Heavenly hershey track meet.

Jacob was able to participate in the Hershey Track Meet for the first time this year. He was SO excited that for a few weeks before he participated, he got up at 6 a.m. to run with Matt. He originally was going to do the 50m and 100m. I tried to get him to challenge himself and to my surprise, he signed up for the 200m and 400m.

Here he is preparing to begin the 400m race. I could tell he was nervous.

The 400m is 1 time around the track. He broke away from the pack of boys in the very beginning and took a big lead. I was nervous for him because I didn't know if he could keep his lead the whole time. He wanted to win SO badly.

Here he is rounding the 3rd corner of the track. You can see him in the front and the next boy was quite a bit behind him. You can see the 2nd place runner in a white shirt.

The final stretch!! As he was passing by his teacher, Mrs. Ellsworth, and the students in his class, he could hear them screaming his name and cheering him on. He said afterward that he even saw his teacher jumping up and down while screaming his name. He was pretty proud of that!

His final time for the race was 1:27!! I was so super proud of him. I still beam thinking about it. I loved seeing him work so hard for something and having it pay off. They took the times from all the 400m races and ranked them in order. Jacob placed 3rd overall. Happy day!



I thought Jacob would have to race the 400m again. This was his face when he thought the same thing. He had already run the 400m and the 200m twice. He wanted to go home.


I don't blame him. I'd be tired too. WAY TO GO JACOB!!!

Zions.

For our annual trip with Matt's side of the family, we chose to go to Zion's. We decided to try doing a "VRBO" (Vacation Rental By Owner) with everyone under one roof. I would have taken pictures of the home and posted them for all to see but I didn't want to accidentally take a picture of our unwanted guests. The home actually wasn't that bad. There was definitely room for all of us. But there was also room for many cockroaches and other undesirable bugs. There was a main house and a carriage house. Jacob stayed in the carriage house (which is where the majority of the bugs were) the first night with all the boys but he just couldn't stomach it the next night and crashed in our room with our other kids. I can't blame him. I wouldn't have lasted one night! Other than that, it was a great trip.

We hiked up to a lookout in Kolob canyon. It was gorgeous!! I'm not kidding when I say I could spend hours in a place like Zion's just looking at all things beautiful. Just give me a good supply of chocolate and ice water and I would be there for days.


Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely LOVE this man? 'Cuz I do.

Here's our fam at the beginning of the trail in Kolob Canyon.


If you look at the picture below and think that that's a ton of kids.... there were more. That's only half.

Again, if you look at the picture and think that's a whole lotta people, we have more. Lots more. Everyone in that picture is with our group. Matt has a big family. And I love it!!


Abbie walked for a lot of our hiking. What a trooper.



Unfortunately, we only were able to hike in Kolob Canyon and then to the three pools in Zion's before our kids were completely tuckered out. But what we did see I thought was amazingly beautiful.


Ashley in the most modelesque pose I've seen in my life. Think... we're talking runway in 10 years!


Pretty much our trip was filled with hiking and lots of swimming in the pool. The last day we were there we toured Brigham Young's home and walked around the temple grounds. I love being able to do a trip with family each year. It creates lots of fun memories and bonds us together. LONG LIVE THE NELSONS!!! and wright's and woodbreys! ;)

Ashley.

I absolutely cannot believe that Ashley is seven. She is such a sweetheart. She actually turned seven on April 26. That's how far behind I am.... such is life. Ashley so wanted a new bike and a prince Eric doll. So, what Ashley wanted, Ashley got! (this year anyway..) I just thought I would let you know... Ashley adds so much to our family. She is always willing to give a helping hand and she loves to play with Abbie and Joshua. She has a very kind heart and makes friends easily. And she's a doll too.

And you thought I wasn't crafty!

Here are the church bags I recently made for the kids. I let them each choose a fabric for the letters and then I embellished the bags. They are just canvas bags from any craft store. I used heat n' bond for the ribbon and letters. I was very pleased with how they turned out. The kids love them too!!