws live there!! Here are some pictures of the dance!Me and Cael, Grandma Nelson and Draycin and Jacinda and Averie doing the Hokey Pokey!!!They always have a little pick nick at the end of the Easter dance, and that kids love to eat the snacks on the blankets on the ground!Draycin and Mommy! I can't believe how big he has gotten!!This is such a cute picture of Grandma with Cael!!Draycin in his Easter Spiffs!!!What a flattering picture for poor me and Jacinda!! At least Draycin looks happy!!Alex, Averie, Cael and Jacinda! Aren't cousins fun!!

Draycin and daddy! Does this picture of Josh look as painful to you as it does to me?? ha ha!!

-Shari

Baby Animal Days!

On Friday the 10th of April we had plans to meet up with Dina and the kids so that we could all go see the baby animals at the Heritage Center in Cache Valley! It was kind of cloudy, but it was a lot of fun, and we all had a great time!

This is When we got there. This was the first time that Cael was excited to be in his stroller!!This Picture of Cael is my favorite picture of the day!! Just look at the sheer glee on his face while he is playing with the balloon that is tied to his stroller!The kids were watching a duck peck at another duck that was dead!! Gross :(The Baby cow was so cute and it must have liked whatever was on Josh's hand because it kept sucking on it!Thank Heaven's that Josh is eating a ham sandwich and not a hamburger! because we already saw the duck trying to eat the dead duck! How much cannibalism can we take in one trip?! Ha ha!Josh and Draycin are petting the cute little baby lamb!Uncle Chris showed up with little Averie, and they had us laughing all the time!!Draycin is sucking down the wonderful Capri Sun that "Dini" brought him!!!Um... The camera is over here you two!!The tiny turtles were so cute and the kids Loved holding them!Look how happy Allie and Brenton are!!!There were several pans full of little turtles all the way down the table and Allie and Brenton had to stop and hold one out of each one! Averie grabbed one and squeezed it and it wouldn't come back out of it's shell. Poor thing! I wish that I could've gotten a picture of her when it happened!Dina was keeping Cael entertained while he was stuck in his stroller! He kept smiling and laughing at her!This picture makes me cringe!! I hate snakes!!! Brenton looks a little scared himself!Here is a picture of some scorpions that we saw. If you click on the picture it will make it bigger so that you can see it better!Dina is holding Cael so that he could look at some bugs! She just loved holding him and taking him around to see things!!Here is Brenton sticking his hand in with some cockroaches! YUCK!!Brenton, Cael, Averie and me!Look how brave Allie is to hold this snake!! She held it because her mom held it, and that made her feel like she could do it too!!Cael is trying to reach through the baby bunnies cage so that he can squeeze them... I mean Love them!!Brenton and his Fohawk! We should have a competition of who can make their fohawk stand up the best!! Brenton or Cael???This was just some of us on the hay ride around the big field!Averie and Cael are ready to have a battle!!And it looks like Averie is winning! No biting chimes Aunt Shari...Allie is petting this adorable little goat that Josh wanted to buy. Luckily his better sense kicked in and we made it home without the dear thing!!Allie and Brenton by the cute little baby goats!Handsome Brenton Showcasing the bunnies for us!!Does it appear to you that Draycin is the one in the cage looking out while the bunnies are roaming free???Mommy showing Cael the cute baby bunnies!!Does it seem that things have gone awry with one of our children??? Just look at that look on Draycin's face!Gorgeous Allie, Cute Brenton and ANGRY Draycin!! He was sooo tired and he kept crying if Allie or Brenton even touched the steering wheel!! Nap time anyone??!!I had to jump in and keep Draycin from falling off the tractor because he had, had enough for the day and was going to come down whether we wanted him to or not!!!

Cael wouldn't let go of the fence and was squealing at the goat!!Brenton was hoisted atop of this huge contraption by his mother for this picture!! The funny thing is that the strapping man to the left also tries to schmoose Dina into getting on it!! How the heck is that possible??? it was like 6 feet tall!!

We all had such a great day and we even made it home in time for Draycin to catch some of a nap before we dashed over to the Easter dance in Bear River where Josh's parent's live!!

-Shari