T&T Times

So Texas..... it's definitely Texas.  Haha Texas is great!  Gas is $2.00, steak is amazing, all the stores are huge, getting anywhere takes forever because this city in ENORMOUS.  Anyway, we found a gym so everything is solid.  Our apartment is an adjustment, but it's pretty good.  The weather is amazing!  Victoria is doing great at her job, she gets to travel which she loves, so that's good too!  I am currently looking for a bunch of different positions, mostly with coaching and paralegal stuff, so if that stuff pans out, I'll let y'all know.  I'm also staying open to the possibility of joining the air force in the intelligence field.  So things are kind of up in the air for me, but life is an unplanned party and we love it! 
So there's this big renaissance fair that they do here, like it's so so big.  Imagine a medieval Disneyland and you've got this fair.  They had jousting, jesters, pirates, ale, magicians, Celtic music and dancing, etc.  Hopefully the pictures will post on the blog, but we'll see!
Church is great, the ward is pretty big actually.  We got asked to work with the cub scouts, so that'll be fun!  The people are great and super friendly, and Texas pride is real! 
Well, hopefully when we're more organized, these blog postings will be more organized too!  Love you all! 

Hyde Park Highlights

We are doing our best to get used to this "empty nest" situation.  I have been surprised at how it has changed our lives.  For instance, there are some nights that I haven't even made dinner and Dad has eaten a bowl of cold cereal! So weird. No motivation to cook. Other things I've noticed include:
* All of the piles around here now are of our own making. No one else to blame for those.
* It takes us about 3 1/2 days to fill the dishwasher - so we'll probably go back to washing by hand.
* We can eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast if we want.
* Talking with Chester is quite therapeutic. He doesn't interrupt or offer advice or criticism. He likes to just sit by me and listen.
* Raking leaves takes much longer and is much less fun all by myself.
* We still go to bed too late and have even slept in too late in the mornings and have no one to blame but ourselves.
* We're not sure we are completely in this stage yet. We are still somewhat in denial.

News for the last couple of weeks: We bought a car - 2011 Toyota Camry. It runs nicely and we hope it will last a good, long time. Our latest endeavor was replacing the flooring in the office, kitchen, dining room and hall. It will be a nice change, especially after we get the baseboards on and get everything back where it belongs. We are trying to share our apple cider with everyone we can think of so there will be room in our freezer for Thanksgiving fixings. No one has refused our offer yet!
We are enjoying the weather and hope to get all of our outside things done before winter hits in full force. Dad brought in a strange egg from the chicken coop yesterday. I sent photos to some of you already, but thought the rest of you might like to see it. It was a perfectly formed egg without a shell! It was very soft and had a long "umbilical cord" on it, as you can see. The yolk was visible inside the egg. We didn't have any way to crack it open. I have no idea what that was all about. Dad has been involved in ward conferences for the past few weeks. He'll do one more in November, then take a break for the rest of the semester. Those conferences will start up again next year. He gets a bit stressed because he tries to prepare messages designed specifically for the ward he is attending - not just write one talk for all wards. He does a tremendous job, but it is very demanding a exhausting.

In this big valley, with its thousands of people, things have seemed a bit lonesome since Thomas and Victoria left. We didn't even see them much while they were here, but just knowing that they are not here makes the valley seem quite empty! But we are excited for their adventure and hope they are adjusting and learning and having great experiences. We can't wait to get down there to visit!

We hope all is well in your neck of the woods, wherever that neck is. Have a fun week, everyone. Happy Halloween! Send photos of the adventures and costumes!
P.S. I don't know if you are all aware that Emma has a different email address, but I noticed that when a group message was emailed to our family, Emma's didn't go through. Her new address is
ebelliston99@gmail.com

Hart Happenings

  Trunk or treat, scouting for food, and beautiful weather made for quite an eventful week.  I feel like we are getting the fall that we've missed so far.  Hooray!
  Ian has been taking care of our neighbor's little 5 acre farm while they are visiting family in New York so we have been getting all kinds of ideas from there.  She is an excellent gardener and they have the best rope swing I have ever seen!  Now if we could only find a tree around here......
  We did a spur of the moment refresh of Peter and Jack's bedroom yesterday.  I walked in there and was afraid for my life, but a couple of bins, lamps and nightstands later and all is well.
   Great Brains have started again and this week we enjoyed hearing about Australia, the man who invented Legos, badgers, the Revolutionary War, Alexander Hamilton, balloon animals, and bicycles. I always learn a ton at these evenings and am always so impressed by our kids and the others.
  It's weird to think that at this time last year we were waiting with baited breath to see if our loan and everything would go through to buy this house.  Looking back on the last almost year, it is really profound to see how the Lord has guided our path and all the things that have happened.  We are really feeling at home here and marvel at the blessings that are ours.
  So, these are the weeks of the leaves here.  The boys have had some epic leaf battles and we have raked and blown and mowed the leaves.  Our friends the Martins came over on Saturday and hauled away 56 big black garbage bags of leaves, which sounds like a lot, but looks like so little considering how much we have left!  I think they got those 56 bags from 4 big piles we had raked up.  There were probably 30+ piles like that scattered all over our yard.  Thank goodness for the lawn mower!
  Ruth and I took the kids to the NASA space exhibit at the museum on Wednesday which was a big hit.  Jack and Emerson were the only ones brave enough to ride the exercise machine they had that the astronauts worked out on.  We got to see how much we would weigh on the moon and Mars, see and touch some meteorites, tour the inside of a space shuttle, design a Mars community, pack for an excursion into space, and see the heat patterns in our bodies with the heat detector thingy.  They had so much stuff to see and experiment with and we had a blast!
  We are counting down the days until Thanksgiving.  Can't wait to be with you all.  I will be bringing an apple slab pie and some cranberry sauce and maybe some other stuff.  We'll see what happens.
 

Flake Fun

This week was pretty good but this weekend was fantastic! Scott took me to Sedona for a birthday weekend getaway which was awesome!  We stayed at a cute little place called the Baby Quail Inn.  The first morning we went over to breakfast and there was a cute little man there who looked just like Dick Van Dyke!  He is the owner and he spent the whole time telling us stories about his time in Hollywood working with people like Carol Burnette, Lucille Ball, James Garner and others!  Such a crack up! 
We went on some hikes and showed up at the art village just in time for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. If you haven't been to Sedona, I would highly recommend it.  It is a neat little town with lots of trails and shops.

We bought bikes a couple of weeks ago and are trying out the bike slime that keeps your tires from going flat.  After one ride it looks like it might work...

The weather is turning cold in the evenings but the days are beautiful.  Happily our outdoor goldfish are still alive and doing great!

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving.  We'll plan to do a veggie tray if that is okay!  See you soon!

...And LOVING It!!

Okay familia, lets take a moment and just acknowledge that I have the greatest siblings in the entire universe.  Holy cow I'm so blessed.  I was gone at band all day yesterday, and it was rough.  We took third (by like, a HUGE margin: 16 points.  That NEVER happens.  Unless you're us) after a phenomenal performance, I spilled soda all over my khaki pants and all over the bus seat so it was sticky for the full two and a half hours back home, a few of the kids got sick and someone on our bus threw up so it smelled awful, and we didn't get back until ten thirty.  Talk about quite the day.  And that's not to mention failing a chemistry test, not getting the host position for the Face to Face, and also not getting a job I had applied for.  Anyway, that makes for a great week, right? RIGHT! Ruth and her awesome kids sent me a box of sunshine yesterday which I didn't open until just now because I was soooo tired yesterday.  I'm a little bit of a mess so I started to cry and laugh and just be super happy! It's so awesome! there's a candle, some treats, a note from Eliza, a funny picture of Millie, some chapstick, balloons, and some mixes for cookies and muffins! I'm so excited! Ya know, even if everything seems to be going wrong 1) something can always make us smile  and 2) Heavenly Father will always be watching out for us and sending little tender mercies that will help us through the rough spots.  I wish everyone had siblings as great as mine.  Really I'm the luckiest person on the planet.  #blessed

Yeah, so I was thinking about what I was going to post today, and it was all about the not-so-great stuff mentioned in the first paragraph, but that doesn't really matter anymore :) Life is good everybody.  It's that kind of weather where it's frigid in the morning with the wind blowing up on campus, then about 3 o'clock, it's WAY too warm for long pants and sweatshirts, so that's obnoxious.  But it is better than just being cold all the time. Fun fact: we still haven't turned on our heat in our apartment yet because the laundry room keeps us nice and warm ;) Our utilities are only like $20 a month so far so that's super great.  I'm getting very excited for Christmas (mostly so my roommates will take down the creepy stuff in our apartment) but Ruth mentioned that she's excited to go Black Friday shopping and I was like, oh yeah, start saving now! I'm pumped for that! I love our Black Friday-ness.  Y'all ready, sistas?

So this is a very long post, hopefully it wasn't too boring for anybody.  Just wanted to say I love you guys and think you are the best ever.  If any of you spot an upright piano that's like, ya know, $10 or cheaper, let us know.  We need to get one in mom and dad's house before Thanksgiving so we can sing! Love you all soooo much.  Have a great week and a Happy Halloween :)

Hart Happenings

This week has been fun!  See you all later!




























Just kidding. (The boys made me do that)

For real now:
We spent the beginning of the week finishing up the basement for Alex's parents with a lot of help from Alex's brother and Ruthie.  It looks so amazing!  Unfortunately for Alex, it left me all too excited to get started on updating the upstairs now!
Tuesday, Alex's parents returned and we have enjoyed visits from more of his siblings coming to say hi to the folks.  It is always fun to have family around.
Alex and his dad finished putting up the chicken run.  Yay!  That has been a long time coming.  We are now getting 3 eggs a day.  Peter is in heaven but won't let us eat the eggs until we fill up an entire carton.  We have 2 empty slots to go.
Mom and Dad stopped by briefly on Friday like angels from heaven bringing nectar from the Gods.  I have already almost single-handedly drunk the entire gallon of apple cider I stuck in my fridge.  Good thing it takes a while to thaw the frozen ones.  It might help keep my consumption under control.
Alex and Ian had fun camping in the snow on Friday night.  Alex is the assistant scoutmaster and he and the scout master are really good friends but they are not very much alike.  Mark (scout master) loves camping and is planning on going every month all throughout the winter.  Alex doesn't really love that idea as you can well imagine.  Poor guy.  They survived though and will live to camp another month.  And he actually tented it!  I will see if I can send you pictures of their set-up but he didn't sleep in the car this time around.  I think it is because Ian was there and the other boys were saying stuff like, "if you can't sleep in a tent, you're not really a man" and all sorts of other smack-talk.  Ah peer pressure, it never really goes away, does it?
Jack played his last soccer game.  It was such a great season!  It was nice that the last game they played was actually in nice weather, some of the others were more on the miserable side of things.  Jack did really well and learned a lot.
Ian got a special part in his choir's Christmas program that he is pretty excited about.
The boys sang in church today as a special musical number.  They did a great job.  Peter wasn't nervous at all but told me that he couldn't sing the opening hymn in sacrament meeting because he needed to "save his voice for later".
We have so many leaves all over our yard!  Jack and Peter and I spent a good time raking and jumping in leaves on Saturday.  We did so much jumping though that our piles got re-distributed on the lawn.  Oh well.
We are all super excited for Thanksgiving.  I will be bringing an apple slab pie, which is so much tastier than it sounds and also some cranberry sauce, and maybe my favorite pie from Kneaders.
See you in a few weeks!

Nilsson News

Hey all!  We are back in internet business.  Actually, the internet business is back with our business, but you know what I mean.  I really didn't think I used the internet all that often but then we went without it for a week and it was quite pathetic.  We live in a tech filled world I'm sad to admit so I guess I'm not as old fashioned as I thought I was.
I'm not going to try to recap everything I missed writing about but just a few things.  Our garden and canning season has come to an end (yay!) and we had a wonderful harvest.  I love gardening but I love the seasons which make the gardening come to a close.  We are having trouble trying to find a place to put all the plant material from our garden.  I mean, what do you do with ten 15 foot mammoth sunflower plants?  They don't fit in the garbage can just so you know.
The biggest project we have been working on has been a new pen and shelter for the jack donkey we are getting in two weeks.  He is the other half of the breeding element that we need and we are pretty excited about it.  His name is Inigo and I think he and Wesley should be friends.  Garrett has outdone himself in his fence building and shed construction skills.  I think deep down he was always meant to be a farmer.
We are looking forward to Christmas but have two other holidays to make it through first!  The kids have had fun raking leaves and are really looking forward to dressing up for Halloween.  Their mom has not been very prompt in getting around to sewing said costumes, but somehow I'm sure they will get done.
We are super excited for Thanksgiving and Addy is going to be the one to make rolls.  So don't worry about that Mom!  She learned how to make them at Activity Days and has been begging to make them ever since.  We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Good luck Emma with your call backs!  Can't wait to hear about it!

...And Loving It

Hey fam.  Not surprisingly, I didn't really do anything fun this week except study and work and get shot.  So that was great.  Actually no, shots aren't that bad but for some reason I was SUPER tired and that was obnoxious. 

I'm going stir crazy with college.  We just passed midterm so it's kind of like there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but I really just can't wait until Christmas.  I really have to focus on not listening to Christmas music and putting up a tree.  So far I've done a pretty good job.  I did go to a friends house on Saturday and watch Elf and drink hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music..... and all that did was get me more hyped for Christmas.  So yeah, when I wrote this post, as of now there is 63 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 45 seconds until Christmas.  In case you were wondering. 

Anyway, mostly I'm just excited to see any or all of you when you come.  Hope you have a good week :)

Flake Fun

15 Oct 2017 - Every time I sit down to think about what we have done this week, I realize how boring our lives are!  We bought 3 more fish and some aquatic plans on Friday which was really fun.  Then on Saturday we helped set up a new corral set up which was exhausting but satisfying.  My fingers are doing much better from the burn.

Today in church was quite interesting.  It was high council Sunday and the companion speaker went off on some interesting tangents.  Honestly, I had a hard time following where he was going and some of his statements were...questionable.  Then the high councilor got up and said something to the effect of, "There are groups of people who look beyond the mark and I hope that Bro. X (the companion speaker) was speaking from his heart but we'll be having a conversation about what he has taught." I've never heard someone do that from the pulpit.  It was just a strange meeting all around.

I hope that you all have a great week! 

Hart Happenings

We had so much fun last weekend at Mom and Dad's house watching conference with everyone and celebrating Dad's 60th birthday.  He is seriously the youngest 60-year-old that I have every met!  Thanks for everyone for the participation and ideas, it came together even better than I had it in my head.  We have a wonderful dad.  The best really.

We came home for a couple of days and then headed back down for a Marriage Relationship conference, which was excellent.  The boys stayed with Mom and Dad and were spoiled by them and Emma.  We were joking with them that next time we'll send the boys to Salt Lake and we'll come home and have the grandparents entertain us!

We woke up to snow this morning.  None of it stayed around.  I think it sensed the unwelcoming vibes we were all sending out.  I love the snow, but I'm not quite ready for it yet!  So, our garden, like the Flake's, is toast.

We wrapped things up at the kids' youth garden with our annual Fall Clean-up.  It's nice to have that all done.  

Alex has been watching college football on the weekends which makes him very happy.  We got a new light to put in our entryway which makes me very happy.  So we're all very happy.

We went out with some friends today to glean potatoes from a field not far from our house.  We had never done that before and it was really fun.  We donated the potatoes to St. Vincent's pantry.  They boys had a ball.  I think potatoes are the most fun thing to harvest in a garden, it's like a treasure hunt.

The basement is getting a complete overhaul after the flood and in preparation for Alex's parents to return.  They come home in just over a week.  Hopefully we can get everything ready.

I'm rambling.  Life is good.  Really good.  Love you all.  Lauren I want to see pictures of your rugs!  Where did you find them?  Maybe I'll just swing down and see them in person.

Flake Fun

So it has been about a month since we last posted.  Sorry about that!  Not a whole lot has happened of great consequence. 

Things keep going at work.  I was named Acting Health Director for about a week while my boss was out of town.  It was a crazy experience that made me appreciate more the directors and administrators.  In the time that he was gone walls had to be torn down for a remodel, a staff member quit without notice, another staff accepted another position and we had a manager's meeting.  It was nuts but I survived and was very glad when the Health Director returned.

One of our fish died so we are down to 4 little Tetras but they have a really cool tank.  Scott created a "bog" that is growing plants!  There is a little waterfall and some other neat features.  Our outdoor goldfish are looking great and keep growing! 

Our island is really coming together.  We have sifted all of the dirt (and used to rocks we sifted to fill the potholes in our lane) and now just have to put the finishing stones on.  We are contemplating doing one section in a water plant feature.  We'll see how that turns out.  Oh, one evening we were finishing up some stuff on the island and turned to walk in the house and nearly stepped on a toad that hopped onto our door step and would have invited himself in if I hadn't gotten in front of him.  Lots of fun with the wildlife! 

We have a large compost pile in our garden area.  The frost came and our garden is toast but it was nice while it lasted.  We also got some soil amendments to increase the acidity of our soil so hopefully the plants will be happier next year.

Yesterday we were cooking and I burned 3 of my fingers pretty bad.  No fear, they are better now but there was quite a blister (or 4) this morning when I woke up.  Scott is taking very good care of me.

Emma, as far as mission and temple prep, keep doing what you are doing.  I think that living with roommates was one of the best mission preps you can have!  Glad you are enjoying it! 

Well, that is about all I can think of right now. I hope that you all have a great week!  Love you all and can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving.

Hyde Park Highlights

Ruth called this morning and said they are currently internet-less. She can't seem to get her phone to connect either, so she is not able to post but wanted everyone to know she's not on the blog because she's not interested, but will be back on as soon as technology can help her out a little bit.

I keep reflecting on such a wonderful weekend last week. It was absolutely heavenly to have most everyone here for conference and for Dad's surprise birthday party. Thanks for making that effort and making it so special. We hope to see you again in a couple of months for Thanksgiving!!

We had a choice experience with the Special Stake Conference that was held in Dad's stake today. Elder Uceda of the presidency of the Seventy presided and Elder Laing, our Area Authority Seventy, attended and spoke as well. Dad gave an amazing talk about repentance and totally set the stage for Elder Uceda's talk on the same subject. Elder Uceda is the most sincerely humble person I've ever met. It was truly an incredible experience to talk with him and listen to him speak. There was a tremendous spirit in the tabernacle, that was completely filled with young single adults who seemed to hang on every word he said. The meeting lasted only an hour and a half, which many people commented on and were grateful for! Dad will still have his regular stake conference in November. I guess the brethren are just trying to get out more among the saints, or maybe just among the YSA folks.  Dad had a special 5 hour meeting yesterday with Elder Cook, Elder Uceda, Bishop Causse and several stake presidencies and bishoprics in our area. It would be worth your time to talk with him about that experience.

We've had several frosty mornings recently, but covered our tomatoes, so they are still ripening. I'm not quite ready to let go of the garden yet! (I'm a little tired of letting go...) The Hart boys were here for a couple of days and helped pick some tomatoes and peppers. I guess I'll do one more batch of salsa or spaghetti sauce.

Our search for the right car at the right price continues. We are not extremely fond of dealerships and were reminded why yesterday when we went to look and test drive some cars. The price was right on one vehicle and I started to get a little excited until they tacked on $2,000+ in fees!! If you hear of any great cars for sale at a great price, let us know. We'd be happy to travel to Utah county or Idaho or even Arizona if we have to! We aren't too desperate yet, but we have to return Elise and Alex's car soon....

Thanks for keeping in touch. I'm grateful for the time you take to write on the blog! Can't wait to see you all again. Have a lovely week, wearing coats, carving pumpkins, eating apples.....

...And Loving It!

Hey familia.  What's the deal with all the skimpy posting, huh?? C'mon, I need to hear all the things that're going on!

SO.  Y'all might be wondering what's up with my mission and stuffs.  Even if you aren't wondering, I'm going to tell you anyway ;) I'm officially starting my papers on the 18th of this month (so like, a week from this coming Wednesday).  I'm putting my availability date for May 12th, so I can turn my papers in on January 12th.  Sometime in January I'll be going to the temple (not November like I thought originally) so when we get that sorted out I'll let you know! I'm very excited.  Also, if you have any tips for prepping for mission or temple, let me know cuz I need all the help I can get!

My roommates and I piled into my roommates car today to go to stake conference (dad did a great job, BTW), and CHRISTMAS MUSIC STARTED PLAYING!!!!! the time has come everybody.  I flipped out.  We turned it off of course, but not before listening to O Come O Come Emmanuel.  Good times.  How come nobody told me roommates were the greatest thing ever?? It's actually a party all the time.  And when it's not a party, we're probably sleeping.

Looks like that's all I got for today.  Thanks all for coming down/up for conference.  It was a great time and I love it when everybody comes.  Pretty much the best ever. 

Have a great week!