Nilsson News

Rain, rain, rain!  It sounds like the common thread from Arizona all the way to Idaho.  It is hard to believe that June starts next week and we've only hit 70 a couple of times. The plants in our greenhouse are not super happy about life and are begging to be transplanted.  Hopefully I can help them out this week!
It was a fairly decent week.  Because of the rain, we were able to finish some inside projects.  We worked on refinishing a dresser for Eliza and Henry's new room.  We made some sandals for the three youngest but they haven't been able to wear them yet because they are still in winter boots.  We also completed our kitchen floor.  It didn't turn out the way I'd hoped exactly but it looks better than the previous linoleum.
The kids and Garrett were really nice to me on my birthday and made me feel loved.  Yesterday, for our anniversary, Garrett and I were able to go to an early temple session.  We came home and took the kids to the farmer's market which is always delightful.  After working in the cloudy/rainy/sunny/indecisive weather for a few hours, we went to play racquetball.  It must have been a super slow day because we didn't have to reserve a court and when we arrived they gave us the rackets and ball for free and said to play as long as we wanted.  It was great!  The day ended with a lovely dinner.
I was up all night with a throwing up Millie.  She threw up every half hour for a solid 12 hours.  It was a rough night.  I stayed home from church with the two littlest.  It sounds like a lot of other folks are dealing with a belated winter flu bug.  I hope you can all stay healthy and well and enjoy some sunshine if it ever decides to show its face!

 Our linoleum wasn't the worst I've seen but it was in pretty bad shape.  The floor now is just the sub-floor that we painted, sanded, stained and sealed but it kind of looks like stamped concrete.

A lovely rainbow over Simple Little Farm.  It was so stunning!

Hart Happenings

We just got back from a trip to Smithfield to visit the folks and Thomas.  Always so fun to see them!  Carl and Michelle were there as well so we got some good family visiting in on Friday and Saturday. Alex is in New York again, thanks Joe, for letting him crash at your house taking him to the airport the next morning, so we decided to skip down for a visit since the weather was so lousy and we couldn't be working in the garden.  So we went and worked in Mom and Dad's garden!  The weather there on Saturday was lovely.

Our hispanic friend, Lalo was over working on the living room, retexturing the ceiling, which looks really nice sans holes now.  He left his scaffolding overnight and the boys had a blast climbing all over that.

Soccer practice, yard jobs in between rain showers, garden class, you know, the usual.....

Life is good!

Flake Fun

Things are going very well in Snowflake.  We had an ultrasound on Monday (a week ago) and the babies are doing very well. They are both almost 3 lbs and growing well.  Little girl is head down and little boy may have flipped over during the week (it was a weird sensation so I'm not sure if it happened or not).  They are both quite active and love their Dad.  A couple of weeks ago Scott went to the Father & Sons over night activity.  Friday night the babies were both very calm and hardly moved.  When Scott walked in the door on Saturday morning and they heard his voice I wouldn't have been surprised if they had popped through my abdominal wall to hug him! It was awesome!

We are anxiously awaiting a warm 10 day forecast so that we can transplant our peppers, tomatoes, celery and other greenhouse plants.  The potatoes are doing really well as are the broccoli and beans. I thought that spring had arrived but it has been cold for the last couple of days. 

We rented out our Taylor house again.  The last tenants moved out on April 30 and that next week we hired a new employee at the Health Department that needed a house!  Things seem to be working out in that realm which is nice. 

That is all that I can really think of right now.  Hope that you all have a great week!

Smithfield Scoop

First of all, thanks to Ruth for that stellar Mother's day video! How true it is! So, so great. Thanks to all of you mothers who are so inspiring to me - you just keep at it, day after day, year after year. Amazing, wonderful women. Thank you so, so much!

Yes, there is life in Smithfield. Sorry to have been so absent for the last while. We are just doing our stuff - taking care of moms and babies, building and planting grow boxes, watching birds, making quilts and organizing our house (still!). It's all good. We will have more to write about next week when Thomas is here. And the week after that when Becca and Darin are here.

And we do officially have callings in the Smithfield 20th ward. It will be delightful to be back in Primary. We are looking forward to it, actually. A lot!

This last week I attended three births, all on the same day. Actually, all within just over 4 1/2 hours! It was a little crazy! I don't suppose it will ever happen like that again. The first birth occurred at 2:35 in the morning and while the mom was in the shower, I got called to the 2nd birth, which occurred 4 minutes after I arrived, at 3:33. I had that mom in the bathroom when I got a call at 4:44 that the last mom was in labor - which happened at 6:46. I still can't believe that I got to all three and all was well at every one. Three little baby boys in the same night. Such a blessing. Now they are done. Just checking on them now, making sure all continues to go well.

Getting those babies here allowed us to go to American Fork to help Lauren find her garden spot under all those weeds! Dad and I had a blast weeding with Wesley, who hadn't been feeling very well. But he perked up and helped us get those weeds out! Then we went to the famed butterfly exhibit at Thanksgiving Point and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly there. Fun times!

Glad to hear that things are shaping up in all the gardens. If the rain stops long enough this week, we will try to get some more things planted. Our potatoes are popping up, and the onions and raspberries are currently thriving. We hope to make the rounds soon and come see all of you and your lovely gardens of plants and children and other things! Love you all!

Oh, and Addy, I think the cookbook idea is terrific! I'll be sending some recipes along right away...

Hart Happenings

Hello all!
  It is so good to be home!
  The cruise was wonderful!  The Caribbean is everything the calendars make it look like.  The weather was sublime!  The boys are missing the all-you-can-eat soft-serve ice cream, the pool, rock climbing, and mini-golf that was at their fingertips everyday.
  But it was so fun to come home and see the trees in bloom and get back to soccer, digging in the garden/yard, and all the other things that make up our every days.
  We've had some major shuffling in Primary with new teachers, pianist, and a new first counselor, so that has made things interesting for the past week or so.
  Rain is falling all around today and while Alex and I took a walk with our umbrellas the boys opted to stay home and make fortune cookies which were actually delicious.  They even tried a chocolate version!  But the fortunes inside were totally the best part.  Like:  "I cannot help you for I am just a cookie," or "what is brown and sticky?  You'll never know," or "If you think I'm going to sum up your whole life on this little piece of paper, you're crazy," or "This is 30 calories.  Think about it." So clever!  They make me laugh all the time!
  Our summer garden class starts tomorrow.  It should be so fun!  We have lots of plans!
  We've been hearing our share of the sniffles around here.  Trying to decide if it's spring allergies or a cold.  Hmmmm.
  Well, I have to go get things gathered up for a presidency meeting.  Congrats to mom and dad on their new callings!  6-year old primary class is where it's at!
 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Nilsson News

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful women!  You all inspire me and are such incredible examples!
It is beginning to feel like spring...finally!  The last couple of weeks have actually felt more like winter.  We had several days where the low was 25 degrees with a wind chill that made it more like 15 degrees.  We had snow.  It was rather miserable actually.  Even my tulips and daffodils were drooped to the ground and my bleeding heart plant completely keeled over.  But now, the sun has decided to show it's beautiful face and there is promise of warmth in our future!

Yesterday, I took Eliza and Millie to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play and they did not want to leave.  Their yard is looking quite lovely and you should all go for a visit!  The bluebirds and hummingbirds are delightful to watch!  In the meantime, I took Addy to her National Clogging competition at Lagoon and she did very well with her team dances receiving first.  She also made the advanced team for next season which she is very excited about.  She is preparing for her piano guild next week which is a pretty rigorous event.  She has to play 11 memorized pieces for a judge along with scales, arpeggios, sight reading and the whole bit.
Emerson has been involved with a group called Grit League.  It is similar to a Spartan race where they have obstacles set up and the the kids have to run around the course as many times as they can within a certain amount of time.  It has been really fun and each week it is at a different park or location.  This last one, he had to run up and down sand dunes.  Thankfully there hasn't been any mud.
Eliza is preparing for her final headstand competition in gymnastics.  She is constantly on the go whether it's jumping on the tramp, swinging upside down on the swings or climbing trees, she can't sit still! 
Henry is our best farmhand.  He is always reminding me that we need to go check on the donkeys, especially Penny who is due any day.  He pushes the wheel barrow around while I scoop things into it.  He also really likes to help water things with the hose, including any siblings who may be standing around.  He's a good helper!
Millie has to be doing everything that all the big kids are doing and she is in the phase of "I do it myself."  She has resolved to going barefoot everywhere and I'm doing my best to try to keep her clothes on because she isn't too fond of those either!
Garrett has been good about submitting to my project lists that are ever increasing in size.  There's always something to work on around here but it is so fun.  I'm envious of the Manning's sprinkler system.  I sometimes feel like that is all I do around here, weed and haul hoses.  I guess it could be worse and I wouldn't have a yard to do that in at all.  Always something to be grateful for!

Sorry to go on for so long but I have one last thing to mention.  Addy and I are working on our Personal Progress together and trying to finish it before the end of the year.  For one of our projects we would like to compile a Belliston Family Cookbook!  We would like you to gather and submit your favorite, tried and true recipes that you would like to have included.  You can send them as an email or take a picture and text it to me.  We will type them all up and include some pictures where possible and then give each of you a copy!  So be thinking and Addy and I will send you an email with a few more details.  Thank so much and have a beautiful day!

Flake Fun

Life has been great the last couple of weeks in the Flake household. The weather is warming up and we are starting to plant/transplant our garden.  So far we have onions, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, watermelon and beans.  Isn't spring a great time of year? 

Things with the pregnancy are going well.  The babies are really active and I am still adjusting to random kicks and punches throughout the day.  It is fun that they are strong enough that Scott can feel them as well.

I can't think of any other significant updates but I hope that you all have a great week! 

Manning Madness!

Well we are all sniffling around here. Allergies hit hard. It is snowing cotton and the grasses are in bloom so Nick and I are pretty pathetic and the boys have colds so there's that. But things are good. Nick worked really hard to put in a sprinkler system in our flower beds and garden. As much as I would love to be watering and weeding all day that just isn't going to happen so we will make sure the watering happens anyway! Friday night Wesley and Nick went on a Father and sons campout with the ward which was super cute and Wesley loved it! Wesley has been really trying to be like his dad. He called his bike a scooter and he rides up and says "guess who's home!" Because I always say that when Nick gets home. Then he says to me, "Come see what I have at work." And he has set up a bowling alley in the driveway. Wesley has started asking some pretty thought provoking questions lately and he thinks a lot about everything. He also is challenging his parents a lot in his three year oldness so if you have wisdom to share that would be great!
Chet is a little monkey and is climbing into everything. He was in the dishwasher the other day. He gets multiple bonks a day and just smiles though it all. He is soooo cute!
Nick and I are trying to figure out our callings and parenting and sometimes doing things together just the two of us. Life is good!